Cruise Ship Stowaways Share Their Secrets
FlyerTalk December 17, 2019
Have you ever had so much fun on a cruise that you wanted to stay on board and do it all over again? If you have, you’re not the only one. We stumbled across a Reddit thread where potential stowaways and cruise staff to tell stories about their own stowaway experiences, whether they tried and failed, caught someone in the act or successfully turned one trip into two. But, before you read on, we want to go on the record as saying that we do not condone stowing away on your cruise. But these stories were super interesting to read anyway.
“Is This An Actual Thing People Do?”
While everyone knows what it’s like to not want their vacation to end, not everyone has gone so far as to Google “can I stowaway on board.” But, now that we’re on the topic, we have a lot of the same questions as the Redditors in this thread like, “I had no idea this was a thing? How did you get a room?” and, “Is this an actual thing people do?”
The answer to that last question is, surprisingly, “yes. Quite a few people in fact.” A lot of people have tried stowing away on a cruise, and a few people have succeeded at it.
What Cruise Staff Has to Say
In a sentence? “Don’t try it please.”I worked for Carnival. We will find you. We know you’re [on] the ship. And we all want you to get off so I can take a short nap before I have to do it all over again in a few hours.”
Why are cruise employees so sure? Most major cruise lines have electronic swipe cards that you swipe when you disembark. If you don’t swipe your card, the hunt for you begins. And the ship won’t load on the next set of cruise passengers until they find you.
The Success Stories
One of the keys to successfully stowing away on a cruise is where to hide when you’re supposed to be off the ship. Then, you have to find out where to hide your luggage. This person managed to do both using methods that are worthy of their own heist movie:
“I did this some years ago. The cruise we were on was from Miami to Mexico. Hiding myself wasn’t the hardest part, it was hiding my luggage. What I did was the night before, I touched NOTHING in my room, I did this because when housekeeping comes in and the room hasn’t been touched I thought they would just do a once over and leave. We had a balcony so I put my luggage behind the chair outside so it was semi-hard to see. Step one was complete.
“A couple days before I had met one of the crew members who was super chill. Like, tell you where to buy weed when we docked chill. I get to talking to him and bought one of his uniforms for $80. Step two was complete.
“I knew people who were getting on the ship next, this is crucial because if you don’t then where are you going to crash? My buddy and his girlfriend were cruising the next week, same route out of Miami. Without this I wouldn’t have even thought about staying aboard.
When we docked back in Miami and the call came for everyone to get ready to get off I made my way to the staff restroom with the uniform on over my regular clothes. I sat on the toilet for 7 hours while they turned the ship for the next guests. As soon as they started letting people on I dashed back to the room where my luggage was and awkwardly paced the halls, when the couple came who now had that room I let them know that a previous guest had claimed that they left their luggage and I needed to check for it. They let me in and my luggage was still on the balcony! I grabbed it and met up with my buddy. I still have the uniform in my storage unit as a very prized possession.”
Related: What You Should Never Eat (Or Drink) on a Cruise
That was a wild ride, pun intended. And most of the success stories were just as complicated, involving elaborate plans, multiple people and nerves of steel. One former cruise employee included a how-to that involves knowing an employee, finding a doppelganger, slipping past security, checking into the muster station and that’s just step one. In fact, stowing away is so hard and involved and complicated when you’re on a large ship that pulling it off made for a (very entertaining) episode of Criminal.
The Smaller the Better
Smaller cruise lines, however, are another story. “Here in Sweden,” says one Redditor,” there are some really low-class party cruises on the baltic sea where they don’t scan anyone. And I guess there are all different levels in the world in between up to the luxury stuff. So not all cruises scan people.” And, as a bit of corroborating evidence, there are several stories of people stowing away on accident (mostly because they drank too much and fell asleep somewhere out of the way), especially on ferries.
What Happens If You Are a Stowaway and you Get Caught?
Another former cruise employee added, “You’ll face severe jail time including fines and being banned from cruising with that cruise line for the rest of your life. You’ll make national news and will probably lose your job and respect of your friends.”
If you’re caught while still out at sea–within 3 and 12 miles–the Coast Guard can come and pick you up. But if you’re far out at sea, you can be apprehended by onboard cruise police and put in the brig where you’ll be held until you’re released to authorities at the nearest port.
Bottom Line? Don’t Stowaway on a Cruise, Even If You Can
Have any more questions about cruises? Head to the cruise section of the FlyerTalk forum to learn more about the best credit card to use on a cruise, how to get a ton of onboard credit, or what it’s really like to take a Viking River Cruise.
I doubt this story, It seems like a lot of risk simply to avoid paying the 3rd person rate You can't even get off at the ports or charge drinks, etc
PBS stations show reruns of the 90s BBC show "Keeping Up Appearances." In one episode, Hyacinth and Richard go on a cruise on the QE2. Hyacinth keeps catching glimpses of her down-at-the-heels sister Daisy and her husband, Onslow. Hyacinth spends the episode trying to track them down, convinced that they are stowaways. The last night of the cruise, there are Daisy and Onslow, dining at the captain's table. They tell Hyacinth that they won a contest and the prize was the cruise. But Onslow adds; "You'd think they'd treat us better than this. They're making us eat with the help!"
For the disembarking problem, You can just jump in the ocean right before you dock. Leave your Luggage with your friend. Security might see you but it wont be as difficult as wearing a uniform, hiding in the bathroom, accessing another couples room...
From the balcony of our Florida condo on the intracoastal over looking the ocean we can see many of these, what I call "prison ships" cruising by. I wouldn't go on one for free. Those ships that go to foreign destinations don't give you the experience of meeting/mingling with locals, eating their food, etc. You are imprisoned in a small area with the other prisoners doing activities that are highly restricted. I can't believe the huge size of some of these ships. Some must be more than 150 feet tall w. more than 8 "stories". They sure are an impressive sight. Question - Why are they all a brilliant white in color?
I didnt believe a word of it either for all the reasons mentioned. But then I considered a few episodes of The Carbonaro Effect.