ROYAL OAK, Mich. – After a Livonia couple was stranded in the Caribbean because of the military operation in Venezuela impacting travel, Local 4 spoke to a Royal Oak travel agent about what people should know if they are traveling to the Caribbean in the upcoming month.
Related: Detroit man stuck in Caribbean after military operation in Venezuela
David Fishman is the President of Cadillac Travel in Royal Oak.
Fishman says airspace should not be a concern after the current issues are resolved, but said cruise routes could be affected.
He says some courses are already being altered because of the operation.
“If you are going anywhere near Venezuela, for example, if you’re cruising and going to Carousel at the top of South America, right by Venezuela, you’re not going,” Fishman said.
In that case, he says cruise lines will likely move the itinerary to Barbados. He tells me there may be cause for concern for more cruises if large military ships move into the area.
“If you’re going anywhere like Colombia, which has a long border along Venezuela, you could go to Colombia, but obviously crossing over or anything like that into Venezuela it’s going to be a problem,” Fishman said.
He says all other travel should be fine, and he hears the hotel backups happening now will have been sorted out by then.
Fishman has multiple clients in Puerto Rico and around the Caribbean that he’s trying to help right now.
“Some of our clients, for example, they (the hotel) said, ‘You have to leave,’” he said. “They said, ‘We will call the police and kick you out,’ which is very unusual because other clients didn’t have a problem at all.”
His biggest piece of advice is to pay for travel insurance.
“Because travel insurance, clearly, with flight delays or cancellations would be covered. They would cover your whole stay at the hotel,” he said.
Many airlines said they won’t cover the cost due to government-mandated requirements beyond their control.