Western Caribbean (November, 2011) — 6 day Western Caribbean cruise (Ft. Lauderdale roundtrip), aboard RCI’s Navigator of the Seas.

Of course, I’m still sadly eight trips behind… some from as long ago as 2008 (including our first voyage on Navigator). The good news is that I have most of the rest of 2010’s and 2011’s photos ready for posting soon. So, I’m hoping to get more caught-up this holiday season (yeah, right).

It’s becoming something of a tradition for us to spend Thanksgiving in some far flung locale, usually the Caribbean. With Libby’s school schedule and the vacation day savings for me, it’s a very efficient way to add a few more countries. Thus, we found ourselves in Labadee, Haiti this Thanksgiving.

For those that don’t know, Labadee is Royal Caribbean’s private beach destination, which is located on a peninsula on the northern coast of Haiti. The fact that it’s based in Haiti isn’t generally a “selling point” of RCI. Indeed, I suspect that a good number of passengers don’t even realize they’re in Haiti. Following the massive earthquake that rocked the country, RCI took some heat for continuing to visit Labadee immediately on the heals of the disaster. In truth, RCI’s continued presence brought some needed supplies, helped to bolster at least the local economy, and didn’t disrupt aid operations in any way. So, while it might seem unpalatable to eat burgers and bask in the sun while bodies rot under rubble a hundred miles away, it’s really just a more intense version of a daily reality: cruise ships regularly bring relatively privileged, wealthy people to places that either supply meagerly paid ship workers and/or have populations that live in varying degrees of poverty and misery. On balance, this is probably neither an entirely good or bad thing. But, on this Thanksgiving Day, I do think it’s important to remember those less fortunate and to take account of our own blessings.

As a beach destination, Labadee is actually very nice. The weather and water were perfect — not too hot, not too cold. Likewise, the scenery was beautiful with a mountainous backdrop, sheltered cove, and blue-green waters. This was Emerson’s first trip to the beach (ironic as we live in Florida, I know). She played in the sand with a bucket and shovel, and I took her into the water to collect rocks and seashells. Meanwhile, Mom took pictures (surprising? I think not), and Pop sat in a lounge chair under a palm tree (good for him at 87!). The facilities/infrastructure at Labadee are also wonderful. In general, I’m suspect of both beach days and private cruise ship destinations, but I really couldn’t help having a good time. This was just an excellent day!

Dinner–our second and final formal night–was in the main dining room. Service was much better this evening, and the Thanksgiving spread was both traditional and credible. Unfortunately, the ship made minimal effort to decorate for the holiday, unlike our prior Thanksgiving aboard Navigator in 2008. Once again this underscores my feeling that the service quality aboard Navigator is sort of middling at best.

Vintages, the ship’s wine bar, was running an excellent deal on a Barbera d’ Asti at $22 per bottle. I bought one for the family’s Thanksgiving dinner. And, I might do it again tomorrow night.

Today’s box score: +1 country

This brings our total to 54, having tacked on 20 in 2011!

As usual, I plan to blog along the way.

Gwyn Topham at The Guardian cited it as but one example of how “tourism provides a microcosm of modern globalised inequality, with all the advantages or injustices it bestows on those on different sides of the divide.” Making the argument a bit more pointedly anti-American, Dave Thier on Sphere.com noted that Royal Caribbean’s decision to return to Haiti demonstrated that “nothing, not even a devastating earthquake that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, can deter the American vacationer’s drive to unwind.”

For now, I’ll put “globalized injustice” aside. Let’s just talk about Haiti.

I agree that quickly returning to Labadee might seem callous at first. The idea of vacationers frolicking in the sand and sipping frozen cocktails while nearby tens or hundreds of thousands of bodies are buried under rubble or stacked in the streets seems repulsive. If these folks aren’t vacationing in Hell, they’re certainly right next door.

Yet, I’m not sure by what ethical standard we could or should say that the return to Labadee is morally wrong. Indeed, on closer examination, it seems morally neutral at worst and is in all likelihood—on balance—the right thing to do.

Are the visits causing harm to Haiti? No. There are no claims that the presence of these cruise ships has in anyway hampered relief efforts to Haiti.

Are the visits helping Haiti? Yes. The cruise ships have been bringing relief supplies to Haiti, as well as donating the net revenue generated by these visits to relief organizations.

Could the cruise lines do more? Absolutely. And, maybe they should. However, they are for-profit companies and not non-profit relief agencies.

The cruises—to Haiti or not—will go on.

In the end, I don’t see how abandoning trips to Haiti and going to the Dominican Republic (which is part of the same island) or Key West or wherever else would make the situation any better. Not returning to Haiti quickly, if only in a small way, would only make the situation marginally worse.

Whatever other faults Royal Caribbean might have, they made the right call this time.

If you’d like to help, please donate to Haiti’s relief efforts.

I’m sure we’ll get to Haiti some day soon (indeed, Royal Caribbean is already sending their cruise ships back—along with aid supplies—according to USA Today).

Here’s a list of agencies working in Haiti. Please help, if you can.