Honduras Travel Warning Continued

State Department

Travel Warnings

The Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens that the level of crime and violence in Honduras remains critically high.

Crime remains high and the warning indicates that the government of Honduras lacks the resources to control the problem.  Honduras has the highest murder rate in the entire world.   See full text of warning ...

UPDATE:  Subsequent to this article, a family of five - passengers on Carnival Conquest, were robbed at gunpoint.  See Passengers Robbed Honduras for complete details.

Tourist Areas  Have Fewer Incidents

Tourism is a large portion of Honduras economy, with cruise lines continuing to stop there even in light of the State Department warnings.   The Honduras government has increased police presence and established special police forces in areas frequented by tourists, such as the Copan Mayan ruins and Roatan.

Recommendations

The travel warning suggests that tourists be vigilant and travel in groups of two or more.  That is practical advice for any destination, even here in the states.  The warning states "It is also advisable to avoid wearing jewelry and carrying large sums of money or displaying cash, ATM/credit cards, or other valuables. U.S. citizens should avoid walking at night in most areas of Honduras or walking alone on beaches, historic ruins, and trails."

Know Before You Go

For more detailed information regarding personal security, please see the State Department's Country Specific Information for Honduras. For the latest security information, U.S. citizens traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ Web site, where the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, and Travel Alerts can be found. 

Consult our International Travel page for more links that are useful when traveling abroad.

Thoughts on Labor Day - 1000th Post

Today We Celebrate
Labor Day...

which celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers. Labor Day is an American Federal Holiday which occurs on the first Monday of September each year.

While the proposal for the holiday dates back to 1882, it wasn't until years later, under President Glover Cleveland, that the holiday was recognized and adopted by the Congress.

Labor ...

a : expenditure of physical or mental effort especially when difficult or compulsory  
b (1) : human activity that provides the goods or services in an economy (2) : the services performed by workers for wages as distinguished from those rendered by entrepreneurs for profits 

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionaries

Today, by virtue of the federal holiday, those who Labor are entitled to rest.  The ironic thing is that Labor Day has become a huge retail day, so many who Labor, are in fact working on this "day off".

Our 1000th Blog Post

It is fitting that this post is our 1000th article since we began this blog in 2007.   We started slow, with just a few posts a month for the first several months. We  have been steadily increasing the frequency of posts since then, to an average of one post every other day.   There are times when we will have several posts on the same day, or in a span of several days - such as during Hurricane Season.

For us, this is a "Labor of Love" so perhaps it is fitting that we hit this milestone on Labor Day 2012.

We got the idea for this blog back in 2007 while attending our National Conference on Norwegian Pearl, which sailed from Miami to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.   Talking with several of our fellow agent friends, we learned about the blogs that they were writing, and decided that we too would like to share our experiences with the world.

"State of the Blog"

Our Blog Description best describes what we try to accomplish in our writings ...  "Virtually travel around the world as you "Cruise with Chris" on her cruise journeys. Learn tips that will help you on YOUR next cruise vacation. Share YOUR experiences with readers. Escape, if only briefly, from reality as you put YOURSELF in these exotic destinations."

We go beyond destinations, bringing you important information to help you plan for adverse travel conditions, such as hurricanes, volcanoes, snow, rain, and other natural and man-made events.   We bring you updates on changes in the Cruise Industry as well as individual Cruise Lines.   

There is something for everyone in the Blog Archives.   We suggest that you don't simply read the current article, but that you use the Blog Search feature to see if we've previously written about a topic that is of interest to you.

Going forward, we will expand our coverage to include land-based vacations as well as cruises.  We love cruises and recognize their value, so our personal trips will usually include a cruise for at least part of the duration.  After getting a taste of a destination, we realize that many of you want to go back to the same destination and spend more time really getting to immerse  yourself in the culture and the destination.   Since we are able to assist with that as well, it makes sense that we expand our coverage in the upcoming months.

Please Participate

If you look at our Blog Description again, you'll notice that we have encouraged our readers to share their experiences as well.   We get some comments, but very few (when you consider how long this column has been running).

Perhaps a better way to share experiences is on our Facebook Page.   Between the two publishing vehicles, we hope to make it easy for our followers to participate in the future.   We often struggle to come up with new ideas for our posts.   We try to "guess" what our readers might want to learn about.  We always welcome your questions and comments about things you'd like to see in our Blog and Facebook page.

Be sure to become a fan (Like us) on Facebook.   Did you know that we have exclusive content on our Welcome page for our loyal fans?   This can be inside information on something changing in the cruise industry to special offers which we share with you before telling the general public about the offer.

Thank you to all our Loyal Followers

You are the Reason we have 1000 Posts !!

USCG Generates Recommendations Following Splendor Fire

Fire Control Panel

Carnival Splendor

Fire Investigation

Generates Recommendations

The USCG has released CO2 system safety concerns in the wake of the Carnival Splendor fire.   The investigation is ongoing, but the following two reports discuss preliminary findings and associated recommendations.

WRONG DIRECTIONS: A RECIPE FOR FAILURE

As stated in this report, "A machinery space fire onboard a relatively new vessel was effectively responded to and
extinguished by the vessel’s quick response team firefighters using portable extinguishing equipment.
However, before it was declared completely extinguished and approximately five hours after the fire
started, the master of the vessel made the decision to release CO2 from the vessel’s fixed firefighting system. It failed to operate as designed. Subsequently, crew members were unable to activate it manually and CO2 was never directed into the machinery space. "

In short, the report indicates that there were various discrepancies in the vessel’s Firefighting Instruction Manual (FIM) and therefore made the following recommendation:

Because of these and other issues, the United States Coast Guard strongly recommends that
Vessel Builders / Shipyards, Classification Societies, Insurers, Owners / Operators, System Service
Personnel, and others involved with these systems:

• Ensure that all supporting documentation, piping schematics, plans, manuals, component labeling and instructions are consistent with each other and relevant to the systems, equipment, and components installed onboard the vessel.

SIMPLE FAILURES RENDER CO2 SYSTEM INOPERATIVE

During the investigation, several issues pertaining to the CO2 system were discovered leading to the following recommendation:

Because of these and other issues, the United States Coast Guard strongly recommends that
Vessel Builders / Shipyards, Classification Societies, Insurers, Owners / Operators, System Service
Personnel, and others involved with these systems:

• Carefully and critically review, routinely inspect and maintain, verify and test their Fixed Fire Fighting installations to ensure that they will operate correctly during an emergency.

Both of these reports were

Developed by the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarter’s Office of Investigations and Analysis, Washington, DC. Questions may be addressed to HQS-PF-fldr-G-PCA@uscg.mil.


The cruise industry is carefully watching the investigation of the Carnival Splendor fire incident.  It is hoped that through reports like the ones just released by the USCG, passenger and crew safety can be enhanced as a result.  The industry takes safety very seriously and has an excellent record overall.


Carnival Splendor's sailings have been canceled until February 20, 2011 as a result of the fire.

For more details and additional related blog posts, see:

Carnival Splendor Cruise Cancellations Extended