20060902--Eastern Sept 2nd, 2006

[Luckymommyx2]

We're back too! Sorry I didn't get to meet any of my fellow DISers but I was looking. We had a great time although I think it will probably be our last Disney cruise. We particularly loved snorkling in St. John. (Does anyone know who the gentleman on our cruise was that died snorkling in St. John??) We also did the stingray swim on Castaway Cay after reassuring my mom that we were in no danger after the Steven Irwin incident.
We had the best seat in the house for the space shuttle launch. We were able to see it out our window shortly after take-off. I should have been more prepared but I only got one picture taken out my window. Good thing there were only about 25 people on board because everyone shifted to the right side of the plane to see this once in a lifetime view!
Glad to hear everyone had a great time. Please post any links to trip reports. I can't wait to read them all!!

 

[CaptainJack]

I did not know that anyone died at St. John, but that makes sense of what I did see. As we were getting back on the ship in St. Thomas, one of the officers and some crew members were taking luggage off of the ship with some persons who appeared really upset about something.

 

[BigBlueMan]

We had a great time although I think it will probably be our last Disney cruise.

Just curious. If you had a great time, why would you rule out a future Disney Cruise?

 

[threebritts]

Well we too had a wonderful time and was nice to get to meet people from here and hang out with Holly and Tyler again
I too saw them talking to family and people leaving ship with officers but didnt know anyone had died
Looking forward to the next disney cruise but may have to squeeze a Alaska one in there between.

 

[threebritts]

Bruise Date: September 5, 2006

Cruise Bruise: Death

Age: 43

Bruise Location: St. Maarten

Cruise Line: Disney Cruise Line

Ship: Magic

Details:



Johnson, and his brother, who is an officer in the United States Coast Guard, were on the cruise ship Disney Magic, and they arrived on the island September 5th.



They arrived in St. Maarten, where they boarded a vessel for a dive excursion. The dive excursion was with Dive Safari. They are known for their shark feeding dives. which many call a dangerous practice, due to the too close handling of animals who become used to being around humans, but are not tame.



This is not the first death with this dive excurion company, there are been a number of deaths, with the last being in December 2005.



He said that the victim had recorded 45 dives in the past and was very experienced.



The brother told police that he had been underwater with his brother, who indicated to him that he was going topside. The officer stayed below and surfaced a few minutes later.



At that time he saw others trying to resuscitate his brother, who had blood coming from his nose and was vomiting.



An autopsy will be performed

 

[HollyTyler]

Wow! That's terrible! How awful for him and his family.

 

[HollyTyler]

Sorry guys, I was just playing around with pics and had to put this one on. Although he doesn't look excited, Tyler had been waiting not so patiently for a picture with Max ever since he saw him on the video on the DCL bus! He said, "Mom, Goofy's son wasn't there last year! Can I get my picture with him?!"

 

[HollyTyler]

LOOK OUT! There's a tiny pirate on the loose and he's armed!!!!!

 

[Monstro]

Nice pictures Holly.

We're back and geting back in the groove of things. It was great meeting all of you. We had a great time.

Thanks for the suite party Brian. It was nice to see the suite.

Jeff

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Just curious. If you had a great time, why would you rule out a future Disney Cruise?

There are a few reasons, personal preferences...nothing intended to start a debate. First, we think DCL is getting a little out of a reasonable price range for what they are offering . We were on their four day cruise back in 2003 and loved it but we noticed a decline in food quality, selection, service and portion size on this cruise. I was a little disappointed in a few areas like the condition of our stateroom, but nothing major. (No flames please, just our personal observations.) We're also checking out other itineraries, transatlantic in particular. We can do a 13 day for less than what we paid for this 7 day and we booked the day DCL released the dates so we got the best deal possible.

I love Disney...we're DVC members...and we had a good time overall but I think the kids are getting to an age where the clubs and the characters aren't as important as they used to be.

Again, we enjoyed our vacation, especially all three Palo visits!! I loved going out on the balcony to watch sunrise and to read my book. Even early morning walks around deck was peaceful. The excursions gave us some unique opportunities that I will treasure. Now it's on to our next adventure....

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Thank you for confirming that threebritts; however, I'm sad to hear that what we heard was true. Thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.


On a brighter note...thanks Holly for sharing your pics. Were you at the first seating? I remember that server and I believe he may have been close to our tables. I wonder how many DISers I ran into and didn't even know it!

 

[HollyTyler]

Thank you for confirming that threebritts; however, I'm sad to hear that what we heard was true. Thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.


On a brighter note...thanks Holly for sharing your pics. Were you at the first seating? I remember that server and I believe he may have been close to our tables. I wonder how many DISers I ran into and didn't even know it!

Yup, we had first seating...table 47 with threebritts!

 

[HollyTyler]

Brian and Shelley: Thanks SO much for the party in your suite! I had been dying to see the inside! And Tyler had so much fun playing with Joshua! I wish I had remembered to get a hold of you guys to arrange them playing together more. We just got so busy, as I'm sure you can relate to.

 

[crainbow]

This is the first that I have been logged in since the cruise ended. Mina and I really had a great time and to think Holly and Pirate Tyler were just done the passageway the whole trip. The DW is already trying to plan our next trip in 08.

Must comment that the food was a great deal better than it was two years ago.

Does any one know who was left behind in St Thomas?

Chuck

 

[CourtneyMc]

That's terrible that someone died, I hadn't heard that. Did we also leave someone behind in St. Thomas? It seemed to me that we left St. Thomas earlier than it said we were going to- does anyone remember? I thought maybe that meant that everyone was back on board so we pulled out early.

If anyone is interested, I'm posting a trip report:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=14492436#post14492436

-Courtney

 

[NeedingVacation]

I, too, am sorry to hear the sad news about the death of one of our fellow passengers on this thread. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

I think someone mentioned this was snorkeling accident, but from the symptoms in the news article, it sounds more like it could have been an air embolism- a well-known SCUBA diving risk.

When you train to become a certified SCUBA diver- you learn about a couple of basic safety rules of the sport:

1) Always look after and stay with your buddy- don't separate- if one goes up, you both go

2) When you do ascend you need to decompress- go slow- not faster than 2 feet up per second and you should make sure to exhale on the way up. This is because of the change in atmospheric pressure at depths. Small air bubbles in your system expand as the pressure decreases and can basically cause your lungs to rupture.

All too often it seems the most experienced divers- even instructors- become vulnerable to letting down their guard.

 

[BigBlueMan]

There are a few reasons, personal preferences...nothing intended to start a debate. (No flames please, just our personal observations.)

Nah, no flames. I was just curious about your thoughts. They are legitimate and thanks for replying!

 

[CourtneyMc]

personally, i wonder how many cancelled the sting ray excursion for CC from our cruise after Steve Irwin died. we heard rumors about it, but until we got home didnt have full story (at .75/min for internet access i wasn't about to look it up until i got home!).

whoever it was who got the view of the rocket from a plane- how cool was that!! we saw it from the front yard one of my fav. things about living on the space coast!

-Courtney

 

[EWL]

We had a great time on the cruise but were sorry we didn't connect with any of you all... we had especially been looking forward to Brian's party but it just didn't work out that afternoon! Hope everyone had a great time.

We were sitting at the table next to the family with the man who died on the scuba excursion-- such a horrible thing. Our server Leo said that the family all disembarked in St Thomas and headed home, so the table was sadly empty for the rest of the cruise. Leo said he'd chatted with him earlier in the week and he had scuba'd before but not for a long time and was really looking forward to going on this excursion with his brother; the ladies weren't interested and planned on going shopping instead. Not the kind of memories you want to have from a family vacation. Let's keep them all in our prayers.

So who else booked another cruise onboard???? We couldn't resist... booked for 12/07 but plan to change to sometime in 2008 when the dates open up.

 

[EWL]

Article from the St. Maarten Daily Herald:


Tourist dies during dive

PHILIPSBURG/St. Maarten--Detectives brought the dive master and dive instructor of Dive Safari to the Philipsburg police station for questioning following the death of an American tourist during their dive excursion, on Tuesday around 10:45am.

Police spokesman Chief Inspector Humphrey “Boyd” Giterson told The Daily Herald that the victim’s family had requested that an autopsy be done to conclusively determine the cause of death of Gregory William Johnson (43).

According to Giterson, police have conducted their investigation and so far there is “no evidence of negligence on the part of Dive Safari or foul play resulting in the victim’s death.”

Giterson called the incident “an unfortunate” one and said the fact that there had been other incidents of this type relating to the company Dive Safari, with the last one in December, in which a female American tourist drowned, did not suggest cause for concern.

He said that the victim in this case was a generously proportioned man who had recorded 45 dives in the past. However, there are cases in which the people who dive aren’t physically fit, which can result in accidents. He said the detectives would await the result of the autopsy.

Johnson, who arrived on the island early Tuesday on board the cruise ship Disney Magic, went on an excursion with his brother, who is reportedly a US Coast Guard officer.

The brother told police that he had been underwater with his brother, who indicated to him that he was going topside. The officer opted to stay below and surfaced a few minutes later, only to find people trying to resuscitate his brother, who by then had blood coming from his nose and was vomiting.

It is not clear whether the victim had heart complications or if his injury resulted from surfacing too quickly.

Giterson said he had been brought ashore to Bobby’s Marina where he was pronounced dead by Dr. Mercuur. A pathologist is expected to come from Curaçao today, Wednesday, to perform the autopsy.