Let me be the first to stand up and admit, I am a cruiser.  I love to take cruises!  I thnk they are the best value for your vacation money, especially in the current economy.  I first went on a cruise in the late 90s and have been cruising every since.  My husband and I went on a cruise for our honeymoon.  I have to say, my husband was not initially sold on cruising.  He thought he’d get bored after a couple of days being on the ship.  But, let me tell you.  After our honeymoon, he is a convert!  I think he loves to cruise more than me.  I say all this to discuss the value of cruising in our downtrodden economy, as well as the safety of cruising.  I have never thought going on a cruise would be unsafe.  It never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t make it back home.  In fact, I’m going to make a huge assumption that other cruisers feel the same way as I do.  But, in the last couple of weeks, there have been two reported incidents on ships that may make me re-think my position on the safety of cruising.

A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that a woman went missing while cruising.  It was later discovered, via video tape, that she fell overboard.  The ship and the Coast Guard loooked for her body for a few days, to no avail.  It is believed that she committed suicide.  Today, I read that a cruise employee fell overboard yesterday, off the coast of Florida.  This incident is believed to be an accident.  Once again, the Coast Guard and the ship searched for the fallen victim, to no avail.  I’m not even going to mention the present-day pirates trying to hijack cruise ships overseas – oh wait, I did mention it.  I say to you, what is going on with cruising?!!!!

In my travels on a cruise ship, I remember two different incidents of people falling overboard — in the middle of the night — and their bodies never being found.  It happened in the late 90s when I went on a cruise with my cousin.  The guy’s body was never found.  Then it happened again when my husband and I went on our honeymoon.  Again, the body was never found.  In defense of the cruise ships, there are all sorts of security measures in place, especially surrounding the rails when you’re out on deck.  In my opinion, really, the only way a person can end up in the ocean while cruising is:  a) someone throws you off; b) you jump; or c) you climb up on the rail trying to re-enact Leonardo DiCaprio’s scene in the Titanic, screaming, “I am on top of the world!”  My suggestion to you is, don’t do it!

With everyone trying to get every penny squeezed from a dollar in today’s society, I truly believe cruising is the best value.  Think about it, in addition to your room, all of your food is included.  Beverages are included, but that’s limited to coffee, tea and lemonade.  All of your entertainment is free (i.e. Vegas- type shows, ice skating rink, wall climbing, putt-putt golf, etc.)  Now that I’ve given my two cents on cruising and its safety, I would like to know what you think about crusing.  Do you think it’s the best value for a vacation – especially in today’s society?  Do you think it’s safe?  If you cruised before, I would love to hear your adventures in cruising.

The Internet, for good or bad, is a part of our everyday lives.  People have found many ways to leverage the power of the Internet and today I wish we would kind of slow down with our internet usage.  For one family in Florida, the Internet increased a pain they will never recover from.

Abraham Briggs, a 19-year-old Broward College student, first declared on a Web site that he hated himself and planned to die.  12 hours later it happened.

All of this was recorded, via web cam, on Justin.tv and the many people watching thought it was a joke or at least wasn’t legit.  The feed was live when Briggs took some pills and went to sleep – for the final time.

I know the people watching didn’t think the suicide was totally legit and/or they didn’t know what to do to help.  If every Internet prank was considered real the Internet would probably come to a grinding halt.  I also know people who commit suicide don’t always give clear signs of their intent.

So what do we do?  I don’t know if there is anything that can be done except to learn from this.  I feel sorry for the family and more importantly I feel sorry for Briggs.  Suicide is a sin that cannot be forgiven, a crime who’s debt cannot be repaid.

What do you think about this unfortunate incident?