Our Luxury Vacation in Haiti
Jeez, the liberal media with their constant drumbeat of doom and gloom. If you listen to the press, you probably think Haiti is nothing but death and destruction and mass starvation. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We had a fabulous trip on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. And one of our favorite stops was a private beach — in Haiti. Yes, Haiti really has luxury villas and beautiful pristine beaches. You just don’t know about them because that damn media simply refuses to report any good news.
But anyway, back to me. That pristine private beach in Haiti really was the high point of our cruise. Swimming in those nice warm Caribbean waters, sunbathing on the beach with an umbrella cocktail…aahhh, the Good Life. And we even had a barbecue. As you may have heard, the food on these luxury cruise liners is absolutely fabulous anyway. But to have this same top notch exquisite food barbecued for you on a private beach…[swoon]…to die for.
This has to be one of those “peak experiences” that those hippie psychologists used to talk about back in the ‘60s.
Now I’m aware that certain liberal redistribute-the-wealth Class Warrior types will probably put our luxury vacation in a negative light. “How could you?!?!?” “Sunning on the beach, playing in the water, eating a barbecue, and enjoying a cocktail while thousands of corpses are piled up on the streets just a few miles away?!?!?!?”
[yawn] WhatEVer. Hey, if you’d like, I can e-mail you some of our vacation pictures.
It’s really neat to see the luxurious side of a country that everybody thinks of as being backward and poverty-stricken. I’m gonna go on the Internet and see if any cruise lines are making stops in…let’s see…how about Somalia…
Labels: cruise ship Haiti, Haiti private beach, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Haiti
posted by Tom Harper @ 11:44 AM
15 Comments:
For one short sentence you had me sucked in.
Delivering aid is one thing, frolicking on the beach eating hot dogs is another. I was glad to read some of passengers were a little sickened at the lack of tact. The Cruise line could have been a little more tasteful.
Never let the misery of the riff-raff get in the way of a good time.
How disgusting -- I wasn't planning a cruise anytime soon (or ever) but it sure won't be on Royal Caribbean if I do go. What monumental gall to frolic where there is so much suffering. At least they should have offered aid or assistance.
I'm beginning to think that maybe we Americans ARE as bad as we seem to the rest of the world. Maybe the Christian right-wing is the government we deserve.
What an awful thought.
If the people of Haiti didn't want to have their bodies piled up in the street they should have never made that pact with the devil....three hundred years ago.
I am not surprised that there are Americans so cold and callous that they wouldn't let a tragedy get in the way of their partying down. But remember, they hate us because we are free, and not because we use poor judgment in our exercise of those freedoms.
Hey, the earthquake wasn't Royal Caribbean's fault, was it? So, what's it supposed to do, offer to offload some of its food and water, and maybe even take on a few Haitians in need of lifesaving medical care?
Come on, RC isn't in the humanitarian aid business. It's in business to make a profit, which leaves injured, sick and dying Haitians out.
Seriously, maybe it's just as well that cruise liner just put passengers on the beach for an island-paradise interlude. Given the record of cruise ships in recent years, the last thing sick and injured Haitians need right now is salmonellosis, diarrhea, backed up toilets and maybe a fire on board to worry about.
If 75% of a country living on 2.00 per day isn't poverty I don't know what is.
Too bad the government there doesn't redistribute the wealth.
Lisa
You know, I was thinking about this and am of two minds. The port they used could have been used to unload supplies yes. My second thought was, those people that live there maybe they will make some money through this nightmare so they are at least still working, having a somewhat "normal" day to day existence. It's like NO and NY when the nightmare struck them. They wanted things to go back to normal as soon as possible. Like I said, I am off two minds and cannot decide which one to go with. That may change at any given time with me :).
Holte: Had you going for a minute there, eh? It was at least heartening that some of the passengers were appalled.
JR: Damn right, just tune out the riffraff and all their wailings and get that party started.
SM: Those cruise passengers partying on the beach sure didn't make good representatives of their country. Talk about the "Ugly American."
Lew: That's right, those Devil-worshiping Haitians have nobody to blame but themselves. They should've picked better ancestors. And yes, the rest of the world hates us for our freedom.
SW: Offer food and aid to those lazy poor people? Hell no. When they get off their butts and start working for a living, the invisible hand of the marketplace will provide everything they need.
Lisa: You actually left a comment that I agree with. You should be sarcastic more often.
Jess: It's true that whatever money got spent by those tourists will benefit some of the locals. But it still sounds too much like "trickle down." But the whole idea of partying and barbecuing on the beach -- I don't know how anyone could do it. It would be like noshing on a Big Mac and a shake and a large order of fries while walking through a refugee camp full of starving people.
Would that be like Cuba, Lisa? While Cuba is by any definition a poor country, there is considerable redistribution of wealth there, and the Cuban standard of living is much higher than Haiti's.
SW: Cuba, them damn comminists? Sure they have better access to medical care and a higher literacy rate than the U.S., but a comminist is a comminist is a ...
Ugh - disgusting. Just disgusting behavior.
Those passengers aren't stupid, they're really scared of bloodthirsty Haitian savages coming over and spoiling their vacations.
You never know what hungry people could do
Erik
Bee: My sentiments exactly.
Erik: That's right, nothing takes the fun out of a beach party like having to look at a bunch of unsightly starving poor people.
That story was so weird in a really creepy way - no matter if they were bringing supplies and workers, it is just revolting to think of people frolicking on the beach while dead bodies continued to pile up amid pain and anguish on the other side.
Rockync: Yup, weird and creepy. I just can't imagine frolicking and partying on a beach just a few miles from a devastated city that has thousands of corpses in the streets.
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