Community Chat

[Boehm Collector]

@JBKO  ... I would not go.  Try to cancel your reservations and go somewhere else.  

[bridal_diva]

@JBKO 

I would cancel tickets and gladly lose my money than come home in a box!

Something terrible is going on there, and the authorities appear to be brushing it off like there is nothing to worry about. Too many unexplained deaths to be coincidence!

[Mj12]

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@JBKO wrote:

We haven't paid for anything yet. GOod thing we waited because we were originally going to buy our airfare last month. You're right, it's not a vacation if you are worrying all the time (and I'm a worrywort)

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If your sister is really worried like in your OP - I'd cancel based on that alone. It's great you haven't paid for anything yet, so there is nothing lost.  I think you knew the decision, so now you can just have fun choosing an alternate destination.

[ValuSkr]

@JBKO   Please don't do it.  Surely you can find a safer destination - though it may be more expensive.

[Maestra1]

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@JBKO wrote:

Miami will probably be our alterntive. I've never been to Florida.

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Hurricanes love FL in the Fall-Hurricane Michael Debris still not cleared.

I'd shoot for New England-New Hampshire or Vermont. Stunning.

[JJsMom]

Are the recent deaths there really unusual or has the media just started reporting it? Has anyone researched previous years to compare?

I saw an article that stated your chance of dying in the U.S. is still higher than in the DR. I think it also mentioned stats for mysterious deaths are not kept, so it's hard to compare. I only skimmed the article, so I need to find it.

[Effie54]

It sounds like a nie trip.....but I'd cancel. How many other Americans are going to die before tourism goes to a screaming halt. You might be just fine - but I'd worry every minute I was there. 

[JJsMom]

Here's the article (I copied and pasted part of it below). Ultimately it's up to each individual to do hi/her own research and decide from there. I think if I were that nervous I'd probably not go. I wouldn't enjoy myself even if it ended up being perfectly safe.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/no-dominican-republic-hasn-t-suddenly-become-more-dangerous-n1019...

Those answers are likely to be unsatisfying, because in overall terms, nothing unusual is going on in the Dominican Republic. In fact, you're less likely to die there than if you'd just stayed home.

The State Department has tallied all deaths of U.S. citizens abroad from so-called unnatural causes since 2007. Compared with the seven Americans who have died so far this year, 15 died through June in both 2011 and 2015 of causes like auto accidents, suicides, homicides and drownings. In 2009, 14 Americans died through June. In 2016, the number was 13.

Those numbers don't include deaths from natural causes like those that are suspected in some of the recent cases; overall death totals are likely to be even higher.

"We have not seen an uptick in the number of U.S. citizen deaths reported to the department," a State Department official told NBC News on Tuesday.

The State Department said an average of 2.7 million Americans visit the Dominican Republic every year. In the decade through 2018, 194 Americans died or were killed there, an average of slightly more than 19 a year, according to State Department statistics, which works out to a death rate of about 7.04 per 1,000 people.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, reports that in 2017, the last year for which complete figures are available, the overall U.S. death rate was 8.49 per 1,000 — about 20 percent higher than the death rate for Americans in the Dominican Republic.

That doesn't shed any light, however, on the dozens of Americans who have fallen ill in the country in recent months. Neither the State Department nor any other agency, U.S. or Dominican, collects that data, so there's no way to know whether recent illness reports are out of the ordinary.

[JBKO]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I still want a tropical vacation and October is the only month that works for everyone. I think we'll go to Miami for half of the time. instead.

[ripka junkie]

How about Hawaii !  Been there 2 times and love,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it!