This weekend was a double whammy, of sorts.
While catching up on some PVR-ed TV shows, we watched Sixty Minutes, a show we have not watched enough. One of the stories was about Elissa Montanti, a 57-year-old Staten Island woman who almost single handedly is trying to help kids who are physical victims of war or poverty. From anywhere. Her “Global Medical Relief” is basically her and one of the young men she helped, recruiting others to help, by donating medical expertise and facilities to kids who need both.
That was Saturday.
Yesterday, we were reading about a couple from California, Bill and Cathleen Huckaby, embarking on a cause that’s similar in spirit (e.g. helping others), but using cruise ships in the process.
There is a growing trend among people on cruise ships to “voluntour” when in ports. Next week, the Huckabys take it to a different level.
Their non-profit is called Hope Floats. Yes, like the movie. Next Saturday, on the Caribbean Princess, they make their inaugural Hope Floats cruise, for 7 nights, providing passengers who sign up in advance with volunteer opportunities that THEY choose in five Caribbean ports: St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. How it works is detailed on the Hope Floats website.
They’re calling it the “Trial-Run Bon-Voyage” cruise. It leaves from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Passage — obviously, it’s last-minute now — is booked through a travel agency, and that might raise some alarm bells about “profiteering.”
So we checked.
The point is not to find the best deal. The point is to find out if you pay a premium for this voluntourism opportunity. So, using a balcony room as an example, on the Princess site for that April 17 departure the cost is $890 per person. From the travel agency connected to Hope Floats, it’s $498 per person. This seems almost to good to be true, but that’s not the point, because as balcony staterooms go, we may be comparing apples and oranges.
What is too good to be true is the chance to help somebody local while stopping in a port.
Why?
Put it this way: Two of the Mexican ports we have frequently visited are Cozumel and Acapulco. We feel like we’re on a first-name basis with some of the vendors. In fact, with a couple of them we are. How many times can you go to a port and have “the same old experience?” How much costume jewelry do you need? How many souvenirs? How many Mexican blankets?
There are many chances to help the impoverished when cruising to warm-weather ports. What appealed to us about Hope Floats is that it’s organized in advance, and you can pick your place and method for volunteering.
The motivation for doing so might be boredom with a port? It might be having been on all the shore excursions that interest you. It might be to feel less guilty about being lucky enough to be on a cruise ship.
What really matters? Why you helped somebody, or just that you did?