Dominican Republic - American tourists found dead in resorts, same cause of death, 2018/2019

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This is a very important question, imo. If they were drinking or not.
Well...if you were on a vacation in the tropics with your friends at age 18 and it was legal to drink and there was plenty of cheap booze around....?

I know what my answer would be. :) Gives me a headache just thinking about it.

jmo
 
Yes, at the all-inclusive resorts. They could clearly refill those bottles with bootleg liquor.

EXACTLY, EXACTLY, EXACTLY

Unlike US minibars where there is an assortment of single-serving ( airplane-type) bottles with intact seals, the same large bottle is used without a liquor seal to assure that the contents are as indicated on the label.

Those bottles can be refilled with anything - branded liquor, water, bootleg liquor, absolute methanol - and the unsuspecting guest will not know unless the taste is really off.

I saw 3 different photos of the Hard Rock setup there & they were all similar in type: Vodka, Tequila, Rum, Scotch.

The Tequila was el Jimador and the Rum was Ron Barcelo Blance. The Vodkas and scotches varied bit. But you could read the brand labels on all of them

But the NYPost photos had the bottles turned around so the labels couldn’t be read, and the NYPost had blurred the readable labels - why?

This is similar to the medical problem with multi-dose vs single dose vials.

DR and these major resorts have a huge problem on their hands. They better restore confidence ASAP or lose a huge tourism base because of petty greed and graft.
 
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Now the DR need to explain the autopsy findings and lack of toxicology.

If the US State Dept issues a Travel Warning, the DR can kiss it’s tourism revenue goodbye and it will never recover.

No tour agency or cruise would book package tours because their insurance would be invalidated.

The US has a big stick to threaten DR with and other countries might well follow suit
 
Now the DR need to explain the autopsy findings and lack of toxicology.

If the US State Dept issues a Travel Warning, the DR can kiss it’s tourism revenue goodbye and it will never recover.

No tour agency or cruise would book package tours because their insurance would be invalidated.

The US has a big stick to threaten DR with and other countries might well follow suit
You're right, though I also wish Americans realized what was happening when they go on "cheap" vacations. There are reasons the prices are cheap. Regulations, good wages, quality service, reliable LE and health care all cost money. If you don't want to pay for those things, you're not going to get them.

I hope DR turns this around. It's possible they could make this better and come out ahead, but so far, I'm not impressed with the response.

jmo
 
DR’s tourism revenue is 2018 was reported to be more than $6.2 Billion USD , and projected to be in excess of $10 Billion USD by 2020.

They will have a revolution their hands if they can’t get this fixed
 
FYI: Photo from June 13th of minibar:

mini-bar-0765.jpg


https://nypost.com/2019/06/13/autho...quor-as-potential-cause-of-dr-tourist-deaths/

I found a similar picture with bottle labels on TripAdvisor at the Hard Rock. The other bottles appear to be Barcelo Rum, el Jimador tequila, and William Lawson's whisky:

HARD ROCK HOTEL & CASINO PUNTA CANA - Updated 2019 Prices & Resort (All-Inclusive) Reviews (Bavaro, Dominican Republic) - TripAdvisor
It makes the most sense to me these resorts are filling name brand liquor bottles with cheap bootleg liquor... makes me wonder if they have their own distillery somewhere.
Imagine the cost of all you can drink liquor in an all inclusive package. And some people will drink more just because it’s free, not to mention may be wasteful with it since it’s already paid for.

Just seeing these huge bottles of liquor in a hotel room minibar is a bit mind boggling to me. Jmo
 
I am curious about this particular case because the woman just turned 53. Women of that age are not especially at risk for heart attacks (yes, I know they can happen) and the family doesn't think a heart attack seems likely. (I would want to check and double check that the blood that is sent to USA for testing is actually her blood too.)

I'd like to see the number of tourists who have died in DR due to "natural causes."

jmo
And hopefully it will really be her blood. Jmo
 
It makes the most sense to me these resorts are filling name brand liquor bottles with cheap bootleg liquor... makes me wonder if they have their own distillery somewhere.
Imagine the cost of all you can drink liquor in an all inclusive package. And some people will drink more just because it’s free, not to mention may be wasteful with it since it’s already paid for.

Just seeing these huge bottles of liquor in a hotel room minibar is a bit mind boggling to me. Jmo

I also think that puny little lock wouldn’t be hard for any of the hotel staff or guests or their kids to open, dump out the liquor and replace with anything that was clear and colorless
 
Dozens of Jimmy Buffet fans who fell sick in Dominican Republic tested positive for salmonella, claims group member

One Buffet fan, Dana Flowers, said that he got so sick that he lost 14 pounds and was unable to leave his room at the Hotel Riu Palace Macao in Punta Cana

Although Flowers tested negative for salmonella, others in the group tested positive. He believes that people in the group got sick either from something they drank at the swim-up pool bar or from swimming in the pool. He added that he's just thankful that nobody died.
 
Dozens of Jimmy Buffett fans get sick on group trip to Dominican Republic

The Central Oklahoma Parrothead Association stayed at the Hotel Riu Palace Macao in April. Of the 114 people on the trip, 47 got so sick they couldn’t leave their hotel rooms.

Dana Flowers, a member of the group and its travel agent, said people experienced diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness and headaches. He told People Magazine some on the trip did not feel normal for months.

Two people tested positive for salmonella once they returned home, Flowers said.


 
Dozens of Jimmy Buffet fans who fell sick in Dominican Republic tested positive for salmonella, claims group member

One Buffet fan, Dana Flowers, said that he got so sick that he lost 14 pounds and was unable to leave his room at the Hotel Riu Palace Macao in Punta Cana

Although Flowers tested negative for salmonella, others in the group tested positive. He believes that people in the group got sick either from something they drank at the swim-up pool bar or from swimming in the pool. He added that he's just thankful that nobody died.
No fun, that's for sure. They also didn't die. I think food poisoning is one thing (and awful to experience), but tainted alcohol is what is actually killing people.

Speculation only!

jmo
 
No fun, that's for sure. They also didn't die. I think food poisoning is one thing (and awful to experience), but tainted alcohol is what is actually killing people.

Speculation only!

jmo

I think there is a myriad of issues going on from parasites and pesticides to bootlegging alcohol and crime.

April 15, 2019 the US Dept of State issued a level 2 travel advisory for crime.

I think at this point we are just starting to touch the surface on issues as people are more inclined to speak up now that everything is going public and there is more awareness.

MOO
 
I agree, inthedetails.

Food issues are always going to be there - the cruise ship Norovirus issues are not going away

But this probable alcohol diversion is killing people AND the DR agencies responsible for investigations of deaths and diseases have failed miserably - probably with some criminal complicity
 
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I think there is a myriad of issues going on from parasites and pesticides to bootlegging alcohol and crime.

April 15, 2019 the US Dept of State issued a level 2 travel advisory for crime.

I think at this point we are just starting to touch the surface on issues as people are more inclined to speak up now that everything is going public and there is more awareness.

MOO

Level 2 aint much. The UK gets a Level 2, as does Egypt

Mexico and all and the Carribean, including Bermuda and Jamaica already have Level 2. Haiti gets Level 3

Central America is mostly at level 3 except for Costa Rica and Panama are at Level 1

The State Dept isnt going out on a limb with this one, yet
 
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