12 passengers from cruise ships from Miami and Fort Lauderdale dead in Mexico bus crash

sun-sentinel ^ | 12/19/2017

[BenLurkin]

At least 12 passengers from cruise ships that departed from South Florida died when a bus carrying them to Mayan ruins in eastern Mexico flipped over on a highway early Tuesday, officials said.

Seven Americans and two citizens of Sweden are among the injured, according to Quintana Roo state Civil Defense spokesman Vicente Martin, who said authorities haven't yet established the nationalities of the dead.

Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises said in a statement that passengers from two of its ships, the Celebrity Equinox and Serenade of the Seas, were involved in the crash. The company expressed its sympathies and said it was assisting with medical care and transportation.

The Serenade of the Seas departed from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale Friday and the Celebrity Equinox departed from Port Miami Saturday. Both ships are on seven-night Caribbean cruises.

[BenLurkin]

Chris Brawley, a passenger on the Serenade of Seas, was on a bus headed to the same Mayan ruins when they came on the scene minutes after the accident.
It was shortly after 9 a.m. and a convoy of buses from the cruise port at Mahahual was headed to Chacchoben, he said. They had been on the road for about 35 to 40 minutes before the accident.
Brawly said the sky was clear and the road was dry and he didn’t see any sign of any other vehicle being involved in the crash, which happened on a narrow, two-lane road with no shoulder or guardrail.
He said he did not see the crash, but “the bus clearly lost control somehow as there were swerve marks all over the road surface.”

http://wsvn.com/news/us-world/12-dead-after-bus-carrying-royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-passengers-flips-over-in-mexico/

[al baby]

Prayers up in before all the criuse and travel haters

[AppyPappy]

Not surprising. Those roads can be treacherous. Pass.

[publius911]

Bookmark

[Gay State Conservative]

Reason #376 why I’ve never set foot in Mexico.And never will.

[publius911]

Prayers up in before all the criuse and travel haters

prayers indeed.
Condolences to all the families affected.

[shotgun]

Swerved to avoid a chupracabra?

[dougherty]

I would love to see the Mayan ruins, but due to the country where they are located, I’ll pass.

[dfwgator]

I did it once. Went to Cancun and did the trip to Xcaret.

That was quite enough for one lifetime.

Horrible for this to happen. Prayers up.

[napscoordinator]

Reason #376 why I’ve never set foot in Mexico.And never will.

lol. I get it but that could happen to any of us tomorrow literally. I have been to Mexico around 7 times and I really love it. I mean you have to go to the nice parts but otherwise it is about as safe as the U.S.

[Rio]

I’ve made that bus ride. Those drivers are NUTS.

[AC86UT89]

Reason #376 why I’ve never set foot in Mexico.And never will.

__________________________________________

To each their own. Meanwhile in the USA just yesterday a train full of passengers derailed and fell on a highway of filled with traffic because it was speeding at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone.

[dragnet2]

I’m trying to imagine paying to go to Mexico and then voluntarily getting on a Mexican bus.

[Engedi]

We stayed at all inclusive in River Maya area. It was beautiful. We took a day trip to Playa De Carmen but only used our hotel approved taxi folks. I would have loved to see Mayab ruins but just didn’t feel comfortable doing long day trips.

[PAR35]

It’s been a while, but my recollection is that the area is fairly flat with generally straight roads.

[varyouga]

I did the trip from Cancun to Mayan ruins with some buddies in the mid 90s. Piled into an old VW and saw some beautiful things but looking back it was very stupid.

Truly 3rd world conditions with many beggars. 2 times we were stopped by men with machine guns saying they were police.

There are some amazing places in Mexico but you should not travel outside resort gates without a trusted local

[wtd]

We visited a Mexican port - Encinata (sp?) in 2000 when on a Carnival cruise. As the ship turned to enter the port there was a thick yellow/orange haze hovering over the entire coast. A massive flag pole peeked through the haze like piercing a cushion with the massive flag waving clearly above the pollution.

Once off the ship, it was clear we were in an industrial loading area. Nothing touristy about the port at all. We were herded to town in one of their 'taxis'. Not a single visible vehicle was intact with mfg. original components. The vans had bench seats from any variety of used cars. None of the seats looked to be original. There were no doors on the passenger side of any of the vans (taxis) either.

We were handed maps with areas clearly marked to avoid and informed that none of the tourist shops would be open until after noon. We arrived in town at around 9am and were faced off with any number of children hawking souvenirs and begging for handouts. We were warned not to encourage these children and avoid them.

Lets just say the Encinata visit left an unappealing impression. We have no intention of visiting again.

Given the above description of the Encinata taxis, one can only wonder about the condition of the tourist buses involved in this accident as well.

[BwanaNdege]

I’m trying to imagine paying to go to Mexico and then voluntarily getting on a Mexican bus.

The ADO buses from Cancun to Chetumal make Greyhound look like the stereo-typical 'chicken bus'. The ADO terminals make the typical Greyhound terminal look like...well, this is a family-friendly website.

The much of the main highway from Cancun to Playa del Carmen and on to Chetumal is a great four lane divided highway (just remember to watch for those speed bumps!)

Some of the Mayan ruins are on two lanes off in the jungle. The two lane to Mahahual is wide and safe. BTW, Mahahual (the village, not the nearby cruise port) is Ms. BN's favorite laid back vacation spot.

[al baby]

I think you are speaking of Ensanda yes big flag