St Martin experiencing chaos

[ABNAK]

I have never done a cruise but have always told myself that I will one day just to check it off the list. But I have to be honest, the idea of being stuck on a boat with 3-5k retarded tourist doesn't seem appealing. When I travel I tend to look for off the path or at least smaller places to go. I have no real interest in the party scene anymore and don't love large crowds. I would also rather see fewer places but at least in my opinion be able to experience the ones I do see and that requires more than a day long cruise excursion. I was just speaking with someone the other day and the conversation moved into travel. I mentioned Belize and how much I have enjoyed traveling there, they said they had been too. Then I found out they were only there for partial day excursion on a cruise. While no doubt fun, they didn't really see much of Belize. Nothing wrong with that, just not what I want.

That can be a mixed bag. You have to weigh the benefits vs potential threats of being off the beaten path. I know what you're saying, just that it should be tempered with a little caution.

At a minimum I try to have a knife with me when venturing off the resorts. Even if I have to buy one locally and leave it, no big deal. Obviously a gun would be preferable but they generally aren't allowed in the places we go, and if they are you have to be "connected" in some way (and as a tourist I'm NOT on the inside loop!).

[Arik]

I have never done a cruise but have always told myself that I will one day just to check it off the list. But I have to be honest, the idea of being stuck on a boat with 3-5k retarded tourist doesn't seem appealing. When I travel I tend to look for off the path or at least smaller places to go. I have no real interest in the party scene anymore and don't love large crowds. I would also rather see fewer places but at least in my opinion be able to experience the ones I do see and that requires more than a day long cruise excursion. I was just speaking with someone the other day and the conversation moved into travel. I mentioned Belize and how much I have enjoyed traveling there, they said they had been too. Then I found out they were only there for partial day excursion on a cruise. While no doubt fun, they didn't really see much of Belize. Nothing wrong with that, just not what I want.

You're not really with so many people crammed in all at once. You do what you want. I've been on a few and go my own way. Sometimes I do the tourist things sometimes not. In Jamaica I went walking around whatever town it was. In Cosmel I went to a few places plus the mall. Cayman islands were cool I did some touristy things. On the boat I hung out at the bar, sometimes went to the fancy dinners, went swimming, cosino.... whatever... Never noticed that there were several thousand people.

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[Whiskey_Bravo]

And there you have it, other than the Myan stuff, my interest in that place is at zero, so perfect for the cruise ship thing. Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, etc are places worth spending days, etc in. Other places, one long day more than sufficient.

Well to be fair Belize is slightly more than just Belize city. Belize city is just were the airport is and cruise ships dock. The hundreds of small islands are great, the Placencia area is awesome(great fishing and diving from here). The reef is a short boat ride off the coast so diving is always available. San Pedro(on Ambergris Caye) is a pretty cool town that other than commercial deliveries and some cabs it's pretty much only golf carts or water taxi's for transportation which is all that is needed. Plus food and beer is cheap.

If you want a little excitement you can always make the drive over to the Guatemalan boarder and say hello to all the nice and oh so happy looking Guatemalan soldiers at the border

[Alex V]

Just like people who visit NYC and find it a fun dynamic cool place cuz they see the best of it. Until you live there a time, impossible to have a legit feel for it.

Exactly. Tourists go to Time Square and just make my walk to the bus a game of Mario Cart. They never go to Red Hook or Bed-Stuy. The South Bronx isn't on many peoples' itinerary either.

Having said that, I have never felt as unsafe as when I was in Mexico City. I had to go there for work. The client picked us up from the airport, dropped us off at the hotel and told us not to go anywhere. Picked us up at the hotel and drove to the job site, dropped us back off at hotel. Even going to the mall that was attached to the hotel, never stepping foot on the street we would get looks that made me feel really uncomfortable. I felt safer driving through the Atlanta ghettos.... maybe cause I was carrying at the time. I don't know.

Going outside the resort in the DR you see the poverty, but I never felt unsafe. Maybe it's naivete but I feel like the locals are so dependent on tourism that they dare not attack a tourist. Maybe they kill each other left and right but I see Americans and Europeans out and about in the local towns/villages all the time on scooters and such. I prefer to stay at the resort cause I am lazy, but the few times I have ventured out I wasn't as scared as I was in Mexico City.

[Firefly]

I like my guns but it is sad to see people so married to them.

Some of the best places I stayed/lived are "communist" but always had something to do; somewhere to go.

Meanwhile in Gun-loving South there isnt much for people to do but breed, get drunk, fight, or get high. Or worse get nosy in other people's business.

Per the OP of St. Martin, sucks for them. France and the Dutch don't have quite the force projection of the US.

I doubt the French govt is gonna send the Foreign Legion to save that one lady.
Meh....

But if I were in a place with total lack of rule of law; I will get a weapon some kind of a way and they can sort it out once order is restored.

[Coal Dragger]

Have to agree. I thought I was one of those people, for "obvious" reasons who would hate being on a cruise, and went in protest with GF. I had a great time and did three more, and bang (no pun intended...) for the $, hard to beat. I also love being on the ocean coming from a long line of sailors, and that added some win too. People who gain all sort of weight on cruises are full of chit with excuses too, I had no problem eating well and good food, hit the gym, took long walk on the deck, swam, walked a ton off the ship, etc and partied a plenty. Didn't gain 1lb, may even have lost a few.

Same here. Went on one didn't think I'd like it. Had a good time.

Funny about the ship gym, I'm a workout before dinner kind of guy: mid to late afternoon then go get cleaned up for dinner with wife and family, at any rate within a day or two you start to see the same people there at the same time. Just like my gym at home.

If you're self disciplined enough to work out normally, getting on the party boat doesn't change that. Just wish there were more free weights to do proper squats, and deadlifts etc. However, understandable that they don't equip the vessel that way given the variable of weather. Plus only a small percentage of gym goers do stuff like that anyway.

[Eurodriver]

I can go to my own ranch in Wyoming, have an AR-15 with me the entire time, and do whatever I want. Yosemite? National Parks are for retarded city dwellers who know nothing about the outdoors.

What exactly do I need to "see" in the Caribbean? African 3rd world squalor? I went to the Bahamas one time and that was enough.

I'd rather take the week off and sleep all week at home, than go on a cruise.

Don't need to tell me about the beauty of being out on your own land with an AR15 and the silence that goes along with it. I enjoy every second when I do it.

But I also enjoyed seeing lava dumped into the Pacific Ocean at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and reef diving off of Charlotte Amalie, and hanging out with locals across the street from Taipei 101.

I guess you must have volcanoes on your ranch and know all about them. Care to share any pics?

P.S. I would not want to visit a place like Taiwan when China is doing military exercise nearby. I wouldn't visit St Martin during the peak of Hurricane season. I don't walk around wearing white shoes with knee high white socks and a fanny pack in Nassau. There are ways to avoid issues when you are vacationing while still seeing the world. I sure as shit wouldn't live where I can't carry or defend myself, but I'm not going to limit my vacations to ~33 states in the US just because I need mah guns...

[Det-Sog]

Just like people who visit NYC and find it a fun dynamic cool place cuz they see the best of it. Until you live there a time, impossible to have a legit feel for it.

Same for Hawaii.

[WillBrink]

Well to be fair Belize is slightly more than just Belize city. Belize city is just were the airport is and cruise ships dock. The hundreds of small islands are great, the Placencia area is awesome(great fishing and diving from here). The reef is a short boat ride off the coast so diving is always available. San Pedro(on Ambergris Caye) is a pretty cool town that other than commercial deliveries and some cabs it's pretty much only golf carts or water taxi's for transportation which is all that is needed. Plus food and beer is cheap.

If you want a little excitement you can always make the drive over to the Guatemalan boarder and say hello to all the nice and oh so happy looking Guatemalan soldiers at the border

Having met oh so happy looking soldiers at the border at the Colombian and Costa Rica border, I have fulfilled that bucket list. What I would like to do is go into the Gap, but would only do so with an experienced, preferably armed, party as the Gap is no BS.

[Whiskey_Bravo]

Don't need to tell me about the beauty of being out on your own land with an AR15 and the silence that goes along with it. I enjoy every second when I do it.

But I also enjoyed seeing lava dumped into the Pacific Ocean at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and reef diving off of Charlotte Amalie, and hanging out with locals across the street from Taipei 101.

I guess you must have volcanoes on your ranch and know all about them. Care to share any pics?

P.S. I would not want to visit a place like Taiwan when China is doing military exercise nearby. I wouldn't visit St Martin during the peak of Hurricane season. I don't walk around wearing white shoes with knee high white socks and a fanny pack in Nassau. There are ways to avoid issues when you are vacationing while still seeing the world. I sure as shit wouldn't live where I can't carry or defend myself, but I'm not going to limit my vacations to ~33 states in the US just because I need mah guns...

Well said on pretty much all points. Seeing the world is pretty awesome. If I limited my travel to only places I could take my guns I would never leave a handful of states. Don't act like a retarded tourist flashing cash and your Rolex while wearing a giant DSLR around your neck and you will more than likely be fine in most of the world. Mitigated risk with just about everything in life.

Check out Robert Young Pelton and maybe read his book "Worlds Most Dangerous Places" and "Come Back Alive". Obviously he takes it to level 100 but it might give some perspective. Regular people