Travel advisories for Americans in effect for 3 Caribbean destinations

[Carolinian]

The picture perfect Caribbean islands now a no-go for US tourists

There are at least three Caribbean islands that Americans are thinking twice about traveling to as warnings from the US government and cruise liners pile up.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Brett]

The picture perfect Caribbean islands now a no-go for US tourists

There are at least three Caribbean islands that Americans are thinking twice about traveling to as warnings from the US government and cruise liners pile up.

www.dailymail.co.uk

OK, my picture perfect Haiti timeshare vacation is cancelled
(Thx to the dailymail )

 

[Carolinian]

I had a friend who decades ago used to vacation in Haiti, but it was never a place that appealed much to me. My only presence there was when my Air France flight landed in Port-au-Prince each direction on a trip to Martinique. It is an island long problematic on crime and general squalor.

The ones that were really surprising on the list were the Turks and Caicos and Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad has been a bit rough around the edges, but not Tobago.

Oh, and the warning came from the US State Department. The Daily Mail was only the messenger.

 

[TolmiePeak]

Shouldn't driving in a car on the typical American freeway be a level 10 risk?

 

[dioxide45]

I had a friend who decades ago used to vacation in Haiti, but it was never a place that appealed much to me. My only presence there was when my Air France flight landed in Port-au-Prince each direction on a trip to Martinique. It is an island long problematic on crime and general squalor.

The ones that were really surprising on the list were the Turks and Caicos and Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad has been a bit rough around the edges, but not Tobago.

Oh, and the warning came from the US State Department. The Daily Mail was only the messenger.

That's what I've read about Trinidad & Tobago. One is mostly fine, the other not so much. The probalem with most of these warnings is they are blanket warnings. I would probably go to the Turks & Caicos, but it would undoubtedly be at some all-inclusive resort where you don't really leave.

 

[am1]

How many US cities should be held to the same standard? I am sure more places are going to get worse though because of the current climate in the US. Both real and not real.

It is important for one to do their own research and take precautions.

Thankfully where I live a murder is a big deal and makes the news.

 

[TolmiePeak]

How many US cities should be held to the same standard? I am sure more places are going to get worse though because of the current climate in the US. Both real and not real.

It is important for one to do their own research and take precautions.

Thankfully where I live a murder is a big deal and makes the news.

Yes isn't Miami far more dangerous than most places in the Caribbean?

 

[Carolinian]

You have to be careful to get the lay of the land almost anywhere you travel these days. I have taken the train all around Europe over the years and it has always been very safe. Now railroad unions are warning of high crime on trains and in stations in various countries. The German rail union has been very vocal on that, as their members have been among the victims. The Italian railway union actually went on strike over it. That is also true of many European cities that used to be considered very safe. I saw a poll recently that a majority of citizens in Amsterdam are now afraid to go out after dark.

 

[dioxide45]

How many US cities should be held to the same standard? I am sure more places are going to get worse though because of the current climate in the US. Both real and not real.

It is important for one to do their own research and take precautions.

Thankfully where I live a murder is a big deal and makes the news.

If you look at Chicago, they had 17 homicides per 100,000 in 2024. The article indicates that Turks and Caicos had 48 with a population of only 47,000. It would seem that Turks and Caicos is far different than Chicago. It is closer to Memphis, but still far off, which was around 40 per 100,000. That said, it isn't just homicide rates. There are many other crimes that I certainly wouldn't want to be a victim of.

Are you signing up to go to Haiti?

 

[fillde]

Yes isn't Miami far more dangerous than most places in the Caribbean?

I believe when you go to any big city in the US and abroad, proper precautions should be taken. DC usually not mentioned in cime stats because it's not a state but it had a very high crime rate. Now it's very safe.

Study: Seattle ranks 4th worst in nation for total crime, nearly triple national average

Seattle was ranked fourth out of the 30 largest American cities for total crime in 2024.

www.yahoo.com

 

[TolmiePeak]

I believe when you go to any big city in the US and abroad, proper precautions should be taken. DC usually not mentioned in cime stats because it's not a state but it had a very high crime rate. Now it's very safe.

Study: Seattle ranks 4th worst in nation for total crime, nearly triple national average

Seattle was ranked fourth out of the 30 largest American cities for total crime in 2024.

www.yahoo.com

Yes driving on the freeway is very dangerous in Seattle hundreds of people die every year in car accidents and tens of thousands are severely injured. I have decreased our driving to reduce our risk. The soft on crime policies have basically eliminated traffic enforcement. The 5 is a complete free for all. It is like the Mad Max movies. I much prefer taking the subway as they have security guards in every station to remove any trouble makers. If you see something on the train you just text your car number to 206 398 5268 and security shows up at the next station to deal with any issues.

 

[davidvel]

OK, my picture perfect Haiti timeshare vacation is cancelled
(Thx to the dailymail )

I had a friend who decades ago used to vacation in Haiti, but it was never a place that appealed much to me. My only presence there was when my Air France flight landed in Port-au-Prince each direction on a trip to Martinique. It is an island long problematic on crime and general squalor.

The ones that were really surprising on the list were the Turks and Caicos and Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad has been a bit rough around the edges, but not Tobago.

Oh, and the warning came from the US State Department. The Daily Mail was only the messenger.

I sincerely doubt the State Department called Haiti "Picture Perfect." But then again . . .

 

[fillde]

Yes driving on the freeway is very dangerous in Seattle hundreds of people die every year in car accidents and tens of thousands are severely injured. I have decreased our driving to reduce our risk. The soft on crime policies have basically eliminated traffic enforcement. The 5 is a complete free for all. It is like the Mad Max movies. I much prefer taking the subway as they have security guards in every station to remove any trouble makers. If you see something on the train you just text your car number to 206 398 5268 and security shows up at the next station to deal with any issues.

Sad that you still have a soft on crime policy. Especially after that debacle called the CHOP.

 

[gln60]

I can give a list of at least 10 cities in America that I would never ever ever return to because of rampant crime..with no consequences.

 

[TolmiePeak]

Sad that you still have a soft on crime policy. Especially after that debacle called the CHOP.

Yep. They refuse to install enforcement cameras at every intersection. We also need speed enforcement cameras for every freeway. Drivers need to be held accountable and arrested, prosecuted, and jailed when they break the law. Of course that will never happen in Seattle. We prefer to look the other way when someone exceeds the speed limit and endangers lives.

 

[TolmiePeak]

I can give a list of at least 10 cities in America that I would never ever ever return to because of rampant crime..with no consequences.

Wouldn't you just develop that list by looking at areas with the highest violent crime rates in the country? Aren't all of those on the freeway?

 

[easyrider]

We almost invested in a condo development in Port a Prince around 2009. I kind of thought it would turn into Port a Potty and it may have.

Bill

 

[gln60]

Wouldn't you just develop that list by looking at areas with the highest violent crime rates in the country? Aren't all of those on the freeway?

.

 

[dioxide45]

We almost invested in a condo development in Port a Prince around 2009. I kind of thought it would turn into Port a Potty and it may have.

Bill

While the 2010 earthquack decimated the city, I don't think it was all that much safer before the earthquake. It was still the poorest country in the Caribbean. That hasn't changed. It also had the least stable government of them all too.

 

[jwalk03]

Yep. They refuse to install enforcement cameras at every intersection. We also need speed enforcement cameras for every freeway. Drivers need to be held accountable and arrested, prosecuted, and jailed when they break the law. Of course that will never happen in Seattle. We prefer to look the other way when someone exceeds the speed limit and endangers lives.

Traffic enforcement cameras only exist to generate revenue! And the crazy part is in most places the private company that installs the cameras gets like half of the revenue they generate instead of the local government!

 

[TolmiePeak]

Traffic enforcement cameras only exist to generate revenue! And the crazy part is in most places the private company that installs the cameras gets like half of the revenue they generate instead of the local government!

Don't do the crime if you don't want to do the time. People would stop speeding if they knew they were going to lose their licenses and be jailed.

 

[Carolinian]

Traffic enforcement cameras only exist to generate revenue! And the crazy part is in most places the private company that installs the cameras gets like half of the revenue they generate instead of the local government!

.
Speed cameras and red light cameras identify the vehicle but NOT the driver. Prosecuting the car owner when you cannot prove who the driver is creates due process problems, so most of that is done as a "civil penalty" which is still not very fair. On a civil matter, they only have to show the greater weight of the evidence, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

A nearby town had red light cameras for quite a few years, and the company providing the cameras received most of the revenue. Then the school board pointed out that under the state Constitution, all fines and forfeitures were supposed to go to the schools and claimed that all of it should be going to them.

There was also a bill in the legislature to abolish these cameras statewide. The bill sponsor brought in one of his constituents as a witness who had been mailed a red light ticket from a town he said he had never been in located in another part of the state. The kicker was that he had documentary proof that on the day his car allegedly triggered the red light camera in North Carolina, he was in intensive care in a hospital in Nevada and his car was in the parking garage of that Nevada hospital.

 

[am1]

If you look at Chicago, they had 17 homicides per 100,000 in 2024. The article indicates that Turks and Caicos had 48 with a population of only 47,000. It would seem that Turks and Caicos is far different than Chicago. It is closer to Memphis, but still far off, which was around 40 per 100,000. That said, it isn't just homicide rates. There are many other crimes that I certainly wouldn't want to be a victim of.

Are you signing up to go to Haiti?

No just means I am not going to go to the dangerous US cities either. Especially the most dangerous parts of each. A lot of safer places to visit in and out of the USA.

Sadly I feel the worst is yet to come especially in European cities and places where people deported are going.

 

[TolmiePeak]

No just means I am not going to go to the dangerous US cities either. Especially the most dangerous parts of each. A lot of safer places to visit in and out of the USA.

Sadly I feel the worst is yet to come especially in European cities and places where people deported are going.

So you never drive on a freeway? How do you get around?

 

[davidvel]

So you never drive on a freeway? How do you get around?

You continue to reference freeways. Are you asserting freeways are the most dangerous parts of a city, the most dangerous roads? It is hard to follow your opinions.