My experience on Alaska cruises is that I met and become friends with most interesting people. People on the Alaska cruise are not the party hearty crowd, but ones more interested in history, nature, and scenic beauty.
Posted on 03/10/2006 4:09:37 AM PST by beaversmom
HOURS after boarding the luxury cruise that would result in her death, Dianne Brimble's friend warned her of a group of men who had been ogling female passengers, a Sydney inquest was told today. The next morning, Ms Brimble, 42, was found dead in a cabin belonging to some of those same men.
Police allege she had been given a lethal dose of the date rape drug gamma-hydroxybutyrate before being sexually assaulted.
The inquest was told Ms Brimble had been ecstatic, setting out on the "holiday of a lifetime" with family and friends on the P&O liner Pacific Sky on September 23, 2002.
That night, she met a group of eight men at a disco on the ship.
Close friend Nancy Chard today told Glebe Coroners Court she warned Ms Brimble not long after boarding the ship to stay away from the men.
"They were just basically watching every female so I just said to Di be very careful," Ms Chard said.
"They were odd, to my eyes they were really odd-looking people.
"There's a difference between just looking at a woman and undressing them by looking."
Ms Chard said she heard some of the men, who were staying in a cabin directly opposite hers, involved in an argument earlier that night with a group of girls.
She told the court the girls later informed her the men had asked them to expose their genitalia and had propositioned them.
The men were obviously drunk and had been making noise until the early hours of the morning, she said.
The day Ms Brimble's body was found, Ms Chard said she saw one of the eight men crying in the hallway, and in the following days, she said the men gave Ms Brimble's friends "filthy looks".
"They would give us a look as if to say, they have no shame," she said.
"It was almost like it was just playing, they had no remorse."
Ms Brimble's older sister Alma Wood, who also was on the cruise, tearfully told the court her sister had been a "prude" who would not have wilfully taken drugs or engaged in promiscuous sex.
"That sort of stuff was always gross to her," Ms Wood said.
The inquest before Deputy State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge continues next week.
The flight attendants obviously determined there was a vast difference in our sense of sophistication. To eliminate any difficulties, they wisely moved me to the front of the plane.
___________
I can hardly believe I'm reading a statement such as this on FreeRepublic. You can't take a flight with someone next to you who is not dressed according to your standards, without raising a ruckus?
They wisely recognized that you were gonna be a pita, not because they saw you as the second coming.
I'm 6'1" and a bit over 200 lbs. I'll be damned if I'm going to get dressed up to get shoehorned into those tiny little spaces they need us to get into so they can make their money. Although I tend to dress warmly as they seem to keep the planes chilly.
Worse, no one of our 'conservative' lib-fem FReepers have given us snit for it yet.
Bump from a travel agent! I do not book anybody on there unless they specifically ask for it. I can get great rates with any of the good ones, so why be bothered with the lesser ones!
I paid $4400 last year for cabin 9105 (I like being up high for photography) with no air fare and a night at the Vancouver Fairmont Waterfront. This year it is cabin 9127(wireless connection and no overhang) for $3900 with air fare and the Fairmont. I don't mind saying price, because if it helps some Freeper get a deal and sailing with me, I am sure I will enjoy their company.
Polite society determines that we dress and comport ourselves a certain way. That is why we don't wear shorts, tanktops, and flip-flops to the theater, church, or important Wall Street business meetings. We shouldn't wear backyard barbecue clothes on airplanes, either. It's a method of transport, not a swimming pool. That is life.
The self-absorbed jerk that I described earlier was only concerned about himself. People don't want his stinky, hairy toes near them. Likewise, I don't want his exposed armpits with the gooey anti-perspirant near my clean business clothes.
The flight attendants recognized me as a courteous, pleasant, and well-mannered person who had taken that same flight numerous times. They obviously had the good business sense to realize that one preserves a pleasant traveling experience for their repeat customers.
~ Blue Jays ~
After dinner, we would retreat to the fantail bar for a smoke, libation and good conversation.
If any Freeper would like a DVD of my trip, just Freepmail me.
No one in the Kennedy family will be taking a WalMart cruise; but, I wouldn't want to be in a car or on a boat with them. Frankly, I don't even like being in the same country with them. They may have money; but, they definitely don't have class or morals.
Great pictures! The stability is amazing with those retractable "wings" they extended underneath the big ships...which I'm sure helped make for some great pictures. It looks like the whitecaps were kicking-up a bit in that one snapshot!
~ Blue Jays ~
Vulgar person.
I think most of us FReeper women have the common sense it takes to stay away from packs of men anywhere, let alone on a cruise ship! I'm sorry she paid the ultimate price, but what was this girl thinking????
I care when any woman is raped and murdered, be she liberal or conservative.
Good heavens, if you don't wear short, t-shirt and flip flops to a backyard barbecue, what do you wear?
I bet you wear an Izod shirt and chinos, right?
Nuance isn't your strong suit, is it? The next time we're on a transcontinental flight together, we can trade seat assignments and YOU can sit next to the boorish man with the exposed, gooey armpits and hairy toes.
Having good manners and proper etiquette while aboard an aircraft shouldn't be a challenge. It's a piece of cake and comes as second nature to many cultured people.
~ Blue Jays ~
I have been on the Millenium, and Horizon, as well. I have yet to find one I don't like, in their fleet. Our matre de, Larry (in black), was on Mercury when we on her, and surprised us by remembering us when we went on Horizon. He came up to the table and called us by name. They are good people, and do everything to meet VERRRRY high standards.
I'll check on prices, for comparison. What dates?
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