Didn’t cruise ships used to keep an armory?
All the cruise ships on which I have been a passenger had a shotgun or two for trapshooting off the aft deck. Surely a speedboat full of would-be pirates could be discouraged with a few whiffs of birdshot in their faces.
Traditionally, no. There was one case where a cruise ship used a sonic device to repel a pirate attack last year. It’s sad to say that, unless you have some Marines or other Blackwater-types on board, having an armory on a cruise ship would just get people killed.
French cruise ships traditionally only stock their armories with white flags.
From the article:
Pirates seized control of a French cruise ship Friday off the coast of Somalia, France's Foreign Ministry said.