scared to book cruise because of risk of ISIL attack

[jollo]

Yes; I know it's a 1st world problem before anyone says.

I'm a single parent and have been on a couple of lovely cruise hols with DD (now 8) and they really suit us because there is enough for us to do together and individually. Ive been looking at an adriatic cruise for easter hols but each time i get to the "book it" stage i bottle out, googled cruise ship terrorism, think oh my god I couldn't cope with the fear and talk myself out of it. Someone talk some sense into me please?!

Check the FCO travel advice for the area

If you decide to stay home in a bunker for fear of an attack, you are Letting the Bastards Win

Literally on our way to our cruise right now. Nit worried in the slightest.

What Olenna said. Recent terror attacks prove that they can happen anywhere. You'd have to live in a sub-terranean bunker to be completely safe - not even considering risks like natural disasters and non-terrorist disasters.

Live your life. It's unlikely anything will happen and you can't plan your life around statistically low probability "might"s. Go on that bloody cruise!

Another thing is my mums dream trip was to the US, and she finally went during the gulf war with all the plane bomb scares. She decided if anything DID happen - she would die doing something she always loved.

If you've got an 8 year old, You must have been of an age where the IRA were conducting a bombing campaign in Britain and people were getting blown to pieces in shopping centres, pubs etc. If your parents had had the same attitude you'd have never have left the house.

It's something that's beyond your control and the risks you'll get caught up in anything is so remote that you just need to get on and live your life.

Terrorise can happen anyway and I do not think you are more st risk on a cruise ship than anywhere else.

But: the thought of a holiday should fill you with glee rather than dread. There are other kinds of holiday which might also suit you (Club Med for example). If something else is less frightening, I'd do that instead.

I was actually in Manchester city centre the day of the IRA bomb in 1996 I think it was. IRA threats never bothered me so i can't work out why I do actually feel so terrified by ISIL/ISIS whatever they are called. It's a really awful feeling!

I'd be more worried about a norovirus outbreak than an ISIL attack.

There is no specific reason why the next ISIS attack would target a cruise ship rather than whatever area of the UK you currently happen to be in.

Norovirus otoh- yes, I do agree that is a higher risk cruising than if you stay at home.

Me and DP were both in the Manchester bombing and I lost my uncle in the Warrington one. Honestly, do not worry. The way these people win is by making you fear going outside.

You have to have a sense of humour about it though. The day of the bombing there were jokes going round of the bomb in Manchester improving the area and we were all laughing about it. Then a couple of years later I saw a comedian who said "That bomb going off in Manchester was awful wasn't it? At least we got a Selfridges out of it though, so it's swings and roundabouts" and nearly pissed myself laughing.

But yes, please book your cruise. You'll have a lovely time I'm sure.

Unless the cruise is to a country the FO have issued travel restrictions for, you're just as likely to be the victim of an attack here in the UK.

You laughed at that joke when your uncle was killed by the IRA?

could you perhaps choose a cruise that went somewhere in a different direction, away from the ISIS area?

Erm...surely an Adriatic cruise means Italy, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia?

Not exactly the heart of the Caliphate

You laughed at that joke when your uncle was killed by the IRA?

This

Why shouldn't she Imperial?

You laughed at that joke when your uncle was killed by the IRA?

I totally get that. Humour can be a coping mechanism and a way of tackling taboo subjects. As a late teen i made a botched and pathetic suicide attempt and week or so later was howling with laughter at a radio comedy sketch about a bloke wanting to kill himself but was scared of heights, so instead of jumping off the 36 floor, tried jumping out the ground floor window 36 times.

And it is her uncle not yours, she's free to react any which way she likes. She has to cope with the loss, not you or me.

Would you prefer that Bowie cried? We all have our own way of dealing with difficult things and I don't think this criticism is even slightly constructive.
OP, I was also in the midst of some admittedly teeny terrorist bombs about 15 years ago but still feel more scared about the threat nowadays. I put it down to the incessant and detailed focus of the media. When we know every detail of th attack and the life story of the victims, it's all too easy to imagine ourselves in their place.

Ahhh, thanks fryingpan i think you've hit the nail on the head - the level of media coverage is probably much more than even 20 years ago so it seems so much more real and likely a threat; maybe the solution is to cease my consumption of all news media immediately! I feel very affected by it.