Roatan Civil Unrest - Carnival Ship Evacuated from Port Today

[SailMeAwayEveryday]

More unrest in Roatan

 

Carnival Glory evacuated from Roatan today.

 

Elite Honduran "Cobra" Troops have been sent to the Island and hostilities may have begun.

 

Reports are sketchy as power has been shut off, the airport closed and all persons are to remain indoors.

 

The following was posted from Roatan:

"Blood might have been let."

 

Looks like Carnival has dropped Roatan for the rest of the year and maybe beyond. Other cruise lines will likely follow.

 

Sounds like a real mess.

[98Charlie]

More unrest in Roatan

 

Carnival Glory evacuated from Roatan today.

 

Elite Honduran "Cobra" Troops have been sent to the Island and hostilities may have begun.

 

Reports are sketchy as power has been shut off, the airport closed and all persons are to remain indoors.

 

The following was posted from Roatan:

"Blood might have been let."

 

Looks like Carnival has dropped Roatan for the rest of the year and maybe beyond. Other cruise lines will likely follow.

 

Sounds like a real mess.

Where did you find this information? Nothing coming up for me on any of the news feeds.

 

Charlie

[linnealee]

I am supposed to stop there next month on the Pearl. How awful!

[SailMeAwayEveryday]

Nothing on the news feeds Charlie. Honduras keeps a tight lid on news.

Check the forums. Here and elsewhere. Check Carnival on this site.

 

All news is hard to come by. The power has been shut down, cell service may be cut, the port and airport were closed. Not looking good.

 

It is the same riots as a few weeks ago but this time it looks like they are much bigger and more serious. They were cutting down trees to block the roads.

 

The "Cobra" Special forces teams were sent to the Island and it sounds like they are shooting and that the protesters may be shooting back.

 

Not good at all.

[SailMeAwayEveryday]

I am supposed to stop there next month on the Pearl. How awful!

The Pearl missed Roatan during the riots a few weeks ago. Search for it here and you should find it.

[Suni99]

ummm yea ..................i have seen this and I hope NCL adds something or changes our cruise in feb, I dont think this sounds like a fun place.

[Coasty]

We were there last week on the Spirit and everything was fine. Spent the day at Fins and Flipper. What a nice place, the high lite of our shore excursions. Sorry to hear they are having problems again. Can't blame them for the unrest. You would be just as :mad: if your electric company raised the rates 300%

[terrymtex01]

We were there just two weeks ago and I hope this isn't true. We found the islanders to be such nice friendly people who are so proud of the advancements that have been made on the island and the ones still to come. If it is true, I do hope they are all safe and no one is hurt.

[SailMeAwayEveryday]

Can't blame them for the unrest. You would be just as :mad: if your electric company raised the rates 300%

 

Might want to do your homework. This is not the Power Company vs. the poor. It is a political group stirring the people to revolt. It is a power game but it is not about electric. The electric company has even created a fund to help their poor customers with their bills.

 

If you look you will find that the native islanders are not behind this. There are people coming over from the mainland causing problems.

 

Look again and you will see that Honduras has become very friendly with the socialists. Specifically Venezuela, Cuba, China and Russia.

[MrsPiggy549]

UPDATE

 

NOVEMBER 5th 2008 (UTILA EASTWIND)

 

Protests have resumed on Roatan. Blocades are now located in stratigic locations throughout the island including the Airport, seaports, French Harbour and the ZOLITUR office. Stay tuned for updates as they happen.

 

 

 

UTILA, OCTOBER 15th 2008

 

Roatan has been paralyzed over the last two days with makeshift roadblocks being set up around the island and at the entrance of the RECO power plant.

 

Power rates have increased substantially over the last months due to the completion of the privatization of RECO which transfered ownership into the hands of American businessman Kelsey Warren. The people of Roatan have since seen their power rates shoot up as much as 100% and this is the core issue of the protests.

 

The current situation has affected tourism with passengers of "The Norwegian Pearl" cruise ship being prevented from leaving the dock and all commercial traffic by air and sea were canceled yesterday due to the protests.

 

The Government's response has been to bring in the COBRA specialty police, who are now positioned at the RECO power plant and other locations around Roatan to protect people and property. Hopefully a solution to this problem will be found soon.

[LA_FadeAway]

Ugh, I was really looking forward to our stop in Roatan. I was actually most excited about it since I have not been there yet. Given we're supposed to be there in 3 weeks, it's not looking good. I wonder if NCL can come up with a substitue port by then?

[jagergirl55]

This is not good. We're supposed to go there in Feb. I heard it's a beautiful place, and I hope we can see it. I hate to hear of such things.

[jpcdds6]

we were there on the sun last feb. it is a beautiful island. completely surrounded by a coral reef, it has some of the most amazing beaches in the world. we had a private driver and he mentioned that there was friction between the native islanders who speak english and are very caribbean, and the spanish speaking mainlanders who have migrated to the island in search of the tourist dollars. not sure if this is part of the problem, but i know the island had a lot of construction[hotels, condos, a new airport, etc.]to lure more tourists.

[amd1234]

I called Ncl to ask a few questions concerning the unrest in Roatan. They have no information as yet(does this surprise you!) I also asked if they would have an extra sea day or do they subsitute another port. Its up to the Captain!!

 

I know back a few weeks ago NCL bypassed this port where did she sail:eek:??

[mush71]

I was on the Pearl when we skipped Roatan. We didn't get an extra port, we had an extra sea day and were credited the port charges. We actually had to go to the credit desk and ask to have the port charges credited.

 

Maybe with enough notice this time they will find another port to fill in for Roatan.

[SailMeAwayEveryday]

I know back a few weeks ago NCL bypassed this port where did she sail:eek:??

 

If you search the posts I think you will see that they sailed around in circles. Pretty sure I saw something about that. Crew had to come up with on board activities for the day but I think everyone said it was OK. Disappointing to miss a port like Roatan, but it was understandable.

 

To avoid the risk of an unscheduled sea day you may want to consider a different itinerary that does not include Roatan.

[terrymtex01]

Two weeks ago on the Pearl we missed Belize City due to weather and all the ship did was sail very slowly from Roatan to Cozumel and that gave us an extra day at sea.

[rasta]

I was trying to figure out why the Legend left the dock a half hour early last week. Perhaps they knew everyone was on board and prefer to spend as little time at the dock as possible? A travel partner said he saw three vans driving fast into the gated taxi area with locals waving frantically as we were leaving. Could be nothing but weird.

[mbisson]

WOW-I wasn't aware that this had escalated to this point.

 

Although as a Day use cruise type visitor a few times (meaning I don't have much experience with them) I've found the people of Roatan kind and warm. I hope this turmoil ends soon for them.

[SailMeAwayEveryday]

WOW-I wasn't aware that this had escalated to this point.

 

Although as a Day use cruise type visitor a few times (meaning I don't have much experience with them) I've found the people of Roatan kind and warm. I hope this turmoil ends soon for them.

 

I think everyone will agree that the native people of Roatan are kind and wonderful. They are a big reason why so many visitors fall in love with the island.

 

Reports from Roatan are saying that the protesters are not from Roatan and that they are unfamiliar to the native islanders and the ex pats who are there. These protesters seem to have been brought over from the mainland and there is much speculation that this situation has been created by political group(s).

 

Google search "alba honduras" and you will get an idea of where the problem likely stems from.

[LA_FadeAway]

I just read that an HAL ship skipped Roatan today and did a circumnav of the island instead and the Norwegian Jewel skipped it and went to Cozumel instead. Of course, Cozumel is already on my Pearl itinerary, so I doubt we'll go there instead. Maybe Santo Tamos or Costa Maya???

[cruise Jack]

The problems in Roatan are due to an ongoing issue with the electric company- RECO. Rates have been raised and people have protested. They seem to think that blocking roads and creating a mob will get enough attention for the mayor and others in the municipal to help them out. It's very short sighted. If they keep it up they might lose the cruise ship business and that would really hurt the island. If the gringos lose enough business they will leave and then nobody will be happy.

[linnealee]

Same for me Charlene. I wonder what would be the substitute for. I wouldn't mind Costa Maya since I have never been there before.

 

I just read that an HAL ship skipped Roatan today and did a circumnav of the island instead and the Norwegian Jewel skipped it and went to Cozumel instead. Of course, Cozumel is already on my Pearl itinerary, so I doubt we'll go there instead. Maybe Santo Tamos or Costa Maya???

[98Charlie]

The problems in Roatan are due to an ongoing issue with the electric company- RECO. Rates have been raised and people have protested. They seem to think that blocking roads and creating a mob will get enough attention for the mayor and others in the municipal to help them out. It's very short sighted. If they keep it up they might lose the cruise ship business and that would really hurt the island. If the gringos lose enough business they will leave and then nobody will be happy.

 

Do you really think Carnival and Royal Caribbean would pull out of Roatan over this unrest? Both cruise lines have been pouring in big bucks to upgrade the older port area and build a new port area in the west end area.

 

Dianne

[SailMeAwayEveryday]

Do you really think Carnival and Royal Caribbean would pull out of Roatan over this unrest? Both cruise lines have been pouring in big bucks to upgrade the older port area and build a new port area in the west end area.

 

Dianne

 

Do you know how many ships have diverted from Roatan in the last month?

If the port is not reliable the cruise lines will walk from it. The money spent does not equal the potential for lost revenue when customers are routinely dissatisfied.

 

Do your homework on this one. This is not the people of Roatan protesting. Dig deeper and you will see that these "protesters" are paid political insurgents from the mainland.

 

google search "ALBA Honduras" and draw your own conclusions.