Posted on 04/18/2013 8:58:44 AM PDT by george76
Four Canadians on a ground excursion during a Caribbean cruise thought they were going to be killed when four masked gunmen with homemade shotguns and pistols ambushed them in a lush botanical garden retreat, fellow passengers say.
About 60 tourists and three guides were systematically searched at gunpoint and robbed of their money, jewelry, cameras and cellphones on Friday.
They were then ordered to march forward, during which they feared they would be shot in the back, but instead the gunmen slipped away into the foliage
...
The victims were on a shore excursion from the cruise ship Celebrity Eclipse, which was anchored in the sheltered harbour of Castries, St. Lucia’s capital.
Cruise guests taking two shore excursions traveled together by bus for the one-hour trip down the coast to Soufrière, the old capital when the island was a French colony.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalpost.com ...
‘Thought they would be murdered’: Canadians among cruise passengers robbed during St. Lucia excursion
1. It's a shame concealed carry is not valid on a cruise ship or on St. Lucia. I'd take a Glock in the hands of a trained shooter over a homemade zip-gun any day.
2. I'm beginning to wonder if cruise travel is going to drop off because of robberies like this and the ongoing pattern of Carnival Cruise mechanical issues.
Did the bandidos have their inter-galactic background checks done prior to committing the act? If they had, they would have had to resort to using machetes.
Suspects probably not St. Lucian residents. This event ends their tourist-based economy. Locals would skin perps alive for this.
Are you saying you would feel safer with the perps than with carnival? LOL!
Bus trip off the cruise ship. Driver drove the bus into a blind alley.
Gunmen got on the bus and took all cash and jewelry from the passengers.
The only island I am concerned about safety is Jamaica.
Is St. Lucia British owned?
I feel safe in Bermuda that’s it for now.
I agree about Jamaica and St Lucia. St Lucia is my favorite island and has lovely people. I have been there twice and always felt safe. I hate to hear this.
—Suspects probably not St. Lucian residents. This event ends their tourist-based economy. Locals would skin perps alive for this.—
Could this theory be applied to Chicago as well?
It was French, but didn’t suffer like Haiti.
I would pick Curaçao, with St. Lucia second, Aruba leaves me cold.
I am going to Bermuda in June for the first time.
In the western Caribbean, Rotan is my favorite, going there again in February.
Yeah, I think machetes would be just as effective, don’t you?
You don’t suppose the driver was in on it?
Criminals move toward easy victims - and there's nothing 'easier' than a bunch of certified unarmed citizens...
I hope the cruise line puts a contract out on the driver.
And the other 56 passengers felt safe?
I have a very diferent opinion of St Lucia. A filthy banana plantation, with most of its people living in abject squalor and poverty; a scattering of resort enclaves for foreigners; huge number of porcine German tourists; nothing that resembles a city or even a developed town; no cultural life. Yes, one famous poet came out of the island, and that’s it.
The nost horrible thing about it was that it was like being in a living advertisement for communism: the extreme poverty of the population, and then the houses in the hills owned by white people; a defecto apartheid society - it made my skin crawl.
On the other hand,
http://neveryetmelted.com/2007/02/23/us-senior-citizen-kills-mugger-with-bare-hands-in-costa-rica/
There are hardly any cruises (by any line) to the "Mexican Riviera" (Western shore of Mexico) anymore. In the past, the drug cartels had stayed clear of the tourist locations but no longer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.