By Tom Brown
We were attracted to an NCL cruise to the western Caribbean, starting at Orlando and stopping at Cozumel, Guatemala, Belize and Key West.
And since we avoid the risk of flying in the day of the cruise whenever possible, we took the hotel and transfer package, which was at the Hyatt Orlando airport, sitting on top of the terminal..an escalator ride up from baggage claim
Nice room on the top floor, nice rooftop swimming pool for the afternoon, then a nice dinner at a top floor restaurant with a view.
Our bus ride the next day was through the Florida swamps to Port Canaveral.
Easy check in and we were on the ship for lunch. Then into the room and out to the pool. Dinner was very good and the show was OK.
Unfortunately the next day, a sea day, was problematic in that we were lost souls not able to find shade or escape the loud music amid the crowds of people. They had claimed most of the shade for gambling or outdoor buffets or poolside massage. I complained and was told that there was no solution on this ship.
There was a captains party for past passengers at 1pm. What a bust! Poor refreshments and food and only trivia from the captain.
It was a dress up dinner. Very few dressed up. OK musical show.
Cozumel for us was a quick survey of the shops, since we have been there before. We found some great booze prices.
The situation was a little better at the pool until the tours returned in the afternoon. Good dinner, OK comedian.
Then Guatemala. Very green uninhabited coastline, protected harbor and we docked at Santo Tomas, which is the most important seaport for Guatemala for exports, being on the Atlantic side. It is a deep water container port, exporting bananas, coffee and sugar. Container ships visit every day.
Population is 11 million. Three ethnic groups: European, African and Mayan Indian. They mix and intermarry to some extent. The city was pretty in parts although somewhat faded. There were upscale parts and poor parts. To some extent it compares to the DR.
When we asked the guide why it had faded, he commented that 30-40 years ago the country was richer. The currency has declined in value against the dollar to 1/7 of what it was in that time.
Next was Belize. Belize city was a tender port due to the shallow water, NCL had subcontracted the tendering to local people, so it was slightly more comfortable than lifeboats and with a lot of local color.
Belize is the former British Honduras colony, now independent and a member of the British commonwealth. More elegant than Guatemala, though also slightly faded. The population of the country is a mere 350,000. It is mostly descendants of slaves with a few white ex administrators or business owners and some Mayan Indians thrown in.
Minimum salary is US$ 3500 per year. Electricity is double the US rate and therefore dryers and air-conditioning are not affordable. The typical family has 5 children.
They export mangos, bananas, lobsters, shrimp and fish. There are some nice hotels in the city and at Ambergis Cay, a nearby island.
We did a city tour and also an airboat ride. If you do not know, an airboat is a flat bottomed wide boat, propelled by an 6' diameter air propeller, so as to go through very shallow water, sometimes inches deep. Ear protection against the noise was mandatory. We would go fast through the marshes, then stop and turn off the motor for explanations. We saw lots of birds that were unusual and two crocodiles (not alligators). The guide brought some chicken parts and the crocodiles jumped for it. One of them was 8-12 feet long and created a memorable impression when he jumped!.
After we got back I was on our balcony and was surprised that a security man entered the stateroom and told me that I had not signed in when returning from the tour. I said I had signed in. He looked at my cruise card and left. Ten minutes later he and a colleague were back saying that Alice had not signed in. I had to find Alice on the pool deck so that they could interrogate her like they did me. Finally this intrusion ended. We had actually shown our cards to different people with different computer terminals, so we do not think much of their systems!
Next was a sea day with the same sun and noise problems for us. But dinner was great and the show was a juggler/philosopher/family historian that we thought was excellent!
Key West was next. We had a 5 hour stop from 8am till 1pm due to the sailing time to make it back to Port Canaveral the next day. So our tour started at 8am. And immigration clearance was at 7am, which involved the inspector matching our faces to our passports and the staff punching our keycards.
Key West is the southernmost point of the 48 states. It is about 10 square miles including an airport. It has every inch built on, with small lots and narrow streets, It is mostly low rise with lots of trees and pretty. A zillion bars and restaurants. A total surprise is that Key West has thousands of wild chickens roaming the streets, often with baby chicks in tow!
Key West has seen many industries come and go. Fishing, sponges, sugar cane have all disappeared. Only the Navy and tourism persist. Its most famous tourists are perhaps Harry Truman and Ernest Hemingway.
Curiously, when we left we sailed southeast for 2 hours before we turned north. Something to do with getting in the channel.
There was a delicious BBQ lunch cooked on deck in giant kettle grills. Another delicious dinner. Then a show with a comedian that was so tasteless that we walked out!
Disembarkation was fine. We couldn't make the morning flight so spent the afternoon in the Red Carpet Club awaiting an end of day flight.
We had a good time. I am sure we will never go on the Norwegian Sun (our ship) again due to the aforementioned issues. Maybe or maybe not any Norwegian Cruise lines ship.
Alice read a book on her new kindle and the 'Outliers' in hard copy. I finished a couple of books including the George W. Bush memoirs. They were very illuminating (good and bad) which I will explain at another time.
