St Thomas

More details were released today about the 13 Royal Caribbean passengers from Serenade of the Seas that were involved in an accident.

The safari taxi, part of Royal Caribbean's "Best of St. Thomas and Shopping" (a three-and-a-half hour shore excursion), darted from Skyline Drive on Friday morning, levelling mailboxes, striking a parked SUV, launching itself over the ridge and plunging 65 feet into thick bush.

St. Thomas Deputy Police Chief Dwayne DeGraff said one woman broke her hip while another passenger required stitches for a cut on their forehead.  Only the woman with the broken hip did not return to Serenade of the Seas to complete the rest of their cruise.

Officials say The west-bound taxi veered left at an uphill right turn and struck a bank of mailboxes and the side of an Acura SUV parked in a driveway.The taxi then climbed the ridge and careened downhill into bush beside a concrete driveway on the southern slope.

The driver of the taxi, whose name was not disclosed, had no other charges against him/her.  The driver was cited with a commission violation but is authorized to operate a taxi.

The accident remains under investigation by the V.I. police.

Officials from the U.S. Virgin Islands in St Thomas report that a tourist bus carrying at least 13 cruise ship passengers has collided with a parked vehicle.  The passengers, from Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas, collided with the parked car.

The accident occurred in an open-air "safari bus" on a steep road near the island's scenic Beacon Point.

St. Thomas Tourist Department spokeswoman Allegra Kean-Moorehead says one of the injured is a female passenger who had to be hospitalized with a hip fracture.  Twelve other passengers were released after being treated.

She also said that Serenade of the Seas is still expected to depart late Friday without the injured passenger.

Photo by Jason Trent

Photo by April Dash

Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's newest ship and the largest cruise ship in the world, made its first stop ever at St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands earlier this week.

To commemorate the occasion, Allure of the Seas Captain Herman Zini told those in attendance "Thank you once again for the continuous focus you have on making the destination better and better.".  A plaque commemorated the event as well.

Royal Caribbean vice president of government relations was excited about the stop in St. Thomas, "The passengers want to take the greatest ship in the world to the greatest destination in the world".

The people of St. Thomas and every port Allure stops at have very good reason to be excited.  Both Allure and her sister ship, Oasis of the Seas, are expected to bring $1.5 million in revenues to the territory during each port call - $78 million a year.  In addition, the Florida Caribbean Cruise Associatian reports the average cruise passenger spends $193 while in the U.S. Virgin islands and crew members spend about $150.  Adding to the potential riches, the ship itself brings revenue through taxes and fees that Royal Caribbean is responsible for in accordance with docking and berthing the ship.

By 2012, Royal Caribbean estimates about 875,000 passengers will visit St. Thomas on an annual basis.

West Indian Company Ltd. President and CEO Ed Thomas said it and Royal Caribbean were going to spend a combined $15-$20 million to dredge St. Thomas Harbor so that mega ships Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas could dock there but not anymore.

“The cruise lines are not going to put up that money because they accomplished their goal,” he said. “Their ship is in St. Thomas. Certainly the West Indian Company is not going to put up money to do that kind of dredging because the ship is already in St. Thomas.”

Problems started back on October 14, 2009 when Governor John deJongh Jr put the dredging project on hold after substantial public opposition.  Those opposed to the dredging plan were concerned about the part of the plan that called for dumping 162,000 cubic yards of material into an existing depression in Lindbergh Bay.  While searching for an alternative, Oasis of the Seas would have to dock in Crown Bay.

Despite the halt in the plan, deJongh was confident that the dredging project would be complete in time for Allure of the Seas' first stop in St Thomas on December 10, 2010 during the busy tourist season.  However, talks never progressed very far according to Thomas, talks collapsed in January.

The trend of cruise ships getting larger and larger means St. Thomas Harbor will eventually need to be dredged acrroding to Thomas and that the harbor is already due for maintenance dredging thanks to all of the debris kicked up by departing and arriving cruise thips over the last few years.

Photo by Andre Harris

Following last week's killing of a cruise passenger, the United States Virgin Islands say they are making strides to make the island safer for tourists.  The police on the island are increasing their foot patrols across the island to stem violence from occuring.

Police commissioner Novelle Francis issued a statement regarding the measures the police are taking, "In response to the tragic incident at Coki Point on July 12, the (Virgin Islands police department) has quickly augmented its efforts to increase police officer presence on the streets and patrol specific areas visited most often by tourists, including but not limited to cruise ports, beaches, historical attractions, hotels and popular sightseeing areas".

The increased measures to combat violence include

• Increased mobile patrols of other areas with high visitor traffic
• The upgrading of security surveillance apparatus across the territory, including the addition of surveillance cameras in towns with 24 hour monitoring
• New intelligence gathering prior to and during visits of the areas frequented by visitors
• Monitoring of the movement of visitors
• Increased high intensity patrols of popular attractions throughout the territory

In addition, the U.S. Virgin Islands' tourist office announced plans this past Friday for a $1.2 million advertising and marketing campaign that will hopefully help portray the territory in a better light than it has been recently due to the news of the killing and violence on the island. The money will also be spent on new public relations efforts and to bring travel writers to the territory to write about it.

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises have waived their cancellation fees for shore excursions on St. Thomas this week due to the recent news of Monday's tragic death of a cruise passenger in a shooting.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez has announced that  passengers who are worried about their safety on the island and want to cancel pre-booked shore excursions at the last minute won't have to pay standard penalties.

“We do not have any shore excursions to Coki Point beach,” Cynthia Martinez, spokeswoman for Celebrity’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., said in a statement. “However, in an abundance of caution, we have cancelled the ‘Coral Land and Coral Sea’ shore excursion, which passes through the area where the incident took place. We also suggest that guests who planned activities in St. Thomas independently avoid Coki Point Beach and the Coral World area.”

For now, the waiver will be available for Saturday's arrival of Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. Waivers for Wednesday's arrival of sister line Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice also can be canceled with no penalty.

Yesterday there was an unfortunate death in St. Thomas, as a 14 year old cruise passenger from a Carnival Cruise Line ship was on a beach excursion to Coki Beach when she was shot to death after being caught in a crossfire by rival gangs. This has prompted other cruise lines to make decisions about the immediate future of excursions on St. Thomas. 

According to CruiseCritic, Royal Caribbean hasn't made their decision yet, "A spokeswoman tells us that the lines do not have any ships in port today, but do tomorrow (Celebrity Solstice). However, a decision has not yet been made regarding tomorrow's tours; we'll keep you posted."

Carnival has cancelled their tours in the area while other cruise lines have not made any decisions yet.