Jamie Decker
Story Submission Date: January 20, 2006
Visitor Submittter: Mad Dad
Event Date: May 27, 1999
Cruise Bruise: Minor Child Sexually Assaulted
Bruise Location: Cozumel, Mexico
Age: 12 (now an adult)
Home Town: Anchorage Alaska
Cruise Line: Carnival Cruise Line
Ship: Sensation
Details:
I was born March 1, 1987 in beautiful Anchorage, Alaska where I lived until 1998. I was eleven at the time. My family and I were about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime: traveling through the United States, Canada and parts of Mexico in a motorhome and then culminating our travels by purchasing and living on a sailboat. We packed up everything that could fit into our 32 foot motorhome. There were five of us: my brother, sister, my parents and me...and of course my best friend also was going with us. His name was Shadow. He was four at the time, half chocolate lab and half Newfoundland. For the next seven months we traveled the country seeing the sights and enjoying home school.
When our motorhome trip finally came to an end, we were literally across the country in Tampa Bay, Florida. As a grand finale to our travels before moving into our new sailboat, my parents decided we should all go on a cruise. Unfortunately, Shadow had to stay on shore while we went on the cruise, and then he had to return to Anchorage and live with our relatives since it would be too hard for him to live on a boat.
On May 23, 1999, the five of us climbed the long ramp onto the cruise ship where we would be spending the next seven days making unforgettable memories and seeing things most people only dream about. We were going on a cruise around the Caribbean! It truly was a dream come true, or so we thought.
On the ship, there were several activities arranged for certain age groups. Kids up to twelve did "kid stuff" and those who were thirteen and older were in the teen group. I had just turned twelve a few months earlier, but I didn't want to be in the kid group so we got permission for me to be with the older kids. We did all kinds of things like dancing, swimming, and playing ping pong tournaments. It was so much fun! I really liked not feeling like I was being babysat and my parents felt at ease about what we were doing. It was almost like a camp knowing that we would be safe and supervised.
On May 27, 1999, five days into the cruise, the teen group went swimming together in the main pool. It was early afternoon. After swimming, we decided we'd have a ping pong tournament before eating dinner together but first I wanted to change out of my wet bathing suit and put on some normal clothes. I was wearing a slip-on dress over my bathing suit. I told the group I would just meet them later and told them to go on without me because I wanted to clean up first. On this particular day, we just happened to be in port in Mexico. Since our stateroom was a few floors down, I walked to the elevator a few feet from the pool and pushed the button.
Just as I pushed the button, a crew member came up behind me. He was wearing a name tag and had a crewman's uniform on. He got into the elevator with me. I really thought nothing of it at the time. He stood behind me in the right corner of the elevator and asked me if I was having a nice day. What was strange was he already knew my name.
Still, at twelve, nothing seemed really odd to me. Then he asked me if I wanted to see where the dolphins play. Of course I said "yes!". He was a uniformed crew member so I had no reason to be afraid or to even think twice about it. He said he needed to do something first but would meet me there. So I said, "okay" but I was a little weirded out but not too worried. He told me how to get there on a map that was posted in the elevator. Then he got off at the next floor. So I followed his instructions and did what he told me to do. When I got to the door, a little voice inside me told me to get away from there as fast as I could.
He was not there yet so I turned around and started to head back down the long hallway to the elevator but right before I got there I heard my name. It was him. I turned around and it was almost as if he had just appeared from no where. He asked where I was going and said, "don't you want to see the dolphins?". I was nervous but headed back towards him even though every bone in my body was saying "no!". I ignored what I was feeling. I was a child and I had no idea of the danger I was really in.
When we got back to the door, he told me to wait around the corner because passengers were not usually allowed to go where he was taking me. I felt special. I was going somewhere I was not allowed. No one else would get to see the dolphins. I then heard him yell something in Spanish through the door. I thought again about leaving but by that time he was already leading me through the doorway. I hesitantly walked through the door to find myself in a room full of huge blue machinery. He told me to follow him, so I did as I was told. We walked to the front of the room and he pointed to a small porthole. I looked through it and realized we were at the very front of the ship. When I looked around the room again, I saw that it came to a "V" shape. I realized I was at the very front of the boat.
He then started making conversation with me, not just small talk. He knew things about me that he could not possibly have known without researching it. He knew my dog's name (Shadow), my brother and sister's names, my cabin number, and my brother's birthday. At this point, it was obvious that he had been stalking me. There is no way he could have known about Shadow unless he had heard me or a family member talking about him. Again, at age 12, I knew this was bad and I knew I was in trouble but I still had no idea to what extent. I knew I had to get out of there but I did not know how since he was between me and the door.
I was so scared. I was the most scared I had ever been in my life but I didn't want him to see that. I started walking back towards the door. The environment was still very casual. I almost made it, within only ten yards to the door. I was standing next to what looked like a giant wench. It was huge, blue, and round. I'd seen things like this on smaller boats but never one this big. It was taller and longer than I was. This piece of machinery will forever be in my mind because this is where it all started. This is where he made his move. This story is continued on Page 2. See the links below.
Jamie Decker
Cruise Ship Sexual Assault
Carnival Cruise Lines -May 27, 1999
