Walker & O'Neill, P.A. (LexBlog Belize)

A television station in Belize, 7 News Belize, reported on the latest illness from the Carnival Vista. Belize, of course, is one of the ports on the itinerary of the ill-fated Carnival cruise ship which arrived in that country’s waters on August 10th with 27 people ( 26 crew and 1 passenger) infected with COVID-19....

The Carnival Vista returned to Roatan this morning. Tests of crew members on the ship indicated that sixteen (16) members were positive for COVID-19, according to a trusted source (a Carnival employee) on the ship. A week ago, the Carnival cruise ship arrived in Roatan with 26 crew members who tested positive, based on the...

The number of positive COVID-19 aboard the Carnival Vista increased to 27 today as the cruise ship disembarked passengers ashore in the port of Belize City.  In addition to the 26 crew members who were infected and are in quarantine when the ship arrived in Roatan, which we reported on yesterday, a passenger also tested...

A vehicular accident in Belize during a cruise excursion  reportedly killed a Royal Caribbean guest and injured her husband, son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren earlier today. According to a local newspaper, the Reporter, a cruise tourist died in a single vehicle traffic accident near Carmelita, in northern Belize. The accident reportedly occurred on the Phillip...

7 News Belize reports that three NCL crew members were arrested in Belize for possession of two kilos of cocaine which was picked up in Roatan and taken on an unidentified NCL cruise ship to the private destination of Harvest Caye, apparently with the intention of being smuggled into the U.S.  The news stations says...

This weekend, a reader of this blog sent me an article from the San Pedro Sun regarding NCL’s exploitation of rare macaws in its development in Belize at Harvest Caye. Scarlet Macaws NCL reportedly obtained numerous birds (toucans and other macaws) and animals and reptiles from the Belize government from the wild and/or rescue and rehabilitation...

On September 13, 2016, a passenger on the Carnival Magic was robbed at gunpoint at the port of Belize. We received the following information from the passenger: “We were at the port next to the belize sign taking pictures. A vendor selling wood and jewelry was trying to sell us some of his handmade work...

A couple of days ago, we posted an article about cruise passengers who were robbed while visiting the Altun Ha Maya ruins site in Belize. During this incident, two cruise passengers were reportedly robbed of a gold necklace and $450 in cash by two men, one with a machete and one with a handgun. A local...

News 5 in Belize is reporting that a U.S. cruise passenger on an excursion in Belize was killed when the SUV in which she was riding was struck from behind by a 18-wheel truck. The on-line newspaper states that the 18-wheeler was loaded with oranges and was traveling from the Hummingbird Citrus Limited Two farm...

7 News Belize reports that after Belize’s Ministry of Immigration announced new stringent measures for Ebola screening at the Belize Harbor, Carnival and Royal Caribbean “threatened to pull scheduled cruises fast and furious.” In an article entitled Cruise Ships Balk At New Ebola Screening, Threaten Mass Cancellations, the leading news station in Belize said that the...

Earlier this month, we talked about the efforts of the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA) to slow down or block the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) “mega cruise development” on Harvest Caye in Southern Belize.  You can read our article here. It seems that Belize’s Department of Environment (DOE),under pressure from Miami-based NCL, rushed the massive and...

Belize 7 News reports in an article “BTIA Gets Their First Day In Court Against NCL” that the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA) is trying to block the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) “mega cruise development” on Harvest Caye in Southern Belize. BTIA argues that under pressure from Miami-based NCL, Belize’s Department of Environment (DOE) rushed the...

News 7 in Belize published an article yesterday entitled Tourists Survive Head On Collision. The story involves two cruise passengers who had taken an excursion ashore in Belize and were involved in a serious accident while riding in a van which had a head-on collision with another van. The tour van they were in was caused to...

Dr. Ross Klein’s Cruise Junkie and Local News Station 5 in Belize are reporting on the arrest of two cruise passengers who went ashore in Belize last week. Both young men were caught with small amounts of pot in Belize’s “tourism village” and were arrested. As I have mentioned before in a prior article, Reefer...

Reefer madness, Belize style.  So you’re a young  cruise passenger wanting to get high while visiting some of the ports you visit.  Certainly no one in a third world place like Belize will hassle you, right? Wrong. Consider the following news reports from Belize regarding the consequences of cruise passengers choosing to either buy pot or bring a few...

7 New Belize reports today on the arrest of a 27-year old British cruise passenger in Belize City. A police officer working at the Tourism Village reportedly arrested Paul Smith, after he was “acting suspiciously” and searched him. The officer found 2.3 grammes of crack cocaine inside a pack of cigarettes in Smith’s pocket. Smith pleaded guilty to trafficking and a local constable...

The Seattle Times reports that the husband of a cruise passenger filed a wrongful death suit Holland America Line in Seattle after his wife was killed during a cruise sponsored snorkeling excursion. The incident occurred when passenger Diana Mechling had just entered the water from the excursion boat off the coast of Belize to start snorkeling.  The operator put the vessel in...

7 New Belize reports that a cruise passenger died yesterday while snorkeling in Belize’s waters.  American tourist, Diana Mechling, age 59, was reportedly snorkeling at Goff’s Caye in Belize when she was struck by the propeller of a catamaran. The newspaper in Belize indicates that Ms. Mechling was treated at Belize Medical Associates where she died.  According to a representative of Holland...

A newspaper in Belize is reporting that a 21 year old cruise passenger went overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas cruise ship and disappeared today.  7 News Belize reports that the passenger went overboard from the 12th deck of the cruise ship.  The passenger’s family noticed that he was missing around 9:00 a.m. this morning.  When the...

Last month I ran across an interesting blog called No Cruises In Placencia which focuses  on the plight of the tranquil fishing village of Placencia, Belize which Royal Caribbean has targeted as a future site for a new port for its cruise ships. Placencia is located in southern Belize, and is described as one of the most beautiful locations in Central America where it...