The Long View: Crime On Land

In this issue of The Long View, FTF's cruise expert examines how safe shore excursions are and how to safeguard your family should an incident arise on land during your family cruise vacation.

Just when you thought you'd heard enough about passengers disappearing or being the victims of crime on cruise ships, along come tales of danger on a shore excursion. One incident, which took place in February 2007 during a cruise on the Carnival Liberty, involved a group of passengers on a tour bus near Limon, Costa Rica, on the country's Atlantic coast.

According to reports, the bus was held up by three armed muggers, the passengers resisted and disarmed the attackers and one passenger -- a senior citizen and former marine -- killed one of the assailants with his bare hands. The other two fled, and the local authorities did not press charges against the tourist.

The episode is interesting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the apparent combat readiness of the tourists themselves. Given that few of us would likely have reacted so audaciously, would-be cruisers could be forgiven for being nervous about cruising when they hear the story.

What else could this group – and you – have done to prevent an incident like this?

For one thing, according to Carnival Cruise Lines, the group had apparently arranged the bus outing on their own rather than through the cruise line. It is unlikely that a well established tour company would have taken this group to the area where they got into trouble. Are we saying not to use local operators or taxis when exploring a destination?

Not at all, but – and this brings us to our second point – consider the destination before striking out on your own. Costa Rica overall has a reputation as a beautiful and safe destination, but the area where the cruisers were attacked does not. Would you wander around a rough neighborhood in a U.S. city, stop to take pictures and generally put yourself at risk? It makes no sense to do so when traveling.

And while the cruise lines generally do a good job in selecting their destinations (Carnival has since dropped Limon as a port of call), it's the passengers' responsibility also to do some research, particularly if you are intent on arranging your own tour or simply heading off on your own.

Nor is this a completely isolated incident. This month marks the one-year anniversary of a tour bus crash in Chile that killed 12 people. The cruisers, who had been on board the Celebrity Millennium, were said to have been on an independently arranged bus excursion, which may or may not have been a factor in the accident.

For the adventurous in spirit, it's a good idea to put all this in perspective. All travel presents some level of risk, even in the most familiar, serene destinations. This month, there were two fatal helicopter crashes in Hawai'i and, on at least one of them, the pilot is reported to have been a seasoned veteran.

I know I'll never be in a helicopter accident because I'm afraid of helicopters. It's more of a height thing than a safety thing, although I think nothing of flying through treetops on a zipline or submerging myself into an aquarium full of sharks. My sister-in-law, on the other hand, recently took a helicopter tour in Kauai and said it was so beautiful she cried.

The moral is, know the risks, know yourself, then make an informed choice.

For information on travel safety -- on land or sea or at your ports of call -- check out http://travel.state.gov before you sail.