Earlier this month, a cruise passenger died when his kayak overturned on a shore excursion on Mendenhall Lake in Alaska. He was a passenger on Rhapsody of the Seas, but it was not a Royal Caribbean shore excursion. It was a private excursion…in fact, the Texas man and his friends rented the kayaks on their own.
The first tendency here is to say that such misfortune is unlikely if you sign up for a cruise ship shore excursion.
Fast forward to this week.
A tour bus on a Royal Caribbean shore excursion plunged into a ditch in St. Martin. It was the end of a scary ride for 36 Freedom of the Seas passengers, six of whom were injured, none seriously.
Here's what one of the passengers, Matt Stead, told NBC's Today:
"We felt the driver hit the brakes, but [there were] no brakes and then the bus just started careening down. About halfway down we hit a speed bump and everyone hit the ceiling and then the bus just continued rolling down the hill. There was a guy driving up the hill while we were going down so we ran into him, flipped that vehicle over and then ran straight down into the ditch. Tree branches got into the bus and many people received whip lashes from the branches. Everyone was screaming manically, we thought we were plunging to our deaths but the tree saved us."
The bottom line?
Stuff happens…whether you book a cruise line shore excursion, find a shore excursion from a local vendor, or wander off and rent a boat (or kayak) on your own.
Sapphire Princess
7 nights
September 8, 2012
Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, College Fjord, Anchorage
Inside: $599
Cost per day: $85
www.princess.com