I Am A Celebrity!: 2022 - The "Western" Caribbean

Our Celebrity Reflection docked at Nassau
[Copyright Andy Richards - All Rights Reserved]

WHEW! BACK on Celebrity again. 2021 was - stating the obvious - a horrible year for many reasons (all related to the worldwide pandemic that caught the entire world with our proverbial "pants down"). We could only hope that 2022 would be better, and that we would emerge from those dark days. Per my last post, we obviously did return to cruising in late 2021. But it was a very different cruise culture. We hoped things would return to the way we have cruised in the past.

It is a fun thing when you are sitting on the Sunset Bar deck on a sunny afternoon and one of the bartenders recognizes and approaches you - from a former cruise! We love you Ken!

IN JANUARY of 2022, we booked a short, "western Caribbean" Cruise on the Celebrity Reflection. We wanted to see how they compared to our previous Princess Cruise - post covid. It was favorable. We saw a gradual move away from the quite restricted atmosphere of the British Isles experience in the immediate aftermath (some would argue it was still during) of Covid 19. We were still required to test negative within 48 hours prior to the cruise. We were never really concerned, as we both have been fully vaccinated and "boosted." And once on board, passengers and crew were no longer required to wear masks (though it was optional, and we did see a few persons opting to wear them - including some staff). The buffet had returned - more or less - to the normal, "self-serve" approach. It was heartening. This would mark our 5th cruise on what has become, for us, Celebrity's most iconic ship. It is a fun thing when you are sitting on the Sunset Bar deck on a sunny afternoon and one of the bartenders recognizes and approaches you - from a former cruise! We love you Ken!

Indicative of the "tourist" focus of Nassau, I thought these two Carnival Ships berthed next to each other went a long way to "tell the story."

WE WERE looking for another short one, just to get our proverbial feet wet again on cruising - especially seeking a Celebrity Cruise. We would later in the year cruise on the Celebrity Apex in the Mediterranean. I had remarked to my wife that I had never been in the so-called "western" Caribbean. Now I have. And I won't go out of my way to go again, LOL (not saying never - just that it doesn't feel like it offers as much as the Eastern and Southern parts do).

Atlantis Resort and Casino - Nassau, Bahamas
[Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved]

OUR STOPS weren't particularly memorable. We first stopped in Nassau, Bahamas which I view as a tourist destination extraordinaire, with its EAFY - dominated cruise port shopping and the compulsory view of The Atlantis from our ship's berth. But still, we were on a Celebrity Cruise (on our sentimental favorite ship, no less), in the warm sunshine of the Caribbean and all was well with the world.

Disney "Fantasy" and Celebrity Reflection sharing a berth - Nassau, Bahamas
[Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved]

THE BAHAMAS, of course, is not technically considered part of "the Caribbean." But close enough. 😀Still warm. Still sunny. Still party - atmosphere. And still tourist - central. There were multiple ships in the port that day, including a big, new Disney ship berthed right next to us, a huge Royal Caribbean ship, and two Carnival Ships, side by side. Oh and that one that looks like a ship. It's a building. Kind of unique.

Nassau, Bahamas
[Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved]

IN 2022 the main port for cruise ships was known as Prince George's Wharf. In 2019, port officials announced a major construction project, proposing to transform Prince George's Wharf into Nassau Cruise Port, with major dock expansions, and a new welcome center, including a huge outdoor amphitheater. Completion was originally slated for 2021. The Pandemic may have played a big part in missing that deadline.

Departing from Prince George's Wharf at sunset - Nassau, Bahamas
[Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved]

PART OF the plan was to accommodate not only more ships, but the newest and largest ships on the ocean today. Our little sub-2500 Celebrity Reflection is today dwarfed by some of the newer Royal Caribbean, MSC and Costa ships holding nearly 7,000 passengers! Said to be the second most visited port (behind Cozumel), Nassau has become a "gateway" to the Caribbean and many ships stop there either enroute or upon return from Caribbean destinations. We saw evidence of construction when we docked there in 2022. In 2023, we made a brief, unscheduled stop there on board the Celebrity Equinox, bound for the southern Caribbean. At that time, the new cruise port was still not completed. The new port finally opened in late May of this year, sporting an entirely new and modern look. We will look forward to our next stop there, whenever that may happen. In the meantime, we did our obligatory walk on shore and returned to the ship. I was trying out a new camera setup on this trip, and most of the images here were made with it, including the sunset shot above. I was impressed with its ability to handle the rather difficult lighting situation. That setup (Olympus OM-10) has become my regular travel rig.

Belize City, Belize
[Copyright Andy Richards - All Rights Reserved]

OUR NEXT port was Belize. Again, not particularly memorable. Leaving the commercial shopping part of the cruise port yielded some old houses and an uncomfortable feeling walking around unescorted, so we returned to the port - and eventually to the ship. Coming out of the pandemic, we found a lot of differences in the cruise planning process, and we were - frankly - unprepared for this one. There are things to do in all these Caribbean ports. Looking at the geography of our cruise, we mainly cruised along the east coast of the mainland of Central America. For those who haven't looked at a map, the Caribbean Sea is formed by this coastline to the west, the South American coastline to the south, Cuba, Haiti, The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to the north, and the Leeward Islands to the east. Most of this cruise (except for the Bahamas), was along the eastern coast of Central America.

On the street just outside the cruise terminal - Belize City, Belize
[Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved]

I THINK where we probably "dropped the ball" on our stop in Belize was in not making arrangements for an excursion to see the Mayan Ruins. My after-the-fact research indicates that there are some pretty spectacular such sites in Belize. While I have also learned that the unique mixture of Spanish and Caribbean people makes the food culture interesting, a day stop on a cruise ship will likely not yield a true food experience. But if we do ever return to Belize, we will certainly look into a Mayan Ruins excursion. As it was we basically didn't leave the port.

Roatan, Honduras
[Copyright Andy Richards 2023 - All Rights Reserved]

NORMALLY, HONDURAS might be of great interest to me. Some may remember my post here on cigars and cruising. If you read it, you know I like cigars and enjoy trying different ones and learning about them. Honduras is said to be the third largest exporter of cigars in Latin America. Such illustrious brands as Romeo y Julieta, Punch, and Alec Bradley have strong ties to Honduras. My current favorite smoke is a CAO Brazilia which (in spite of the name and Brazilian wrapper) is wholly manufactured in Honduras, using Honduran filler and binder. I had visions of visiting at least one cigar factory. Then I learned that we weren't going to be on the Honduran mainland at all! The cruise ships stop on the Honduran Island of Roatan, a tiny little barrier island north of the mainland. Every cruise is a learning experience (and with each such experience, I put just a little bit more knowledge to be shared - and used on future cruises - under my belt). I have prided myself in the past for doing research pre-cruise. I think we were so Covid-fatigued, and so anxious to just get back out there cruising, that I lost a bit of that. But here is something we learned on this stop. Described as a "major" cruise port in the Caribbean, there are two cruise ports in Roatan: Mahogany Bay and Coxen Hole. Mahogany Bay appears to be what we would expect to see on a Caribbean stop. We never saw it. Nor were we aware that it even existed. I will take some blame for that (lack of research). They say 20/20 hindsight is clairvoyant. I have since learned that Mahogany Bay is exclusively operated by the Carnival Corporation and caters primarily to Carnival and Princess Ships. Other ships, such as NCL, MSC, Virgin and RCL (and apparently Celebrity 😏) port at Coxen Hole. From our viewpoint, "hole" was a pretty apt description. Indeed, it looked so sketchy to us that we never left the ship.

Coxen Hole - Roatan, Honduras
[Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved]

THOUGH I am probably not being completely fair to Roatan at this point, my images here accurately depict what we saw from the deck of our cruise ship. There are no "nice" or touristy buildings or attractions at the berth here, and perhaps the images would persuade one to "forgive" us for our conclusions. And I will note that upon further research, this is certainly a port which has embraced the tourism thing. Most of the "things to do in Roatan" found on the usual research sites talk about zip lines, snorkeling, beaches, and the like. In fact, my conclusions about the western Caribbean is that it is one of the premiere places for diving and snorkeling, with some of the most impressive offshore reefs in the world, or a day at the beach. Please don't misunderstand my commentary for disdain. I know there are lots of people (especially escaping the harsh northern winter months) who come to the Caribbean precisely for those things. And for them, this place is just another part of paradise. Because we aren't really "beach people" (and because we have some of the - arguably - nicest beaches in the world right where we live) - and we don't dive or snorkel, there just wasn't much for us here. But if you do and seek those things, you probably won't be disappointed.

Coxen Hole - Roatan, Honduras
[Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved]

IF YOU are into diving and snorkeling (and I have spoken to a few folks since we visited the western Caribbean who have enthusiastically confirmed this) places like Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel are really prime places to do that. The commercial interests have also done a good job of catering to the tourist traffic from the cruise ships with each of these places having the ubiquitous Del Sol, Eafy, and similar shopping - with their own spin - but really pretty much "same old - same old."

COZUMEL LIVED up to its reputation as the most popular cruise port in the Caribbean. At least from a tourism standpoint. Another small island to the east of Mexico's Yucatan Penisula, other than its beaches, diving and snorkeling, it really is a quintessential "tourist trap." And here, I don't use the word "trap" lightly. 😒 We have been to our share of cruise ports and large cities around the world. There are people "hawking" their wares everywhere. Sometimes they can be very persistent. I get it. They are trying to make a living - just like most of us have had to do in our lifetimes. But there is a line. Once I politely decline to purchase, it is time to move on to the next "mark." We rarely purchase the trinkets - particularly at these touristy areas. If we do, we are actually on a "mission."

BUT IN Cozumel, I have never experienced anything like it (even since then, when I did a several day eastern Caribbean cruise in February of 2023). They are not just persistent. They are unrelenting and at times outright rude. My wife and I just wanted to walk along the main street just outside the cruise terminal. We were accosted by a "gentleman" outside a restaurant who literally followed us 2 blocks down the street cajoling us to come back to his restaurant where he would sell us a nice meal (in fairness to the Senior, it was not the depicted, ubiquitous Senior Frogs in the port). 😎 On our return, we purposely crossed the street and walked on the other side where there was nothing, just to avoid being accosted again. Time and again, while we were in that port, we were relentlessly pursued. We couldn't wait to get back on the ship and away from them. I am told that is normal in Mexico. So if you will cruise to a Mexican port, be forewarned. And now to be completely contrary - I bought a T-shirt (the only one I bought on the cruise) in Cozumel! 😝

ON A more positive note, I found lots of color and made some nice photos in and around the port.

IT PROBABLY seems like I don't have anything good to say about this cruise or the western Caribbean. I don't mean it to come off that way at all. These are experiences in life, and I always enjoy the Caribbean. Some of the things I have written here are just my observations. At the beginning I noted that I probably wouldn't do another western Caribbean cruise. But I will never say never. A lot depends on the timing, the ship, what other stops might be involved, and who I am cruising with. So much of cruising is about things other than the ports. This is particularly the case in the Caribbean, where in reality, many (if not most) of the ports begin to take on a 'been there, done that" vibe. It doesn't mean we don't do it. It doesn't mean we don't enjoy them. But they become less of a central focus of the experience. We were on a ship for a few days that we thoroughly enjoy, and nothing beats the time spent on board, especially in the warm sunshine, on the back of the ship. As I post this, our next scheduled cruise in 2024 will be aboard the Celebrity Apex in the eastern Caribbean for a short, but certain to be fun 7 days with our friends Paul and Linda. I am already looking forward to spending ship time with my best buddy, Paul. I am sure to write about that, but between this 2022 cruise and then, there are a few other cruises to talk about. See you soon!

I Am A Celebrity!

Sunday, July 30, 2023

2022 - The "Western" Caribbean

No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive