Jamaica is an especially bad place to let your guard down.
My wife and I honeymooned on a cruise, Norwegian Cruise Line. It was not long after a hurricane so they changed our itinerary from one island to another, Tortola I believe it was.
Even the crew was wary of getting off the boat alone, everyone was told to stay in pairs minimum and to keep an eye out. Fortunately at the time a British mine sweeper was anchored off the coast and there were plenty of MP’s around the area, but the place was an armpit that’s for sure.
For that reason many cruise lines no longer stop there. Belize is the substitute, it seems. But what you have to realize is that even in tamer ports like Cancun and Cozumel, the people are poor, crime is rampant, and richer-by-comparison cruise ship passengers are tempting targets, especially when they are intoxicated and their guard is down.
My brother is a retired police officer (due to a near deadly accident on the job, so is is still relatively young) who was point man on a SWAT team and head of an inter-departmental narcotics taskforce. He is also a former marine who served in the far east and, of course, visited all of the wonderful cities our fighting men in the region visit on their leaves. In short, he’s been in some pretty rough spots.
He and I went on a cruise that stopped in Jamaica and he said it was the only place he has ever been that he felt uneasy.
International Cruise Victims and Cruise Bruise both have some decent sections on staying safe while on cruises. They have their share of horror stories, too. *shudder*