Hundreds of cruise ship tourists who arrived in Costa Rica to explore the natural beauty and hospitality of the Caribbean region were instead trapped in their tour buses for hours as a result of the dock workers strike in the ports of Limon and Moin. The strike, which recently came to an end thanks to the intervention of the Ombudsman, lasted two weeks and was tainted by violence perpetrated by criminal infiltrators.

The elegant Coral Princess from Princess Cruises and Zuiderdam ships of the Holland America cruise line docked in the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica earlier this week. There were 2,100 vacationers on board the ships, 550 of them signed up for an entertaining sojourn that would take them by bus and train to a farm near Turrialba (but far enough from the active volcano), the Moin port channels, the canopy tour in Guapiles, and the river rapids of the mighty Reventazon. Alas, it was not to be.

Protestors in support of the dock workers’ union decided to take their demonstration on Route 32 in a display of tortuguismo, a common strike maneuver that involves clogging down major traffic arteries without completely blocking down the path of vehicles. Since access is not being cut off and protestors coordinate with law enforcement to put a halt to tortuguismo in order to let fire engines and ambulances through, this controversial strike action is actually within the laws of Costa Rica.

Double Dutch

As it happens, the nature of the strike involves a disagreement over a non-competitive clause in the contract held by APM Terminals, a Dutch mega-port operator. Most of the  Holland America passengers  arrived from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but only the Princess Line passengers from the United States and Canada were affected. Ann McKinley, Executive President of the economic development organization that employs the dock workers, had warned union leaders about not interfering with tourism during the strike; protestors later explained that they were unaware that tourists would be traveling on Route 32.

A total of 400 cruise ship passengers were trapped in traffic and unable to leave the tour vans. The sailing schedule of the Coral Princess was nearly compromised as the tourists were late returning to the ship. Another 150 passengers were stock waiting for vans that never arrived to pick them up at the docks, which were otherwise operational during the strike.

Source: Krissia Morris Gray of Diario Extra.