Cruise Diary page 4 of 5
Tuesday 6th October 2009
By Steve Read
Labadee fits the Bill
LABADEE is Royal Caribbean's private resort on the coast of sun-drenched Haiti - and former US President Bill Clinton loves it.
He was visiting the island as part of a United Nations delegation dealing with their economic and social problems, and had a tour of the resort with Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain.
More than ten million passengers have visited the resort, and over the years Royal Caribbean have invested more than $100 million.
It has just been upgraded to handle the extra passengers from OASIS OF THE SEAS, including a new roller coaster ($35 per ride, sounds a bit steep).
Richard says: "We are particularly proud of the economic benefit our site provides to Haiti in fees and taxes, employment and community involvement. For example, we visited a clean water project we sponsored in the neighbouring village of Labadie as well as plans for a new school we are hoping to build to serve several of the neighbouring villages.
"It was a special privilege to be able to show off our baby to the President. He was scheduled to spend an hour with us and ended up spending two and a half."
Richard's wife Colleen will also be pleased that President Clinton visited Labadee.
Richard says: "We were shopping in the artisan's mart and I asked the shopkeeper if he had a certain piece in the shape of a frog because my wife collects frogs. He didn't and we moved on.
"Some time later, President Clinton came up to me and handed me a soapstone frog he had found in a later shop. Now that's delivering the WOW."
I guess that's hat, then
OF all the mementoes you could choose from a classic ocean liner, one passenger on the SAGA ROSE has the best ... the captain's hat!
Captain Alistair McLundie had worn it every day since he was appointed as master of the ship 9½ years ago.
He added it to the prizes in an onboard auction to raise money for the McMillan Cancer trust, and it added £120 to the £3,750 proceeds.
(Another of the prizes was a candle-lit dinner with the ship's suave assistant cruise director John Parton - I haven't found out how much John had to pay!)
The event came at the end of Capt McLundie's last cruise with passengers aboard the Saga Rose.
Her original master, Capt David Warden-Owen, will take her out for her farewell voyage around the Med, and then Capt McLundie will return to deliver the ship to her new owners - details of whom have still not been revealed.
In his blog, Capt McLundie says: "I walked down the Dover quayside on October 9, 1997, to join this ship as 1st Officer, and I have never looked back.
"We have had many adventures, good times, bad times, smooth, rough, happy, sad, moments of sheer pride, and every day on this mighty vessel, I can remember not one moment where I didn't want to be here.
"My time as captain has been one of great pride. I remember the great excitement I had when our managing director handed me the keys to the ship as Master on June 24, 2000.
"I will miss the Rose. She will always hold pride of place in my memory and in my heart, my first passenger ship command, and I feel very privileged to have played a very small part of her history."
Capt McLundie will be master of the Saga Rose's replacement ship, SAGA PEARL II, which sails for the first time next March on a cruise along the Norwegian coast.
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Making a splash...
IT'S always spectacular to see ships from the same cruise line gathered together - which is why I love this picture.
It was taken at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where NORWEGIAN SUN, NORWEGIAN PEARL and NORWEGIAN STAR met before heading off to their winter seasons via the Panama Canal.
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