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Royal Caribbean joins trend of cruise lines leaving Mexico

In:
15 Jan 2011

Royal Caribbean is joining two other cruise lines in ending or reducing their travel to Mexico from southern California, a trend that some in the industry attribute the growing violence in the country has scared off tourists.

Royal Caribbean's luxurious Mariner of the Seas departs on Sunday for her last journey from the Port of Los Angeles to the west coast of Mexico, said port spokesman Phillip Sanfield.

The ship then moved his base to Galveston, Texas, offering seven-night trips to the western Caribbean, the company said.

Norwegian and Carnival Cruise Lines are also pulling their ships from the area.But the loss of Mariner of the Seas, Norwegian Star and Carnival Splendor represents most of the cruise ship traffic in Southern California to Mexico, which has been beaten by the violence and slow U.S. economic recovery.

"Certainly, Mexico has some problems," said Sanfield.

Luxury cruises in Southern California have traditionally made stops in Mexican tourist destinations like Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, which have prevented some of the worst drug violence that has swept Mexico in recent years.

"However, people are taking a broader view (...) to violence in other parts of Mexico," Sanfield said.

An estimated 755,000 cruise passengers passed through the Port of Los Angeles last year, but expects that number to drop to 605,000 in 2011, said the port. Only the Mariner of the Seas transported 320,000 passengers in the port in 2010, and Royal Caribbean has had a presence in place for most of the past 20 years.

"They have been one of the main pillars, and we hope you come back here in the future," Sanfield said. "Each time a cruise ship visits a port in southern California, contributes 1 to $ 2 million to the local economy."

Drug-related violence in Mexico began to grow in 2006, the year that President Felipe Calderon sent the army to fight the cartels. On January 8, in the latest bloodshed that has occurred in a tourist destination in Mexico, 14 decapitated bodies were found in the resort of Acapulco.  The bodies were found near a shopping mall, with handwritten messages signed by the leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

Stewart Chiron, an industry analyst CruiseGuy.com, said that apart from the poor economy, another factor contributing to the decline in travel to Mexico is that passengers are just tired of these routes.

Increased police presence in St Thomas to combat violence

In:
19 Jul 2010

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.

South African Woman hires lawyer firm to pursue rape case

In:
17 Jul 2010

A South African woman, only known as "Taryn" claims she was raped by a coworker aboard a Royal Caribbean ship.  She worked as a beauty therapist and says that she was raped by a fellow South African, a fitness instructor, and sent home after reporting the incident.  This week she hired Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkelman, who specialize in maritime law and cases involving passengers and crew injured on ships worldwide.

"I believe they sent me home to hide the case and protect their reputation - they didn't care about my wellbeing.
 
"The easy part was to get over the physical rape, the hard part was, and still is, trying to convince myself that I did the right thing by reporting the incident, despite being made to feel like I was in the wrong, despite still feeling like no justice was done and despite having no one but my family and friends to support me emotionally."

Taryn reports that after she reported the case, the cruise captain told her: "There are two stories, his and yours, but his sounds more believable, because you had been drinking."

She said she was advised to drop the matter or face an FBI investigation into the incident since the alleged rape had taken place on a US-registered vessel. After she decided to drop the matter, "I was given two hours to pack my bags and say goodbye."

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