17 People robbed on Conquest Jamaica excursion

[voyagerfl]

Give me a break...This thread is getting ridiculous. Might as well stay locked up in your house. Jamaica receives over 1 million visitors every year. Recently a teenage girl was kidnapped from a Target parking lot in Kansas and killed. Should we stay away from all department store's? Tragically crime is random and can happen anytime anywhere.

 

True....But each time I've been to Jamaica, I've seen several bad things.....been offered Drugs.....Hookers........Shop owners Smoker Cigar Sized Joints, Knife Fight. Fake Coffee..... Now if I saw those things Every time I went to Target.....of if the Sales people grabbed me by the arm...and pawed at me......I would not go back to Target either......:rolleyes:

 

I'm the first one to agree that you can't hide under your bed..You gotta life in the World...but then I believe you can also be Foolish in your choices and the Risks you Chose to take......

[henepup]

Forget Target :confused: Im shopping at Walmart for now on !!!

 

 

Fred

I'm with you Fred...I hate target. Here I come Walmart...lol

[voyagerfl]

Give me a break...This thread is getting ridiculous. Might as well stay locked up in your house. Jamaica receives over 1 million visitors every year. Recently a teenage girl was kidnapped from a Target parking lot in Kansas and killed. Should we stay away from all department store's? Tragically crime is random and can happen anytime anywhere.

 

Guess I'll have to stay away from Kansas also....heh heh :rolleyes:

[Ms Belvedere]

There are two things in all these posts I just can't understand.

 

First, those who questioned if the OP's story was true have been proven totally wrong, but I've seen no apologies.

 

Second is this idea that Jamaica is "like any other port" and "it could happen anywhere just the same". Jamaica is NOT like other ports because the authorities there are part of the problem. The dope dealers work with the police there to arrest and get money from "rich Americans". If you want to question any part of the story we have heard, look at two things. The only source of the story about the one crook being shot is the Jamaican police, don't believe it. Also every news story says that "most" of the property was recovered and returned, but the OP and others say that is not true. Why? Because the police took their "cut". Note that there were no cameras left operational so that there could not be any photos of the criminals. Why? You figure it out. Jamaica is NOT like the other ports.

 

Oh yes, before you blast me for comments about the Jamaican police, I was in law enforcement for 31 years, including a stint as "Interpol" rep. No police agency I know of except the British would deal with Jamaica in any way, they are way too corrupt!

 

The only way to force Jamaica to clean up their act is don't go there.

You make some excellent points. When I read that "this can happen anywhere..." I think, "yes, but I don't intentionally GO where I know these things are likely to happen." The entire city of Miami is not dangerous, but there are plenty of areas I would not walk through that are close to Bay Side Marketplace. When we went with Phil Lafayette to Dunns River Falls he told us that tourism is the main source of income in Ocho Rios.

 

What made me uneasy in Ocho Rios was the look in the men's eyes when you made eye contact. There was a flat, dead look that made me realize that we are nothing to them but dollar bills. When you smile at people in other ports and say hello, they answer you in kind. In Jamaica they looked at us like they'd rather spit on us. They were lined up along the walk way into the shopping area at Margaritaville so we were face to face with them as we passed. It was not a good feeling to be looked at like that and since we've done the Dunns River Falls, I have no reason to go back to Jamaica. Our experience in Ocho Rios was not the smiling happy "Yeah Mon!" Or "Feeliing Irie!" depicted in commercials. Many of the houses we passed on our tour had high fences and razor wire along the top. Some of the housing we passed was nothing more than pieces of metal taped together with a piece of metal on top, it was extreme poverty.

 

In the future I won't pass on an itinerary that stops in Jamaica but I'd be hard pressed to do anything but walk around the port area. I hope that the tourists who were robbed can move on, I'm sorry about what you experienced and thank you for posting your first hand accounts here on CC.

Ms B

[mafig]

We've been to Ocho Rios many times.

 

I guess we look too old to be offered drugs....but we are always offered tours and such.

 

Here's what we do. We usually tell them somethink like "this is our tenth time in your beautiful country....this time we're just picking up some coffee and souveneers." They then leave us alone, until the next one, that is.

 

However, if Carnival or some other cruiseline decided to drop Jamaica because of this most recent attack on tourists, it wouldn't bother me at all. In fact, I would probably admire them for doing so.

[travmagic]

Boy, I must be extremely lucky to have never, in my 5 trips to Jamaica to ever met any of the people that all of you seem to find on your trips!:rolleyes:

I am very sorry for what happened to the people that were robbed. I am sure it was a horrific expereince they will never forget.

You all make it sound like every Jamaican is either a thief, a drug pusher or a rapist! For goodness sake! The Jamaicans I have met are kind hearted, proud and fun loving! I have never been afraid or uncomfortable. And I am always respectful in dealing with them.

I will continue to go to Jamaica and I hope I never meet YOUR Jamaicans. Mine are beautiful!

I am not naive enough to think that there are not bad people in Jamaica (just like every where) but I feel that they are the minority.

[rjsr2000]

we leave this weekend and DW and I will have a good time as always...this will be the 3rd time here,and we have never had a problem..crime is everywhere...I feel soory for what happen to the 17 people,and thank god no one was hurt...we all take a change just leaving the house.you never know what may happen to you...

[Hedocple]

True....But each time I've been to Jamaica, I've seen several bad things.....been offered Drugs.....Hookers........Shop owners Smoker Cigar Sized Joints, Knife Fight. Fake Coffee..... Now if I saw those things Every time I went to Target.....of if the Sales people grabbed me by the arm...and pawed at me......I would not go back to Target either......:rolleyes:

 

I'm the first one to agree that you can't hide under your bed..You gotta life in the World...but then I believe you can also be Foolish in your choices and the Risks you Chose to take......

 

Hmmm...We went to see a show in Hollywood (CA...Hollywood & Vine) last Friday night. Saw many of the things you mentioned above including a couple scary looking homeless dudes. Funny...tourists still flock there.

[Hedocple]

Boy, I must be extremely lucky to have never, in my 5 trips to Jamaica to ever met any of the people that all of you seem to find on your trips!:rolleyes:

I am very sorry for what happened to the people that were robbed. I am sure it was a horrific expereince they will never forget.

You all make it sound like every Jamaican is either a thief, a drug pusher or a rapist! For goodness sake! The Jamaicans I have met are kind hearted, proud and fun loving! I have never been afraid or uncomfortable. And I am always respectful in dealing with them.

I will continue to go to Jamaica and I hope I never meet YOUR Jamaicans. Mine are beautiful!

I am not naive enough to think that there are not bad people in Jamaica (just like every where) but I feel that they are the minority.

 

Totally agree...Have spent a total of 9 weeks in Jamaica over the past 8 years. Have met some wonderful Jamaican's we still keep in contact with.

[lornadoons]

True there are places in the United States I would not go on vacation to. I cruise not only for the ports but for the ship as well. I have stopped in Jamaica once and saw for myself. I will be stopping there again on the Freedom and me nor my children will be getting off the ship. I dont like a place where drugs are pushed on me every 10 min. Where there are drugs there are guns, and a lot of problems. I can go to Newark NJ and see the same thing except palm trees. I dont pay good money to go on vacation to a problem spot.

 

Again, what the original poster was posting about and was upset about was that this was a Carnival excursion that a Carnival representative kept reassuring passengers that booking through them would be a safe option.

Taking a port off would be unrealistic (as stated multiple times on these boards), basically, crime happens most everywhere, although I usually don't pay to go on vacation to those spots... would I ever consider going to Newark NJ on vacation, let alone PAY big bucks to do it?... no... nor any other "bad" city in the US) It's bad enough I had to visit my dear grandmother in Newark for free when she lived there her whole life! ;)

We did tour Jamaica through a private excursion company and I thought that would be safe. If I had heard about all of this prior, I would have probably stayed on the ship like my elderly parents did. I begged my 24 year old son (who didn't go to Dunn's River Falls with us) to STAY on the ship and NOT walk around by himself. Thank God he listened to me. Our 23 yr old did go on tour with us. He WAS asked to buy drugs, and he just said he didn't do that. He was not hassled after that. When we were done with our Falls climb, my son was looking for our driver amongst the hundreds in the parking lot, and one of the locals who asked him if he wanted drugs, helped him find our driver. My son promised him a $5 tip when I came over since he had no money on him. (he picked the wrong guy to make a drug purchase, that's for sure )I only had a few dollars and gave it to him. I wish I had more because he raced around that parking lot to help us. No problems. Our driver through Island Marketing was great and I felt completely safe. We drove over an hour and back to/from Dunns with another family in the van. He was proud of his island and begged us to vacation there in the future. Too bad we knew in our hearts we would never return. Once was enough. Instead of cruise lines officially taking these ports off, people just won't book them. I know I won't. I will pick my cruise by ports of call... what a waste to stay on the ship because we know it is unsafe beforehand.

 

bluebonnet... sooooo glad you and all who you were with had a happy ending.... I think it is so wrong for these cruise lines NOT to let the public know about these incidents.

[Glama]

I think you are living with blinders on if you think crime everywhere else is a once in a blue moon situation. Latest statistics for the city of Miami where a lot of cruises originate shows an overall crime index of 7585.7 incidents per 100,000 people. The figure for Fort Lauderdale is 7557.6. The city of Hartford, CT, far removed from the cruise world and the insurance capital of the US had three murders in the last week. Crime happens everywhere but when it happens in a tourist area, the press is right there. I have spent time in Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Runaway Bay and Negril. I have been out on the local streets and talked to the local people. Never have I felt threatened or afraid. Jamaica is a very beautiful island with a rich culture and very proud people. It is ashamed that people only see the port area and the tourist attractions. Care should be taken and you should be aware of your surrounding no matter where you walk whether it be MoBAy, New Your City or East Podunk (apologies to those of you who do live in crimeless East Podunk).

 

Joe, while I agree with some of your statements, statistically speaking, I think that most people have a MUCH better chance of getting robbed, hurt, offered drugs or just plain harrassed in Jamaica then they do in Miami. Tourists are TARGETED in Jamaica, especially cruise ship pax as they know they have to make it back to the ship on time, and it will be less likely to be reported. I've been to Miami a few times, and have never had any of those things happen, however, in Jamaica we were definately harrassed and offered drugs, prostitutes, etc.. It's SO bad in Jamaica, that our tour guide (a local) had to give us tips on how to walk through the market place.

 

Of course there is crime everywhere, but the chance that it will happen to me personally seem much higher in Jamaica than other cities I've been to, and other cruise ports.

[starketcher]

There are two things in all these posts I just can't understand.

 

First, those who questioned if the OP's story was true have been proven totally wrong, but I've seen no apologies.

 

Second is this idea that Jamaica is "like any other port" and "it could happen anywhere just the same". Jamaica is NOT like other ports because the authorities there are part of the problem. The dope dealers work with the police there to arrest and get money from "rich Americans". If you want to question any part of the story we have heard, look at two things. The only source of the story about the one crook being shot is the Jamaican police, don't believe it. Also every news story says that "most" of the property was recovered and returned, but the OP and others say that is not true. Why? Because the police took their "cut". Note that there were no cameras left operational so that there could not be any photos of the criminals. Why? You figure it out. Jamaica is NOT like the other ports.

 

Oh yes, before you blast me for comments about the Jamaican police, I was in law enforcement for 31 years, including a stint as "Interpol" rep. No police agency I know of except the British would deal with Jamaica in any way, they are way too corrupt!

 

The only way to force Jamaica to clean up their act is don't go there.

 

 

This post makes more sense than any other on this thread. And states my point more eloquently than I did, especiailly the past paragraph.

[Ms Belvedere]

When we were done with our Falls climb, my son was looking for our driver amongst the hundreds in the parking lot, and one of the locals who asked him if he wanted drugs, helped him find our driver. My son promised him a $5 tip when I came over since he had no money on him. (he picked the wrong guy to make a drug purchase, that's for sure )I only had a few dollars and gave it to him. I wish I had more because he raced around that parking lot to help us. No problems. Our driver through Island Marketing was great and I felt completely safe. We drove over an hour and back to/from Dunns with another family in the van. He was proud of his island and begged us to vacation there in the future. Too bad we knew in our hearts we would never return.

And this is the part that tears me up because I KNOW there are good people in Jamaica and I don't want to see them fall deeper into poverty due to loss of tourist income, but if it means more incidents like the robbery of the 17 Carnival visitors then that's the way it goes. The police and Bureau of Tourism will have to make some aggressive changes and prove that they are intent on protecting their number one source of income. It's too bad that to feel safe in Jamaica you have to stay in a locked, gated hotel/resort, it's a beautiful country from what we saw out of a van window.

[Houtx1559]

This post makes more sense than any other on this thread. And states my point more eloquently than I did, especiailly the past paragraph.

 

Thank you!

[billsrobb]

Gee I wonder if I am ugly. I was in Mo Bay last Sept and I was not hasseled for drugs or asked if I want a prostitute or even robbed. I had allot of friends with me and they were left alone too.

I know that there are bad people but to shut down a port just because of some bad people is not a viable idea.

 

Robb

[Gingee]

We were in Montego Bay a few years ago and I am wondering if we were in the central shopping center. We had gone on a cruise sponsored trip to Rosehall Mansion and then we stopped in the downtown area. It was regular buildings on a hill. Does this sound like the place?

[bmw mama]

Yes this thread is sounding ridiculous. Why and how would the thieves come aboard the ship? :rolleyes: Please stay away from Washington, D.C. then. So much crime happens here every single day you wouldn't even believe.

 

I guess anything is possible :eek: !! I am still staying on the ship !!!! No loss for us...we have been to Jamaica before and didn`t like it at all...We enjoy the beautiful Rhapsody of the sea.....so, we will have a extra day on ship to enjoy.:)

[viciouslysh]

I only went to Sunset Beach, but the cab driver was so friendly and talkative. He was back for us at the time he said he would be. The women working at the shops at the port were extremely nice. All the employees at the Sunset resort were helpful and very inviting. I'm glad we didn't decide to stay onboard.

[restasured]

The excursion was booked through the ship. If I book a tour through the ship then I would expect them to be responsible for the safety of the tour, just as I would expect Disney Land to be responsible for their rides (tours).

 

Was the tour Guide EMPLOYED by Carnival or was it just the EXCURSION that was BOOKED by Carnival?

 

I realize that Jamaica, is a very poor area that has a high crime rate , but so are a LOT of other places.(the southside of Oklahoma City, for instance)

I Fail to see How/Why you THINK Carnival could/should be blamed for the criminal acts that was bestowed upon several passengers.

YES, it's Carnival's responsibility to Protect the passengers while OnBoard the ship or on any of Carnival Property.(if the criminal acts happened away from Carnival Property, how/why would Carnival be held responsible.)

MY Opinion, is that each person should be WARNED & AWARE that they are taking a RISK by getting OFF the ship.(if you took a taxi to NYC or Los Angeles & got out of the taxi & was robbed, would you blame the cabbie for dropping you off?)

As with nearly ANY city you go to.....You Enter At Your Own Risk!

[ala-kat]

The only problem I had in Jamaica was the 'brew pub' (just down and across the street from Margariataville) did NOT have any 'brewed' beer. Just had Red Stripe. Was still a great place.

[restasured]

I just love these "you have to be aware of your surroundings" statements. These people were on a private banana plantation. Which surroundings are they supposed to be aware of?

 

QUOTE=MamaParrotHead;10514199]Can't wait to hear how the "I book ship excursions only, because they're safer" people respond.:rolleyes:

 

No matter where you are, you have to be aware of your surroundings and know that no one can 100% control the environment. We had a nice time in Ocho Rios, knowing full well the "climate" (and I don't mean weather, LOL) that we purposefully almost had ZERO contact with locals whose livings didn't depend on being kind to tourists.

[bmw mama]

Give me a break...This thread is getting ridiculous. Might as well stay locked up in your house. Jamaica receives over 1 million visitors every year. Recently a teenage girl was kidnapped from a Target parking lot in Kansas and killed. Should we stay away from all department store's? Tragically crime is random and can happen anytime anywhere.

 

Why are you saying that I should stay locked up in my house???? I choose not to put our life at risk in Jamaica...esp. since this happened. You can`t even compare Target or other department stores to Jamaica.Jamaica is a poor country with alot of crime...look up Jamaica`s news..you might be surprised.

[restasured]

I don't think there are any excursions in Jamaica that aren't off the beaten path.

 

When I'm in O Rios I walk the streets shopping. Yes the venders and begars are aggressive, but most of the locals are nice. In all situations you have to be cautious. Stay in crowded areas and don't go off the beaten path. Also it helps to be 6-4 and can handle myself in an altercation.

[todzie]

You can wax this however you want, but bottom line is that Jamaica is a trouble spot right now. We've run across some very lovely people during our visits there, but for the most part, we encountered just the opposite. Even the ones who were "civil" exuded a forced civility. Some know where their bread is buttered, but it doesn't mean they have to like it. Just imagine living the life they live and having to kiss butt to survive. You can feel the resentment.

 

We gained quite a bit of insight from a Jamaican driver we hired in Grand Cayman. He was a lovely, gentle soul with great love for his country...but even he alluded to the fact that the ships are targets and that you cannot count on the local authorities to help out in a lot of situations.

 

And, just prior to our first trip to Jamaica, we were given some advice from an acquaintance who spent a month there doing missionary type work after one of the hurricanes. He was very compassionate about the living conditions and the dependence on the tourism industry of a lot of good, honest people, yet he made no bones about the fact that he would never vacation there.

 

Just food for thought...

 

(And for the record, we took a catamaran excursion to Dunn River Falls in Ocho Rios right off the port dock, walked over to Margaritaville afterwards, and for the most part, felt relatively safe, even though we were approached numerous times. In Montego Bay, we winged it the first time with a cab driver, a beach and Margaritaville. There is no way I would do that again under current conditions, even though we had a wonderful, informative, attentive driver...it wasn't worth the rest of the harassment and unease we encountered. The Margaritaville there wasn't that great anyway...at least the one in Ocho Rios was worth a little effort. The trips to Sunset Beach were hassle free every time. I would never go anywhere else there, especially when our children are with us. Just my take on things).

[Mikel1733]

Another incident such as an armed robbery will force some serious attention by cruiselines who stop at jamaica. The only way any changes will be made is to reduce or eliminate stops to the island for a period of time. Money talks.