Have you felt in danger at a port

[trish1c]

In Samana earlier this year, we thought we could just walk around at the tender port. The fact that there wasn't even a Diamonds International -- lol -- should have been my 1st clue that this wasn't a great idea.

Although my head tells me they were just trying to compete for my business, once we were surrounded by the male taxi drivers I got scared. There were too many of them. When once reached out to touch my arm to get my attention, I freaked & told DH to get me back to the ship immediately.

[grand isle joe]

Of course I can't be certain, but it surely seems to me that this posting tells more about the writer than about the people who live in Cozumel.

 

Scott & Karen

 

 

 

....so the "writer" should let himself be set up for a possible robbery?....I don't get the logic.................:confused:

[greatam]

....so the "writer" should let himself be set up for a possible robbery?....I don't get the logic.................:confused:

 

People from large cities or having a lot of large city experience are generally much more aware of their surroundings and things not to do safety wise than those from smaller towns or rural areas.

 

I can see it a lot in my two stepsons-both born and raised in NE Iowa-small town. One travels frequently for business and would have no problems most any place in the world. One has rarely been out of Iowa and would be an easy target for all the scammers, muggers, etc. even in a big US city.

 

As DH always said (born and raised in NE Iowa)-"city people would have a hard time living off the land. Country people do it naturally. But country people need a whole lot of "smarts" to be successful in large cities." And because of the lack of exposure and the inborn trust of country people, they very often are easy targets.

[mtwingcpa]

Once in Belize City, outside of the fenced visitors area, I walked out on a narrow finger pier to look at some small fishing boats. When I turned around, my way off this pier was blocked by a gentleman talking in a version of English that I couldn't understand. I think he was explaining that he could take me out fishing on his boat, etc.

 

I politely shook my head and said "no thanks," but at that point he turned belligerent and wouldn't yield the finger pier so I could leave. And an apparent friend of his then took up position on the main dock between the finger pier and the land-side exit. Gulp!

 

Anyway, I got out of there unscathed, but I learned a thing or two in the process. :-)

[UKBayern]

We DIY a lot, and next to cruising, we go on long land trips with our backpack. We visited many countries and did not feel unsafe 99% of the time. What others say, you do take precautions and read up before you go. A thing to remember is that when you are on a cruise, you mostly visit in the day time, which is generally not so intimidating. Walking around certain towns after dark can be more of a no-go.

 

A port town, where we were with our backpack, where we felt slightly unsafe was Belize City. No idea why, we cannot exactly say what the problem was, the locals were friendly, we had a nice lunch at a small diner near the bus station, but after lunch we wanted to get back to the bus station as soon as possible, the atmosphere just did not feel right.

 

A really bad news town is Puntarenas (Costa Rica). We loved our month long trip through Costa Rica, the locals are so friendly, but Puntarenas....no thank you! Many beggars and unsavory types hanging around, especially in the port area. There was obviously a cruise ship or larger American tour group in town. The behaviour of these people (counting ridiculous wads of dollar bills in the middle of the street, flashing very expensive cameras and jewellery, walking around clueless, talking loudly, etc) attracted large groups of beggars and many other people who seemed to be up to no good. We were there waiting for the ferry to the Nicoya peninsula, and together with other backpackers we asked one of the men if he could please put his money away. He got obnoxious ("this is free country and I can do what I d*mn-well like") and we all moved away from him. When the ferry headed off, we could see him being surrounded by a group of local men who did not look like upstanding members of the community.

[Aplmac]

When once reached out to touch my arm to get my attention,

I freaked & told DH to get me back to the ship immediately.

He had invaded your No-Fly Zone!! :eek:

 

.

[marco]

Once. Actually, we were kind of ignorant of the whole thing, but......We were supposed to stop at the San Blas Islands. Seas were too rough, so we couldn't. Captain thought it would be nice to go to COlon, Panama instead of an additional day at sea, so we docked in Colon. We got off the ship and started walking around ( a group of 6 of us) Well......a police man came by on a bicycle and said "you don't want to be in this area", and walked with us back to the ship. COme to think of it, I don't think cruise ships call regularly at Colon.

[GTO-Girl]

This past Friday my cousin just returned on the Carnival Fascination and the night before they docked in Nassau they were given a letter warning them of the crime there and advising to be very careful.

 

We were on this same cruise in April and didn't get this letter.....so not sure what's going on or if they've just had a lot of reported problems.

[sarahtaylor]

Scary story...

 

I would agree about Belize... We travel with young teens so we are always so extra vigilant with staying with the tours we're on as well as within the port areas.

 

We felt some really bad vibes in Curacao. It was a night port and when the sun went down all the stores closes up. There were some scary folks hanging around staring at my teenaged daughter in a very peculiar way on our way back to the ship. Very uncomfortable. We stay with the cruisers and crowds all the time and never off the beaten paths.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

[sarahtaylor]

Thanks for posting... Never cared for Nassau. But... We're heading there on our next cruise.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forums mobile app

[jlk806]

Never felt unsafe. We went through some quite impoverished areas in taxis in St Thomas and St Kitts but never felt unsafe. It is sad to see the devastation though. Last year in Nassau we (group of 6 20 something girls) walked to Senor Frogs and on the way back a couple of us were asked by some guy if we would give him a blow job. Ummm, no thanks. We caught up with a large group from the ship also returning from Senor Frogs and walked with them the rest of the way.

[Keith1010]

There are certainly some places around the world including our own country where we don't feel safe.

 

Keith

[marshhawk]

My DH and I were walking through Belize City on our way to the museum, everyone and their brother was trying to hit us up for something, not begging money, just cab rides, carriage rides, jewelry., prostitution-finally I saw the street that we were looking for, and told the crowd, about 5, that we had an appointment at the museum, and we were assured it was within walking distance, no cab necessary, and they left us alone.

I think what the OP was trying to say, was there is no reason to flash your wealth-and that would be any where. And if you dont know anything about where you are going, then maybe you should do some research.

[iancal]

No, but we have felt uncomfortable a few times in Miami and in LA.

[YubaSutter]

The only port I've ever felt uncomfortable was Galveston, Texas.

[Treven]

About 25 years ago I was on a land-based vacation just north of Manzanillo MX. After the bus pulled off the highway onto the road leading up to the resort (Blue Bay Village) we passed an armed guard shack. I asked the driver what the guards were for and he replied, "to protect you visitors". I then asked him protect us from what? (This was my first time in Mexico). His reply was, "To protect you from the local banditos!" Fortunately I guess the guards had done a very good job as we weren't bothered.

[UKBayern]

About 25 years ago I was on a land-based vacation just north of Manzanillo MX. After the bus pulled off the highway onto the road leading up to the resort (Blue Bay Village) we passed an armed guard shack. I asked the driver what the guards were for and he replied, "to protect you visitors". I then asked him protect us from what? (This was my first time in Mexico). His reply was, "To protect you from the local banditos!" Fortunately I guess the guards had done a very good job as we weren't bothered.

 

In Latin America, even the furniture store has an armed guard, as if somebody would run out with a sofa. In many of these countries, an armed guard is a matter of prestige, it means that you have a quality business worth robbing. Even the corner store and the MacDonalds has a guard, sometimes even with a rocket launcher. Do not be fooled into thinking it is not safe there. Many holiday resorts, also in Europe, have a gate house with a barrier.

[BruceMuzz]

I make every attempt to avoid Miami, Los Angeles, St Thomas, and San Juan.

 

Miami and St Thomas are the only ports in the world where my employer has a crew curfew. No crew are allowed to be ashore after dark, due to the high number of robberies and attempted assaults/rapes in those ports.

[Aquahound]

Nevermind

[ViolaSwamp]

Nope. Have been on five cruises, including the ports of Key West, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman, Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, Ocho Rios, St. Thomas, San Juan. Never felt unsafe at all.

[ricethief]

In Latin America, even the furniture store has an armed guard, as if somebody would run out with a sofa. In many of these countries, an armed guard is a matter of prestige, it means that you have a quality business worth robbing. Even the corner store and the MacDonalds has a guard, sometimes even with a rocket launcher. Do not be fooled into thinking it is not safe there. Many holiday resorts, also in Europe, have a gate house with a barrier.

 

Of course no one is going to run out with a sofa but given furniture is a reasonably large capital purchase the business is just preventing having the cash robbed. Also having an armed guard is not a matter of prestige, a successful business will have plenty of cash, the business is only trying to reduce the risk of being robbed.

[kruisecat]

Grew up in NYC so know how to be aware...with that said...felt very unsafe in Belize City and Ocho Rios...any port where they greet you with machine guns :eek: is NOT a port for me. We're headed to Belize in Nov and this will be a wonderful day to enjoy the spa specials on board...been there and done that and don't want to do it again.

[notentirelynormal]

The biggest one that comes to mind for me - one that I can't get over is Amsterdam. Most of the ports I have just gone with the flow and said live and learn BUT thanks to CC I was made aware of the "scam". We were at the train station and trying to figure something out on one of the machines. A guy comes up and offers to help. He tells my not so small husband that if he comes with him he can get him change ... and they walk away. Really far away across the street and down a flight of stairs. After about 30 seconds I think... WAIT this is what I read about so I go after them. Once the guy realized that I followed he backed down and told my husband to go back and join me. I'm sure he planned to rob him. The joke was on him because I had all the money!

 

Then on the tram into town a guy helps us and then asks for money for the help. He wanted a couple of Euros, I have him one. He helped us pick the only bus going but that was about it.

 

I sure didn't like arriving in Montego Bay and having armed guys with little 10 YOs telling my husband to bring his woman over here and they'd take care of her for him.

 

For my mom, the worst was Cartagena where she hired a taxi to take her to the jewelry part of town. They were the only locals in that part. She was terrified. She got out but has never forgotten it.

 

I've had the grabbing (I really hate Jamaica) and a bunch of others but the Amsterdam trip was the one I remember the most.

[D4]

I'll share a different kind of unsafe feeling. A ship excursion in Belize included a lunch stop at a restaurant. It wasn't in town and there didn't seem to be much else around. I went behind the restaurant to take nature pictures and saw them 'washing' the dishes and silverware. They put them in a big plastic tub, hosed them off with a garden hose, and stacked them all wet on a tray to be used again. No soap, no scrubbing, and no drying. Eeew, I almost threw up thinking about hepatits, etc.

 

I hurried back to my family who was in line for food. I told them we could only buy packaged chips and bottled drinks instead of the special platter of food the staff was slapping on all the wet plates. It still makes me sick to think about it.

 

An unsafe crime feeling in a port was in Seattle. We had a late flight out and paid to store our luggage at the port after the cruise. We took a boat ride and did other touristy things along that strip. When we returned, the luggage clerk told us to get out of the port area right away because it was terribly unsafe once the ships were gone. He called us a cab and we were petrified while we waited for it. It would have been nice if they told us that when we checked our luggage in earlier that day.

[Treven]

Of course no one is going to run out with a sofa but given furniture is a reasonably large capital purchase the business is just preventing having the cash robbed. Also having an armed guard is not a matter of prestige, a successful business will have plenty of cash, the business is only trying to reduce the risk of being robbed.

I would think this would be more logical.