Parts of NASSAU now off the itinerary

[peter l]

It is sad, but if you think about the many tourists that visit the hot spots in the USA for vacations, it comes down to knowing where not to go within a certain city and do your homework first. I remember a few years ago when we were in Philly and I wandered away from the gals and didn't realize that I had walked into a neighborhood that I shouldn't be in. It can happen anywhere. The cruise lines are smart to keep their passengers away from those areas if there has been too much trouble.

Peterl

[penny3333]

Peterl, I've seen ships pull the port more than once. We were schedule to stop in Honduras years ago and they pulled the port due to civil unrest. They used to sail to Kingston, but I haven't seen that on any itineraries in a long time. Trinidad isn't offered on very many itineraries either or St. Vincent. Martinique used to be on everyone's itinerary, now it's very rare.

[Dwayne]

Do you think the cruise lines will change the itinerary if this is one of the stops?

No. At least not any time soon unless the crime situation gets much worse. The major cruise lines have a vested interest in keeping Nassau open as a port call. Now, they will pull ports if a situation becomes a civil unrest situation as Penny mentioned concerning Honduras. They will pull lesser visited ports if cruise ship passengers and crew are continually targeted for crime. Carnival pulled St.Croix for just that reason several years ago.

The people of Nassau are in no way happy about these occurrences. They want it "nipped in the bud" as much as we do.

The Carnival Dream "should" dock as scheduled on January 17th.

Dwayne

[penny3333]

They will only pull a port for safety reasons or if it becomes to costly to dock there They don't do it lightly or because of one or two incidents, but they will not put passengers into harm's way.

I'm sure the locals are not very happy about the actions of a few. It's the same way here in the states. There are some once fun places in the US to visit that you wouldn't dare step foot in now

[Cruise Fanatic]

The cruise lines have a vested interest in Nassau remaining a safe stop. The short 3-day cruises from Port Canaveral only can travel to the Bahamas due to distance. If Nassau is pulled the only other option (besides private islands) is Freeport. Most would prefer Nassau over Freeport. Even on 3-day cruises from Miami the Bahamas is the only option. Key West isn't an option by itself as it wouldn't meet the Passenger Act requirement. I believe the Bahamian government will work on keeping Nassau a safe place as it brings in big tourism dollars.

[Cruise Fanatic]

See here information from Gene Sloan of USA Today on how Royal Caribbean is handling the situation.

[Dwayne]

Thanks, Cruise Fanatic, for the news link. It was probably a good idea for RCI to mention this in the Cruise Compass. It definitely got the government's attention.

Dwayne