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Cruise Companies Cancel Nassau Excursions Due to Robberies
By Libby Zay
By Libby Zay
December 1 2009
After several reports of tourist being targets of armed robberies, three cruise companies have canceled popular excursion trips to the city of Nassau in the Bahamas.
On November 30th, The Associated Press reported that Norwegian Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line and Carnival have put a hold on excursions within Nassau.
Until recently, shore excursions such as off-road Segway tours were popular activities for passengers looking to walk-off their sea legs. A recent string of armed robberies, however, has forced cruise companies to rethink these tours in the name of safety.
Just last week, author Carly Milne shared her story of being robbed at gunpoint along with a group of 21 other tourists and tour guides. The incident happened on November 20th at Earth Village, a 162 acre wildlife preserve in Nassau.
Carly, eight tourists, and her guide were roughly ten minutes into a Segway tour when two shotgun wielding men dressed in combat gear jumped out of the brush and forced them to lie down on the ground.
"One man stood at the head of our group, rifle pointed at us, the other walked to the end of our line and started going through each of our Segway pouches, dumping everything out of them and loading everything he wanted to keep into a black garbage bag," Milne reported.
After the men patted down each of the tourists, Milne believed the ordeal was over. Shockingly, the brazen gunmen proceeded to intercept and rob a second group of sightseers. When a tour guide from the second group protested, she was gun-butted in the head. Milne recounted: "The group began to murmur among one another and one of the gunmen fired a silencing shot into the ground as a warning."
After all the tourists were relieved of their valuables, the two men bound one guide's arms behind his back and forced the other into an aqueduct before fleeing on foot.
After returning to safety, the police told Milne's group: "This never happens here. Never." But according to an October 14th report by Nassau's Tribune, a similar incident happened as recently as October 11th. According to the report, a group of 11 tourists "understood to be Americans from a cruise ship" were held up at gunpoint by masked men at the top of the Queen's Staircase. There is no indication as to whether or not the robberies were conducted by the same men.
Police Superintendent Elsworth Moss said it was the first robbery in the area this year. "Every robbery is a concern, whether the victims are tourists or local residents, it's a serious concern for us, but even more so with tourists because this is a tourism-oriented country," Moss told the Tribune.
After the robbery at Earth Village, the Tribune ran a report on November 21 that quoted National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest as saying: "The last thing that we want to happen is to have our tourist destination marred by these thugs." At a press conference, Turnquest vowed that patrols would be increased because of the robberies.
Bahamas tourism director Vernice Walkine told AP that she deeply regretted the incidents. According to Walkine, police have already responded to the robberies by increasing foot and car patrols in the island's popular tourist spots.
Jennifer de la Cruz, spokeswoman for Carnival, told AP that the decision to suspend trips is temporary. Carnival is making other trips available to cruise passengers as an alternative.
By Libby Zay
By Libby Zay
December 1 2009
After several reports of tourist being targets of armed robberies, three cruise companies have canceled popular excursion trips to the city of Nassau in the Bahamas.
On November 30th, The Associated Press reported that Norwegian Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line and Carnival have put a hold on excursions within Nassau.
Until recently, shore excursions such as off-road Segway tours were popular activities for passengers looking to walk-off their sea legs. A recent string of armed robberies, however, has forced cruise companies to rethink these tours in the name of safety.
Just last week, author Carly Milne shared her story of being robbed at gunpoint along with a group of 21 other tourists and tour guides. The incident happened on November 20th at Earth Village, a 162 acre wildlife preserve in Nassau.
Carly, eight tourists, and her guide were roughly ten minutes into a Segway tour when two shotgun wielding men dressed in combat gear jumped out of the brush and forced them to lie down on the ground.
"One man stood at the head of our group, rifle pointed at us, the other walked to the end of our line and started going through each of our Segway pouches, dumping everything out of them and loading everything he wanted to keep into a black garbage bag," Milne reported.
After the men patted down each of the tourists, Milne believed the ordeal was over. Shockingly, the brazen gunmen proceeded to intercept and rob a second group of sightseers. When a tour guide from the second group protested, she was gun-butted in the head. Milne recounted: "The group began to murmur among one another and one of the gunmen fired a silencing shot into the ground as a warning."
After all the tourists were relieved of their valuables, the two men bound one guide's arms behind his back and forced the other into an aqueduct before fleeing on foot.
After returning to safety, the police told Milne's group: "This never happens here. Never." But according to an October 14th report by Nassau's Tribune, a similar incident happened as recently as October 11th. According to the report, a group of 11 tourists "understood to be Americans from a cruise ship" were held up at gunpoint by masked men at the top of the Queen's Staircase. There is no indication as to whether or not the robberies were conducted by the same men.
Police Superintendent Elsworth Moss said it was the first robbery in the area this year. "Every robbery is a concern, whether the victims are tourists or local residents, it's a serious concern for us, but even more so with tourists because this is a tourism-oriented country," Moss told the Tribune.
After the robbery at Earth Village, the Tribune ran a report on November 21 that quoted National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest as saying: "The last thing that we want to happen is to have our tourist destination marred by these thugs." At a press conference, Turnquest vowed that patrols would be increased because of the robberies.
Bahamas tourism director Vernice Walkine told AP that she deeply regretted the incidents. According to Walkine, police have already responded to the robberies by increasing foot and car patrols in the island's popular tourist spots.
Jennifer de la Cruz, spokeswoman for Carnival, told AP that the decision to suspend trips is temporary. Carnival is making other trips available to cruise passengers as an alternative.
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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