What does everyone think about Punta Cana right now? DD has a trip planned...

[Jennasis]

Mum and dad are dead so that would be impossible. Are they yours? Why are you being so anti DR?

Aside from stating I've no desire to go back there (if you recall, I've been) even before all this controversy, I don't think I've been "so anti DR". Why are you so defensive about it? If it were my family members who died ANYWHERE I'd want to know why. Heck, If my mom and dad were found dead together tomorrow IN THEIR OWN HOME, I would be suspicious of their deaths and be wanting answers.

 

[avengerspoilerer]

People die life goes on. I wouldn’t stop a vacation to the DR as in fact haven’t cancelled. I called to upgrade my room tonight and they are sold out. But go ahead and blame an entire country for a few deaths. The fact that the resort is sold out shows they are not hurting for business.

 

[dish rag]

People die life goes on. I wouldn’t stop a vacation to the DR as in fact haven’t cancelled. I called to upgrade my room tonight and they are sold out. But go ahead and blame an entire country for a few deaths. The fact that the resort is sold out shows they are not hurting for business.

Could be because people don’t want to cancel. My own brother and family just returned. Time will tell in the following months.

 

[gwynne]

People die life goes on. I wouldn’t stop a vacation to the DR as in fact haven’t cancelled. I called to upgrade my room tonight and they are sold out. But go ahead and blame an entire country for a few deaths. The fact that the resort is sold out shows they are not hurting for business.

Each customer gets to decide how they are happiest to spend their vacation time and money.
Where you see great value, another person may not.
The good thing is there are lots of vacation options out there.

 

[mom2rtk]

Someone must have a lot of customers cancelling trips to the DR.

 

[aprilgail]

 

[Pea-n-Me]

From what I'd read, many of the people who died suffered from pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs. That is a very specific condition.

It also says here some of the people in the Jimmy Buffet group tested positive from salmonella. Yuck.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/domini...s-heart-attacks-pulmonary-edema-what-we-know/
I'll pass.

 

[nkereina]

People die life goes on. I wouldn’t stop a vacation to the DR as in fact haven’t cancelled. I called to upgrade my room tonight and they are sold out. But go ahead and blame an entire country for a few deaths. The fact that the resort is sold out shows they are not hurting for business.

If you want to continue to vacation there, that is certainly your prerogative. But there is no need to knock anyone who is proceeding with caution. Everyone has a different risk tolerance, so that shouldn't be taken so personally.

I don't think anyone thinks the DR is a terrible country. Of course there are still good people and places there. But unless/until these incidents can identify a common thread, no one knows who or where in the DR can be trusted. Some of these illnesses sounded as if they were unavoidable, so even visiting as the most informed and cautious traveler, you're still not immune to it. But to say these are coincidences sounds like wishful thinking. There is none so blind as he who will not see.

 

[traces7]

My DD did switch her trip. Maybe they'll figure it all out by the time their trip was and maybe not. She just wasn't comfortable going. Thanks for all the input!

 

[aprilgail]

Flight cancellations are on the rise.
Although the State Department's position hasn't changed, more travelers appear to be canceling their trips to the Dominican Republic in wake of the reports.
According to The Washington Post, flight cancellations have risen 45% in recent weeks, while bookings have declined 59%, flight-data company ForwardKeys said. Meanwhile, Kayak reported a 19% decline in searches for flights to the Dominican Republic.

 

[Searc]

I will be leaving soon for a Level 2 country, Italy. Italy's rating seems to be due to the potential for terrorist attacks, which I guess are sort of a part of our new reality.

What is happening in the DR is somewhat upsetting. It is unsettling to see people just dying like that while on vacation. Until they can confirm the cause or establish a common link, I am not interested in going. I will also not be giving my money to a country where the government, IMO, does not seem particularly honest or forthcoming with information.

Luckily it is really not my scene anyway, so I would not be visiting.

I wonder what the US's rating is for travelers who visit here.

 

[pxidst119]

I don’t know what’s causing all this but I’ve read about the couple that got really ill in Fiji. They mentioned that they remembered seeing a pesticide being sprayed outside on the bushes touching their a/c unit. I wonder if some of this can be coming from a new pesticide in the air.

 

[Kaufeegurl]

Cancel the trip and choose another destination. Mexico and the DR have always had their dirty little secrets that have been hidden until there was one too many deaths and a family that pushed for investigations. Yes, there are a small percentage of tourists that have had issues but does your daughter want to chance that she is one of the unlucky few? My daughter wanted to go to Mexico for New Years last year. She is 28. After laying the facts on the table I asked her to please reconsider - and I don't ask for a lot or interfere in my adult children's lives. She reluctantly agreed not to go for my peace of mind - and is glad she made that decision as there were some issues with friends that did go. Traveling anywhere has its risks but why chance it at a destination where the risks are documented and known?

 

[nkereina]

I don’t know what’s causing all this but I’ve read about the couple that got really ill in Fiji. They mentioned that they remembered seeing a pesticide being sprayed outside on the bushes touching their a/c unit. I wonder if some of this can be coming from a new pesticide in the air.

I believe two of the illness reports I've read about from the DR did attribute it to pesticide poisoning. I haven't stayed updated on the stories to know what the details were beyond that.

 

[MillauFr]

35,000 people die on US roads every year. I didn't want to live with that risk so I got rid of my car and moved to a place that didn't require driving

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

I would cancel. Maybe a severe drop in tourism dollars would put a boot in someone's butt to investigate what's really going on. But I wouldn't go to Mexico either...

 

[cabanafrau]

35,000 people die on US roads every year. I didn't want to live with that risk so I got rid of my car and moved to a place that didn't require driving

IMO the idea isn't that I can only live in a manner that encompasses zero risk. Personally I embark on life by attempting to foresee potential risk, understand the factors of risk involved, and attempt to walk a path that accomplishes the necessities and achieves my wants by either avoiding risk or mitigating it as close to zero as I can get it.

To address the ridiculous premise first -- I live in an area that has almost no access to a public transportation system that's minimal at best. If you want to live here and succeed driving is a necessary evil. I navigate the risks of driving as best I can by using all of the defensive tools available. It's not foolproof, but unless one lives in a bubble nothing is. Even without driving many people are still subject to the risks of the road as a passenger -- even if that only occurs in vacation destinations.

I know someone who almost died in their early twenties from Legionnaire's contracted from a seasonally operated hotel in Michigan. She was quite healthy before this happened, yet was literally diagnosed as being within hours of death before they were able to identify the illness and get it under control. It took weeks before the source was identified. Given our climate seasonally operated accommodations are not uncommon in Michigan. Understanding that I will not automatically avoid them. Depending on the location and what I know about what in season business is like in an area I do avoid places that have been open for the season less that six weeks to a month. That's a change I made to how I travel based on a single incident, not 8, 9 or more. Understanding what the danger was in a single case revealed the risk factor and I decided the means that works for me to avoid it.

It seems likely IMO something unusual is going on in DR, something that isn't widely understood yet, possibly not understood at all yet. If I were planning to travel to DR before it's identified I would change plans. Without having any idea what the risk is I have absolutely no way to prepare or plan to avoid the risk. If it's identified and I feel precautions will keep me safe, I would go on my trip. Quite frankly I suspect that the cause is known to officials and possibly some of the resorts. I think the official stance is to distract, minimize and deny in order to keep their tourism industry solid and some of their premier resorts online. My hunch is the official stance is going to backfire when the cause is uncovered and the official stance will be what ultimately does the most harm to their tourism traffic.

 

[DLgal]

There are plenty of beautiful beaches right here in the US. I have never understood the draw of these "all inclusive" resorts in shady developing island nations. Is it because they are cheap? What is it that draws people there? If you want a Caribbean vacation, there are plenty of islands that are far safer than DR. Pick any one of them instead. Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, etc.

 

[Hrhpd]

The couple that died:

“The Maryland couple who died, Holmes and Day, each had internal bleeding, preliminary autopsy results showed, according to CNN. Holmes was found to have an enlarged heart and cirrhosis of the liver, while Day had fluid in her brain.”

Doesn’t sound like “tainted” alcohol to me. It doesn’t sound like they were healthy at all.

I believe you are a travel agent, not a physician. Right Chuck? I don't think you can credibly decide on whether it was tainted alcohol or not.

You are pretty upset by this. Is this hurting the travel business in the Caribbean?

 

[anniemae]

I don’t know what’s causing all this but I’ve read about the couple that got really ill in Fiji. They mentioned that they remembered seeing a pesticide being sprayed outside on the bushes touching their a/c unit. I wonder if some of this can be coming from a new pesticide in the air.

There was a story recently about a couple that died in Fiji after falling ill. I think there was a story of a couple in Mexico that died because pesticides were sprayed in the room above them and it seeped down and killed them.

Personally, I would not travel to DR.