Carnival Vista Passenger Deceased, Several Injured in Belize Accident

[sunonfire]

The names of the victims have been released.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7737111/Two-Americans-five-people-killed-collision-Belize-red-SUV-slams-head-van.html

[jimbo5544]

30 minutes ago, sunonfire said:

The names of the victims have been released.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7737111/Two-Americans-five-people-killed-collision-Belize-red-SUV-slams-head-van.html

Just terrible 

[david_sobe]

Horrific to read about this.  Condolences to the families.  Its gut wrenching when a family vacation happiness turns into unexpected grief.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Listening to the news this morning it is now 3 dead.  A married couple included.

 

Prayers to everyone.

[crewsweeper]

Such a tragic  event.  Condolences to all the families 

[stellarose]

prayers to all. makes me second guess my tour in Belize to mayan ruins through Carnival in December. 

[WorkerBee74]

15 hours ago, sunonfire said:

The names of the victims have been released.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7737111/Two-Americans-five-people-killed-collision-Belize-red-SUV-slams-head-van.html

 

Good old Daily Mail.  Headline is 'Carnival Cruise Van', even though it was an independent tour.  Doesn't really matter - still a tragic accident, but I'm sure that Carnival will care.

[keywest1]

4 hours ago, stellarose said:

prayers to all. makes me second guess my tour in Belize to mayan ruins through Carnival in December. 

It is so sad and scary, but this wasn't a Carnival tour.  An accident like this can happen anywhere.  The Mayan ruins are worth

seeing.  Please don't let this stop you from enjoying your vacation.  

[Pyrate13]

8 hours ago, stellarose said:

prayers to all. makes me second guess my tour in Belize to mayan ruins through Carnival in December. 

This same accident could have been in downtown somewhere, USA or any place else. I was a passenger once in a head on collision in my hometown that killed two. Don't let one terrible accident stop you from your excursion. 

[TNcruising02]

20 minutes ago, Pyrate13 said:

This same accident could have been in downtown somewhere, USA or any place else. I was a passenger once in a head on collision in my hometown that killed two. Don't let one terrible accident stop you from your excursion. 

I agree.  Accidents happen everywhere.

I think the best thing someone can do is to wear a seatbelt.  I have noticed that most people don't use the seatbelts in those smaller tour buses.  Some of them may not even have seat belts.  I think it's something that many people just don't think about while touring, even though I think most people will always use a seatbelt while traveling in a car.

I am going to definitely pay more attention to the seat belts while touring.

[shof515]

37 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

I agree.  Accidents happen everywhere.

I think the best thing someone can do is to wear a seatbelt.  I have noticed that most people don't use the seatbelts in those smaller tour buses.  Some of them may not even have seat belts.  I think it's something that many people just don't think about while touring, even though I think most people will always use a seatbelt while traveling in a car.

I am going to definitely pay more attention to the seat belts while touring.

i also noticed some of the vehicles the tour operator uses it very old cars and lacks all of the fancy safety features that our cars have like airbags, side airbags, crumple zones, etc, etc

 

hopefully a crash like this will help push newer safer cars on the roads

[Boatdrill]

1 hour ago, Pyrate13 said:

This same accident could have been in downtown somewhere, USA or any place else. I was a passenger once in a head on collision in my hometown that killed two. Don't let one terrible accident stop you from your excursion. 

This is true. However your recourse in the US is most likely better than in Belize. 

 

[shof515]

another accident: https://www.wfaa.com/amp/article/news/local/second-crash-in-belize-kills-another-north-texas-resident-during-cruise-ship-shore-excursion-police-say/287-a5152023-b511-4938-986b-b6532d262838

[jbethel11]

10 hours ago, shof515 said:

i also noticed some of the vehicles the tour operator uses it very old cars and lacks all of the fancy safety features that our cars have like airbags, side airbags, crumple zones, etc, etc

 

hopefully a crash like this will help push newer safer cars on the roads

The dodge van looked from the '90s, when those safety features weren't encouraged/required. One of the first things to look at whenever entering any vehicle is the safety features of car. In that moment, however, what much could they have done? By the look of the second accident you linked to, the car had sufficient safety features. 

[Shaded Lady]

It's incredible how much we've come to count on those standard safety features now... I can remember a time when most cars didn't have seatbelts, let alone airbags!

 

I would never have thought to look for a seatbelt on a cruise excursion, but I'm sure I will now... I'm just not sure what recourse I would have if the vehicle didn't have them.

 

I follow a woman named Favor on YouTube who does all her homework in advance and won't book an excursion if the vehicle doesn't have those safety features.... I always thought it was a bit too much on her part, but now, maybe I'll rethink that!

[crewsweeper]

15 hours ago, shof515 said:

another accident: https://www.wfaa.com/amp/article/news/local/second-crash-in-belize-kills-another-north-texas-resident-during-cruise-ship-shore-excursion-police-say/287-a5152023-b511-4938-986b-b6532d262838

So sad. 

[stellarose]

not good for belize. wonder if carnival will cancel ship excursions?  now I am really on the fence. 

Edited November 30, 2019 by stellarose

[Cruise-Crazy]

54 minutes ago, stellarose said:

not good for belize. wonder if carnival will cancel ship excursions?  now I am really on the fence. 

 

Why would they cancel ship excursions? 

[SMSACE6]

the accident would not have happened if the other driver had not attempted to pass at a dangerous time and place.

 

that said, I think that tour busses need to ensure that they are equipped with seat belts and that they are used.

 

terribly sad for the people involved in this incident.  

 

[pppiglet]

We just got back from a week in Puerto Vallarta. On two different days we were in vehicles (one a taxi, and one a small van) and both drivers went on the other side of the road to pass slower drivers in front of them. I just closed my eyes and prayed.  Then back home here in California, on Thanksgiving day a jeep passed two slow cars on a two lane road and he almost had a head on collision.  People need to relax and drive a little slower. 

[evandbob]

7 hours ago, Shaded Lady said:

It's incredible how much we've come to count on those standard safety features now... I can remember a time when most cars didn't have seatbelts, let alone airbags!

 

I would never have thought to look for a seatbelt on a cruise excursion, but I'm sure I will now... I'm just not sure what recourse I would have if the vehicle didn't have them.

 

I follow a woman named Favor on YouTube who does all her homework in advance and won't book an excursion if the vehicle doesn't have those safety features.... I always thought it was a bit too much on her part, but now, maybe I'll rethink that!

These "standard safety features" we come to expect in the US were mostly brought about through legislation and government regulations, not as a by product of capitalism.  Car makers used to moan and groan about the nanny state and added cost of adhering to the regs for safety belts, air bags, collision impact absorbing zones, etc.  Even the little triangle on the fuel gauge that shows which side of the car the gas tank cover is on was the result of government regs.

 

Sure, we all like to criticize big govt as interfering in our lives with unnecessary rules, but when those safety items we take for granted aren't there, we're ready to raise heck about their lack.  Go figure.......

[cruisinmeme]

The first crash was head on. You have to wonder how much safety features would of helped.

sadly the crash that involved the lady of Royal Caribbean ship did not have on a seat belt. That crash was caused by blown tire. I will say most of those tour operators/vans used for transport have bald tires. Yes, ship sponsored excursions. We had one once that had to stop every few miles to air up his tire. It may take awhile but maybe they will require better tires on the vehicles

[CruisingViper]

I was on this cruise. By Wednesday night we thought it was odd we hadn't left port yet, then they announced the deaths over the comm during early seating dinner. It was a real tragedy.

[EMBFlyer]

On 11/27/2019 at 9:42 PM, lennythenose said:

I have a friend on the Vista. She has been sitting with a couple who had 4 family members on the bus who did survive but were not back onboard when she wrote the message. She is a minister and just met the couple n the Atrium when she saw they were upset.  She said at that time the passengers onboard had been told that there were 5 deaths from Vista, more from other ships and many critical. Not sure who told them this or how correct it was. Apparently the tour bus and another vehicle collided head on. 
 

ETA- I read the above article and it does look like the number she heard onboard was not correct according to the official statement. 

I was on this cruise.

 

We were NOT told there had been 5 deaths.  At approximately 6:30 (90 minutes past sailing time), Captain Sal came on the PA to tell us there had been a vehicle accident on an independent tour involving people from the ship.  He said there had been fatalities (and NEVER gave a number).  He also said that the road was blocked and we were waiting on approximately 3-400 people on ship's tours to return.  He also said a Care Team from the ship, including medical personnel had been sent ashore and that a Care Team from Miami had been dispatched as well.  Matt followed up with roughly the same announcement about a minute later.

 

About an hour later, Matt made another announcement that said 1 person from Vista had passed away in the accident.

 

It was a horrible feeling to hear that announcement and it really pisses me off when people exaggerate.  This is how nasty rumors get started.

[TNcruising02]

5 hours ago, EMBFlyer said:

I was on this cruise.

 

We were NOT told there had been 5 deaths.  At approximately 6:30 (90 minutes past sailing time), Captain Sal came on the PA to tell us there had been a vehicle accident on an independent tour involving people from the ship.  He said there had been fatalities (and NEVER gave a number).  He also said that the road was blocked and we were waiting on approximately 3-400 people on ship's tours to return.  He also said a Care Team from the ship, including medical personnel had been sent ashore and that a Care Team from Miami had been dispatched as well.  Matt followed up with roughly the same announcement about a minute later.

 

About an hour later, Matt made another announcement that said 1 person from Vista had passed away in the accident.

 

It was a horrible feeling to hear that announcement and it really pisses me off when people exaggerate.  This is how nasty rumors get started.

It is possible that the person onboard the Vista was told there were five total deaths, but maybe not over the loud speaker. She may have mistaken it for five Vista deaths.  Originally, there were five deaths but it appears it turned to 7 after a few of the hospitalized people died.

Edited December 5, 2019 by TNcruising02