[vreihen16]

Shore excursions are an important part of cruising, whether you take one of the cruise line's many offerings in each port, just walk around to find your own adventure, or do some pre-cruise research and book a local excursion before you leave home.

One that I booked on the ship and was glad to let them arrange was a trip to a national park in Belize to see partially-excavated Mayan pyramids. The park bordered with Guatemala, and the Belize military were patrolling the western side to ensure that nobody from our American tour group was grabbed for ransom. Getting to the park required crossing a small river on a hand-cranked ferry, and we enjoyed the whole experience.

One that we did plan/book on our own was the ruins of Pearl's Airport in Grenada, where Reagan sent the airborne paratroopers to drive the Soviets out. There were still a few abandoned Soviet and Cuban airplanes decaying on the ramp when we were there. I'm sure that nobody else on the ship had an interest in seeing this for the cruise line to package a shore excursion, so I made the arrangements myself with a reputable local tour guide.....