This AIA-sponsored tour aboard the Yorktown was my best cruise experience so far. Our two previous cruises on the Aegean Odyssey were fascinating in terms of places visited, but disappointing otherwise. With a couple of exceptions, I really didn't think the guides at the Greek and Turkish sites were that informed, so I found the excursions rather superficial. Site visits on the cruise to SE Asia were much better, but there were long days at sea with nothing to do and there was very little direct contact with other passengers.
This time, the size of the ship and the dining arrangements made everything different. The Yorktown only holds 130 guests to begin with, and the tour wasn't completely booked. A week was long enough for us to get to know most of the 82 other passengers. A number of people were traveling solo, which meant they were more likely to come up to you and begin a conversation. Finally, tables were set up for six persons, so we never ate by ourselves. By the end of the cruise, the tour group had formed something like a community. From now on, I'm going to keep the social dynamics in mind when I make travel preparations, because large cruise ships, though much cheaper, are definitely more isolating.
Although Ron and I have been to a number of Maya sites before, starting with Copan in the early eighties, I learned considerably more about the culture on this voyage. Maya studies have exploded in the past thirty years, chiefly because of the decipherment of the writing, but also because of the gigantic amount of archaeological research recently done. One of the study leaders for the voyage, Sandra Noble, was the former Executive Director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, so she was very much on top of the current discoveries and theories. I will say that the other two lecturers, Maria Luisa Crawford and former Ambassador Heather Hodges, were equally authoritative. In addition to the instructional staff, the ship also had an expert birdwatcher and two biologists on board to discuss aspects of the ecological system. Lectures catered to a variety of interests and were uniformly entertaining.
While the trip itself was enjoyable, getting to Honduras, where we embarked, had its drawbacks. For the second time in as many trips, we ran into a flight delay straight off--weather in Denver was preventing the equipment from returning to Tucson. We had to wait for several hours, finally boarding at 9:30 p.m. Since we didn't arrive in Denver until 11:10, we made our connecting flight to LaGuardia with just minutes to spare. Baggage, naturally, got left in Denver. However, the staff made arrangements for our suitcases to be collected at the San Pedro Sula airport and taken to the next port of call, so we only had to wait one day for a change of clothing. One good thing--the last two legs of the flight were business class, which allowed us to arrive in Honduras completely rested.
Flying into Honduras, I was shocked to see the extent of deforestation. That was already a concern on our first visit back in the 1980s, and now whole swathes of rainforest, which I remember surrounding San Pedro Sula at that time, have completely disappeared. The city has also become a major narco-trafficking center and consequently has one of the highest crime rates of any city on the American continents. Later on the voyage, passengers who overnighted in San Pedro Sula shared their concerns about going out on the street even in the vicinity of their four-star hotel. Arriving in the early afternoon as we did, we saw little of the city and were taken by van directly to the ship. After embarkation, we had a cruise briefing, the usual mandatory life jacket drill and then dinner. By that time the long journey had caught up with us, so bed followed immediately. I had no idea, incidentally, that a fellow Classicist, Sally Davis, was also on the cruise. It had been some time since we had seen each other, so it was great to know she too was enjoying retirement.
On Sunday, the 23rd, we enjoyed our first excursion. After arriving in Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala, Ron joined the group to see the Mayan site at Quirigua near Copan, while I opted to visit San Felipe Fortress. The fortress was chiefly interesting for its armament and its prison. Two cannons bore the emblems of the British Navy, because they had been captured in a skirmish. The prison cells, below ground and shallow, just a place to chain someone up, must have been an excruciating experience.
While most other excursions involved Mayan ruins, we were taken on a very enjoyable hike through the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Unfortunately, we saw no wildlife outside of insects. People who had no previous experience with leafcutter ants marveled at how they could carry leaf fragments bigger than they were. Since I'm fully aware of what they can do to a rosebush, I wasn't as thrilled as my companions. Another interesting excursion was the resort town of Placencia, very colorful and exotic, with many great photo opportunities. I'm not quite sure of what one would do there, though--there's a beach and several restaurants, but outside of swimming and partying, the place didn't have much to offer. I got the impression that it's mostly for singles and honeymooners.
While we didn't have much opportunity to shop, Ron purchased a hand-carved cane on which he's received many compliments, and I was able to find a ring with three colors of amber and a turquoise necklace that works very nicely with some of my dressy pant outfits.
The best opportunities for photography, though, were the sunsets and sunrises at sea. I've never seen such colors in the sky, even in Tucson.
On the last night of the cruise, we were treated to a congenial reception and farewell dinner. Again, a marvelous contrast with the receptions and dinners on the Aegean Odyssey, which in retrospect were pretty formal and stiff. I noticed that people were dressed differently on the two ships--the Aegean Odyssey guests wore very expensive, fussy clothing (problems packing, I should think), while on the Yorktown dress was more casual but many outfits were nicely put together.
Picking a cruise, I'm beginning to see, takes a lot of knowledge and skill. You choose the wrong one and you're paying an extravagant price for sitting on deck reading a book. On the right one, conversely, you have a great time, even if you're not all that enthusiastic about Mayan ruins after seeing four or five sites.
