Nassau Shooting - Should I cancel the Hilton daypass?

[bumbershoot]

Do you mind citing your source? Truly curious as there are currently no active travel alerts or warnings for the Bahamas right now.

It's under the safety heading here: https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/the-bahamas.html

There's no date on the text of course.

And there's a link to the US embassy in Bahamas and there's no alert there.


I personally didn't care for Nassau and apart from maybe taking a cab to get chocolates at greycliff I don't plan on getting off a ship there in the future. But I also don't think it's a hotbed of crime, especially from our perspective as Americans.

There was a shooting in downtown Seattle yesterday but dh went to work there as usual. And I bet there were tons of tourists making their way into the exact area of the shooting.

Crimes happen.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

In 2011 DH & I walked from the port to the Hilton. At the beach, a man with bloodshot eyes tried to sell us conch shells, we declined. Later we noticed him walking around pantsless.
On the walk back, another gentleman with bloodshot eyes asked me a question. I didn't hear him so I said, "I'm sorry, what?"
"Do you want to buy some crack?"



Honestly, if I took another cruise to the Bahamas & had the kids with me, I would either do an excursion to Atlantis or stay on the ship.

I probably shouldn't be laughing but i am. Hysterical.

 

[MamaBelle4]

I probably shouldn't be laughing but i am. Hysterical.

The worst part was, while I didn't hear him, DH did and he kept walking while I stopped and politely asked him to repeat himself

 

[cmph]

I felt perfectly safe in Nassau, but you know - after reading this, it's all perspective, and it's hard to judge anyone who has a different perspective. I live in Phoenix, and people are shot here daily. Daily. With some fun extras like people locked in car trunks and set on fire. So I guess it's no wonder a single shooting in Nassau sounds tame in comparison. But for people coming from small towns, who don't have that going on daily? Totally different reaction to this, I'm sure. I wouldn't cancel plans for this, but I also wouldn't blame anyone for canceling if they'll be worried the whole time and can't enjoy it at all!

 

[PAGA2003]

It's under the safety heading here: https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/the-bahamas.html

There's no date on the text of course.

And there's a link to the US embassy in Bahamas and there's no alert there.


I personally didn't care for Nassau and apart from maybe taking a cab to get chocolates at greycliff I don't plan on getting off a ship there in the future. But I also don't think it's a hotbed of crime, especially from our perspective as Americans.

There was a shooting in downtown Seattle yesterday but dh went to work there as usual. And I bet there were tons of tourists making their way into the exact area of the shooting.

Crimes happen.

Ok, under the safety and security section. That is the site I view as well but truthfully I go to the cliffs notes version-I'm only concerned with warnings and alerts.

 

[MUN]

Hi All, so we leave a week from today for our land and sea trip and we have daypasses with our little children booked for British Colonial Hilton and cruise law news is reporting that a shooting (of a Nassau native) took place today right near port in downtown Nassau - the photo where the shooting occurred, you can see the port in the background.

I normally don't freak out and like adventure but now I'm wondering about whether I should cancel my day pass? For those who had a daypass at the Hilton, did you feel safe?

I will be happy to link the cruise law news article here but wasn't sure if that was allowed or not?

Is Nassau getting worse safety wise lately?

Yes, you can post a link to the site. In fact, here it is:

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/

I enjoy the attorney's website. Some might call it "fear mongering", I don't, but there are recent examples where engaging in large scale fear mongering is an effective way to get what you want.

 

[mom4fun]

If the port is considered unsafe, Disney won't go there. Our cruise didn't go to Puerto Vallarta when they had intended to stop because during the cruise they received word of possible unsafe situations going on. There were other cruise lines that chose to stop.

 

[phinz]

We have people who used to post prolifically here who said that they stopped cruising out of the United States because it was so dangerous, yet I seem to get to and from all my destinations just fine, as do the majority of people.

Cruiselaw is an ambulance chaser.

 

[thornton0511]

In 2011 DH & I walked from the port to the Hilton. At the beach, a man with bloodshot eyes tried to sell us conch shells, we declined. Later we noticed him walking around pantsless.
On the walk back, another gentleman with bloodshot eyes asked me a question. I didn't hear him so I said, "I'm sorry, what?"
"Do you want to buy some crack?"



Honestly, if I took another cruise to the Bahamas & had the kids with me, I would either do an excursion to Atlantis or stay on the ship.

That is awful but your post seriously made me lol...I just was not ready to read that

 

[Shanti]

Can you point me to a source for this statement?

Do you mind citing your source?

The U.S. State Department rates Nassau's crime level as "critical". Click below for a detailed description.

https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=19192

 

[cruiser21]

The U.S. State Department rates Nassau's crime level as "critical". Click below for a detailed description.

https://www.osac.gov/pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=19192

149 murders in 2015 that's a normal weekend in Chicago.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We took cabs, to and after. It was a lovely time.

 

[hanscarlet]

I was just in Nassau walking outside the port last month. On every corner there were white-uniformed law enforcement directing traffic. It was just 2 of us, both ladies. We went to Starbucks, popped into the straw market for a few minutes, then caught a cab to Sandals. Never felt unsafe.

Thanks, sounds like there may even be more police now perhaps in light of this shooting... the locals on FB were worried that this would turn the tourists away, they knew this would be scary for tourists, hoping it's an anomaly and gang related, seems like the victim's brother died a few months prior in a similar circumstance... not that it's right and may they both rest in peace.... just trying to search for any ounce of info I can

 

[hanscarlet]

and FTR, I'm usually always on the side of "just go, Nassau is fine, been there a bunch of times and so what, you'll get offered drugs, NBD"... it's the kiddos this time is what I'm worried about, we're still going to do it and do the day pass.... thank you all, I came here purposely after reading other sites because I feel like you all can be more tolerant of Nassau than other places, my husband is 6.4 and built like a football player, he'll have one of the kids and he will be holding her arm the entire time on our very short walk LOL... I was like this before our last cruise to St. Thomas too and it was fine, I freak myself out when I think of these kids... it was so much easier just traveling sans kids sometimes lol

 

[bbel]

Thanks, sounds like there may even be more police now perhaps in light of this shooting... the locals on FB were worried that this would turn the tourists away, they knew this would be scary for tourists, hoping it's an anomaly and gang related, seems like the victim's brother died a few months prior in a similar circumstance... not that it's right and may they both rest in peace.... just trying to search for any ounce of info I can

If its any consolation, the British G'ment website would make me more worried about hurricanes and catching diseases over crime/violence when in the Bahamas lol...

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

I do know in recent years, I have seen warnings about going to Nassau from several places (can't necessarily say where). That was part of the reason that our most recent cruise, we elected to stay on the ship. However, my Dad and I have been to Nassau so many times. That's another reason we decided to stay on the boat. To the OP, I agree with others in saying that you will probably still be safe. There are shootings that happen everywhere. However, if you don't feel safe, that is a call that you will need to make. However, I did walk 5 minutes in Nassau from the fort back to the port. It is probably one of the scariest walks I have ever done. It would have been smarter for me to take a taxi. This is before I knew everything that was happening there.

 

[mevelandry]

The Canadian Travel Advisory is citing high rate crimes. Not a fan of Nassau at all. Our last cruise on the Wonder cancelled Nassau (man over board search) and we were happy about it. DH and I went out once by ourselves and were back on the ship within 30 minutes. The area around the port is not pretty.

We went on an excursion the following year with a cruise line and I wouldn't do it any other way.

 

[mevelandry]

If the port is considered unsafe, Disney won't go there. Our cruise didn't go to Puerto Vallarta when they had intended to stop because during the cruise they received word of possible unsafe situations going on. There were other cruise lines that chose to stop.

Disney (and all other cruise lines) is a business trying to make money. I honestly think they will remove that port only when excursions stop selling because people are scared to go over there.

 

[phinz]

It's my understanding that they can't remove the port because of their obligations regarding Castaway Cay. They have to visit other Bahamian ports a certain amount or they are in violation of their lease of their "private" island. I could have misunderstood this when it was explained/told to me. I honestly don't even remember where I was when I was told.

 

[bbel]

Disney (and all other cruise lines) is a business trying to make money. I honestly think they will remove that port only when excursions stop selling because people are scared to go over there.

Remove it forever, no, probably not.
But skip it because of direct threat to guests, yes.

Safety overrides everything at Disney. Which is why they've skipped ports (like PV) before. But they've been back since.