Insider scoop on the narcotics, arrests and deaths aboard the biggest gay cruise

BY ALEX VAUGHN & BOB KECSKEMETY

The grandest and largest gay cruise was fraught with speculation this week. Since the cruise docked on Sunday, news has been rife regarding drugs aboard the luxury vessel. Agenda spoke with an insider on the cruise who gave an insight into the facts and atmosphere aboard the grandiose ship.

Steven Barry Krumholz, 51 of West Hollywood, California was arrested for allegedly dealing narcotics aboard the Allure of the Seas cruise ship in the Virgin Islands according to a spokesperson for U.S. Customs.  Our insider on the ship said “I saw the main guy, he fit in perfectly, I happened to have known him from previous cruises, he was a travel agent and this was his twenty eighth cruise. You would think he would have known better.”

Upon a search, agents claim they found 142 ecstasy tablets, almost 3 grams of methamphetamine, a small amount of ketamine and nearly $51,000 in cash. Krumholz was detained on charges of possession with intent to sell.

On the first day of the cruise our unnamed source said, “After the first party of the cruise, people got thrown off for excessive drug use. I was told that five people were forced to leave at the Bahamas but were given immunity if they would tell the authorities who the suppliers were on the boat. Then at St Thomas we were told that fifty people were thrown off, I don’t know the exact number who got arrested. One of my roommate’s friends from DC was thrown off but not arrested.”

A spokesperson for the cruise said that the line “maintains a strict zero tolerance policy regarding illegal drugs on its ships. We take various steps to prevent the transport of illegal narcotics, including working closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.” Our source said he thought, “they (cruise officials) handled it well but it put a stain on everyone’s trip.”

When asked how prevalent drug use was aboard the vessel, he said, “You can always tell when people are partying that way, some were totally out of control!  There are cameras all over the boat, we were constantly monitored and I don’t know how they thought they would get away it. However after day three of the cruise you really didn’t see people on drugs. Lots of people don’t party and this really freaked us out.”

All the talk amongst the 5400 passengers on the ship created an “atmosphere of fear and paranoia” and it was incredibly “Tense”. He concluded saying, “A cruise is what you make it, other than the tense rumors and seeing people ejected, I had a good time. I was a bit freaked out so didn’t meet as many people as I usually do. I just stuck with my friends from Atlanta.”

The cruise had been chartered by Atlantis Events, Inc. of West Hollywood with approximately 5,400 passengers and was billed as the “world’s largest gay cruise”. The ship departed Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on February 6 and made a stop in the Bahamas prior to arriving in the eastern Caribbean.

Earlier in the week, USA Today reported that a crew member of the Allure of the Seas was found dead in Cozumel, Mexico. It was disclosed that Monika Markiewicz, 32, who worked as a musician, was recovered from the ocean off the southern part of the Mexican island on Saturday. Nelson Perez Torres, 24, confessed to hitting Monika Markiewicz in the head with a rock and then throwing her into the ocean, said Francisco Alor, attorney general of Quintana Roo state, where Cozumel is located.

The incident comes several weeks after a string of crimes involving cruise ship passengers and crew in Mazatlan, Mexico prompting several lines to cancel calls at that port.