Cruise passengers abandoned on jet skis

[Charles4515]

Don’t piss off the tour guide......😮

 

http://www.royalgazette.com/news/article/20190722/tourists-abandoned-on-jet-skis

[Burrata]

there has to be more to this story! Can't believe a tour operator would do this..especially since they have excellent reviews on TA.

 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Burrata said:

there has to be more to this story! Can't believe a tour operator would do this..especially since they have excellent reviews on TA.

 

It doesn't appear it was the tour operator per se, but rather the guide leading that group.

 

We've traveled to a pretty fair number of countries and used many tour operators, all reputed to be reliable, but once in a  while we've gotten a really bad guide. In a couple of cases we chose to leave the tour early because the guide was not doing his/her job (we informed the guide we were doing so) and take a taxi back to our point of origin, whether cruise ship or hotel. it happens.

[1025cruise]

I agree, there has to be more to the story.

 

Unfortunately, we probably will never hear what it is. My guess is that the vendor will handle this internally. 

[Burrata]

According to the article the folks had no way to return to the dock because the guide took the keys for the jet skis. They had no way to get back on their own power. 

 

Also according to the tour co. FAQ ..It is by Bermuda law that all rental Jet Skis are accompanied by a tour guide in Bermuda" 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2019 by Burrata
more information

[JFontaine]

If it is true that the guide left those folks out there, and it appears that it is, I don't really need to hear any other side of the story.  It sounds like attempted murder to me, and should be dealt with accordingly. 

[Charles4515]

4 hours ago, JFontaine said:

If it is true that the guide left those folks out there, and it appears that it is, I don't really need to hear any other side of the story.  It sounds like attempted murder to me, and should be dealt with accordingly. 

 

Whatever they did to piss off the guide I can’t see any justification for the guide taking the keys and leaving.  I don’t understand though how the guide was able to take the keys. 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Wow!

[CruisinCrow]

Yikes!

[hominid]

On 7/22/2019 at 4:29 PM, JFontaine said:

If it is true that the guide left those folks out there, and it appears that it is, I don't really need to hear any other side of the story.  It sounds like attempted murder to me, and should be dealt with accordingly. 

I've read that the appropriate procedure for "reckless driving/drunk" is that the tour operator takes the keys and either radios for a boat or goes to get help. Jet skis are very dangerous machines that can cause a lot of damage. I think there is another side of the story that I would love to hear. Perhaps he had just gone back to get help as the tourists were behaving in a dangerous manner. It seems they were only out there for 20 minutes. Of course, they are going to act like they did nothing wrong. But if there are 3 jet skis, why did they just let the tour guide take the keys? That is not a quick and easy task to just zip over and do. The tourists had to know that is what he was doing. Hence, for this story, there is another side that is very important to the whole picture of what happened, but it will probably never get out to the public.

[JFontaine]

Their rescuer seems like a reliable source - a medical director for the America's Cup and former Chairman of the Bermuda Road Safety Council.  He described them being out there "for quite a while", and the medical director's call to Maritime Operations Center was the first that they heard of this, and they contacted KS Watersports, who sent a boat to meet the jet skiers.  It doesn't appear that the tour guide did anything to help them - no radio, no cell phone, no report to either Maritime Operations Center or to his own company to send help.   The two passengers didn't do anything wrong to be stuck out there. 

[njhorseman]

To follow up on this story, after an investigation police found no evidence of a crime, and as one might expect the details of that investigation will not be made public.

 

The company, presumably KS Watersports, has implemented "corrective measures" .

 

http://www.royalgazette.com/news/article/20190903/corrective-measures-after-tourists-abandoned-at-sea

[Charles4515]

20 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

To follow up on this story, after an investigation police found no evidence of a crime, and as one might expect the details of that investigation will not be made public.

 

The company, presumably KS Watersports, has implemented "corrective measures" .

 

http://www.royalgazette.com/news/article/20190903/corrective-measures-after-tourists-abandoned-at-sea

 

Now that the investigation is over KS Watersports should issue a statement about what corrective action is being implemented. To put the minds of tourists at ease about booking them. 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Now that the investigation is over KS Watersports should issue a statement about what corrective action is being implemented. To put the minds of tourists at ease about booking them. 

They may not want to say anything right now due to the possibility of civil litigation.