I am back home, safe. I am incredibly tired. Lots of activity packed into 13 days.
I will not apologize to anybody for taking a cruise. Flaunting my American wealth to the third world? Maybe I saw it differently. I left lots of money with a lot of folks that have zero means to make a living, other than when the tourists come to town. I learned a lot on this trip.
The boat? As I'd already posted, incredibly huge. The passenger elevator stopped at 14 decks. And there was still lots of boat above the 14th floor. And lots of boat below the elevator.
Every deck had an activity of some kind. Swimming pools everywhere. Bars and restaurants, everywhere. An ice rink with an Ice Capades type of show. A huge auditorium with world class shows. A wave-rider machine where you can surf. A rock wall to climb. A basketball court. A huge shopping mall in the center of the ship. I'm not into shopping malls, or even shopping, but I could not help but marvel at the architecture. With all the marble in the floors, the walls, and the columns, I don't know how this ship could float. I suppose I'm one of the few that's never been on a modern cruise ship before, so I cannot restrain my awe. Everything about the ship was beautiful.
I spoke of Labadee Haiti. A tourist beach owned by the cruise line. Immaculate and wonderful, but no possibility of actually being able to see Haiti itself. Other than this tourist beach, the rest of the island was much larger than I would have ever imagined, seeing it from the ship. We saw few other buildings of any kind, but we did see a never ending tropical jungle.
Next was Jamaica. This was my biggest education, and my biggest disappointment. I hear Jamaican music, and I visualize Jamaica as a romantic place to retire, live like a king, and drink margaritas. The only nice place we saw in Jamaica was at the port. Extensive high-end shops all selling the same watches, jewelry, purses, and rum as all the rest of the shops on all the other islands we visited. Jimmy Buffet has his restaurant/bar/dive here and elsewhere. Can't say I was enamored with a 15-dollar margarita served from a Slurpee machine. And all these shops, duty free, had higher prices for nearly everything they sold than I could buy the same stuff for in the States.
We took the tourist tram into Falmouth. Immediately entered the worst slum-ghetto I've ever experienced. Old buildings left over from better times, when slave trading paid the bills. Now inhabited by families and businesses, with seemingly nobody to sell to, and no place to work and/or make a living. Folks standing in doorways or on sidewalks, with a look of absolutely nothing to ever look forward to. Folks break-dancing on the street as we passed, hoping for a tip. Passed a hospital. Truly looked like an abandoned barracks. I cannot imagine having to go there for an appendectomy. The one bright side was the school. The kids were all in uniform. One of the Jamaicans on our ship told us that the kids are taught that if they study hard, and are otherwise successful, they can get away from Jamaica and have a good life. Jamaica was scary.
Next stop, George Town, Grand Cayman. If you ever believed this was a beautiful, prosperous place, you were right. Banks everywhere. Jewelry shops everywhere. The place was clean, happy, and seemed everybody drove a new car. Again, every drink, meal, or gift we purchased, cost more here than in the States.
Last stop was Cozumel, Mexico. The entire place was gorgeous. Beautiful beaches. Nice roads, and also a larger island than I'd imagined. The only difference in the tourist shops between here and Tijuana, is the sombreros said Cozumel instead of Tijuana.
Now a day and a half cruise back to Port Canaveral, Florida. Folks are dragging. All the movie-star looking young folks on the ship are now wearing cutoff shorts, their hair is no longer fresh from the salon, and they've skipped the makeup room.
I will spare you all the 300 photos I took, and just share a few. This posting of photos will be a work in progress...
View of Cocoa Beach Florida from our motel room. Always a cruise ship on the horizon.
The SpaceX launch as viewed from our motel room balcony.
The protected tourist-area in Labadee, Haiti.
Tourist shops, Port of Falmouth Jamaica.
A "nicer" business on a "nicer" street.
Church cemetery. 200+ year old graves, all above ground, as the water table would flood sub-grade graves.
Falmouth Hospital.
Downtown George Town Grand Cayman.
George Town, viewed from the boat. Nice place.
Cozumel. Bought Cuban cigars here. Was told by the seller I could now bring them to the States. NOT TRUE! Had to give them away. :cry:
No way to photograph the entirety of the shopping mall on the boat.
Florida sunrise on the day we left Cocoa Beach.
WAYNO.
