Celebrity cruise tour accident

[Copper10-8]

Props to Celebrity Cruises for the way they are handling/providing assistance on this incident

[cusyl]

I'm having a hard time seeing a "bus" in that picture. Is it one of those open air buses? What a shame to be injured so badly on vacation. I am certainly impressed with Celebrity's sending so many from the ship to help them all.

[innlady1]

I'm having a hard time seeing a "bus" in that picture. Is it one of those open air buses? What a shame to be injured so badly on vacation. I am certainly impressed with Celebrity's sending so many from the ship to help them all.

 

I'm having a hard time seeing a bus in the photo, too. We were in Dominica on February 6 on the Noordam and took a HAL tour....all I saw at the cruise dock were small, enclosed buses. Much smaller than a regular bus, larger than a mini van. I'd guess the had a capacity of 25, give or take.

 

Not the open air vehicles that are used in St. Thomas or Tortola. I'll see if I can find a photo.

 

Having been to this island recently, this accident doesn't surprise me at all. Dominica appears to be a very poor island, and I doubt they have the $$$ for road upkeep. The ditches at the side of the roads were scary.

[sammiedawg]

OMG, what a nightmare for the passengers. I'm glad X is stepping up to help them. Worst nightmare.

[Copper10-8]

On some of the smalller Caribbean islands (like Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, etc.) they like to use busses like the Toyota Hiace or Toyota Coaster, bigger than mini-vans, but smaller than the full-size busses that you'll find in the States, Canada, Europe, etc.

 

 

 

 

[Sundagger]

On some of the smalller Caribbean islands (like Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, etc.) they like to use busses like the Toyota Hiace or Toyota Coaster, bigger than mini-vans, but smaller than the full-size busses that you'll find in the States, Canada, Europe, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

He's using the same high-tech parking brake that I use on my very, very old F-150 (used for runs to the dump).:eek:

[Copper10-8]

He's using the same high-tech parking brake that I use on my very, very old F-150 (used for runs to the dump).:eek:

 

Mark I brick!

[esther e]

We were involved in a safari bus accident in December in Tortola. We were actually stopped when someone came flying around a corner in our lane and hit us. I was in the second row by the open side and the car hit us just in front of the first row of seats. Had any headlights gone flying we would have been cut. I felt so bad for the safari bus owner -- it wasn't his fault and the very first thing he did was check every passenger to see if we were all right. The following day we received a phone call from HAL (while on ship) to see if we were fine. This accident was nothing compared to Celebrity, but enough to shake us up. God bless all those on Celebrity. My heart aches for them. I wish them all a speedy recovery. It also makes me well aware why we only go on ship-sponsored excursions.

[innlady1]

Here are some photos of tour buses in Dominica that I took on February 6. The HAL excursion we took was on a bus like the white one. The last photo was taken in St. Thomas on February 5. An open air taxi, prevalent in the Virgin Islands.

 

Many of the Caribbean islands (the Virgin Islands, Grenada, Dominica, etc.) are so mountainous, with elevations rising to 2000 ft. above sea level in a relatively small space. Couple that with not-so-hot roads, and it's amazing that accidents like this don't happen more often.

 

I think from now on we'll stick with ship shore excursions 100%.

 

 

 

[hammybee]

Is compassion possible without compartmentalizing?

We have all been on a cruise ship and most of us have probably found ourselves, at one time or another, on a shore excursion bus, headed somewhere. Therefore it’s likely that we can more easily identify with the emotions, thoughts and tough situations being experienced by these passengers.

My post was insensitive to posters identifying with these passengers.

Miami is the world’s headquarters for the two largest cruise lines. Cruising is big business in Miami and employs a significant number of people who work in or support the industry. It makes sense for Miami media to promptly react to press releases from either of the two major cruise lines.

These passengers have, thus far, survived and no doubt the influence and leadership of the cruise line played a significant role in this. And, no doubt, it will contribute to the defense for the lawsuits that will inevitably ensue, despite it being clear, cruise lines are not responsible for unfortunate events that occasionally happen to passengers.

I am sorry that this sort of thing happens to anyone.

[jhannah]

Very nice, Hammybee. Thanks!

[Copper10-8]

Good stuff, Hammy!:)

[jbhcw]

Hi Hammy, good post, thanks.

[mudscraper]

I'm having a hard time seeing a "bus" in that picture. Is it one of those open air buses? What a shame to be injured so badly on vacation. I am certainly impressed with Celebrity's sending so many from the ship to help them all.

Take a look on the Celebrity CC boards. Post #21 of the accident thread shows what may be the vehicle in question.

Totally unsafe in my opinion.

 

 

Rich

[Cruising-along]

Well said Hammy. :)

[innlady1]

Rich,

I brought the photo over from the Celebrity site. Very colorful...but hardly safe looking. :eek:

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Rich,

I brought the photo over from the Celebrity site. Very colorful...but hardly safe looking. :eek:

 

 

 

 

Looks like an older version of the open air trucks you'll find on St. Thomas, St. John and Tortola

[MadManOfBethesda]

Here's an update posted this morning on the website of another South Florida newspaper:

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-bn-0225cruise,0,3202457.story

 

 

Two of the passengers are still in critical condition.

[innlady1]

Looks like an older version of the open air trucks you'll find on St. Thomas, St. John and Tortola

 

Exactly.

 

I posted a photo of the open air taxi we took in St. Thomas. Quite nice. I have a feeling the Virgin Islands are more stringent ...that junker in Dominica never would pass inspection in the US...so I doubt it would in St. Thomas or St. John. Tortola is probably just as stringent.

 

If you look closely, there's no separation between the driver and the rest of the rig. It looks like a glorified haywagon!

 

Now, my question is, if this truck showed up to take you on a shore excursion, would you go on a rattletrap like that? I would say "thanks...but, no thanks". Especially given the mountainous terrain and the condition of the roads on many of the islands.

[lettienets]

Exactly.

 

I posted a photo of the open air taxi we took in St. Thomas. Quite nice. I have a feeling the Virgin Islands are more stringent ...that junker in Dominica never would pass inspection in the US...so I doubt it would in St. Thomas or St. John. Tortola is probably just as stringent.

If you look closely, there's no separation between the driver and the rest of the rig. It looks like a glorified haywagon!

 

Now, my question is, if this truck showed up to take you on a shore excursion, would you go on a rattletrap like that? I would say "thanks...but, no thanks". Especially given the mountainous terrain and the condition of the roads on many of the islands.

I thought these old junkers only took people around town not out on a tour somewhere, looks unsafe to go very far. You could fall out if it hit a big bump somewhere let alone a ditch. I thought the accident vehicle was a van at first and then I read the followup. If this was a vehicle for your tour and you refused to get on it would HAL give you a refund? I wonder how many tours are on these things. In Aruba there were old school busses cut open and being used for tours but they weren't for ship tours I don't think.

[suse]

I won't go on those things anymore. They really scare me. I thought we would die on one in St. Thomas last year. They drive like madmen up and down the mountains. No thanks.

[innlady1]

I thought these old junkers only took people around town not out on a tour somewhere, looks unsafe to go very far. You could fall out if it hit a big bump somewhere let alone a ditch. I thought the accident vehicle was a van at first and then I read the followup. If this was a vehicle for your tour and you refused to get on it would HAL give you a refund? I wonder how many tours are on these things. In Aruba there were old school busses cut open and being used for tours but they weren't for ship tours I don't think.

 

Lettie, I would think if a pax questioned the safety of a vehicle, the cruise line would have no other choice. Looking very closely at the photo, this is about the worst relic I've seen. The colorful paint job is a good camoflage.

 

Same with the buses you mention in Aruba. Also Curacao. Those islands are flat, but still.........

 

Another thing: I think the cruise line should have some responsibility here. When we took a shore excursion in Dominica on our recent b2b, I noticed one of the women from the Shore Excursion Office on the pier, making sure everything was in order. I'm sure Celebrity is the same. Seeing that rattle trap show up to take guests from their ship, I think would give them 2nd thoughts.

[jbhcw]

I've been on a small boat in Nassau where we thought the motor was going to blow up, thank goodness the excursion was almost finished.....and in more than one of those buses where as they fill up the back of the bus they flip the seat down into the aisle and you are effectively blocked from getting out unless you go out the window and/or over people to get to the door. Any one else been in one of those????

 

all that was pre-accident. I now am very picky about what I travel in and where I'm going!! We really learned the hard way:(

[innlady1]

I've been on a small boat in Nassau where we thought the motor was going to blow up, thank goodness the excursion was almost finished.....and in more than one of those buses where as they fill up the back of the bus they flip the seat down into the aisle and you are effectively blocked from getting out unless you go out the window and/or over people to get to the door. Any one else been in one of those????

 

all that was pre-accident. I now am very picky about what I travel in and where I'm going!! We really learned the hard way:(

 

As a matter of fact, the bus we took on the HAL tour in Dominica 2 weeks ago had that arrangement. All the seats had aisle, flip-down seats. To the tour's credit, they did not use them.

[mudscraper]

This should be a wakeup call to all of us.

Take a good look at the vehicle that is to transport us on our shorex.

Look at the tires. Does it have seat belts. Don`t ride in these hay wagons if they are to take you any further than into town.

Accidents can happen at any time,even in the safest of transportation.

A modern bus or van would have protected those passengers somewhat better IMO.

 

 

Rich