Cruise Passengers Attacked & Robbed in Antigua While Cruise and Tourism Officials Meet
The Antigua Sun reports that two cruise passengers were attacked and robbed while ashore in Antigua yesterday after getting off a cruise ship.
The passengers were not identified but were described as a "British couple" who arrived in St. Johns yesterday. They are sailing aboard the Fred Olsen cruise ship, Boudicca.
The newspaper reports that the "daring daylight incident" occurred around 10:45 a.m. while the tourists were walking along Bay Street in the "Villa area" which is to the north of the St. Johns Harbour where the passengers disembarked. Three young men attacked the couple with "a piece of stick" and robbed them of a digital camera before fleeing. The couple was treated at the Mount St. John Medical Centre and then returned to the Boudicca.
Antigua's tourism officials already have their hands full following the highly publicized murder of Nina Elizabeth Nilssen who was killed in Antigua after disembarking from Star Clippers' Royal Clipper cruise ship. This latest crime against a cruise tourist occurred while the executive members of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) were meeting with the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda and the local Cruise Tourism Association regarding cruise ships porting in Antigua. In an article entitled "FCCA Team Gives Advise to Tourism Stakeholders," the Antigua Sun 
reports that the tourism and cruise people were discussing, among other issues, a "Crime Stoppers" forum when the robbery took place.
Although the media was invited to the meeting, no one would comment on the crime against the cruise passengers.
Antigua has received a lot of unfavorable press over the last year following high profile murders of tourists. One year ago, an article entitled "Tourist Murders, Robberies Threaten Antigua's Struggling Tourism Industry" labeled Antigua as "death island." The article quotes the President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association Nathan Dundas as stating ". . . we have been asking for more security but all of our pleas seem to be falling on deaf ears."
Star Clippers recently announced that it would no longer stop in Antigua, due to concerns with crime. Carnival stopped scratched Antigua off its itinerary last year, although it did not explain why. Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Princess Cruises continue to make calls in Antigua.
The cruise industry is big business in Antigua and Barbuda. The Anitgua Observer newspaper reported earlier this month that cruise passengers spent around $48 million from November 2008 to April 2009, according to the FCCA.
We have addressed the issue of crime against cruise passengers in the Caribbean ports of call in many recent articles:
Passenger From Star Clippers Murdered in Antigua
Eleven Cruise Passengers Robbed in Nassau
18 Passengers From Royal Caribbean & Disney Cruise Ships Robbed By Shotgun in the Bahamas
Bahamas Cruise Crime Nightmare Continues
Nassau Welcomes Oasis of the Seas as Bahamas' Murder Count Reaches Record-Breaking Level
14 Cruise Passengers Robbed at Anse-La-Raye Waterfall in St. Lucia
Crime in Caribbean Ports of Call Against Cruise Passengers
Norwegian Cruise Line Passenger Murdered in Guatemala
Credits:
Photograph of St. Johns Antigua Squidoo
Antigua tourism - FCCA meeting ab.gov.ag (via eTurbo News - "Florida Caribbean Cruise Association meets with Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association"
In researching Ms. Nilssen's death, I ran across an interesting blog written by Cynthia Boal Janssens who is one the bloggers on the cruise website 
I think that this incident reinforces a fact of travel that we should never forget. That crime exists everywhere . . . 
The 
We last reported on the island of Antigua in an article entitled "
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham presided over a "Plaques and Keys" ceremony welcoming the cruise ship to the country. The Prime Minister boarded the ship along with hundreds of government officials to meet and greet Royal Caribbean International President Adam Goldstein and the Master of the vessel, William Wright.
excursions. 
.jpg)
The article is by a Disney cruise passenger, Carney Milne, who took the now infamous Segway tour into the 160 acre nature preserve called "Earth Village" last month..jpg)
Michelle Higgins in the Times' "Practical Traveler" section, the article suggests that crime is rising in Belize, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, and St. Lucia. 
on Professor Ross Klein's website ".jpg)
couple of years ago, Canada's "
Yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protective Services arrested a rape suspect who had flown to Miami to go on a Carnival cruise aboard the Destiny.
Steven Mark Anthony Requena, 28, was arrested while on the Carnival Cruise Ship "Inspiration" at the Port of Tampa..jpg)
But the problem remains that arrests of rape suspects are rare on cruise ships. You will never see a photograph or video of a cruise line employee who is accused of raping a passenger making a "perp walk." .jpg)
on the crime spree in the Bahamas and the inability of the government to do anything about it..jpg)
Terry Miller (below, left) , suggests that the latest robbery may have been an "inside job," although he declined to elaborate. It is obviously suspicious that these two robbers would know exactly where and when to go in a 160 acre preserve to rob two groups of cruise passengers. .jpg)
offer a complementary tour of the site to the victims." And the popular cruise community .jpg)
with a governmental organization called the Bahamas Association for Social Health's (BASH). .jpg)
her cabin. This was far from a rape, but it certainly sounds like something other than a "cultural misunderstanding."
He was a big man and i was a little unnerved by his size. I just stopped his hands and didn't say anything. I know I am stupid for not reporting right away, but i just wasn't sure what to do. I had another incident occur on a Royal ship years ago with my then 11 year old son, where a fellow passenger hauled off and cold cocked him while he was at the kids club. The security really didn't do much about it, told his parents and told them to stay close to their son for the trip, but he was still allowed in the kids club and left unsupervised on the ship. Needless to say my son had a black eye throughout our vacation and the fact that security just didn't make sure that this other kid was allowed where my son was, was even more upsetting. Maybe that is why I didn't report him at the time for fear of security not really doing much . . ." 
Recently, a bill was introduced before Congress (HR 3360) which will require cruise lines to provide contact information for assault crisis centers. But the Senate has not voted on the bill yet. As matters now stand, cruise lines continue to keep the passengers in the dark regarding what to so or who to contact in circumstances like this..jpg)
Follow up in writing and by email. Don't let it drop until you are satisfied. .jpg)
At this moment, the Oasis of the Seas is sailing with newspaper reporters, travel writers, cruise bloggers, and other cruise enthusiasts. They are tweeting their observations on Twitter under the hashtag .jpg)
1. Does the Oasis of the Seas discharge wastewater/sewage (whether treated or outside 3 miles of shore or not) during the cruises? .jpg)
have found when female passengers are at a higher risk of being assaulted?.jpg)
A woman from Kansas City accused Princess Cruises crew member Jorge Manuel Teixeira (from Portugal) of sexually assaulting her during a cruise last March between Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles, while the ship was at sea off the coast of Mexico..jpg)
Arrests of sexual predators on cruise ships are rare, and criminal prosecutions and convictions are somewhere between slim and none. Cruise lines often help defend their crew members behind the scenes, in the hope of avoiding the stigma of one of their crew members going to jail. .jpg)
Congressapproved the bill by a resounding vote of 416 to 4..jpg)
requirement that all doors be fitted with peepholes so that passengers inside cabins can determine who is outside of their doors. Congress was previously provided with testimony of passengers who opened their doors and were raped by crew members. .jpg)
identifying the attacker, or in prosecuting the crime. The ship doctor gave Ms. Dishman a trash bag and told her to return to the crime scene and collect the evidence herself. Congresswoman Matui characterized the need for the cruise crime bill as "urgent and necessary." 
Caribbean had over 250 incidents of where cruise victims were sexually assaulted, battered or sexually harassed. (Our firm handled the case where a Court in Miami ordered the cruise line to reveal this information under a threatened sanction of $1,000 a day). 
victims..jpg)
ric cemetary when two men tired to rob him of his camera and then shot him. The newspaper reported the capture of "two youth gang members" suspected in the murder. The banditos were identifed as gang members because of the tatoos on their faces..bmp)
Crimes committed against cruise passengers while ashore in ports of call are a concern throughout the Caribbean and Central America. Three weeks ago, Cruise Law News was the first in the U.S. to report that eleven cruise passengers were robbed at gunpoint at a major tourist attraction in downtown Nassau on a Sunday morning - "
.jpg)
Most passengers don't realize the danger which women and children face on cruise ships. For example, who would think that they are at risk of being raped on the cruise line featured in the popular television series the "Love Boat?"
The most publicized sexual assault this year involved .jpg)
Foreseeability of Sexual Assaults on Cruise Ships?
One of the speakers at the hearing was Evelyn Fortier, the former vice president of the 
But the Miami Herald has remained oddly silent over the past many years. One reason is that the Miami Herald is best known for its puff pieces and color photographs in its Sunday travel (i.e., cruise) section. The Miami Herald's Executive Business Editor, .jpg)
Ken Carver whose daughter Merrian disappeared on a cruise ship operated by Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises. The legislation was introduced by California Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) whose constituent, Ms. Laurie Dishman was sexually assaulted on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. Ms. Dishman is a client and good friend of the firm. She has worked tirelessly with the other ICV members to make sure that legislation like this is enacted to protect the traveling public.
The International Cruise Victims Association (ICV) applauds House passage today of critical language authored by Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui (D-CA) ensuring the safety of cruise ship passengers on the high seas. Matsui’s Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act of 2009, included in H.R. 3619, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2010, requires cruise lines to report all crimes aboard cruise ships to both the United States Coast Guard and the FBI. The first measure of its kind, this legislation represents a historic step toward securing the safety all passengers need and deserve.
My legislation will not only help protect and empower future victims, but it contains important reforms that will help change the culture of the cruise industry and prevent future attacks from happening.”
As this crucial legislation moves forward, it serves as a sign to many among the ICV’s community of followers that progress is being made toward ensuring the safety of Americans abroad. The measure approved today is a major victory in the fight for cruise passengers’ rights. ICV President Kendall Carver expressed his hopeful outlook as the legislation has been approved by committee in the Senate. “Adoption of this bill would be proof to the world that our small group of volunteers with limited funds has been able to make a difference in the safety of Americans. When the Cruise Safety legislation is signed into law, it will serve to protect Americans across the nation during what ought to be relaxing vacations.”
American law enforcement. Title IX requires cruise ships to comply with design and construction standards, such as specific rail heights, peep holes, warning devices and cabin security measures. The bill also requires that vessels are equipped with a video surveillance system to assist in documenting and prosecuting crimes, and it requires vessels to maintain a log book to record reports on specified complaints. Finally, once enacted, vessels will be required to contact the nearest FBI office as soon as possible to report incidents involving homicide, suspicious deaths, missing U.S. nationals, kidnapping, assault, and other serious occurrences.
The prosecution originally brought three charges against defendant Wilhelm for his involvement in the .jpg)
The jury had to ignore much of the evidence introduced over the course of the last month after the prosecution withdrew manslaughter-by-criminal-negligence allegations. The Court instructed the jurors that the trial was no longer about whether Mark Wilhelm should have helped Ms Brimble, and to ignore photographs of her dying on the cabin floor. 
U.S. passenger Anthony Issac brought the drugs to the Island in a suitcase aboard the NCL cruise ship. A "friend" of his paid him $10,000 to go on vacation and to drop the suitcase off in Bermuda. The NCL passenger, a 34 year-old truck driver from the Bronx, apologized to the court in Bermuda. He explained that he smuggled the reefer because he was "experiencing financial problems and thought the money would help."
In November 2006, another 
.jpg)
Crimes against U.S. passengers from cruise ships are one of the risks inherent in cruising. Most passengers are not aware of the dangers, and most cruise lines do not warn passengers. 
One of the subscribers to this blog commented on an earlier article about the danger presented when 
"I can’t think anything I’d rather less do than go on holiday with five thousand three hundred and ninety-nine other people. Imagine the rush for the boats – or taxis – during shore excursions. Imagine the stress of finding a space by the pool. Or queuing for dinner. One may as well go to the Med and scrap with the Russians and Germans for sun loungers. No wonder people get punchy. Who wouldn’t?"
Cruise lines have suffered from terrible publicity due to the irresponsible way that they have responded to shipboard crimes. For example, after Ms. Brimble died, the P & O brand (a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation which also owns sister company Princess Cruises), began running a highly sexualized marketing campaign touting an image of booze and sex. 
The last time the press reported a sexual assault on a Princess Cruises or P & O cruise was earlier this year. A 
This type of story should serve as a wake up to parents who take their children on cruises. Yes, there are sexual deviants and predators on cruise ships. We have had too many cases where unsuspecting parents leave their kids in the cabin when they go to the casino, or stay late at the disco. While the parents are gone, a cabin attendant enters the cabin with his pass key. Let's skip the details. Trust me, leaving a 12 year old boy or his 14 year old sister alone in a cabin is a bad idea.
