I still am not going to boycott Aruba

[zydecocruiser]

However, Alabama is not out of the question.

[sandbag7]

Yowza!

[zydecocruiser]

While I like Jamaica, I like Aruba mo' bettah.

[CruiseForever]

Zydeo....are you a Sun Devil.......I'll be at SDS on Saturday to see us beat the condoms.......and in two weeks Aruba for 8 days.

[zydecocruiser]

Nah - Not a Sun Devil and damn sure not a Cardinal. Trojans are not my favorite brand, either.

This weekend getting ready for a homecoming trip - New Orleans.

[zydecocruiser]

Hate to reply to my own post but . . . does anyone else think that Beth (Natalee's mother) should go back to Alabama and take care of . . . and raise her teenage son? /QUOTE]

 

Ok I will reply, but in another thread (should be easy to find - if they delete one thread they will (or should) delete all).

 

.....

 

 

I think Beth has (and will forever have) tremendous guilt in her mind for signing whatever papers were required for her daughter to go on an under supervised trip to <fill in the blank> Aruba {in this case}.

 

Allow me to paint a bullseye on my back if you need target practice, but I am not the enemy ( think Pogo )...

 

We (Americans) love to transfer blame to others, instead of looking for the root cause.

[sandbag7]

I would like to organize some tours of Alabama-places like Montgomery and Birmingham, where people can see the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement, and view the places where the KKK'ers did and still live. But it would be too dangerous with all the racial animosity produced by the Natalee people.

[ladycaveat]

Hate to reply to my own post but . . . does anyone else think that Beth (Natalee's mother) should go back to Alabama and take care of . . . and raise her teenage son? /QUOTE]

 

Ok I will reply, but in another thread (should be easy to find - if they delete one thread they will (or should) delete all).

 

.....

 

 

I think Beth has (and will forever have) tremendous guilt in her mind for signing whatever papers were required for her daughter to go on an under supervised trip to <fill in the blank> Aruba {in this case}.

 

Allow me to paint a bullseye on my back if you need target practice, but I am not the enemy ( think Pogo )...

 

We (Americans) love to transfer blame to others, instead of looking for the root cause.

 

Zyde . . . you very well may be right . . . who knows? I do know that I was very apprehensive signing those papers that allowed my son to spend his last year in college in Rome (he was an architecture major). However, he was twenty-one not seventeen or eighteen and not going to a foreign land to celebrate anything . . . he was going there to study.

 

Bad things happen to nice people and I have no doubt that Natalee was/is a nice person. Maybe Natalee's mom does feel a twinge of guilt for allowing her daughter (who from all accounts was/is very popular, "academically" smart and probably very protected by a mom, dad, step-dad and brother who loved/love her very much) to go to Aruba without much supervision.

 

Whatever, the point of my post on the other thread was that Beth really needs put things in priority . . . she has a daughter that is missing (at this point . . . she may never know why) . . . but equally important is that she has a young son that needs her at home. I know she said that she wouldn't leave Aruba until she could bring her daughter home. Nearly five months later . . . . I think everyone agrees that this is not going to happen.

 

Someone on the other thread said that she/he was sure that Natalee's little brother was being well cared for. I'm sure he is . . . just as the majority of kids in foster care are. But this child needs to know that he is just as important to his mom as his sister was/is. He needs his mom at home . . . not in Aruba.

[zydecocruiser]

 

Zyde . . . you very well may be right . . . who knows? I do know that I was very apprehensive signing those papers that allowed my son to spend his last year in college in Rome (he was an architecture major). However, he was twenty-one not seventeen or eighteen and not going to a foreign land to celebrate anything . . . he was going there to study.

 

Bad things happen to nice people and I have no doubt that Natalee was/is a nice person. Maybe Natalee's mom does feel a twinge of guilt for allowing her daughter (who from all accounts was/is very popular, "academically" smart and probably very protected by a mom, dad, step-dad and brother who loved/love her very much) to go to Aruba without much supervision.

 

Whatever, the point of my post on the other thread was that Beth really needs put things in priority . . . she has a daughter that is missing (at this point . . . she may never know why) . . . but equally important is that she has a young son that needs her at home. I know she said that she wouldn't leave Aruba until she could bring her daughter home. Nearly five months later . . . . I think everyone agrees that this is not going to happen.

 

Someone on the other thread said that she/he was sure that Natalee's little brother was being well cared for. I'm sure he is . . . just as the majority of kids in foster care are. But this child needs to know that he is just as important to his mom as his sister was/is. He needs his mom at home . . . not in Aruba.

 

Oh I agree. The little brother no doubt was (is?) feeling second class - and he did nothing wrong.

[ebonyruben]

Judges, their sons and accomplices, including the so-called prosecutor...a place for money laundering, human trafficking, and every banana republic crime under the sun...it is now being exposed thanks to the boycott. Even if it doesn't hurt the tourist trade right away, it will, as more and more people realize the risk they're taking by going there.

 

In 5-7 years Aruba is finished except for sleaze visitors - because that's what it is - a criminal sleaze paradise.

[ladycaveat]

Judges, their sons and accomplices, including the so-called prosecutor...a place for money laundering, human trafficking, and every banana republic crime under the sun...it is now being exposed thanks to the boycott. Even if it doesn't hurt the tourist trade right away, it will, as more and more people realize the risk they're taking by going there.

 

In 5-7 years Aruba is finished except for sleaze visitors - because that's what it is - a criminal sleaze paradise.

 

 

I'm sorry but if we want to get down to facts . . . I think that there was a heck of a lot more evidence against OJ Simpson than anyone in Aruba. Simpson walked and no one ever suggested a boycott against California. I'm a criminal defense attorney but I was also a District Attorney . . . there has been no physical evidence what-so-ever that anything happened to Natalee . . . other than the fact she disappeared. For the Governor of Alabama to ask for a boycott of Aruba is probably one of the most innocuous things I have ever heard of. Maybe he should take a look at all the kids that have disappeared and been murdered in Alabama. Why haven't they been found . . . why haven't their deaths been solved. Why haven't the bad people that caused the disappearances and murders in Alabama been addressed? Why hasn't Governor Reily declared a boycott on his own state?

 

You've got one cute little girl who was allowed to go to an Island known for (usually college kids) going there to drink and party and go crazy. I don't blame Natalee . . . but I sure has heck blame her mother and father for letting her go there without proper supervision. But Heaven help me . . . those poor people in Aruba should not be made to suffer because of it!

[smeyer418]

Judges, their sons and accomplices, including the so-called prosecutor...a place for money laundering, human trafficking, and every banana republic crime under the sun...it is now being exposed thanks to the boycott. Even if it doesn't hurt the tourist trade right away, it will, as more and more people realize the risk they're taking by going there.

 

In 5-7 years Aruba is finished except for sleaze visitors - because that's what it is - a criminal sleaze paradise.

 

Have you ever been there? where do you get these facts from(from the TV I am sure)...sounds like New Orleans more than any place else I have been. Do you have a passport? If you consider Aruba a banana republic you really haven't been to one and there are many. Most banana republics are perfectly safe to Americans...they realize their tourist dollar depends on them. Most banana republics won't send back wanted criminals to the US. Aruba is an exception they will. BTW if you want some examples of banana republics please ask. Since this is your first post, it would be helpful if you say what the "facts' you base you conclusions on. BTW(by the way) welcome to cruise critic. one more point probably one of the unsafest places for Americans is the US Virgin Islands/St Thomas which ARE under the juridiction of the FBI!

[smeyer418]

here is the US Department of State Aruba consular sheet.

There are some issues but you need to know that if you look at places like the UK there are probably more warnings look at Italy if you want to see strong warnings...and they give Aruba high marks for health care and roads

 

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1153.html

[bruce-r]

Judges, their sons and accomplices, including the so-called prosecutor...a place for money laundering, human trafficking, and every banana republic crime under the sun...it is now being exposed thanks to the boycott. Even if it doesn't hurt the tourist trade right away, it will, as more and more people realize the risk they're taking by going there.

 

In 5-7 years Aruba is finished except for sleaze visitors - because that's what it is - a criminal sleaze paradise.

Pretty opinionated post for your first time on Cruise Critic. Would you care to site some sources for your statement?

 

I thought not.

 

Boycott the boycotters

If your cruise stops in Aruba, get off the ship and enjoy the island.

[Charles4515]

Judges, their sons and accomplices, including the so-called prosecutor...a place for money laundering, human trafficking, and every banana republic crime under the sun...it is now being exposed thanks to the boycott. Even if it doesn't hurt the tourist trade right away, it will, as more and more people realize the risk they're taking by going there.

 

In 5-7 years Aruba is finished except for sleaze visitors - because that's what it is - a criminal sleaze paradise.

 

LOL. Been there quite a few times and Aruba is the least risk of all the Caribbean ports that we are likely to stop at.

[CruiseForever]

We just returned from Aruba, in fact, we bought some property this time. It's a wonderful country and the people are the greatest. Tourism is doing great and all the hotels were full. Just booked another trip. No one even talks about the incident, unless it's brought up first.

 

 

Who cares about Alabama, their governor is a racist for advocating a boycott, let's boycott Alabama instead. I'm sure more people are afraid to go there.

[med510]

We can hardly wait for our visit to Aruba next week! Hope our tourist dollars help the "people" of Aruba is some small way.

[zydecocruiser]

In addition to boycotting Alabama, I boycott any TV program that continue to try to milk ratings out of a story that should have been put to rest a long time ago. For example, that Donny Douche clown.

 

If not for the money and connections the Holloway family has, this story would not have been in the news for more than a few days.

 

I am tired of Beth Hollaway and I am tired of the idiot Alabama governor. One happy ending could be that Aruba sues THEM and shuts them up once and for all. It could happen!

 

For some info on the money given to the fine politicians of Alabama and a whole lots more:

 

http://www.hyscience.com/archives/2005/11/harrytho_1110_n.php

[zydecocruiser]

I guess why stop with Natalee - I see Donny Douche has celebrity and political guests scheduled for tonight. Think back to OJ Simpson. The power of the almighty $.

[ladycaveat]

I guess why stop with Natalee - I see Donny Douche has celebrity and political guests scheduled for tonight. Think back to OJ Simpson. The power of the almighty $.

 

I'm sorry but I've seen Donny Douche mentioned several times in these posts . . . who is he?

[zydecocruiser]

Referring to Donny Deutsch - a Madison Avenue Golden Child:

http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/people/features/n_8669/

 

 

I usually tune my TV in the mornings to CNN and financial news shows. If CNBC was the last I watched, I often come home to find that $#%$% on. He is a marketing wiz, but talk about being a media whore ala donald trump. Actually Donny was featured on Donald's show one time - perhaps more.

[zydecocruiser]

I agree. She should have been raped and murdered because she drank too much or was drugged. It's all her fault. The boys who did it were just being boys and bare no responsability.

 

The only things that can be proven are that she is a white, young, blond female, has wealthy parents, was in Aruba on an undersupervised trip and was in a bar and drinking. Period.

[ladycaveat]

I'm watching some show on TV with Rita Cosby where they have Amy's parents (a girl missing off a cruise liner a year or two ago) and Beth Twitty. Bash me if you like, but I am soooooo tired of Beth Twitty.

 

Amy and Natalee's disappearances have nothing to do with each other but yet Beth proclaims that this is yet another reason to justify "her" boycott on Aruba (the Governor is nothing more than her pawn). This woman (as in Beth Twitty) needs to get a life!

 

I think I've said all I can possible say about this . . . but I will say it once again . . . look to the those hired to watch over these kids (I don't care if Natalee was 17 or 18 . . . she was a "kid" sent somewhere a recent high school graduate should never have been sent to without proper supervision). Her parents (and I mean BETH) said that she was being chaperoned ("a person who accompanies a young unmarried woman in PUPLIC" . . . as in Webster's dictionary). Why have these chaperones not been held accountable for her disappearance? Where where they? Why was Natalee allowed to go to a booze joint like Carlos and Charlies? Why was she allowed to leave with strangers? Where where her CHAPERONES? Where were her "friends" who allowed a friend that was drunk to leave with strangers?

 

Beth has said that her young daugher was only allowed to go to Aruba because she was going with friends and that she would be well chaproned. Did she say this to overcome the guilt she feels for letting her little girl go somewhere where drinking and sex was what most kids (usually college graduates) go there for?

 

I'm sorry but Natalee is a young lady that had no supervision . . . someone whose chaperones didn't do what they were hired to do. She is/was a young lady who had "friends" that could care less how much she had to drink and cared less that she went off with strangers. She's a young lady is missing.

 

Was foul play involved? After six months . . . probably. Did she have sex with the three boys involved . . . probably. Was she drunk and maybe wouldn't even remember who she had sex with . . . probably. Is she dead? Without any evidence . . . no one knows. Is she a sex slave somewhere . . . very doubtful but without any evidence . . . no one knows.

 

As a criminal defense attorney (and former District Attorney) . . . without evidence . . . hard core evidence . . . you have nothing more than speculation. And you and I can speculate until the cows come home and we will probably never know what happened to Natalee Holloway.

 

I think one of the things that bothers me so much about his case is that so many jump on the bandwagon of . . . let's boycott Aruba. Were Beth Holloway Twitty not as wealthy as she is . . . not as well "connected" as she is . . . this would be but another sad story of a child lost. There are so many kids right here in our own backyard (state, county, city and neighborhood) that have disappeared or . . . even found murdered. No one has called for a boycott for our states.

 

I have never been to Aruba . . . thought I've been to many other islands in the Caribbean. But there is nothing . . . with regard to this case . . . that would ever give me pause to ponder if a cruise I booked stopped there. I think I would feel a heck of alot more afraid going into certain areas of Washington, D.C. (about twenty mintues away) than I ever would taking a tour of Aruba.

 

Those that favor a boycott of Aruba need to check their own city/town/state. How many disappearances and murders are there in your neighborhood? How many sex offenders live nearby? You might be surprised.

 

Bottom line . . . Beth (and all of us) need to grieve Natalee's disappearance. And then all of us . . . especially Beth . . . need to get on with our lives.

[smeyer418]

Do I have to say I agree with you. Unfortunately we had a similar tragedy strike home this week. An acquaintances daughter was killed in Belize. The only difference is they found the body and caught the monster who did it(at least they say the caught the monster) 20 year old alone at a bar...I think we should have 20yo's boycott bars.

[zydecocruiser]

No. Wait. I changed my mind. It's her mothers fault.

 

Well that may be a little extreme - but Beth certainly has some blame.