It WASN'T Better In The Bahamas!

[45Doll 5,877]

Friends of ours (husband and wife) recently took a cruise there. I'll have to ask them what if anything they heard about travel warnings. Not sure if they were on Carnival.

• The US Embassy issued a stark security warning and travel advisory on Jan. 24 after the Bahamas saw 18 primarily gang-related murders in January.

Kentucky moms Amber Shearer, Dongayla Dobson say they were drugged, raped by resort staffers in Bahamas amid travel warning (nypost.com)

(There should be an option to 'Continue to the site' if you're challenged with a subscription wall.)

[CMJeepster 2,778]

Great.  We were planning to go back to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this year.  Time to look somewhere else.

[124gr9mm 859]

3 hours ago, CMJeepster said:

Great.  We were planning to go back to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this year.  Time to look somewhere else.

IMO you should be looking at places in Florida (maybe the Keys), the Carolinas, or even Hawaii.

The 'service' culture that used to be present on most of the Caribbean islands has eroded significantly over the last dozen years or so.

There's an arrogance and indignant attitude that's replaced the friendly smiles in the shithole countries.  They all have cellphones, so they see the difference between the squalor the live in and the the non-squalor we come from.

I'll go to the 3rd world on mission trips but I won't vacation there...

[leahcim 680]

1 hour ago, 124gr9mm said:

IMO you should be looking at places in Florida (maybe the Keys), the Carolinas, or even Hawaii.

The 'service' culture that used to be present on most of the Caribbean islands has eroded significantly over the last dozen years or so.

There's an arrogance and indignant attitude that's replaced the friendly smiles in the shithole countries.  They all have cellphones, so they see the difference between the squalor the live in and the the non-squalor we come from.

I'll go to the 3rd world on mission trips but I won't vacation there...

Interesting, we were in Cancun recently and I noticed a change in attitude, like people are resentful.  A small minority-most people were friendly and service oriented as usual-but enough to notice a difference.  We've been going there almost every year since the 90s. I thought we'd eventually stop going due to increasing cartel action (like Acapulco), but Cancun is not that bad yet. Maybe this will keep us from going back soon.

[45Doll 5,877]

3 hours ago, leahcim said:

Interesting, we were in Cancun recently and I noticed a change in attitude, like people are resentful.  A small minority-most people were friendly and service oriented as usual-but enough to notice a difference.  We've been going there almost every year since the 90s. I thought we'd eventually stop going due to increasing cartel action (like Acapulco), but Cancun is not that bad yet. Maybe this will keep us from going back soon.

Well, their friends and relatives are all heading north to collect the freebees from the Biden Piñata. So they're the suckers left to work for a living. That might give them a different perspective.

[leahcim 680]

21 minutes ago, 45Doll said:

Well, their friends and relatives are all heading north to collect the freebees from the Biden Piñata. So they're the suckers left to work for a living. That might give them a different perspective.

I think most of the border traffic is not Mexican, but coming from South and Central America, China, etc.

Tbh, I think those resentful people are not native to that area.

[45Doll 5,877]

9 hours ago, leahcim said:

I think most of the border traffic is not Mexican, but coming from South and Central America, China, etc.

Tbh, I think those resentful people are not native to that area.

Both probably true. I remember in the 00's we visited CT for several summers in a row. Most of the wait staff was from Ireland or Poland. Imported for the season.

Since they all were white, we had to be especially cautious.

[45Doll 5,877]

This is a follow up story. But all it really says is that the resort now claims surveillance footage "doesn't match the claims". But they didn't say it didn't happen.

Bahamas resort where two moms claim they were drugged and report says footage disputes story (nypost.com)

[CMJeepster 2,778]

16 hours ago, 124gr9mm said:

IMO you should be looking at places in Florida (maybe the Keys), the Carolinas, or even Hawaii.

We went to Hawaii for our 5th and Key West for our 10th.  I'd go back to in a heartbeat.  If we go back to Hawaii, I'm not coming back here for sure.  If we go to Key West, I'll be getting divorced as I'd want to fish the entire trip.  

[124gr9mm 859]

1 hour ago, 45Doll said:

This is a follow up story. But all it really says is that the resort now claims surveillance footage "doesn't match the claims". But they didn't say it didn't happen.

Bahamas resort where two moms claim they were drugged and report says footage disputes story (nypost.com)

Police and resort owners ($$$$) are probably trying to spin as best they can to make it seem like a "consensual" encounter.

[Steve_G 51]

22 hours ago, CMJeepster said:

Great.  We were planning to go back to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this year.  Time to look somewhere else.

My family and I have never felt unsafe in Aruba. We love it there so much, we have no desire to visit other islands. The Palm Beach area of Noord is incredibly safe and predominantly American and Dutch visitors.

[CMJeepster 2,778]

1 hour ago, Steve_G said:

My family and I have never felt unsafe in Aruba. We love it there so much, we have no desire to visit other islands. The Palm Beach area of Noord is incredibly safe and predominantly American and Dutch visitors.

Nevis is my fall back option.  My best friend's family has had a house there since the 1960's.

Nevis - Wikipedia

[ESB 247]

On 2/8/2024 at 7:29 PM, leahcim said:

Interesting, we were in Cancun recently and I noticed a change in attitude, like people are resentful.  A small minority-most people were friendly and service oriented as usual-but enough to notice a difference.  We've been going there almost every year since the 90s. I thought we'd eventually stop going due to increasing cartel action (like Acapulco), but Cancun is not that bad yet. Maybe this will keep us from going back soon.

We used to go to Cancun every year, but stopped because of increase in gang crime.  It used to be off limits to them so they didn't fuck with the government's revenue.  
We now go to Punta Cana.  Similar travel time and expense.  

[leahcim 680]

Yeah, it gets a little worse every year, but not as bad as Tulum.  I think Tulum has been completely ruined.  Situational awareness is important, and most problems occur when people go looking for drugs or other stuff.  We used to go almost anywhere in the city, local neighborhoods, day or night. Now we mostly stay in hotel zone or go with our local friends.  This last trip we went into town to go to Market 23. Used to be really great and friendly to tourists, now not so friendly (but still much cheaper tchotchke).  And there are occasional random shootings-typically the cartels taking care of independent entrepreneurs who encroach on their sales,  but sometimes there is collateral damage.

I just feel bad for our friends who live there, grew up there, and they can't just go somewhere else.

[45Doll 5,877]

18 minutes ago, leahcim said:

And there are occasional random shootings

You don't have to go to the islands or Mexico to have occasional random shootings. Why, just last night...

Prosecutor: Man shoots, kills woman in Warren County, NJ, dies after suffering medical emergency | Regional | wfmz.com

[leahcim 680]

1 hour ago, 45Doll said:

You don't have to go to the islands or Mexico to have occasional random shootings. Why, just last night...

Prosecutor: Man shoots, kills woman in Warren County, NJ, dies after suffering medical emergency | Regional | wfmz.com

Agree! But at least in US you know what to expect from the legal system, medical care etc.  You really do not want to end up in a Mexican hospital or jail.

But this Warren county story is crazy!  Never let an "acquaintance” in your home!  

[45Doll 5,877]

43 minutes ago, leahcim said:

But this Warren county story is crazy!  Never let an "acquaintance” in your home!  

A few weeks ago long time friends of ours who live in Knowlton had someone pull into the head of their driveway and just sit there with their high beams on pointing at our friends' house. They called the police after a few minutes. The cops came and the upshot was it was just a young girl (new driver) who got lost and was trying to figure out what to do next.

But then you read a story like this and wonder.

[tjs3023 19]

Hawaii is quite beautiful, but we will no longer spend our tourist dollars there based on their 2a views.