From: paul.graveline%travel@wugate.wustl.edu (Paul Graveline) 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean
Subject: CARIBBEAN TRAVEL ROUNDUP1
Date: 1 Sep 92 13:19:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Travel Online, St. Louis, MO
Reply-To: paul.graveline%travel@wugate.wustl.edu (Paul Graveline) 

                            Caribbean Travel Roundup 
                             Paul Graveline, Editor 
                               September 1, 1992 
                                   Number 27 
CONTENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 1992 
-------------------------- 
1/ Caribbean News Summary 
2/ Journeys and Notes 
Aruba by Todd Ortloff  
BVI Cruising by Jim Hinds  
Cozumel by Donna Balmat 
Grand Cayman By David Clark 
Grand Cayman Diving by Whit Swain  
Guadeloupe Club Med by Debbie Stine 
Negril (Citronella), Jamaica by Paul Carastro 
St. Martin by Ian MacFarlane 
St. Martin by Stuart Shmoolker 
St. Thomas Report by Deborah Greto 
 
1/ CARIBBEAN NEWS SUMMARY 
------------------------- 
A  source  of  concern to Caribbean tourism officials is the growing  
argument  between  cruise  operators and the individual islands over  
an  increase  in  the  head tax for cruise passengers. The lines are  
fighting  the  increase  in  the head tax announced by the Caribbean  
Tourism   Organization.   In  fact,  Royal  Caribbean  Cruise  lines  
recently  announced that it was dropping St. Lucia as a port of call  
after  St.  Lucia  announced that he would implement the minimum tax  
on  October  1.  They  replaced  St.  Lucia with Martinique on their  
schedule.  
 
There  is  also a disagreement over how much of their ships supplies  
cruise  lines  should  purchase  on the individual island. The lines  
want  to  stock  up  in  Miami where goods are cheaper but the local  
islands  feel  that  the  cruise  lines  should support the ports of  
calls by patronizing the local business. 
 
While  Barbados  is  suffering  one  of  its worse summer seasons in  
memory  (BBC),  Cancun  is  totally  book  - up 15 to 125% over last  
year.  Apparently  prices  have been much lower than other Caribbean  
destinations. (Tour and Travel News). 
 
In  regional  government  news,  the dispute between the Netherlands  
and  the  Sint  Maarten government seems to being resolved. There is  
now  an  agreement between the local Sint Maarten government and the  
Netherlands  Antilles officials to straighten out the financial mess  
that  has prompted the home authorities to virtually take control of  
the local government. (BBC) 
 
Meanwhile,  there  was good news and bad news for Howard Ingraham of  
the  Bahamas  Free  Movement  Party. The good news is that in a mid- 
August  election  he  toppled Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling who  
had  led  the  Bahamas since independence 25 years ago. The bad news  
was  that on the day that Ingraham was to swear in his minister, the  
Bahamas  was  hit  by  Hurricane  Andrew!  (BBC).  The  most  damage  
occurred  on  Eluthera  where  the north side of the island took the  
full  brunt  of  the  storm.  There  was  substantial  damage to the  
airport  at  Governor's  Harbor  and hotel were hit as well. On 8/27  
there  was a meeting between the Bahamas tourism officials and major  
tour operators in New York to review the situation. 
 
Regarding  the  election  a VOA commentator said that Ingraham's win  
was  a surprise and probably due to the poor economic times and lack  
of  educational and economic opportunities for the youth whose votes  
may  have  swung the election. The incumbent's arrogance and lack of  
accountability may have also influenced the decision. 
 
The  departure  of  Pindling  continues  the  decline  of  old  line  
Caribbean  politicians.  During this year Manley of Jamaica retired,  
Robinson  in Trinidad and Tabago was ousted, Ver Bird Sr. of Antigua  
announced  his  retirement  in 1994 and now Pindling. Fidel Castro's  
tenure  is  highly  suspect. It will be interesting to see how these  
changes  influence  the  region.  It  is  not  just  that  the Prime  
Ministers  are  leaving but profound changes may be expected because  
many  of  them have been in office for decades and were the founding  
fathers of their island's independence movement.  
 
Finally,  a  number of months ago the CTR carried a story about a 52  
part  Spanish language course being offered by PBS. Well, the series  
begins  in  Boston around the middle of September so it should start  
showing up at that time on other PBS stations around the country. 
 
 
2/ JOURNEYS AND NOTES 
-------------------- 
 
Aruba By Todd Ortloff 
---------------------- 
My  wife  and  I recently spent a week on the island of Aruba. It is  
one of the better "jewels" of the Caribbean. 
 
Aruba  lies  off the northwest coast of Venezuela. It is part of the  
ABC  islands (Bonaire and Curacao are the other two.) It is a desert  
island,  so  don't go to this place expecting lush tropical forests.  
(continued)