The US Division of State has issued a Stage 2 Journey Advisory for The Bahamas attributable to a current improve in crime which will have an effect on cruise visitors.

The particular areas the place heightened crime is famous are each Nassau and Freeport, and sure in style water actions are additionally listed as needing further warning.

Journey Advisory for The Bahamas Attributable to Crime

A Level 2 Travel Advisory has been issued for guests to The Bahamas attributable to crime and water exercise security. The advisory, up to date by the US State Division on Friday, January 26, 2024, particularly lists New Windfall (Nassau) and Grand Bahama (Freeport) islands as the place nearly all of crime happens.

A Stage 2 Journey Advisory is a suggestion to “Train Elevated Warning” if touring to the vacation spot. This can be a smart precaution for any traveler when visiting a overseas nation or unfamiliar area. The Bahamas has been listed at a Stage 2 alert for greater than a yr, however the info is usually up to date to notice more moderen issues.

“Violent crime, resembling burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assaults, happen in each vacationer and non-tourist areas,” the advisory states.

A excessive murder fee can also be famous however isn’t widespread in non-tourist areas. The US Embassy in Nassau notes in a separate safety alert issued on January 24 that 18 homicides have occurred in Nassau to date in 2024, in any respect hours of the day, however that such incidents are primarily retaliatory gang violence.

Journey Warning Consists of Water Actions

Of particular notice within the journey advisory is the eye paid to water actions, together with excursions, use of leisure watercraft, swimming, and shark encounters.

“Actions involving industrial leisure watercraft, together with water excursions, aren’t persistently regulated. Watercraft could also be poorly maintained, and some operators could not have security certifications,” the advisory mentioned. “Industrial watercraft operators have discretion to function their vessels no matter climate forecasts; accidents and fatalities have occurred.”

That is doubtless a reference to the unfortunate incident in November 2023 when a Blue Lagoon Island ferry sank after encountering tough waves, and one cruise passenger – an aged lady – died. The precise circumstances of her dying weren’t detailed, and cruise strains suspended providing the excursions for a number of weeks till additional security protocols and inspections have been accomplished.

Blue Lagoon Island has since reopened for vacationers, however it’s as much as particular person cruise strains whether or not or to not provide shore excursions for visitors to buy. Any guests can buy excursions not supplied by the cruise line if they like.

The advisory additionally famous that sharks have turn into a current concern in The Bahamas, with accidents and fatalities in current weeks.

“Be aware of sharks when swimming and fascinating in water actions, as there have been current deadly and non-fatal incidents involving sharks,” the advisory reads.

A 10-year-old boy was bitten by a shark in mid-January whereas taking part in an encounter expertise by Blue Adventures by Stuart Cove, a tour operated by Atlantis Paradise Island Resort. This has prompted the non permanent closure of the tour providing. It must be famous, nonetheless, that the injured boy was not a cruise ship visitor.

Journey Advisories to Different Common Locations

It’s worthwhile to notice that the US Division of State usually points journey advisories on in style cruise locations all over the world, with various ranges of precaution prompt.

Learn Additionally: How to Stay Safe in a Cruise Port

Different locations with Stage 2 advisories embody the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, the Turks and Caicos, the UK, and Belize. Stage 3 advisories – “Rethink Journey” – apply to locations resembling Honduras, Colombia, and Jamaica.

Stage 4 “Do Not Journey” advisories apply to extraordinarily unstable areas, resembling Russia, Ukraine, and Haiti – locations which are hardly ever visited by cruise strains at the moment.

Vacationers must be conscious that advisories are usually issued for a complete nation, even when the crime or different instability is restricted to a comparatively small area.

Cruise strains are conscious of those advisories and take each precaution to maintain visitors secure, together with adjusting itineraries or altering port visits if a vacation spot is taken into account extraordinarily unstable.