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Western Caribbean Photos!

In record time (for me), I’ve managed to upload photos from our most recent trip:

Navigator of the Seas

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).

Cruise Day #6 — At Sea

It’s our final full day of the cruise.

All in all, it’s been an enjoyable trip. I’m not even going to promise a full cruise review or a quick posting of pictures (neither of which I seem capable of producing). I will however take this chance to write up a few final thoughts…

First, I’m surprised that I enjoyed the ports in almost exactly the reverse order of what I expected, favoring Labadee for its family fun and thinking Grand Cayman the least interesting. The lesson? Much like we found in St. Thomas, the Caribbean isn’t really at its best in towns filled with duty free shopping and little else.

Second, while traveling with a toddler is becoming increasingly easier, it’s still an effort and not always fun (or at least as care free). But, it is also uniquely rewarding and enjoyable in a different way. I’m also proud that Emerson’s country count already reaches 21 (one for every month she’s been alive)! I wonder if a new goal should be 157 for Emerson by the time she’s 18? 😉

Third and finally, not knowing what life ever has in store, I wish to pause and simply reflect on my good fortune in being able to experience all that I have in my (come Dec 4) 35 years on this planet. Sometimes, I think I spend too much time thinking/planning/worrying about the future. In pausing to look over my shoulder, I’m grateful for my past experiences, both large and small. I’m also thankful for the life I lead that’s populated with a family and friends who are better than I deserve.

On that note, I’ll stop writing and start watching the sunset before me…

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Thanksgiving in Haiti.

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!

We docked early in Falmouth at 7am. Following a quick breakfast, Libby, Emerson, Mom, Pop, and I disembarked from the ship. The port facility, which was built by Royal Caribbean, is a Disneyfied, sterilized, and idealized (re-)creation of Falmouth’s historic Georgian architecture. It’s at once very nice (in that faux New Urbanism sort of way) and utterly touristic (representing much of what can be wrong with cruise-based travel). Sigh. Such is the price of guaranteed clean restrooms I suppose. 😉

We skipped the duty free shops and headed straight for independent taxis. There we met Uriah, who we negotiated with to be our guide/driver. For $104, he agreed to provide us with a private, roundtrip tour to Montego Bay. With our agreement reached, we left the sanctuary of the sterilized port and departed into the ‘real’ Falmouth.

We drove through a vibrant, albeit somewhat gritty, Falmouth and then headed west along the coast. I was impressed by the relative quality of the infrastructure and the attractiveness of the water. The coast between Falmouth and Mo-Bay was dotted with resorts and golf courses. We paid a visit to White Witch, a spectacular hillside golf course near Rose Hall, named after the owner of the sugar plantation–a white, female slaveholder who (you guessed it) practiced witchcraft and had a certain penchant for marrying (and then murdering) her male slaves.

Montego Bay–Jamaica’s 2nd largest city and another cruise port–was also bustling on this weekday. I can’t say it made a significant impression… like much of the Caribbean, it’s the landscape of a city painted with the brush of poverty’s inevitable decay on top of a canvas of natural, scenic splendor. This, of course, excludes the tourist confections of Sandal’s resorts, Margaritaville, and the like.

On our way back to Falmouth, Uriah took us to visit the villages of Martha Brae and Hague. This is where he grew up and still lives. We saw the school attended by his six year old son, the river he played in as a boy, the local agricultural fairgrounds, and his neighborhood. He was clearly proud of his community–this was my favorite part of the tour.

We returned to the Falmouth port and spent a little time exploring the ‘village’ and gawking at Allure of the Seas (the behemoth of RCI’s fleet). We ate a “Jamaican Beef Pattie”– a sort of Cornish pasty with a jerk beef filling–sold by a local vendor. It was excellent. We also stopped into some of the duty free shops. Not surprisingly, the prices weren’t very good. I’d recommend passing on shopping in Falmouth.

For dinner, Libby and I went to Chops Grille, leaving Emerson in the care of her grandparents for the evening. As usual Chops was good, though sadly they’ve removed Libby’s favorite entree from the menu (a BBQ braised pork shank). I started with the shrimp cocktail, followed by cheese and onion soup, and a “not-so-traditional” Caesar salad (which seemed fairly traditional and a bit boring to me). Libby had a crab and shrimp cake, as well as the soup. For our main, I had a 10oz filet, and Libby opted for the braised short ribs. These were accompanied by a variety of sides of which the parmesan and prosciutto potatoes were real standouts. We finished with creme brûlée (me — a somewhat poor performance that was slightly runny and not even topped with crisp sugar) and red velvet cake (Libby — a very respectable offering). For my part, while I enjoyed the ‘night off’ and togetherness time, I’m not sure that the meal itself was really worth the $30/pp cover charge.

Later that evening, Mom and I attended the performance in the theatre. It was some mediocre magician/comedian and a mild diversion at best. Worth the price of admission (free). :-)

Today’s box score: +1 country (Jamaica)

The port facility and Allure of the Seas in Falmouth:

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We awoke early and finished breakfast before the ship dropped its anchor at 8am. Libby, Emerson, mom, and I were among the first ‘landing party’ of the morning, arriving on shore a little after 8:30. Some Caribbean Islands wow you with their scenic splendor immediately, Grand Cayman isn’t one of those places (at least not above the water).

It’s a diver’s paradise, has attractive beaches with jewel colored blue waters, and serves as an offshore banking center (with an economy that was obviously better and less singularly on tourism than many islands in this part if the world). Downtown was populated with a mix of modest size office buildings and the usual contingent of duty free shops. In all, we spent a couple of hours exploring the city and then returned to the ship in time for lunch with Pop.

After lunch, Libby, Emerson, and I engaged in a rousing game of mini golf. This was followed by Emerson’s afternoon nap. We spent the balance of the afternoon visiting with Libby’s parents.

Dinner was once again in the MDR. Service–which had been slow other nights–was positively glacial (pre-global warming) in its pace. After 30 minutes without so much as an order taken (while watching other tables eat), I finally had enough and told our waiter that this was completely unacceptable. That’s very rare for me, but I was resoundingly “pissed off” (much like with the boarding debacle on Day #1). I can live with slow service without a toddler along, but it’s like watching a bomb tick down without any defusing activity with Emerson on hand.

I must say visually, as a ship, I like Navigator. Yet, I think she’s far from the best run ship in RCI’s fleet. I don’t know if that’s a function of her size/class or if it’s unique to this ship?

Today’s box score: +1 country

Emerson in Grand Cayman:20111126-050644.jpg

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