Typically, warnings about cruise ports come from the US State Department.
The country involved itself does not say anything about its situation because it still wants the tourism dollars. That is not the case in this situation where a top government official warned tourists not to visit his nation.
This is an unprecedented situation, but cruise lines still plan to visit the troubled nation.
Currently, the US State Department has the country under a Level 3: Reconsider Travel Advisory.
“Reconsider traveling to Trinidad and Tobago due to crime. Use increased caution in Trinidad and Tobago due to terrorism and kidnappings. Some areas are at higher risk… Violent crimes, such as murder, robbery, assault, sexual assault, burglary abode and “Kidnapping is common. Gang activity, such as narcotics trafficking, is common. A significant portion of violent crime is gang-related,” the State Department shared.
However, nine cruise lines still have stops planned at the country's three cruise ports. Jason from Travel Scouts has the full story and more cruise news.
Nine Cruise Lines Head to Troubled Cruise Port
Transcription:
Cruise News, a state of emergency has been declared in a Caribbean nation.
They have made it very clear that public safety will be at risk.
“The TTPS intelligence provided to the Minister of National Security is likely to immediately escalate his brazen acts of violence in retaliatory shootings on such an extensive scale that it threatens people and will endanger public safety.”
It is also important to know that there are currently nine different cruise lines scheduled to visit this nation in the coming days. I'll give you the details.
Plus, I have exciting news about cruise deals and opportunities that will be available next year.
I have the top cruise news updates from across the cruise industry and I will get you the information quickly. Welcome to Travel Explorers. My name is Jason.
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Carnival says goodbye, Royal Caribbean shares European trips
Let's go ahead and start with number one. Carnival Cruise Line embarked from Charleston, South Carolina, for the last time. The Carnival Sunshine cruise ship left Charleston for the last time yesterday.
The cruise line has operated out of Charleston for the past 14 years. However, port authorities now have new plans for the dock. Cruise ships will be able to visit Charleston.
They simply won't be able to homeport there. After its current voyage, Carnival Sunshine will go into dry dock and then begin offering cruises from Norfolk, Virginia. Then, number two, Royal Caribbean revealed when they will open bookings for more 2026 and 2027 sailings.
More trips to Europe will open the week of January 27. More short Caribbean cruises and US West Coast cruises will be available the week of February 17, and their Australian cruises will open the week of March 31.
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Cruise passenger dies tragically, MSC plans special trip
Next sad news, number three, an 82-year-old cruise passenger died tragically last Thursday in Saint Martin, located in the northeastern Caribbean.
The woman's cruise ship was docked in Phillipsburg at the time. She was in an electric wheelchair and reports say it may have failed somehow, she ran off the dock and into the water. Staff responded quickly, but were unable to revive her.
It is not clear whether she owned the wheelchair she used or rented it. Let us pray for the lady's family.
Then, number four has been discovered, another cheap cruise.
I like to share them with you from time to time. My personal travel agent, Kelly, pointed me to this one. The cruise takes place on the MSC Virtuosa cruise ship.
This is a 23-night voyage that departs on March 29, 2025 from Martinique. Along the way the ship will stop at 12 ports of call and I like these because many of them are not the typical ones you have the opportunity to stop at. Stops include places such as Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Barbados, Saint Vincent, Portugal, Spain and France.
The sailing will conclude in Southampton, England, on April 21. The cost of the 23-day cruise is $1,209 per person, which is $52.56 per person per day. Okay, so I have more cruise news left, including the day's top headlines, but now it's time for our quick mid-show check-in.
In the last video, I asked him how he would prefer tips to be handled. I received feedback from over 6,000 of you and here are the results. 9% of you wanted to continue as most cruise lines do now, i.e. be charged automatically but not included in the advertised price.
The majority of you, 66%, want to include them in the price and a good part of you, 25%, prefer that they are not charged and that cruise passengers be allowed to give whatever they want. Thanks for your input on this, and there were a lot of great comments too. Here is today's question.
It's just a question I've never asked before and it's about how old were you when you went on your first cruise?
For me, I was 23 and that was when Kelly and I went on our honeymoon. What about you? Let me know in the comments. I'll enjoy reading it, but now let's get on with the cruise news.
Celebrity Captain Shares Sad News, MSC Adds World Cruise
Number five. Popular cruise ship captain Kate McCue shared the sad news that her famous cat has passed away. Captain Kate is the captain of the Celebrity Beyond cruise ship and is always accompanied by her cat, Bug Naked.
The cat himself was a star on social media. Captain Kate said Bug passed away from complications following a routine dental cleaning and extraction. The error will be ignored.
Sympathy for Captain Kate right now.
Next, number six. MSC Cruises has opened bookings for its 2027 world cruise.
It will be on board your MSC Musica cruise. And one thing about MSC world cruises is that they are typically among the cheapest cruises in the world. Pricing for this one starts at $19,999 per person.
And that's still a lot of money, but for world cruises, it's pretty good. That price includes all fees and taxes. It includes the dinner and drink package and 15 excursions are also included.
So getting some of those extras is nice. And as for the navigation itself, it lasts 121 nights. During those four months, you will visit five continents, 25 countries and 45 ports of call.
And you could eliminate quite a few items from the wish list. What I'm going to do now is put up a map of the trip. I'm going to point out a few things that some of you have pointed out as wish list items.
First, you can cross that Mediterranean cruise off your list. Then you visit Africa. Make the first of two transatlantic crossings.
You could spend a lot of time exploring South America. You cross the Drake Passage. Complete a transpacific crossing.
Visit French Polynesia. Then there are Australia and New Zealand. Next, tick off that Hawaiian cruise and cross the Panama Canal.
So $20,000 is definitely a lot of money. But if you split all of those experiences into separate cruises and then paid airfare and everything for each of them, it would probably be a lot more money.
Related: Get the best cruise tips, deals and news from our cruise expert
Trinidad and Tobago declares state of emergency
And then for our feature story, a state of emergency was declared in Trinidad and Tobago.
Trinidad and Tobago is located in the southeastern Caribbean and gang violence has broken out in the nation. In a moment, I will share with you information about which cruise lines have scheduled stops there in the coming weeks.
But first I want you to hear the report directly from the Minister of National Security of Trinidad and Tobago.
“Simply put, what we are faced with is a decision provided with information from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service that there was going to be increased criminal activity with the expected use of high caliber, high velocity assault weapons. In attacks of retaliation between gangs, as we all know, very often, too often for us as a government, innocent people would be affected as a result of that, and after very careful consideration, the decision was made calling for the declaration and. “Proclamation of the state of emergency.”
The TTPS intelligence provided to the Minister of National Security in Trinidad and possibly Tobago is likely to immediately escalate their brazen acts of violence in retaliatory shootings on a scale so extensive that it threatens people and will endanger public safety. Therefore, it appears to be a serious situation and one that cruise passengers should be aware of. Trinidad and Tobago has three main cruise ports.
One is the Port of Spain. It is the capital of the nation and is located on the island of Trinidad. The other two are Scarborough and Charlottesville.
Both are located on the island of Tobago. In the month of January alone, nine different cruise lines have planned stops in one of these three ports. If you are going on one of those trips, you should take note.
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On the screen right now is the list of cruises along with the port and the expected date for the ship to be there. Of course, you can pause the video if you want to take a closer look. So far, there has been no word from these cruise lines about the situation.
I'm sure they are taking a closer look at it and we hope to hear from you soon. If you are on one of these cruises and the cruise line does not cancel, be aware of the problems happening in Trinidad and Tobago, which seem to be worse on the island of Trinidad. If you go to any of the islands, I recommend staying in the safe port area, and any tour would be best done with the cruise line or a reputable tour company.
And finally, as we are all entering the year 2025, I want to quickly say that we are grateful for you and for the opportunity to share a part of our lives with you via video. That's why we want to wish each and every one of you an excellent new year.
Take care and we'll see you in the next video.
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