Cruise with a Purpose

[ASIWISH]

Has anyone ever participated in a Cruise with a Purpose excursion?

 

I've never seen one on a cruise I've been on…

 

Love the idea!

[rafinmd]

I haven't although I've done several similar excursions with Crystal. Unfortunately, not that many cruise lines offer them and it often requires the line do do some scouring and break new ground, and I've found the results varying from just so-so to extremely rewarding.

 

Definitely love the idea.

 

Roy

[sail7seas]

HAL is hugely philanthropic and the company as well as crews donate time, effort and materials in large amounts to various ports and causes.

 

Time and again we have learned of donation of furniture, bedding, food, water, school supplies, Susan G. Komen participation and so on.... They have lunches and entertainment on board for children; Christmas parties and gifts for needy children and we've seen/heard of contributions they have made after devastation from hurricanes/weather etc

 

They donate tremendously each year and it makes me feel good to sail with such a company.

 

[jtl513]

HAL is hugely philanthropic and ...

 

Time and again we have learned of donation of furniture, bedding, food, water, school supplies, ...

 

This program doesn't sound like that sort of thing:

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/news/NewsRelease.action?newsReleaseId=737

[Himself]

I am always a bit careful as to where I set my feet.

[lvz2cruz]

I have not seen that before but I know of Caribbean ports with contacts where individual cruises can bring suitcases or backpacks with clothes and school supplies to donate to orphanage and ministries.

Some that come to mind are Honduras and Dominican Republic.

I'm sure most ports have needy people. It is just a matter of finding a contact.

[TraelorMex]

we had a 'cruise excursion with a purpose' last year on the Rotterdam...somewhere in Nicaragua I believe. Visited a area where youth were trained in various areas: music, cooking, woodworking, etc....crafts were purchased. Funds were used to further the training of the students. Most all the folks we spoke with on this excursion reported thoroughly enjoying it, as did we.

[rafinmd]

we had a 'cruise excursion with a purpose' last year on the Rotterdam...somewhere in Nicaragua I believe. Visited a area where youth were trained in various areas: music, cooking, woodworking, etc....crafts were purchased. Funds were used to further the training of the students. Most all the folks we spoke with on this excursion reported thoroughly enjoying it, as did we.

 

Excellent!

 

Roy

[IRL_Joanie]

This program doesn't sound like that sort of thing:

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/news/NewsRelease.action?newsReleaseId=737

 

Thanks for this link John!! This sounds like a GREAT excursion and I hope it is still offered. I'd love to take part:)

 

Joanie

[irvington]

Has anyone ever participated in a Cruise with a Purpose excursion?

 

I've never seen one on a cruise I've been on…

 

Love the idea!

 

I was just looking at these this week for our Alaska cruise the summer. They look more educational (as well as the altruistic aspects) and that is something my kids and I enjoy on vacation. If anyone has had experiences on the Alaska ones, I'd be interested.

[innlady1]

Has anyone ever participated in a Cruise with a Purpose excursion?

 

I've never seen one on a cruise I've been on…

 

Love the idea!

 

It's a great idea, Kevin...I've never seen it offered on any of the cruises we've been on either.

[irvington]

We did them in Juneau and Ketchikan and they were probably our favorite parts of the trip.

[Sea42]

We did them in Juneau and Ketchikan and they were probably our favorite parts of the trip.

Thank you for the follow up! Could you share some of the details with us?

Thanks!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the link, very informative. We did something like that when we went to Fanning Island this last year.

[sapper1]

On our recent Zuiderdam cruise, roll call member LyndaS, organised a private visit with a purpose. The fire department in Corinto looks after feeding the children who live at the dump and, for a fee, will transport passengers on the fire truck to help with feeding. The fee goes toward food.

 

We had a large roll call of over 100 so Lynda was able to collect an amazing amount of supplies for the children and the community centre as well. When I took my bag of goodies down to her cabin I was astounded by the boxes of supplies she had been given. She held a packing day where several CC members packed up gift bags for the children.

 

On the appointed day, as my husband and I left the ship, we encountered Lynda and her husband, along with a HAL porter, standing by the port exit. They had been cleared by the customs officer on the ship but were detained on the dock and told they would need secondary clearance on the dock. My husband and I found the fire truck outside the port and told the CC people standing there about the delay.

 

One hour later we arrived back to find Lynda and her husband still standing there and ready to pass out from the heat. Shortly thereafter a van arrived and they were told they could take the packets for the children but the rest of the supplies would be held for later clearance. We waved them goodbye as they set off on their mission.

 

Later we talked to Lynda and she said the fire chief had assured her that he would look after getting the supplies for the community centre released.

 

My husband and I were not alone in thinking that money would have to change hands before the community centre saw any of those gifts.

 

It was quite disheartening because we had all been so enthusiastic in supporting this venture.

 

Lynda, if you are reading this, do you have an update on the story from the fire chief?

[sapper1]

 

A few pictures from the Corinto venture

[irvington]

Thank you for the follow up! Could you share some of the details with us?

Thanks!

 

Of course, sorry for being so cryptic. Sounds like some of these are "helping the poor" type projects which is great. In Alaska (Zuiderdam) the 2 excursions with the designation involved citizen science projects in Juneau and Ketchikan.

 

http://www.stepintoalaska.com/citizen_science.cfm

 

http://www.stepintoalaska.com/tour_shore_excursion_details.cfm?tourid=researchexploration

 

http://www.allenmarinetours.com/sightseeing/ketchikan/tours/wilderness-survival/index.html

 

We all thought these were the best part of the cruise -- small groups, really informed and passionate science guides. My kids learned a lot and had fun, and are still talking about them.

[Spinner2]

The Statendam is planning a local school project in Corinto Nicaragua when the Statendam repositions for the summer season--the September 29 sailing from San Diego will put them in Corinto on October 4 for this school donation project Captain Albert has planned. You can read about the last one that Captain Albert arranged on his blog, starting with this linked posting from early May and continuing through the next few days. He'll be doing something similar in October to the visit I've linked. I happen to have more information about this upcoming one for anyone who is interested; my e-mail is in my signature.

[SwissMyst]

There was a couple on another ship recently that told us they make arrangements on their own at every stop to visit a school just to have English language exchanges with the students. In the process they have lots of extra adventures getting to know the local people at this school children level. I think they make their prior arrangements with fellow Rotary Club members around the world.

[Sea42]

Of course, sorry for being so cryptic. Sounds like some of these are "helping the poor" type projects which is great. In Alaska (Zuiderdam) the 2 excursions with the designation involved citizen science projects in Juneau and Ketchikan.

 

http://www.stepintoalaska.com/citizen_science.cfm

 

http://www.stepintoalaska.com/tour_shore_excursion_details.cfm?tourid=researchexploration

 

http://www.allenmarinetours.com/sightseeing/ketchikan/tours/wilderness-survival/index.html

 

We all thought these were the best part of the cruise -- small groups, really informed and passionate science guides. My kids learned a lot and had fun, and are still talking about them.

Thanks for sharing the links. What a great experience that must have been! The tours sound very interesting and reasonably priced.

[kazu]

On our recent Zuiderdam cruise, roll call member LyndaS, organised a private visit with a purpose. The fire department in Corinto looks after feeding the children who live at the dump and, for a fee, will transport passengers on the fire truck to help with feeding. The fee goes toward food.

 

We had a large roll call of over 100 so Lynda was able to collect an amazing amount of supplies for the children and the community centre as well. When I took my bag of goodies down to her cabin I was astounded by the boxes of supplies she had been given. She held a packing day where several CC members packed up gift bags for the children.

 

On the appointed day, as my husband and I left the ship, we encountered Lynda and her husband, along with a HAL porter, standing by the port exit. They had been cleared by the customs officer on the ship but were detained on the dock and told they would need secondary clearance on the dock. My husband and I found the fire truck outside the port and told the CC people standing there about the delay.

 

One hour later we arrived back to find Lynda and her husband still standing there and ready to pass out from the heat. Shortly thereafter a van arrived and they were told they could take the packets for the children but the rest of the supplies would be held for later clearance. We waved them goodbye as they set off on their mission.

 

Later we talked to Lynda and she said the fire chief had assured her that he would look after getting the supplies for the community centre released.

 

My husband and I were not alone in thinking that money would have to change hands before the community centre saw any of those gifts.

 

It was quite disheartening because we had all been so enthusiastic in supporting this venture.

 

Lynda, if you are reading this, do you have an update on the story from the fire chief?

 

This is a bit disheatening Sapper as I was actually thinking of doing something like this for our Baltic tour. I"m just wondering if one was to call ship board services if this couldn't be co-ordinated with HAL?

 

I don't need to be the one delivering it - I would just like to make sure it gets to the right people.

 

Obviously more investigation to do before I decide to implement:confused:

[sapper1]

This is a bit disheatening Sapper as I was actually thinking of doing something like this for our Baltic tour. I"m just wondering if one was to call ship board services if this couldn't be co-ordinated with HAL?

 

I don't need to be the one delivering it - I would just like to make sure it gets to the right people.

 

Obviously more investigation to do before I decide to implement:confused:

 

It was local customs officials that threw up the roadblock. HAL was very cooperative in helping to transport the goods from ship to shore. I just had a FB message from LyndaS and she said that the last time she contacted the fire chief he said the goods had still not been released. This is a country where drugs flow freely and people who are trying to help some poor kids who live at the dump can't get things like band aids, pencils and toothbrushes through customs.

[Lynda S]

Thanks Sapper for posting this about our tour!

 

I have to say to everyone that this was the most incredible tour in our 11 cruises to date, despite the fact that I was TRULY disappointed in the Nicaraguan customs officials. And, to date, as far as I know, they have NOT been released to the local fire dept for the use in their new community center that they are building for the kids. This truly saddens me.

 

Pictures (under construction, not labelled yet) are here:

http://www.pbase.com/lyndas/apr_30_corinto

 

To start at the beginning, I found a post on the Cruise Critic South American board from a guy named David, a Canadian firefighter who is very involved with fundraising alongside the local volunteer firefighters from the town of Chinandega, a town 20 minutes outside Corinto. He was offering a tour on the fire truck with the volunteers (on a truck donated by our very own Prince George Fire Dept here in BC). All of the funds ($75.00 per person) collected would be turned back to the fundraising, with not one penny going to neither the fire fighters nor himself. The tour was a ride on the fire truck to the local dump, where we would help feed the local kids that live around the dump soup. The local firefighters do this every Monday, Wednesday & Friday (but of course would have added a day if it was any other day of the week). This tour sounded incredible, so I booked it for my husband & myself.

 

By opening up the tour on our roll call on Cruise Critic, I was easily able to find 8 other people also interested in doing this, as David said there would be room for 12 comfortably if some sat on the top of the truck, which is an adventure in itself!

 

As we were booked in business class going down to Fort Lauderdale, we were allowed to take three pieces of luggage each. That meant that I could drag out my 'Africa' duffle bags - two bags that we bring each year we go to Kenya or Tanzania (land trips) full of school supplies from Office Depot, and clothes & shoes from Value Village. The original plan was to just walk them off the ship, one duffle each. And, as a bonus these duffels, empty afterwards, would do double duty for me to shop & bring home souvenirs!

 

I asked David what we could bring for the kids, and as he had a whole container of clothes being shipped down as we spoke, and the fact that whatever I brought down had to be for at least 300 kids (the average number that show up for soup every other day), we thought the best idea was a kid's 'colouring pack' to include crayons & colouring books. As people on the tour asked me on the roll call what they could bring for the kids, the idea of the 'kids pack' grew to include stickers, paper, colouring sheets, small notebooks, balloons, pencils, small sharpeners, small jigsaw puzzles & more! As well, many people, who were not going on the tour also volunteered to bring crayons, pencils and much, much more!

 

On a sea day just before our port day in Nicaragua, we had a ‘volunteer kids pack’ party in our cabin – it was so much fun! Our cabin, which was quite large (SY category) easily held the 16-20 people that came to help, as well as the ‘tons’ of donated items! One couple who lived in Florida, and drove to the cruise ship to board, brought three huge boxes of shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes! It was awesome.

 

Sea day kids pack party pictures are here:

http://www.pbase.com/lyndas/at_sea_apr_28

(sorry, not labelled yet – under construction !)

 

After the party, we looked around & saw that we needed help getting everything off the ship – we had the two duffles packed full of the kids packs, as well as the three huge boxes of soaps & shampoos and three large bags of extra crayons, markers, pencils, combs, ponytail elastics, kids band aids, erasers, etc. I called our concierge, Gladys & she arranged for housekeeping to help us off the ship with it. She also turned the info over to the customs clearing people on the ship & they emailed to Nicaraguan customs to get clearance to bring the goods off. All was well we thought. Here I must say too that HAL was INCREDIBLE with their help, they too thought all the i's were dotted & the t's crossed, they were VERY helpful.

 

The morning we docked, we were asked to stay on board with the goods until the Nicaraguan customs guy cleared us. Two of them came and looked in the boxes & the bags & after about 20 min, one of them nodded his head & said ‘go ahead’. We disembarked with a porter carrying the goods on a trolley for us, walked down to the port entrance gate & were just about through when a guard stopped us. He said that we had to wait for the customs guy to come off of the ship. We told him we had clearance & he said the guy called him from inside the ship & told him to stop us. We waited for ½ hr for the customs guys to come out (breakfast I presume?) & he then told us no, we could go, but the goods couldn’t.

 

In the meanwhile, Gerry, the fire chief from Chinendaga that was in charge of taking us on this tour saw us being delayed & talked his way into the gate. Gerry & the customs guy talked & voices were raised & many phone calls were made over the next half hour by the two of them. I silently stood on the port side of the gate talking to some of the people on our tour through the fence, silently crying as my heart was breaking – I must have looked like a refugee trying to get out….

 

As it turned out, we were being allowed to take the two duffle bags to the kids with the kids packs, but the rest had to stay ‘in bond’ in the customs warehouse until ‘properly’ cleared. I was happy they let us do that, but still sad that for the greater good of the kids they would not let us take the extra pencils, shampoos, etc. that was to go to the community center that Gerry & David & the firefighters were building for the kids – lots of people worked very hard and went to great expense to make these donations happen & I was very disappointed. It made me think that the customs officials did not care at all about the poverty there, which is unfortunate.

 

We should have divided all of the stuff between us all in the Holland America shopping bags & just walked everything off the ship. Next time I will know.

The up side though – the tour was INCREDIBLE! We had such a great day! The fire truck ride was fun, the kids were amazing, and playing with them while the soup was being made was amazing too! They all loved the kids packs & it was such fun to see them sitting there colouring, or putting the jigsaw puzzle together after getting their soup!

 

If anyone is going there & would like contact info for David or Gerry for the tour, just let me know! (just be sure to walk the goods off the ship....)