COSTA MAYA, MEXICO

Day five was supposed to be COSTA MAYA, MEXICO, but at 8AM, our scheduled arrival time, our Italian Captain, Giovani something or other, announced in broken English over the loudspeakers that the taxi union in Costa Maya had declared a strike and were blocking the tourons from leaving the cruise port. So, in the name of safety, we were pushing on to Cozumel, Mexico.

Frankly, Costa Maya looked like just more of the same — crowded beaches, snorkeling and the usual water sports; ATV and jeep rides through the jungle; excursions to the teeming Mayan ruins; zip lining through the forest canopy; and shopping and foodie tours.

We were mildly sunburned and happy to spend the day reading on our balcony and just chilling.

A cruise is truly one of the best ways to just relax, and forget winter and work. You are perpetually pampered and get to live the life of luxury. I mean, what’s not to like?

As for the taxi strike, I’m guessing that it would take a whole lot of pent up anger and frustration to get dirt poor tour drivers to reject a guaranteed daily paycheck. Costa Maya is undoubtedly like Roatan, in that millions of dollars roll into the city coffers each day through tourism, and all that money slowly trickles down the city’s collective pant leg. But given that the Mexican government is one of the world’s most notorious kleptocracies, it is probably safe to say that the drivers were sick and tired of working for pennies while the Jefes take the biggest slices of the tourist dollar.

But, as with all things in life, there is another side to the cruise ship economy.

The Norwegian Escape has a crew of almost 500, mostly from Asia. That’s a lot of people living in extremely close quarters. So, the working conditions on cruise ships has always been a target for ridicule.

Bill Maher recently called for shutting down the cruise ship industry because they, “…exploit labor, forcing their kitchen staff to work for thirteen hours a day, seven days a week, for six straight months. It’s not a grand hotel at sea. It’s a slave ship with a food court.”

And while Maher’s description is funny and definitely has a ring of truth for enlightened Westerners with money to spend on our vacation of choice, the truth is the vast majority of people working their asses off day in and day out on cruise ships see it as a way up and out. And they aren’t afraid to tell you so.

Many are like the guy from Malaysia who served us breakfast one morning. I will call him John. John comes from a rural village and has worked for Norwegian for twelve years. He said he absolutely loves his job. The salary is good, the living conditions tight but comfortable, his fellow workers from all around the globe are friendly and helpful, and the vacation time is great. He has visited New York, Miami, New Orleans, and many lovely European cruise stops. They were all enchanting. But he loves his home and would never think of becoming an American citizen.

More importantly, he subsidizes his family of twelve who, thanks to his job, are the richest family in his village. They all work, selling vegetables and doing laundry for others, but they couldn’t live as well as they do if not for his monthly assistance. He makes more in an hour than they make in a week. And given that he has free room and board, he gets to keep his entire paycheck after taxes. John is living his dream.

We asked him about his home and he said he has a nice house with electricity, but no running water. Life is hard, but his family never goes hungry.

Inna asked him what his family thought of his faraway life and he said they were very proud of what he has become, but they don’t understand a lot of what he describes.

For instance, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get them to understand the concept of air conditioning. For them, the notion of a box that blows cold air without ice and cools your whole house was shear magic.

And, to show you how far the tentacles of technology have spread, John bought his family a computer, and then he purchased a SIM card in Mexico that lasts a month. So, when he’s in port, John Skypes with his whole family. Talk about magic.

When Inna asked him if he resented the fat, demanding passengers on the ship, he laughed and then asked her, “When you see people with mansions and expensive yachts, do you feel resentful?”