Yellow journalism/demonizing a community, or legitimate news story?

[unicorn]

Although we'd been told that all cabins had been sold out for our cruise, we were surprised on the 2nd day of our cruise by the announcement that a number of suites were available for upgrade. "I wished I'd known before getting unpacked," I grumbled. Then there were rumors that 12 or maybe even 25 of the 5500 passengers got arrested, all carrying methamphetamines, and most with other substances as well. Then news stories got printed in a number of gay publications including Instinct and The Advocate, prompting some others to grumble at how our own publications were demonizing our own community. (I suspect that the sniffing dogs were trained to find meth, as those without meth didn't seem to get arrested). I found the story legitimately news-worthy, although it does portray the gay community in a bad light. It's too bad they had to specifically call out the arrestees, however. I suspect they'll be out of a job when they go back home...

https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/atlantis-cruise-drug-arrests

"...In a statement, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Detective Joseph R. Peguero Rivera told The Advocate that deputies were called in around 6 p.m. Sunday to assist CBP with a drug enforcement operation at PortMiami.

“MDSO arrested a total of nine individuals on various drug-related charges,” he said, involving MDMA or ecstasy, LSD, and cocaine. The arrest reports also reference ketamine, methamphetamine, and GHB precursor GBL, among the substances seized.

Court records show those charged are Joshua S. Eddy, 41, of West Hollywood, California; Brad R. Kloha, 41, of Nashville, Tennessee; Adam Jones, 49, of Atlanta, Georgia; Hoi Le, 51, of San Francisco; Joshua Lee Jenkins, 39, of Tacoma, Washington; Ryan D. Medrano, 27, of Phoenix, Arizona; Tamar J. Wilson, 37, of Chicago; Daisuke Nakanoh, 40, of Chicago; and Ricardo Gabriel Junquera, 39, of Miami.."..

https://instinctmagazine.com/tourists-arrested-gay-cruise/

"...On Sunday, as everyone was excitedly lining up to board the Symphony of the Seas, the usual pre-cruise chaos took an unexpected turn. Instead of the usual luggage checks and occasional confused tourist, trained dogs were on duty, sniffing their way through bags. And, let’s just say… these dogs weren’t there for the scent of sunscreen and sea air. So here are the alleged facts and charges in these arrests. Note: no one knows if they were carrying the drugs to use or to sell or both...". 

(Nb: the quantities for which these men were arrested suggests to me that sales would be involved)

So do you think it's yellow journalism, just intended as click-bait, or legitimate news stories?

[Ian here]

So what was your upgrade like compared to your 1st cabin?

[caeron]

 

Well, if you deal drugs in the gay community, I'd think you'd want to know you might get arrested before boarding your gay cruise. And even if you're just carrying for your own use, wouldn't you want to know that it might get you arrested? Seems the story is a useful warning to me.

I doubt the police just showed up on their own. I imagine somebody tipped them off. Could have well been the cruise line or the like who noted drug problems on prior cruises.

As one of the articles noted, they've had multiple deaths during these events (though they state they weren't drug related). Nobody wants that kind of publicity.

That said, the naming and shaming is bullshit.

[floridarob]

24 minutes ago, Ian here said:

So what was your upgrade like compared to your 1st cabin?

People sometimes associate upgrades,  being free...... such as with hotels/car rentals/flights..... not a thing on cruises. They are revenue paid upgrades (unless you have contacts, at the corp level or at least a 3 stripe officer).

I'd be interested in they listed a price or were waiting for people to make a bid/offer.

[unicorn]

2 hours ago, Ian here said:

So what was your upgrade like compared to your 1st cabin?

We didn't upgrade. Too much trouble packing and repacking. I was tempted, though.

[unicorn]

2 hours ago, floridarob said:

People sometimes associate upgrades,  being free...... such as with hotels/car rentals/flights..... not a thing on cruises. They are revenue paid upgrades (unless you have contacts, at the corp level or at least a 3 stripe officer).

I'd be interested in they listed a price or were waiting for people to make a bid/offer.

I could try to find out--though they probably wouldn't tell me at this point. I got these tix the first day they came available to prior Atlantis guests. The suites weren't available, and I learned later that you must call and ask them specifically for a suite, because some of them are "party-central," and I think they need to warn people of those suites. I usually get Junior Suites on Royal Caribbean, but for this cruise I just got the "extra-sized balcony." 

[Pete1111]

6 hours ago, unicorn said:

Although we'd been told that all cabins had been sold out for our cruise, we were surprised on the 2nd day of our cruise by the announcement that a number of suites were available for upgrade. "I wished I'd known before getting unpacked," I grumbled. Then there were rumors that 12 or maybe even 25 of the 5500 passengers got arrested, all carrying methamphetamines, and most with other substances as well. Then news stories got printed in a number of gay publications including Instinct and The Advocate, prompting some others to grumble at how our own publications were demonizing our own community. (I suspect that the sniffing dogs were trained to find meth, as those without meth didn't seem to get arrested). I found the story legitimately news-worthy, although it does portray the gay community in a bad light. It's too bad they had to specifically call out the arrestees, however. I suspect they'll be out of a job when they go back home...

https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/atlantis-cruise-drug-arrests

"...In a statement, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Detective Joseph R. Peguero Rivera told The Advocate that deputies were called in around 6 p.m. Sunday to assist CBP with a drug enforcement operation at PortMiami.

“MDSO arrested a total of nine individuals on various drug-related charges,” he said, involving MDMA or ecstasy, LSD, and cocaine. The arrest reports also reference ketamine, methamphetamine, and GHB precursor GBL, among the substances seized.

Court records show those charged are Joshua S. Eddy, 41, of West Hollywood, California; Brad R. Kloha, 41, of Nashville, Tennessee; Adam Jones, 49, of Atlanta, Georgia; Hoi Le, 51, of San Francisco; Joshua Lee Jenkins, 39, of Tacoma, Washington; Ryan D. Medrano, 27, of Phoenix, Arizona; Tamar J. Wilson, 37, of Chicago; Daisuke Nakanoh, 40, of Chicago; and Ricardo Gabriel Junquera, 39, of Miami.."..

https://instinctmagazine.com/tourists-arrested-gay-cruise/

"...On Sunday, as everyone was excitedly lining up to board the Symphony of the Seas, the usual pre-cruise chaos took an unexpected turn. Instead of the usual luggage checks and occasional confused tourist, trained dogs were on duty, sniffing their way through bags. And, let’s just say… these dogs weren’t there for the scent of sunscreen and sea air. So here are the alleged facts and charges in these arrests. Note: no one knows if they were carrying the drugs to use or to sell or both...". 

(Nb: the quantities for which these men were arrested suggests to me that sales would be involved)

So do you think it's yellow journalism, just intended as click-bait, or legitimate news stories?

Whether reporting the details of age, hometown, sexual orientation and mugshot of the arrested passengers was in the public interest or yellow journalism is debatable.   

Outfits like The Advocate, Out.com, Instinct, and Queerty are so full of lurid, trashy stories, nothing they report surprises me.  Click-bait is at the center of their revenue stream.   

I don't believe the public needed to know so much personal information about the Miami arrests.  It rubs me the wrong way. 

The local media in Miami also reported much of arrest details.  As a gay man, it's easy to feel like they were treated like zoo animals, on display for everyone to see.

------------------

The cruise ship might have been willing to bargain with you regarding the upgrade, if it's money on top of what they already collected from the perps or others that failed to board.  They probably have a proprietary process in place to deal with it.

 

Remember boys, the Internet is forever.

 

 

 

[PeterRS]

4 hours ago, unicorn said:

We didn't upgrade. Too much trouble packing and repacking. I was tempted, though.

Just over 20 years ago I was on a cruise with a colleague who was one of the lecturers. It was long - 17 days from Barbados around the Caribbean, into the Panama Canal, back dowm the south east coast of South America and then 1,000 miles up the Amazon to Manaus. Too long for me, but I was thrilled that whereas this particular cruise line used to give its guest lecturers cabins near the water line, my colleague happened to know the purser from a couple of previous cruises and this nice man upgraded us seven decks to a cabin with an outside balcony. Not luxury like the one @unicorn mentions, but I think I would have gone crazy had I not been able to pop onto the balcony regularly with some nice complimentary champagne that they kindly put in the fridge every day. The fact that my colleague was TT meant the whole bottle was for me! My liver took some days to recover I seem to recall! 

Manaus was fascinating, partly a result of its Opera House. At the end of the 19th century, when European opera companies regularly sailed for seasons at the Colon Opera House in Buenos Aires, the rubber barons decided they wanted one in the middle of the jungle at Manaus in the hope that the companies could then travel up to their city. Some may have seen the Werner Herzog movie Fitzcarraldo. Loosely based on an actual opera-mad character, Fitzcarraldo's ambition was to have the great tenor Enrico Caruso sing in Manaus. So he needed an Opera House. He had vast tons of wood hacked out of the jungle and sent to Lisbon for carving and decoration. The end result is an extraordinary and beautiful theatre. That Caruso sang at the theatre's opening in 1897 is apocryphal but the citizens like to think he did. A century later the great tenor Pavarotti sang on stage during a private visit and an opera Festival takes place each year.

The Teatro Amazonas today

[Keithambrose]

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Just over 20 years ago I was on a cruise with a colleague who was one of the lecturers. It was long - 17 days from Barbados around the Caribbean, into the Panama Canal, back dowm the south east coast of South America and then 1,000 miles up the Amazon to Manaus. Too long for me, but I was thrilled that whereas this particular cruise line used to give its guest lecturers cabins near the water line, my colleague happened to know the purser from a couple of previous cruises and this nice man upgraded us seven decks to a cabin with an outside balcony. Not luxury like the one @unicorn mentions, but I think I would have gone crazy had I not been able to pop onto the balcony regularly with some nice complimentary champagne that they kindly put in the fridge every day. The fact that my colleague was TT meant the whole bottle was for me! My liver took some days to recover I seem to recall! 

Manaus was fascinating, partly a result of its Opera House. At the end of the 19th century, when European opera companies regularly sailed for seasons at the Colon Opera House in Buenos Aires, the rubber barons decided they wanted one in the middle of the jungle at Manaus in the hope that the companies could then travel up to their city. Some may have seen the Werner Herzog movie Fitzcarraldo. Loosely based on an actual opera-mad character, Fitzcarraldo's ambition was to have the great tenor Enrico Caruso sing in Manaus. So he needed an Opera House. He had vast tons of wood hacked out of the jungle and sent to Lisbon for carving and decoration. The end result is an extraordinary and beautiful theatre. That Caruso sang at the theatre's opening in 1897 is apocryphal but the citizens like to think he did. A century later the great tenor Pavarotti sang on stage during a private visit and an opera Festival takes place each year.

The Teatro Amazonas today

The Film Fitzcarraldo documents the crazy way that the Opera housevwas built, hauling all the materials to Manaus. The film is legendary for all the issues that the director,  Werner Herzog, had, particularly with the cast. Jason Robards, and Mick Jagger came and went, and Klaus Kinski ended up starring. At one point, Herzog insisted that they haul a steamship over the mountains! It's now regarded as a classic! Unusually, there was then another film made, about the making of Fitzcarraldo,  called 'Burden of Dreams'! This was a documentary about the issues, and problems,  and was very well received, winning several awards!

[PeterRS]

The poster for the movie makes clear the role of the ship. Apparently the wreck of the ship still exists!