First name your cruise ship....

This morning, the cruise ship circus came to town in St John. Three arrived, each carrying over three thousand people. They docked, nose to tail, at the long cruise ship dock which leads straight into the 'duty free shopping complex'. Yippee.

I noted the names. Carnival Liberty, Adventure of the Seas, Carnival Splendor. These are a popular theme - the ships are named things like 'freedom', 'explorer', 'tranquility'. Without a hint of irony, these free spirits of the oceans follow each other nose to tail around the caribbean and disgorge their passengers to follow each other, nose to tail, around that day's shopping mall of choice. That's some kind of freedom.

We even noted that many passengers have, dangling around their necks along with their video cameras, a badge on a string with their name, the name and dock of their ship, it's departure time and a barcode. I'm sure it's a great way of making sure few people get lost but if it was me, I think I'd put it in my bag or pocket until I got back to the ship, not wear it around my neck. I guess many people are used to wearing a similar badge each day at work so why change on vacation?

I'm glad we got out of town this morning, it wasn't going to be a good day to be sightseeing.

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