Jamaica State of Emergency

Icaj1998 · May 2010

Is anyone thinking about changing their honeymoon plans due to the state of emergency in Jamiaca??? We are supposed to be heading there next month and I don't know if we should change our plans. I know the violence isn't near the tourist side of the island but who knows what could happen in a month. Also, I want to relax on our honeymoon and not have this thought in the back of my head that something could go wrong.

Any thoughts????

topchef33 · May 2010

I haven't heard what's been going on...but I might be a little bit afraid to go if my trip was coming up soon.

Does your resort have security 24/7?

Reilly626 · May 2010

I think anyone is nuts who goes there- were talking drug lords with guns and more power than who is in control. Use your insurance and change islands. Go to the US Travel website and see what they recommend.

goaliegirl · May 2010

I have friends in Ocho Rios right now at Sandals, and they emailed us and said that you wouldn't even know what was going on in Kingston if it wasn't for the news. She also said that the resort is very crowded so I guess people aren't leaving.

At any rate, Kingston is pretty far from Montego, Ocho and Negril which are the big tourist areas, so if I wasn't going for a month or two, I would hold off cancelling and wait to see what happens. This conflict hopefully won't last that long.

heatherk_11 · May 2010

We are headed to Jamaica on July 4 and I think we will hold off cancelling our trip until closer to time. I looked on a map and the sandals resorts (which is where we are staying) are on the other side of the island from Kingston. I figure by the 4th things will be calmed down. Good luck!

laurenthompson5799 · May 2010

did you know that the same alert is issued for UK citizens not to go to NYC right now because of terrorism!!! OMG...maybe I should get out of the USA!!! I am leaving in June for Jamaica and am nearer to more crime in Detroit than the 4 1/2 hour drive to Kingston from Negril! Have you heard that Kingston has been the WORST city for homicides for decades?? If you made a choice to go to Jamaica, you were silly to not have done research on the island. Oh, and in Antigua an American was kidnapped and brutally murdered in Jan, the Bahamas has the highest growing rate of AIDS and lets not forget Mexico and all the horrible dash for cash kidnappings on the border towns--but wait that is 14 hours from Cancun! Right...stay home and hide in a bunker!

LauraT25 · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_jamaica-state-of-emergency?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:d4212c48-0390-403d-b167-c67b6e05a77aPost:6fc8adcb-c5ad-4f9c-9e54-afa98e128673">Re: Jamaica State of Emergency</a>:
[QUOTE]did you know that the same alert is issued for UK citizens not to go to NYC right now because of terrorism!!! OMG...maybe I should get out of the USA!!! I am leaving in June for Jamaica and am nearer to more crime in Detroit than the 4 1/2 hour drive to Kingston from Negril! Have you heard that Kingston has been the WORST city for homicides for decades?? If you made a choice to go to Jamaica, you were silly to not have done research on the island. Oh, and in Antigua an American was kidnapped and brutally murdered in Jan, the Bahamas has the highest growing rate of AIDS and lets not forget Mexico and all the horrible dash for cash kidnappings on the border towns--but wait that is 14 hours from Cancun! Right...stay home and hide in a bunker!
Posted by laurenthompson5799@yahoo.com[/QUOTE]

While I sort of agree with the concept (though maybe not the tone) of this generally, in this particular case there's a travel embargo and a lot of people are worried because if the violence spreads they may be unable to fly into or out of the country - so not only might it be dangerous, they won't be able to go on their HM/DW, or may not be able to leave. At least the people I've talked to, anyway.

Edit: And to answer the OP - I would wait a little and see what happens. The resort area may still be unaffected when you need to go, or the conflict could be resolved by then.

maddie7 · May 2010

If the violence is a few hours away, cant they take cars and attack tourists at Sandals? Imagine the Sandals staff trying to protect tourists- not! Their own government cant control it. I mean its an island, any part of an uprising I would stay away from. Its a shame, but I think if you book in Jamaica you say to yourself I wont leave the resort. If that is what you want to do then its for you. Bunker- ha ha... Why would I get AIDS in Bahamas- I'd hopefully be with my husband... Mexico, that's another chance you take also between the flu and thefts, you never know... Remember the Paris gangs a few years back, its a gamble.. Times Square, was there the night before the car bomb, you just never know, but I think common sense and history will tell you where is a safer bet to travel....

lyndausvi · May 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_jamaica-state-of-emergency?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:d4212c48-0390-403d-b167-c67b6e05a77aPost:6fc8adcb-c5ad-4f9c-9e54-afa98e128673">Re: Jamaica State of Emergency</a>:
[QUOTE]did you know that the same alert is issued for UK citizens not to go to NYC right now because of terrorism!!! OMG...maybe I should get out of the USA!!! I am leaving in June for Jamaica and am nearer to more crime in Detroit than the 4 1/2 hour drive to Kingston from Negril! Have you heard that Kingston has been the WORST city for homicides for decades?? If you made a choice to go to Jamaica, you were silly to not have done research on the island. Oh, and in Antigua an American was kidnapped and brutally murdered in Jan, the Bahamas has the highest growing rate of AIDS and lets not forget Mexico and all the horrible dash for cash kidnappings on the border towns--but wait that is 14 hours from Cancun! Right...stay home and hide in a bunker!
Posted by laurenthompson5799@yahoo.com[/QUOTE]

I normally feel the same way as you do. I've traveled to locations that have been questionable before, with no issue. I roll my eyes at people who will not got to Cuncan because of things happening in the border towns. The violence is 1400 miles away. Do some research.

That said, I've watched GangLand and Jamicia's gangs can be pretty eff'n scary. Normally they stick to their area of Kingston and leave the tourist alone. But when you add in drug lords being extradited to the US, tensions are high right now and the resort is only 60-130 miles away. I can see why people might get a little concerned about going there this week. Let's face it resorts scream American tourist and even it's more than an hour away it's still close enough to be a target.

That is why I think the OP should wait it out a little longer. Things could escalate and they still have time to make other arrangements. Or things will stablize and they can stick to their plans.

Also other 'hot' locations are also hot not because of the US. For example Bangkok. They have a ton of violence but it has nothing to do with the US.

In Jamaica on the other hand the drug lord is being extradited to the US. That means the Americans could be a target simple because they are American and we want their lord.

katanne9 · May 2010

We're going in August and aren't changing our plans (at least yet!)

We're def. not flying into Kingston though. We're going through Montego Bay and staying in Ocho Rios, on the other side of the island. We have a shuttle through out resort, so no taxi for us. And we don't really plan on going off-resort anyways.

Heather822 · May 2010

Oh wow... just saw this after I made my own post about it!
Yeah, we are definitely considering changing.
Not really excited about being on "heightened alert" on our honeymoon... we just want to relax!
Not to mention our resort is a 2 hour drive from the airport.... don't want to drive through convoys!

laurenthompson5799 · May 2010

right, it is an alert. If you look at the travel.gov site it actually lists a full blown warning NOT to go to Mexico...which is way more serious than an alert. It also says the alert ends on June 21st for the Kingston area not Jamaica as a whole and if you read the report fully it said there was a "limited state of emergency for certain areas of Kingston" not the entire island...so why are you worried about going in August? Are you kidding me? I am close to gangs in Detroit...lots of drive by's..again, the resorts are 4 hours away and if you read the CORRECT info, the drug lords are being HELD up in certain city blocks and there is a blockade in place as they try to see if this crimminial is dead (which they think he is)..so why would you think this could move through the country and 4 hours away to the resorts? Has this happened in the past? Again, the highest murder rate in a city in the Caribbean is Kingston, so why hasn't this been blasted on here before? They havent evacuated US officials in Kingston or told American Military personnel to leave---again if you read the WARNING for Mexico they have told American Military not to travel there.
I feel like this is deja vu from last summer and the swine flu where every honeymooner to Mexico posted on here about being scared to go to Mexico...and poof, months later it was in our backyard. If you want to live in fear, I really think you shouldn't drive either because there are more fatalities from car related deaths yearly than any other non illness related death!
And this story about the Jamaica police bombing their own city blocks to get gangs out sounds eerily familiar---did you hear about the police bombing a city block to flush radical gang leaders from their hold up and in the process killing 11 people, and destroying 65 homes? Right, that was Philadelphia..here is the story,
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/13/25_years_ago_philadelphia_police_bombs

Right, it was years ago--but these things happen in the US too people!!

shendydavids · May 2010

Lauren...you are so right! I am glad someone on here has the sense to really check the facts before wide spread hysteria ensues. I also agree that there are so many shady places in the US and yet Americans are the first to bring up "3rd world" countries and violence and the media loves the hype too!

glam70s · May 2010

I wouldn't go. I'm not particularly bothered by things like this, but there are two things that would make me reconsider my plans. 1) My fiance is overly concerned about this sort of thing, and would be stressed the whole time we were there. If you're unsure right now, do you think you'd be able to completely relax when you got there? 2) Why take any sort of chance? Is it worth it? As someone above mentioned, there's a possibility that these drug lords could start to target Americans - the fact is you just never know. Although I'm Canadian, I'm sure they wouldn't be checking ID. As was also mentioned, many resorts are quite a drive from the airports, so it would be a while before you're on resort property.

I'm guessing there's a 95% chance that nothing will happen and everything on the resort side of the island will be fine. But why take that chance? It just doesn't seem worth it - nobody EVER thinks that terrible things will happen to them. But they do sometimes, and then everyone just shakes their heads and says "wow, didn't see that coming!"

I don't think I would reschedule just yet, but if things are still bad the week before leaving, I likely would. The risk just doesn't seem worth it to me. I would never forgive myself if I took that chance and something awful happened. Even though it probably won't, I still don't see the point.

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