Personal Injury Law

Bahamas security to be beefed up after U.S. cruise ship passengers robbed

By Lipcon, Margulies & Alsina, P.A.

Bahamian officials plan to beef up security after the armed robbery of 18 U.S. cruise ship passengers visiting a forest preserve just minutes from the busy port of Nassau last weekend, the founder of the tourist attraction said Monday.

The tourists, who arrived on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas and Disney Cruise Line's Disney Wonder, were accosted Friday as they toured the 200-acre Earth Village on off-road vehicles called Segways, officials said. No one was injured.

They were on a tour called "Segway Off Road Back To Nature."

Terry Miller, the founder of Earth Village, said Monday the Bahamian government has promised to set up "an intensive security system in the forest" in response to the incident.

Miller said he arrived at the scene minutes after the robbery and found the tourists shaken but calm.

"They were soldiers, man, every one of them," he said. "They took it very well. But we apologized at every opportunity."

Miller called tourists "our life blood."

The Bahamian newspaper The Tribune reported Monday that armed thugs tied up the Bahamian tour guide who was with one group of visitors and ordered them to the ground before robbing them of money, passports, cell phones, credit cards and other items.

During the robbery, a second group of visitors approached and were also held up, the newspaper said.

The attackers also hit a Bahamian woman with a gun, The Tribune reported. Her injuries were minor, the newspaper said.

"Clearly, this incident is very troubling to us," said Vernice Walkine, director general for Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. "We have 5 million visitors a year, and we have always had a good reputation as a safe destination."

Walkine said Bahamian police told her Monday morning that they were questioning a suspect in the robbery. "They have assured us they would give it their full attention to make sure there is no repeat of this sort of thing," she said.

Among the robbed tourists were Americans, Canadians, Irish and Chinese, said Walkine.

Disney Cruises in a statement said it took immediate action by cancelling the tour from its list of shore excursions.

"No guests were injured and our shipboard and shoreside teams worked closely with these guests once back aboard, to make certain their needs were met and provided them with any additional assistance," the statement said. "The crime was reported to Bahamian police who are investigating the situation."

In a statement issued Tuesday, Royal Caribbean said nine of its passengers were in the group robbed at gunpoint. "We are thankful that none of our guests were injured in this unfortunate event, and will continue to provide them any support they may need," the Miami-based company said. "An act of crime should not be part of any vacation, and we regret our guests had to experience those events."

Officials from Royal Caribbean and Disney said they had removed from its suggested activities the visit to Earth Village.

The Disney Wonder sails from Port Canaveral, and the Navigator of the Seas from Miami.

Full post as published by Cruise Ship Law on November 24, 2009 (boomark / email).