Finally.....Roatan as a vacation spot back in the news.....

[Doc]

Maybe a good idea...

As we are responding to and many just reading this-

The next time the SB fear mongers feed from the media and start to heap-it-on here, please add a reply and smack them back. Some people just shouldn't leave their local village or rock quarry dive site.

Yes, every time you leave your house- the risk increases to your safety, but many dive ops and other dive destinations besides the Bay Islands get hurt tremendously by the bizarre harangues of the Chicken Lickins.

The sky didn't fall... Fortune rewards the brave.

 

[Aquawookie]

Hi RM, and various others

Just spoke with a friend who was on a cruise ship which docked at Roatan last week.

He told me he (and all the other cruise passengers) were not allowed off the cruise terminal pier unless they were escorted by armed police! And even then the had his camera stolen. Apparently there was a huge crowd of kids at the pier gates. What gives? I assured him RTB was safe and he got roughed up.

Is there just a problem at the cruise ship pier or is there a wider issue? I don't want to do a Chicken Little here but I need to know some facts before I talk with my friend and try to make sense of this.

Thanks all.

 

[RTBDiver]

Hi RM, and various others

Just spoke with a friend who was on a cruise ship which docked at Roatan last week.

He told me he (and all the other cruise passengers) were not allowed off the cruise terminal pier unless they were escorted by armed police! And even then the had his camera stolen. Apparently there was a huge crowd of kids at the pier gates. What gives? I assured him RTB was safe and he got roughed up.

Is there just a problem at the cruise ship pier or is there a wider issue? I don't want to do a Chicken Little here but I need to know some facts before I talk with my friend and try to make sense of this.

Thanks all.

Weird,
I have heard nothing of such an issue and a good friend/tour guide I asked about it, who knows i do not do tours so would not try to sugarcoat it, knew nothing so I searchrd the cruise forums and once again, nothing. What ship was he on? Was he really roughed up? Did he file a report? With the amount of tourist police at the pier it all just seems crazy.

 

[Doc]

I'm not in Roatan right now... anyone?

Sounds more than a little wacky on the face of it.

How many passengers are on a ship? How many "armed police escorts" would be available?

Not being a Chicken Lickin' consists of first person reports, barring that, a lot specific facts such as cruise ship name, date of arrival, and whatever else.

Cruise ships won't get near a port of call unless everybody is taking their happy pills on any given island.

There is absolutely no such mention of anything like this on the internet. If this really had occurred, half the people on the ship would have posted some kind of story about their terror on one of the many cruise ship forums. Little incidents become riots- this one didn't even get clucked about.

No such mention has been made.

 

[cocoloca]

"He told me he (and all the other cruise passengers) were not allowed off the cruise terminal pier unless they were escorted by armed police! And even then the had his camera stolen. Apparently there was a huge crowd of kids at the pier gates. What gives? I assured him RTB was safe and he got roughed up."

I find this very difficult to believe, I am on Roatan at the moment and we have had cruise passengers diving with us this week and last week and no armed guards with them. They all said they were having a great time on Roatan, many wanting information on how to get back here for a 2 week vacation! Especially loved the diving. The rainy season is also being particularly kind to the island, this year There are also people at the cruise ship entrance to ensure that passengers are not bothered by children/sharks/touts/ etc.

As Doc pointed out, the number of armed policemen needed to accompany each group of travellers would be Waaaaaaay more than we have on the island and the military are now under control of the TSE, (the electoral body).

It's probably more likely that yr friend left the camera somewhere. There are opportunists in every part of the world. The cruise ships would be the first to pull out if they thought there was any threat to their passengers. As it is, they have continued throughout the year to come to Roatan and I am sure have had lots of happy people loving Roatan.

The international reporting of the political situation in Honduras has been very sad for many people here in Honduras. So much of the violence, made big by the press has been happening in Tegucigalpa, by small numbers of people. For most of the other places, life has been normal and has continued as it always has.......minus about 60% of the usual tourists!

 

[CajunDiva]

I just got back from my fourth trip to Roatan this year...there was absolutely NO PROBLEM on the island.

This is exactly the kind of thing that gets blown out of proportion and REALLY effects tourism on Roatan. "Someone said this" becomes "Someone said that" and in no time the story is completely distorted. Roatan has had enough trouble already...

 

[RTBDiver]

No names, no dates, he does not have ship name or anything else. My guess is he was with a woman he should not have been with, forgot his camera and made up a story to cover

 

[CajunDiva]

No names, no dates, he does not have ship name or anything else. My guess is he was with a woman he should not have been with, forgot his camera and made up a story to cover

Ooooooooooooooooooooh.......now we're being creative

 

[RTBDiver]

Ooooooooooooooooooooh.......now we're being creative

So what is your point Cajun? Are you suggesting I am lying about this post or are you making some lame attempt at dry humor? Sorry but when someone comes in with a story about a friend that heard something but we cannot give details then I have little time for such things so PLEASE, explain your reply to me. If you have more info then post it.

 

[CajunDiva]

My point is...I was agreeing with your thought process and laughing at the creative idea you had for what really happened. Geeeeeeeeez...lighten up - I'm on your side!