30.12.07
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From a passenger: I was travelling with my family for the
New Year holiday on the ship, departing Miami December 29. There were
10 other family members on board the ship with me. I was playing
in the casino and got into an argument with some high rollers in the
casino on the departing night, Saturday (12/29). There was
no physical altercation just an argument. Security broke up
the argument and I was asked to leave the casino and went back to my
cabin around 1:30am. The high roller threatened me and
a security guard was placed outside my cabin overnight. The next
day I was called by Guest Relations around 9:45pm and was told to
meet Security in the back room at the front desk at 7:00 am Monday,
which was the first port of call. There were several gentlemen
present at the meeting (head of security, guest relations) and I was
told that I have 45 minutes to pack my bags and get off the ship and
that I was a security risk to the ship. I packed my bags and was
escorted to the dining room. In the dining room there were
immigration officials who had to approve of my disembarkation.
Although I objected to being thrown off the ship and although the
immigration officials also didn't approve of my being thrown off the
ship, officials from the cruise line handed an envelope with $1,000
cash in it to the immigration official and I was then escorted off
the ship to a small boat then transferred to Labadee (private
reserve on the island of Haiti). I was put in a golf cart and
driven to the end of a fenced in area to a waiting jeep. Inside
the jeep were machine gun armed guards and the driver. I was
driven from a locked compound in Labadee, Haiti to a run down
deserted landing strip where there was a
turbo propeller plane waiting for me. On the ride to the
landing strip I was advised to duck down for my safety. I was
scared for my life and thought I was going to die. I was then
escorted onto the turbo prop and was flown from Haiti to Fort
Lauderdale, taking 3 hours. I then transferred onto a
commercial airliner at my cost and arrived home Monday
night. FYI, Haiti is listed on the US State Departments list of
countries for Americans to avoid.
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Passenger evicted from ship
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