PIRAEUS, Greece -- The Pacific Princess was detained by Greek
authorities here during a 14-day Holy Land cruise after customs
inspectors unearthed 56 pounds of heroin hidden on board.
Two members of the ship's galley crew were arrested and charged
with smuggling the narcotics. Two other men, not believed to have
been members of the crew, also were in custody, according to
published reports.
Four days after the Nov. 26 drug bust, the ship still was tied
up at the dock at the port for Athens.
Most of the 616 mainly U.S. passengers remained in Athens, using
the ship as a hotel, pending settlement of its fate. They were
treated, at Princess' expense, to a daily round of tours of
Greece.
A Princess spokeswoman said that the company was working to
secure the release of the ship but that it had no indication how
long it might be restrained. "We're still trying to piece all of
this together," she said. "We don't have all the details. We hope
to be able to continue the cruise," she went on "and we expect to
formulate a compensation plan for passengers but until we know for
sure what we're dealing with, we really can't."
The only bright spot for the ship is that it was due to go into
dry dock in Rome at the conclusion of the affected cruise, which
may have the effect of minimizing the impact of the seizure on
future sailings.
The ship was impounded during its Nov. 22 14-day sailing from
Istanbul to Rome. It was about to set sail for Rhodes, one of
several Greek Islands on its itinerary, when authorities pounced.
It is believed that they had advance information that the ship --
widely known as the model for the original Love Boat, although
several other vessels were used in the long-running television
series as well -- was being used by narcotics smugglers.
The drug seizure is not the first in the cruise industry, but it
is believed to be the biggest haul ever made on a passenger
ship.
The Pacific Princess spends nine months of the year in Europe
and the Middle East and the first three months in service in
Africa. It, and its twin, the Island Princess, are the Los
Angeles-based line's smallest ships, each 20,000 tons and with a
passenger capacity of 640.