How many of you feel as I do about Aruba?

[frogfuzz]

Cruiseforever. :mad: I'm very offended by your statement of red neck south.

Very prejudice of you to say.

Glad you have a place in Aruba, then you won't have to go thru the backward south to cruise from Florida and be around the nasty red neck south. We do spread cooties.

 

I am sure people from all over the US and other countries agree with them and support the ban. Not just Southerners.

 

I feel this family has gotten a lot more than many missing persons in the US have . A ban is uncalled for. My personal opinion

[Hondu]

Why should anyone lose sleep over Natalie? One of the main reasons she is in the news every night is because she is white, blonde and pretty.

 

I haven't lost any sleep over the honeymoon husband who mysteriously vanished from Brillance of the Seas? RCI cleaned up all the evidence before the authorities could investigate. When is the boycott going to start against that cruiseline?

 

And I haven't loss any sleep over the hundred of people who disappear here in the USA.

 

All this boycott nonsense is why so many foreigners hate us. It's along the same lines as bu$h's motto: "our way or the highway."

[tommy]

I to thought redneck south was a STUPID thing to say,and Iam not from the south.I think there probably has been a cover up of some kind in Aruba,but asking for a boycott IMO is out of line.With that reasoning we should boycott California they let O.J go,Micheal Jackson,and Blake. TOM

[kchesneylover]

What a bigoted, racist statement. Are all you Californians as racist and bigoted as you are?

 

Too bad TT has never been to Aruba, but I had a great nights sleep last night. Tourism from the red-neck south may not ever happen, but from the rest of the country you can't keep them away. Tourism is up about 10%, the hotel was full. El Gaucho steakhouse, all 412 seats, were full with happy people, who came to Aruba to enjoy the sunshine. Most people that we met were easterners from Boston, New York, Philadelphia and many mid-western cities. While those radical few would have you believe that everyone cares and won't return to ruba, the opposite is true. everyone felt safe, happy and didn't care to even talk about that unfortuate incident, which happens on a daily basis in the good old USA.

 

So, TT, don't worry be happy, come down, enjoy the good life!

[CruiseForever]

Well, that struck a sore spot, but in case you haven't looked lately, the redneck south in still trying to fly the confederate flag. Georgia is trying to install a poll tax of sorts, the governor of Alabama is calling for a boycott of Aruba on the steps of the state capital.......enough said. When all people in the south renounce racism and eliminate the still existing prejudices that are apparent....then I'll send my apology. Otherwise, I still won't loose any sleep.

[Ohestu]

Message for the Govenor of Alabama, You may want to work on your own unsolved murder cases before starting to call for a Boycott. I pulled the unsolved murder records for just 2 counties in Alabama for the last 20 years and came up with over 30 unsolved murders. If that is just 2 counties, what is the rate for the entire state.

[CruiseForever]

Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!

[frogfuzz]

Are you saying that the south is the only place in the US that has racism. Have you looked at your own state lately?????? Not exaclty the land of sunbeams and lollypops. Because of these 3 things you quoted you generalize an entire region? That is ignorant and bigoted.

 

The Confederate flag is heritage. Not a sign of racism. The Civil war was not solely a slave issue. Check your history books and educate yourself.

 

The south is a beautiful , tolerant, diverse place and can get along just fine without having closed minded people visiting here.

 

Now I have my own family to p*&& me off so ta ta Aruba thread.

[CruiseForever]

Frogfuzz.....you miss the point, while I will grant you that not all southerners are rednecks, I will stand by my original point the "redneck" south will not visit Aruba, but then again very few have probably ever done so. I've been to every state in the south, and stop the Bull, the confederate flag is not a sign of hertiage. If you think so, then you too are very blind indeed. Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder and I certainly haven't seen much in the south. I have enjoyed New Orleans, but then again, while geographically located in the south, one would not assume it to be part of the "redneck" belt. You can take all the shots at California that you desire, and it too has it's pockets of problems, however as a state we are far more forgiving, liberal, and compasionate, than the old confederacy.

 

I could also name many more than 3 things, but the Georgia attempt, just this year at a disguised poll tax, which the federal courts have stopped, is a prime example of the type of political leadership that continues to give the south a bad reputation. The Alabama governor is a JOKE! Let's boycott Alabama, and let it leave the union. Boycotts just don't work because they are inhernetly wrong, and only supported by a small special interest group. Hell, if Fox (Lack of) News didn't exist, no one would even be still talking about or caring about the disappearence of one person.

[ScubaJim]

I am all for a boycott of Aruba. The goverment there is a joke and full of curruption. The missing gir was no doudt sold as a sex slave to some Arab country.

[ScubaJim]

Message for the Govenor of Alabama, You may want to work on your own unsolved murder cases before starting to call for a Boycott. I pulled the unsolved murder records for just 2 counties in Alabama for the last 20 years and came up with over 30 unsolved murders. If that is just 2 counties, what is the rate for the entire state.

Do you have any children? Message for Ohestu. Alabama is more civilized than Aruba and Aruba government is currupted. Besides the girl was no doudt sold as a sex slave to some Arab country which we don't do in Alabama.

[tommy]

Cruise forever come on I have never been in a more screwed up state than California.Liberal using the word redneck is the same as using other derogatory names to describe other groupes of people.Isnt it California were its ok to be a child molester,an wife killer as long as you are a celebrity.

[Hot2Travel]

The Aruba government deserves a boycott until they cooperate with this investigation. It sure smells as they change their story now blaming the Dutch judicial system.

[CruiseForever]

Scubajim

 

I hope that your not really serious, but Aruba is far more civilized than Alabama. "sold as a sex slave to some Arab country, " should provide all the rational to make that deterimation.

 

Alabama is still living in the 1800's, the clan is still there and until just recently, the church bombings in Birmingham had never been solved. I am sure that there exist many more than the 20 unsolved crimes that another poster mentioned. I'll take Aruba, you can have Alabama, etc.

[Hondu]

Are you saying that the south is the only place in the US that has racism. Have you looked at your own state lately?????? Not exaclty the land of sunbeams and lollypops. Because of these 3 things you quoted you generalize an entire region? That is ignorant and bigoted.

 

The Confederate flag is heritage. Not a sign of racism. The Civil war was not solely a slave issue. Check your history books and educate yourself.

 

The south is a beautiful , tolerant, diverse place and can get along just fine without having closed minded people visiting here.

 

Now I have my own family to p*&& me off so ta ta Aruba thread.

 

 

What do they say, something like one person's garbage is another's food? As far as I am concern, there is nothing good about the confederate flag. When I see in print or on a pickup truck, fear comes to mind. Lynchings, KKK, and the scourge of slavery.

 

I'd feel safer in Aruba or any of the Caribbean islands than in Alabama. People that live in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones.

[ladycaveat]

The Aruba government deserves a boycott until they cooperate with this investigation. It sure smells as they change their story now blaming the Dutch judicial system.

 

Did I miss something or wasn't the United States FBI called in on this case? In the past six months, hasn't there been investigations from many sources . . . to search the waters, the dumps and just about every inch of the Island of Aruba? Exactly where and what does the Holloway family want searched . . . that hasn't already been searched? How exactly is Aruba doing anything wrong? I keep wondering what the United States would do if a young woman from Aruba went missing in the United States and her Arubian family had the all the media attention that the Holloway's do to try to pressure our country to do . . . whatever . . . I'm still not sure what they want done.

 

With as many kids in this country that have disappeard and even been found murdered . . . where is the outcry? Where are the calls for a boycott of New York, D.C., Miami, Chicago . . . and yes, even Alabama?

 

To punish the people of Aruba because one young girl from the United States had a tad too much to drink, went off with strangers and disappeared (and I am NOT blaming Natalee . . . the fault lies with her parents for letting her go there and her "caretakers" who it seems could have cared less) . . . anyway, to punish the people of a small island who make their living, for the most part, from tourists . . . to take away their livelihood . . . is nothing short of a crime.

 

For those that agree with this boycott . . . all I can say is check out your own state, your county, your city, your town . . . how many kids have disappeared? How many kids have been murdered? Maybe your passion would be better spent putting pressure on your own police department and investigators to try to solve these disappearances and murders.

[CruiseForever]

Bravo Ladycaveat....

 

I couldn't have said it any better.

[rt1092]

I "AGREE" boycott any place that someone with hooks gets away with "MURDER".

 

 

Lets see now...... That means I cant go to "California"

Anybody remember "O J" and the great LA police work......

Also I can't go to Massachusetts. Think of how Mary Jo Kopecne's family must feel....... Nobody was ever charged there either.......

And I'm sure there are countless other "very good" reasons to boycott.

Some of which are probably in my home state of New York

__________________

[Hondu]

Aruba Police: Deepak 'Confession' Tape Manipulated

A tape aired on the Dr. Phil television show, in which Deepak Kalpoe allegedly claimed that he, Joran Van Der Sloot and his brother Satish Kalpoe all had sex with missing teen Natalee Holloway, was found to be altered by forensic investigators in Holland.

 

"The tapes played on U.S. television appear to have been altered to suggest Deepak admitted to a sexual act, our forensic investigators tell us, the original tape did not say that," Gerald Dompig, chief police deputy for Aruba, said in a statement.

 

"I have reviewed the findings of the Forensic Institute in Holland... those results state that the tapes were not authentic in regard to statement made by Deepak Kalpoe," Dompig said. "We have asked the FBI to review the same tapes to corroborate the conclusion reached by our Dutch forensic investigators."

 

Dompig maintained that none of the suspects had ever admitted to having sex with Natalee Holloway on the night that she disappeared. The videotape interview with Deepak Kalpoe seemed to show him admitting they all three had sex with her, which could have opened them up to prosecution for rape.

 

The tape was an interview with Deepak Kalpoe by an investigator hired by the Dr. Phil show. Deepak allegedly claimed Holloway "dressed like a slut," and he, his brother, Satish, and Van Der Sloot had sex with her.

http://crime.about.com/b/a/222579.htm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20051124/ca_pr_on_wo/aruba_missing_teen

[CruiseForever]

Not that unexpected given the facts that nothing, Nothing has ever yet been proven. Beth Haloway should get her a-- back to Alabama and forget this publicity STUNT. No one knows what happened and no one probably ever will, but lets blame Aruba, and create some sensational headlines beyond the obivious. Docter Phil is an idiot and this is nothing more than about ratings. Docter Phil and Fox unNews is about as worthless as the tabloid print media.

 

Plain and simple the three boys didn't do anything. No crime scene, no crime, nothing.

[eldercruser]

This thread has long since outlived its usefulness. It is time for it to disappear!

[Aruba Luvr]

I completely agree - In my opinion, Aruba is a very safe island.

[Cruzer1001]

Our Infinity Panama Canal cruise stopped for a day in Aruba in December and I would have to say that in that one day we met more and friendlier people ashore than in our four Mexican ports put together. These are fine people for the most part and they are a credit to their country. I would have to say that most people have more positive images come to mind when Aruba is mentioned than Alabama!

 

As for Natalee Holloway, I would suggest you find a copy of the January 2006 issue of Vanity Fair and read Bryan Burrough's investigative piece and you will quickly learn how "out of touch" Ms. Holloway's family was with their daughter.