Royal Caribbean-sponsored Bus Crashes

A Royal Caribbean-sponsored tour bus crashed into a ditch last week, whilst carrying thirty-six passengers.

The accident occurred on Thursday morning as the bus collided with a taxi, causing it to overturn. The bus driver was trying to avoid the vehicle whilst heading up a steep hill.

Six passengers, all from the United States, and the bus driver suffered minor injuries, with the worst being a broken wrist.

A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said: “This was a traffic accident, a type of which can happen anywhere and is no reflection on the bus company.

“The bus driver had to take an evasive manoeuvre to avoid an oncoming vehicle.”

The passengers were on an excursion from Freedom of the Seas, going from Philipsburg, St Maarten to St. Martin, for a visit to Loterie Farm for a treetop ropes course and zip line adventure.

Matt Stead, a passenger who was on the bus, told a St. Maarten newspaper: “The bus just started careening down the hill. About half way down we hit a speed bump and everyone hit the ceiling, then the bus just continued rolling down the hill.

“There was a guy driving coming up the hill while we were going down so we ran into him, flipped that vehicle over and then ran straight down into the ditch. Tree branches got into the bus and many people received whip lashes from the branches.

“Everyone was screaming manically, we thought we were plunging to our deaths but the tree saved us.”

All injured parties were immediately transported to the local Louis Constant Fleming Hospital for treatment, where guest care team members and a ship doctor remained with the cruise passengers for the duration. All returned to the ship the same day.

Freedom of the Seas was in the midst of a seven-night Caribbean cruise that departed Port Canaveral on Sunday, July 15, and returned to the same port on Sunday.

Royal Caribbean will not confirm whether any compensation has been offered and added that even if any compensation were offered the “details of any compensation discussions are not disclosed.”