A traveler's recollections: the hurricane-stricken Caribbean, including Puerto Rico.

My latest Caribbean cruise occurred after the last two hurricanes had blown through. The itinerary was altered to bypass the most severely damaged islands we were to have visited.  The news from multiple sources -- before and during the trip -- reinforced uncomfortable facts, some of which would rather be avoided by sources, ours and theirs, so to speak.

1. The extent of damage to particular islands had been downplayed by some sources.
2. The entire Caribbean is very much dependent on tourism. 
3. Tourists will quickly seek other places to visit. (Our ship, with space for 940, sailed with about 450 passengers.)
4. Re-construction is very dependent on supplies from the US and Mexico.
5. Re-building will be very uneven. (Areas in Puerto Rico were still totally without power four weeks after the storm.)
6. Puerto Rico, all US citizens are continuing to come to the mainland and other Caribbean islanders with passports and visas are coming, too. (Our cruise ended in San Juan airport and all flights to the mainland were packed -- three weeks after the storm.)
7. The US may soon have a new large ghetto -- Puerto Rico. (Economic and financial uncertainty will weigh heavily in Washington, D.C. and San Juan.)
8. Near simultaneous storms in the US, Mexico, and Caribbean will increasingly stretch re-building efforts in all areas. 
9. Future revenue from tourism -- the area's lifeblood -- is not a given

That said, another largely unknown fact about the Caribbean is the number of colleges located there.  More than ten medical and one veterinary schools are scattered throughout the area. One college (on the island of Dominique) was so badly damaged that an aging Italian cruise ship in the harbor at Barbados was being used as a temporary/dormitory.

Another first. Our ship, the Viking Sea, stopped midway between St. Kitts and Puerto Rico when a small outboard powered fishing (?) boat was spotted adrift just off the island of Guadeloupe. As per international law, our captain made sure the two poor souls aboard were OK, sent them supplies, and radioed the local Coast Guard who said they would come out. Because of the winds and currents, we circled them for about 3 hours until rescue arrived. Very eerie: total darkness, the ship's spotlight on the small boat until they were in-tow. Our first rescue at sea.

Now back to reality. Thank you for reading. 


Thank you for reading.