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Leaving Winter Behind on a Caribbean Cruise
By Kathryn H. Kidd (photos by Clark L. Kidd)
If
the snow and the sludge and the darkness of winter are getting you
down, you don’t have to spend your life in gloom. You can be sunning
yourself on the beaches of the Caribbean Sea, swimming with stingrays,
or trekking through the forests of Book of Mormon lands. You can
pick your date and pick your ship. Three more Western Caribbean
cruises are sailing between now and the end of May.
It
doesn’t matter if you’ve never been to the Caribbean, or
even if you’ve never been on a cruise. One of the great
things about a cruise is that the only decisions you have
to make are the decisions that are fun to make.
Do you want steak or lobster for dinner – or both? Do you
want to see the Broadway show or take part in the trivia
game? Do you want to jump in the pool or lie on the deck
and read?
With
a cruise, you get all that and more. You’ll be able to do the things
that all the tourists do, from tubing in a cave to frolicking with
dolphins. But you’ll also be able to study Book of Mormon lands
as only a visitor to those lands can do.
Until
recently, Western Caribbean cruises only went to the same old places.
They started and ended in Florida, with port stops in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. There’s nothing wrong with Cozumel, Grand Cayman,
and Jamaica. In fact, the cruise ships stopped there because people
liked them so much. And the three Western Caribbean cruises will
sponsor during the next few months will all stop at two of those
destinations – Cozumel and Grand Cayman.
You
won’t be disappointed with either stop. Cozumel is the jewel of Mexico. Tourists may rave about Cancun, but Cancun was built for tourists.
Cozumel is the real thing. The water of the Caribbean
is so inviting here that you may just want to lounge on one of the
beaches or go snorkeling in the clear aquamarine sea. But if you
go into the interior of this little island, you will be in a world
that is teeming with iguanas and other desert life.
Cozumel
is everyone’s place to shop in the Western Caribbean. You
can buy anything here – from precious stones you’ve never
heard of to sterling silver bracelets that may set you back
a dollar. Don’t forget the Mexican vanilla! So many tourists
like to collect Nativity sets or Christmas ornaments from
various countries that Cozumel will have a good supply of
both these things ready for you to purchase. No matter
what you collect, you’ll find it for sale in Cozumel.
You can find anything
in Cozumel, if you can tear yourself away from the sights long enough to do the shopping.
The
28-mile island of Cozumel was first settled by the Mayans. In fact, there are some tiny, ancient
ruins right on the island. The San Gervasio ruins were
where the Mayans used to come to worship their fertility
goddess, Ixchel. These ruins may whet your appetite for
more, or allow you to say “been-there-done-that” if you
don’t want to visit ruins at your other destinations. There
are also amazing water parks where you can swim with the
dolphins or float on inner tubes in caves.
You
don’t even have to stay in Cozumel on your Cozumel port stop, though. If
you’ve been to Cozumel a dozen times, your ship may offer shore excursions to nearby Playa del
Carmen or Cancun.
While you’re on the mainland, you can see the Mayan
ruins of Chichen Itza and Tulum –
ruins that dwarf the ones at San Gervasio.
If
you’re a fan of Mexican food, you’ll find it in Cozumel. People argue whether
Carlos ‘N Charlie’s is better than Senor Frog’s, so you’ll
have to make up your own mind. But if you can eat for free
on the ship – and you certainly can – you may want to leave
that argument up to the locals.
Signs point the
way to competing restaurants Senor Frog’s and Carlos ‘N Charlie’s.
The
other common destination on your Western Caribbean cruise
is one of everyone’s favorites. Grand Cayman, the largest
of the three Cayman Islands, recovered quickly from the
hurricane that devastated it in September of 2004. If you
go there now, you’ll find that in some ways the island is
even better than it was before. (For one thing, the beaches
are bigger!)
Grand
Cayman is the island that is famous for swimming with the
stingrays, and this is something that no adventurous tourist
will want to miss. Boats can take you out in the waist-high
water of “Stingray City,” a place in the
Caribbean where stingrays come to feed. You can hop off the boat and feed the stingrays
yourself, being careful to hide your fingertips from careless
nibbles as the stingrays gently suck the squid out from
between your fingers. Despite their name, stingrays are
docile creatures, with skin as soft as velvet. Dozens of
them will swim around you, looking for food or companionship.
If
you want to see the stingrays but don’t want to get wet,
never fear! Glass-bottomed boats can take you to Stingray
City, where you can watch other
people interact with the gentle creatures without ever having
to get your feet wet.
Stingrays are gentle
creatures, as this diver demonstrates.
But
that isn’t all Grand Cayman has to offer. The snorkeling here is
terrific, and snorkelers can actually dive among sunken ships.
If you don’t know how to snorkel, don’t worry; somebody will teach
you. You can also visit a turtle farm and a butterfly farm, if
you want to see some more wildlife.
One
real tourist trap in Grand Cayman is the post office for Hell.
Yes, you can get postcards here and send them home with the “Hell”
postmark. If you visit this destination, you’ll be in and out in
five minutes. However, make sure to get a look at the razor-sharp
rock formations that gave Hell its name.
Grand Cayman boasts
the barren rock formations that gave “Hell” its name.
Although
almost every cruise that sails the Western Caribbean stops in Cozumel
and Grand Cayman, experienced cruisers have been demanding fresh
and new stops on the Western Caribbean itineraries. LDS cruisers
can especially benefit from some of the new stops – particularly
the one in the country of Belize.
All
three cruises this spring will stop in Belize, and people who go
there are in for a treat. Belize is in the heart of Book of Mormon
country. There are even ruins here called Lamani, which local archaeologist
Mark McFerrin – who is not LDS – believes was named after King Lamoni.
Here’s a fact for you: Lamani means “submerged crocodile.”
Was King Lamoni named after that ferocious beast?
This
tiny country (the second smallest in Central America) is
the home of mountains and dense forests. There are places
that are so primeval that if you go there, you will know
it looks exactly the way it looked when Nephites and Lamanites
were its ancient inhabitants. And there are so many ruins
here that Belize has more Mayan ruins per square mile than
any other place in the world.
Altun
Ha is one such ruin. It is near enough to the port that
you will probably want to visit here on your first trip
to Belize. It is a national park, and tour guides are eager
to take you on a guided tour of the ruins. You can even
climb a pyramid – or watch others climb from the comfort
of a bench, if you’re not the adventurous sort. The national
language of Belize is English, so you’ll be able to understand
everything your guides have to tell you.
The ruins
of Altun Ha are easily accessible to cruise ship passengers.
If
you don’t want to see the ruins, don’t despair. Belize
has numerous boat excursions up the Wallace River, where
you can see wildlife aplenty. If you’ve never seen a manatee
in person, here’s your opportunity! You can also see crocodiles,
monkeys, iguanas, and all sorts of interesting bird life.
There is one black bird that is so light that when it dives
for fish it can’t take off again because the water on its
wings makes it too heavy to get aloft. The bird suns its
black wings until they’re dry, no doubt hoping a crocodile
doesn’t appear before it can take flight.
The Wallace
River is home to all sorts of animal life, as pointed out
by your tour guides.
There’s
one more stop on your Western Caribbean adventure. Costa Maya is
a new stop on the Western Caribbean route. This is a port that
even seasoned Caribbean travelers may never have visited. But it’s
a port you will never forget. You can use your time at Costa Maya
to visit the ancient Mayan City of Chacchoben.
This city dates back from 350 A.D., but it was largely unexplored
as recently as five years ago. You can be one of the first to see
this magnificent Mayan ruin.
Although
all three of the Western Caribbean cruise itineraries featured this
spring are the same, this is where the similarities end. A look
through the 2005 cruises will show you that you’ll be traveling
on different ships, on different cruise lines, and even with different
escorts.
This
is a terrific opportunity for you to pick the vacation that
is tailor-made to your needs. You can sail a Carnival “party
ship” – the brand-new Carnival Miracle – or you can climb
rocks on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas. There’s
a big difference between Carnival ships and the ships of
RCCL. If you’re a novice cruiser, go to the Cruise
Critic website to see which cruise line is for you.
You’ll
even have a choice of escorts, depending on the cruise you
choose. The May 15th cruise will be hosted by
religious educator Jack S. Marshall. The writer of several
books on gospel and family topics, Brother Marshall has
conducted tours around the globe. He will be joined by
Ryan D. Williams, who is currently serving as executive
director of the Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum. Brother
Williams served his mission in Belize and has been involved
in a variety of humanitarian projects in Central America.
Brother
Williams will also be a host on the May 22 trip. On this
trip, however, he will be accompanied by Blaine M. Yorgason
and by Florence and Chad Hansen of Hansen’s Classics.
Brother Yorgason is no stranger to readers of LDS fiction,
but this trip will highlight his experiences with the “Tattered
Angel Foundation.” The more you learn about Brother Yorgason’s
personal saga, the gladder you’ll be that you chose this
particular cruise. And the sculptures of Florence P. Hansen
will act as the perfect complement to the heart-tugging
stories you’ll learn as you travel with your tour conductors.
The
May 29th trip will be escorted by none other than Steve
and Karolyn Dana. Steve and Karolyn are world travelers who have
escorted tours just about everywhere. If you’re looking for knowledgeable
hosts who know how to have a good time – and how to show others
a good time – you’ll have a great time with the Danas.
No
matter which trip you choose, you’re going to have the vacation
of a lifetime if you cruise the Western Caribbean.
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