Changes in St. Thomas after a cruise passenger was killed

[jmraggs]

I found this link this morning in USA Today and I thought I would post it since there was some discussion on this board after the cruise ship passenger was killed:

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/p...terstitialskip

[cruzkitty]

Thanks for posting this, Mark. Corki is a beautiful place.

[cruzkitty]

Make that Coki-lol.

[mckinna]

It's sad that it takes the death of someone for law enforcement to actually enforce the law.

[gavaman]

We went there in Sept and could tell the difference from the last time we were there before
the killing. It was very quite and everyone seemed to be looking out for each other. Still
had a good time but not sure if we will go back next year.

[seashinesunshine]

Thanks for the info, we are going to Coki in Feb and I am glad to hear that some thing did change!!!

[SF]

We have a tour booked for Coral World and I think Coki Beach is right next door. I'm going to monitor what people are saying about the changes prior to deciding if we are going to keep our tour.

[bepsf]

I'd rather go back to Megan's Bay.

[SF]

We're suppose to visit Coral World and swim with the Sea Lions...wondering how safe that area is now. Anyone taken this tour lately?

[beachbum09]

We stopped at Coki beach in August while on cruise on the Norwegian Epic. We stopped at Megans Bay in the morning and then spent the afternoon at Coki.

It was packed out with tons of people from the different cruise boats docked there that day. We thought the beach was beautiful and the water was so clear! The snorkeling was fantastic. The fish come right up to you and there are tons all around.

Honestly, Coki Beach was one of my husband and I's favorite spots we visited in the Eastern Caribbean.

[dbail4]

We have decided to go to St Johns in November. Maybe next year we will but for now no.

[chinagirl5]

We skip all the "beautiful" places and head right to town.
My entire jewelry wardrobe comes from St. Thomas.
We'll be there in February - can't wait!

[ok4uni2cruz]

Crime can happen anywhere and at anytime. Most of us probably live in or near a city that had a shooting last night and will have another shooting tonight. The only reason this is making news is because of the cruise industry. If you stop visiting St. Thomas then you might as well never visit Chicago, LA, or New York again either because along with every other city in America, there have been shootings there too.

Happy cruising to all... Use good judgement... Travel in groups... and definitely ENJOY THE BEAUTIFUL CARIBBEAN

[cruiserone]

We no longer go to Coki Beach since two years ago we had an incident there with friends. We go to Magen's Bay beach, it is beautiful and we enjoy our day there. As well as Sapphire beach.

As in all places, be aware of your surroundings. Don't wear your jewelry and carry a lot of cash. Be aware of the people around you and if you feel uncomfortable, leave. It is sad but things happen every day in every town and they don't get the publicity that St Thomas got about this.

Be aware. But enjoy yourself most of the beaches and the people of St Thomas are wonderful. People forget where they are when they are on vacation.

[ncpiggie]

We are heading there in April on a cruise. I hope that it will be safer by then. I am glad this post was here. For some reason I had not heard of this shooting. I will be even more vigilant when there then I usually am. Keep posting on this issue.

[Oakton Girl]

We just got back from a week 's stay in St. Thomas. We did not go to Coki Beach because of the reported sad incident. As in all places one visits, you must be mindful of certain locations and stay clear. We travel often and there are areas in every destination that we wouldn't visit. Everywhere we went we felt perfectly safe. Magens Bay is beautiful or buy a day pass for 1 of the hotels with a beach. Better to pay a little and feel safe and enjoy your beach time. Hope this helps.

[Flctech]

Friends of ours were on holiday in St. Thomas 3 years ago. The family of 5 (Mom, Dad, Grandpa and 2 boys - 12 & 15) were walking from dinner when they were confronted by 2 masked people). They began slashing the mom to get her purse from her shoulder, the grandpa was knocked to the ground and his pockets cleaned out, the dad had a knife knick in his neck, and the ultimate horror was their 15 year old son was shot twice. Needless to say the masked people got away with it. It was fortunate that their son survived, but there is still one bullet lodged millimetres from a heart artery that is too dangerous to remove. His mom still carries the scars of the attack on her arm and hand. Although we have gone on a cruise to the Caribbean since then, we generally enjoy the ship and the warm weather. We have in the past been pestered and in situations that made us feel uncomfortable. Therefore we hesitate to venture too far. My intent is not to frightened anyone, but rather to inform.

[Marysunshine]

I noticed in the interview with the tourism director, she ended by saying no other changes were planned. My feeling is that the cruiselines bring in TONS of money to St. Thomas and if they cannot use some of it to provide an ambulance nearby for tourists and to provide enough safety for us, then they don't deserve to get our money, whether it be from the shopping or from port charges.

[bomadison]

At the risk of sounding like an island snob, let me just say that I am not. Here is my take...I will fairy to St. John on principle alone. I grew up going to St. Thomas and St. Marten in the glory days of cruising back in the 80's. Back then no one wanted to go to San Juan because it was so nasty, but St. Thomas was breath-taking. We (the cruisers) pumped money into their economy and they repaid us by keeping it beautiful. Now you can't even go to Coki beach without finding fecal matter on the floors of the bathhouse or without having to worry that you may get shot. I go to the islands to escape...St. Thomas used to be my escape. If the people of St. Thomas are not going to make their island welcoming than we will take our money elsewhere. There is a parallel situation arising in St. Thomas that mirrors why we (the cruisers) don't go into places like Grand Bahama Island. When you get off at port, it cost you $5 per person (for a family of 6 that's $60 round-trip) to taxi into town only to find the same cheap shopping over and over with unwelcoming beach access. We answered to Grand Bahama by taking it out as a port of call. We will answer St. Thomas the same way.

[blyle]

We honeymooned in St. Thomas in 1973. It was a beautiful and friendly Island and the hotels were wonderful. Now, it resembles most of the troubled islands in the Caribbean. We were on the last cruise that went into St Croix when they were having problems years ago and I fear St. Thomas is headed in that direction.
2 years ago our taxi driver started screaming at us because the group that got out at Coki tried to pay her less and she took it out on us. We were very uncomfortable since we didn't do anything to deserve it.

We stopped going to Coki due to vendors, amt of people, bacteria in the water due to overcrowding and the unsafe feeling. I guess if you did not know how it was in the 70's and 80's you wouldn't have the comparison. The US Virgin Islands used to be a jewel in the caribbean. I hope they can get it together and fast!!!