Honestly, who books a Caribbean cruise during hurricane season, of course I do!
I very rarely have 'blonde moments' (Daddy may disagree with that comment) however I genuinely didn't realise it was currently hurricane season in the Caribbean. I'm a little miffed my travel agent (Trail Finders) didn't point this fact out to me when I was booking my trip back in July.
I want to start off by saying how badly I feel for everyone affected by the Hurricanes Irma and Maria. It's truly awful the destruction and lives these storms have affected. My heart really does go out to those people.
I know I'm being a bit selfish for being disappointed with the latest (and I imagine final) itinerary change to my cruise. Originally I had booked this 7 night cruise which would visit The Bahamas, Charlotte Amelie (U.S. Virgin Islands) and St. Kitts. I was excited to have two new countries to tick off.
Shortly after booking, the trip was amended to remove St. Kitts and replace with Puerto Rico. I always wanted to visit PR, and after some time of trying to figure out whether it's a new country (it's not, it's technically part of the USA), I was still made up with the change. I'd planned to visit multiple places in San Juan. I was considering hiring a bike and exploring solo.
Then the hurricanes came. At first, I was pretty calm about it. I still had a few weeks before the trip so I assumed they'd just switch some ports and they did. Sadly Charlotte Amelie was out due to the damage. It's so sad to see this beautiful island so badly damaged.
This port was replaced with Hati. I thought excellent, another country (yes I'm a country whore).
That was short lived with the next hurricane Maria arriving. Maria has practically wiped Puerto Rico out. The whole island has been without power.
At first I thought such a first world problem thing of "oh no how can they use phones/wifi etc" but after my superficial comment I realised what about those poor people on life support machines? What about being able to cook? And even what about those poor children scared of the dark?
Here's me worrying about another holiday and these people life's are destroyed. It helps put things into perspective.
Because of Maria, my itinerary has been changed again. Now it's The Bahamas and two places in Mexico.
Again straight away I was so upset. I've been to Mexico twice before. The last time I visited was in 2012. I travelled from Belize to Playa del Carmen via boat. As soon as we arrived at the port, we were shouted at to get off the boat and line up our luggage. We were surrounded by police with machine guns and sniffer dogs. I'd never been so scared before.
I've travelled to a fair few countries and although Mexico is beautiful, it probably the one place I've felt the most unsafe.
I'm now in the predicament of do I even get off the ship at these ports? Of course I want to. I'd like to see some more of Mexico but there's no way I'll be wandering around alone now. If I decide to get off, I will have to book excursions. I'll even book the excursions direct with Royal Caribbean.
I foolishly read the travel advice issued by the UK government on Mexico - it's pretty dire. I know they're just covering all eventualities but still I don't want to be kidnapped! I think I need to learn some Spanish. How do you say "my family is poor and won't pay to buy me back?"
I'm making light of the situation. You have to! I already had my sister in tears at the weekend worried about me but they really don't neee to be worried.
I'm sure my trip will be perfectly safe. I'm a travel smart girl. I won't be taking anything too expensive with me. I'll stay with the tour group (if I do decide to do excursions) and I know general travel smart advice.
A cruise wasn't on my travel list initially, it was a typical impulsive decision on my part. In future I'll do a bit more research into my destinations (and seasonal weather). I hear Cyprus is a very safe place to travel to, especially with a nice man to protect me.
