Yes it has changed a lot. and 'somewhat' for the 2nd half of the question. Maybe not 'rampant' per se, but nowadays it is ALWAYS there in the background ... Even if it doesn't happen everyday, or to you specifically, it has crept into the vibes.has Negril changed so much that crime is rampant?
another Philadelphian here -- and all this "it happens everywhere" is true, but it's not the POINT.
for me the point is ----> I'm not gonna spend a couple thousand dollars to go on vacation to a place where the vibes have deteriorated to a level where it is now no better than the big-city crime vibes at home. It's not about individual "incidents" - nor is it about the tiresome trend of somehow 'disproving' the validity of incidents because the victim may have been tipsy, or forgot to lock ALL 16 locks on their door, so it was THEIR fault. That is horse hockey. It's about the VIBE. Having to be on alert, and constantly having to watch my back just like I'm at 18th and Girard, is not irie or relaxing vibes. I don't drink but i DO enjoy going out at night, dancing til the wee hours at a club, walking by the sea in the moonlight - none of these things are 'unwise' - they're normal activities that people do on holiday; it's WHY we go on vacation. and if these kinds of very basic vacation activities are not safe to do - then it's not an enjoyable safe place to go.
I have loved Jamaica for 30 years, and defended it to everyone who said i was nuts - but no more. At this point for me JA is like 'that one guy' I never stopped loving, but had to break up with because some of his behavior got SO BAD that it reached a tipping point where it began to overshadow the parts of him that were good.
I don't go on vacation to be under the same kind of stress I have at home - where the 'advice' is to go in the hotel at 9 pm, never venturing out until morning. that is just ridiculous. There ARE still other places in the world I can go where crime, violence, resentment of tourism, and negativity is not the daily reality ... where the vibes are nice, where people can enjoy a walk under the stars, dance til dawn, splash your feet in the sea at 3 am if you want to... and be perfectly safe doing so.
