Granddaughter worried about Dominican Republic

[Anyislandwilldo]

I'm taking my daughter (40) and my granddaughter (21) on their first cruise in October on the Breeze.  My granddaughter has heard the recent news of people getting sick in the Dominican Republic.  We have a Carnival snorkeling excursion booking so I assured her we would be fine because we will be transported from the ship to a dock to board the catamaran.  Can anyone else shed some light on this to help ease her mind?  Thanks in advance. 

[evandbob]

More people get sick on the ship than in any port......I know DR has been in the news lately, so I went ahead and found a great deal at an adult AI for 10 nights in Punta Cana, RT non stop air and RT airport transfers for less than a week long cruise on the Horizon.

 

If you're stopping at Amber Cove, it's a self contained secure corral, so perhaps there might be less anxiety than taking the catamaran and thinking you may get exposed to what has happened miles away from AC in resorts in LaRomana and PC.

[Elaine5715]

13 minutes ago, Anyislandwilldo said:

I'm taking my daughter (40) and my granddaughter (21) on their first cruise in October on the Breeze.  My granddaughter has heard the recent news of people getting sick in the Dominican Republic.  We have a Carnival snorkeling excursion booking so I assured her we would be fine because we will be transported from the ship to a dock to board the catamaran.  Can anyone else shed some light on this to help ease her mind?  Thanks in advance. 

Don't eat or eat anything off ship

[HuliHuli]

I partially agree with evandbob that more people may get sick on the ship, but right now more are dying ashore.  The common thread to all of the cases seems to be linked to consuming alcohol from the mini-bar in the affected resorts.  Note: These are not like the sealed mini-bottles we are used to in the U.S., but refillable bottles in a dispenser in the room, which leaves them wide open to potential tampering.  We visited Amber Cove two weeks ago on the Carnival Elation and because it is a self contained, private facility for Carnival passengers, the risks are quite low that what is happening around Puerto Plata will happen in this port.  Erring on the side of extreme caution, we stayed at the port facility, which is very nice, brought drinks ashore and returned to the ship to eat.  Since returning I have seen reports that DR tourism is off 74% in recent weeks and will likely remain so until the government there comes clean on how these deaths occurred. 

[garyh9900]

"These situations were tragic, but they are an inevitable consequence of millions of Americans traveling abroad each year. While the media is breathlessly raising the alarm over the Dominican Republic, in 2018, 14 Americans died in Canada, six in the United Kingdom, and eight in France of unnatural causes and, collectively, probably hundreds died of natural causes. Yet, there is no endless news coverage or reporters sniffing the vodka in pubs in England, nor calls for boycotts or change travel plans for those countries."

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/450727-media-frenzy-over-dominican-republic-deaths-causing-more-harm-than-good

 

[Organized Chaos]

This topic has been pretty thoroughly discussed. Here's a few threads where you can read through a lot of varying opinions on the matter.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2674906-will-carnival-change-amber-cove-for-another-port/

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2674154-la-romana-dr-port-on-horizon/

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2673849-carnivals-ports-in-dr-how-is-carnival-handling-this/

[tallnthensome]

People, give yourselves a break and give it a rest already. Quit being paranoid. You’re not going to die in the Dominican ...... 

Edited June 29, 2019 by tallnthensome

[riffatsea]

I agree that this has been discussed to death!!(no pun intended!)

NO cruisers have become sick and died in the DR!

NOone on any of the excursions have gotten sick and died.

It has only been reported that folks staying in resorts on the other side of the island from where Carnival docks have died.

I don't even see the connection since it had not affected even 1 of the many many folks who have cruised to this island!  Please show me where you are reading that cruise passengers have been affected in any way at all?????

[sfaaa]

No one knows why some tourists are suddenly dropping like flies in Dominican Republic. That's the concern.

[evandbob]

There were 6.5 million tourists visiting the DR last year.  Let's see, 12 deaths out of 6.5 mil = about 0.00018%  Miniscule, worse odds than hitting the Lottery.

 

Carnival had almost twice as many passengers @ 11.5 Mil.  I'll wager that more than 25 cruisers died somehow last year on Carnival.  I see an ambulance at about every other port.  I've had several ships delay sailaway or even return to the sailaway port for evacs.  Witnessed several helo-vacs at sea as well.  

 

Last year Cozumel, Playa and Cancun had a situation similar to what is happening in the DR, but the Mexican Gov't took responsibility and  immediate corrective action to alleviate the situation.  The DR should emulate  Mexico.

 

Won't stop me from traveling or cruising.  Maybe old age will, but fear will not.

 

And, needless to say, no amount of #'s and probabilities can ease the pain or grieving for the families of those who have died on vacation or a cruise.

Edited June 30, 2019 by evandbob

[teknoge3k]

There's been like, 11 suspicious American deaths in the DR in the past year. There have been 31+ homicides in Baltimore in the past 4 weeks, yet thousands of people still cruise from Baltimore and nobody asks on here about there. The media is hyping this up way too much. 

Edited June 30, 2019 by teknoge3k

[thesmiths]

I've been around the world for Business. India, Thailand, Phillipines + + over the past 30 years.

Tried many of things I shoudn't have. Been to places I should not have gone too.

But if you don't experience the "local Life", then why go.

 

We are going to D.R. on Carnival again (previous was La Romana) to Amber Cove and have a private tour for my wife & I.

We are going to a beach and have locals cook us lunch after the tour around the city + + .

 

Moral of this post, go, make memories.

If that means you bring bottled water and boxes of cereal off the ship, just go and have fun and get out of the Port area..

[coevan]

5 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Don't eat or eat anything off ship

 

 

Sorry Elaine, but you are way to paranoid. You seriously think a beer or bottled water would affect you? We ate a Cafe with our driver in Puerto Plata, wonderful and delicious. 

[Elaine5715]

48 minutes ago, coevan said:

 

 

Sorry Elaine, but you are way to paranoid. You seriously think a beer or bottled water would affect you? We ate a Cafe with our driver in Puerto Plata, wonderful and delicious. 

Not my issue.  My response was to the OP

[Cafedumonde]

DR is a crappy country IMO.  We are done getting off at DR ports.  But we made that decision before the recent deaths.  Now we just feel really smart for making that decision.   If you get off there, just don’t drink or eat anything.  Bring your own bottled water with you.  BTW we are done with Belize too.  Good lord what a mess that place is.

Edited June 30, 2019 by Cafedumonde

[coevan]

Belize City yes, the out islands are beautiful. Great beaches, diving, snorkeling, fishing, The Cays are great.

[Sabalon]

We just came back and DR was one of the stops.  While waiting for excursions to leave one day, the Fun Squad member on stage was asking show of hands who has an excursion at St Thomas. Then who has one at DR - he made a joke about "ah...the brave ones" but then qualified it with a statement that people should not be afraid.  I'm paraphrasing what he said, but the gist was that Carnival Excursion providers are held to a high standard, have to provide so much documentation etc to show that they are safe providers etc that there is nothing to fear.  

 

There are a number of theories going around from old water pipes to bug spray to counterfeit alcohol.   The first can be mitigated by bringing your own water, the second - that seemed to have been around a resort on the opposite side of the island, and the third can be avoided by not drinking.  

 

We did not do an excursion in DR because it was day 6 of the cruise and we were dead tired at that point.  The port area is a beautiful enclave, with some activities and an amazing pool, with a swim-up bar, which I had a drink from and felt fine (which is sad cause it should have been stronger).   So cancelling the excursion on that port of call could be an answer as well.

 

But honestly - you'll be fine.   You have a lot of time to see what happens, what results come back from lab tests and the ability to cancel the excursion with not financial impact.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I can understand why she’d be concerned. It does seem like cruisers would have a lower risk due to shorter time in port and cruise line excursions, though I’m no expert. You could always do the cruise and stay onboard on DR day to be safe.

[sfaaa]

When FBI is involved in a foreign country, you know it is deemed a serious situation.

[Organized Chaos]

32 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

When FBI is involved in a foreign country, you know it is deemed a serious situation.

 

That does not speak to any dangers to cruise passengers.  The FBI is there to investigate deaths that have already occurred. They are not there to assess any possible dangers to cruise passengers, which is why all these threads have popped up. The State Dept. warns travelers to exercise increased caution due to crime, but that advisory has been in place long before these deaths occurred.

[Cafedumonde]

Nassau is Disneyland compared to dr and Belize.  On our last excursion in Belize (cave tubing) a year ago,  we stopped at 3 military checkpoints on the way, guys on the back of pickup trucks with sub machine guns.  No thanks.  One and done.  We’ve been to two ports in DR and they were very similar to Belize.  Totally crazy to me that anyone would go on an actual vacation to the DR.  

[Organized Chaos]

59 minutes ago, Cafedumonde said:

Nassau is Disneyland compared to dr and Belize.  On our last excursion in Belize (cave tubing) a year ago,  we stopped at 3 military checkpoints on the way, guys on the back of pickup trucks with sub machine guns.  No thanks.  One and done.  We’ve been to two ports in DR and they were very similar to Belize.  Totally crazy to me that anyone would go on an actual vacation to the DR.  

 

We were in Amber Cove last year. Drove through part of Puerto Plata. Sure as heck didn't see any soldiers, or "guys" in pickup trucks with sub-machine guns. I've read about that cave tubing excursions. Looks fun. We might have to check that out some day.

[SNJCruisers]

Your cruise stops at Amber Cove, which is a Carnival self contained area similar to Grand Turk.  If you were stopping at La Romana, like we are in August on the Horizon, then you might have some concerns.  But multiple ships stop at Amber Cove every week and so far there have been zero problems with the exception of those that get sunburned or over indulge in their alcoholic beverage of choice.

[Butterbean1000]

I work with a women from the DR.  She goes home 4 to  6 times a year.  She is very familiar with the all inclusives that are at the center of most of the deaths. She blames the cheap liquor they use.   An all inclusive doesn't generally use the good  stuff.  Their mini bottles are refillable.  Contaminated liquor? Who knows.  

Edited July 1, 2019 by Butterbean1000

[young_k92]

I completely understand your granddaughter's concerns. My cousin is headed to the DR to a resort this summer, and I really just wish she'd cancel it. I can tell you, that just because the DR is in the news right now doesn't make it the only place this is happening. If you want to scare yourself to never leave the U.S., just Google "Mexico resort deaths." After much research, I believe that it is "tainted" alcohol, if by tainted, one means "drugs added on purpose by criminals in order to: 1) send you to the hospital to extort money out of you; 2) make you easy to take advantage of; or 3) make you easy to rob." So, point is, weigh the pros and cons of taking the risks. Don't eat or drink anything while there. You'll probably be fine. If "probably" isn't good enough for you, don't get off the ship. That's a perfectly respectable option, even though there are people on here who don't agree. With three kids at home, it wouldn't personally be worth it to me. Only you can decide that for yourself. Some of us have too much good at home to lose over a stupid shore excursion to a third world country. Sorry, haters. You may begin the hateful replies now. Oh, and I plan to get off the ship in Cozumel in January when I'm there on my cruise, but I will not be eating or drinking anything. I would visit Amber Cove, not leave the cordoned off area, and not eat or drink anything if I were you. That's my humble opinion. Good luck! And enjoy your cruise!