Royal Caribbean Cruises is investigating lurid reports of drug-fuelled orgies erupting on deck during a Mediterranean charter cruise on which it was allegedly easier to get cocaine than drinks.
Several British newspapers carried reports about a five-day festival known as Anchored. Guests reportedly claimed people were snorting cocaine “all over each other” on the deckchairs of the 20-year-old ship Vision of the Seas, a 290-metre-long Vision-class ship with 11 decks.
Drunks too intoxicated to walk were wheeled around the deck in wheelchairs while partygoers vomited into the swimming pool and Champagne was sprayed over “hundreds of raving dancers”, according to a shock report in the Daily Star.
Footage posted on Instagram shows a large group of young people having a good time. There’s no suggestion anyone depicted is doing anything illegal, though if any passenger booked the cruise by mistake, intending to read a quiet book and play a spot of deck quoits, they may have been sorely disappointed.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi9cWbIjGeb/
The cruise started in Barcelona before sailing around the Mediterranean via Cannes, Ibiza and Majorca.
One passenger told Britain’s tabloid Sun newspaper: “Sometimes you didn’t know if you were on a cruise or in the middle of some drug-fuelled orgy.”
Another passenger found the ordeal so horrifying he and his friends departed the cruise when the ship docked in Ibiza and refused to return. A British man was arrested as the vessel docked in France after the first night. Another unnamed passenger said they saw group sex throughout the “lawless” ship, alleging that drink and drugs were so rife “I’m surprised no one died”, according to the report.
The Daily Star quoted Royal Caribbean Cruises confirming that an arrest had been made when the ship docked in Cannes.
A spokesman for the line said: “We have a zero-tolerance policy for the use or possession of illegal drugs on our ships. Ship charters are held to the same strict standards.
“We operate with the health and safety of our guests and crew as our highest priority, and we cooperate fully with law enforcement when we are aware of violations.”
The charter organiser warned passengers beforehand: “You are NOT allowed to bring onboard the vessel any intoxicating liquors/beverages, firearms, weapons of any kind, ammunition, explosive substances or any goods of a dangerous nature, nor animals of any kind. All Italian and international laws pertaining to drug use should be respected and will be strictly enforced.”
Written by Peter Needham
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