In the 2nd Kate on Vacation novella, Cruel Capers on the Caribbean, Kate, Skip and the Franklins take a Caribbean cruise. Their fictional cruise ship has an itinerary that would probably not happen in real life, but it was necessary to make the plot work. They leave from Tampa, Florida ( a common departure port) after having deposited the kids, Edie and Billy, with Kate’s parents.
(Note: Many of these photos are from my own cruise with my husband in the Caribbean, which took a similar route.)
First stop, after a Fun Day at Sea, is Cozumel, Mexico, and the nearby Mayan ruins at Tulum:
Cozumel, Mexico
View of Tulum from the beach
Coming back to the cruise ship dock in Cozumel (shops to the left)
The next port of call is New Orleans. (In the real world, this used to be a cruise ship port of call; now some ships depart from New Orleans but I couldn’t find any that stopped there.) Kate is a bit preoccupied at this stop because the woman she and Liz befriended onboard the ship has been killed.
First stop in New Orleans’ French Quarter:
Jackson Square, French Quarter, New Orleans
St. Louis Cathedral (photo by Rafal Konieczny CC-By-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons)
New Orleans balconies (photo by Sami99tr, Wikimedia, CC-BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
On Kate’s fictional cruise, the ship diverts from its original itinerary to go back to the Cayman Islands, since they were unable to stop there due to rough seas earlier in the voyage. In real life, if a ship has to bypass the Caymans, it doesn’t return. Again, I took literary license here for the sake of the story. And so I could entertain you all with tidbits about this port of call.
Georgetown, Grand Cayman (photo by Fevi Yu CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)
Stingray City, Grand Cayman (photo by Fevi Yu CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons)
Kate and the gang go out to Stingray City to pet the stingrays. They feed them pieces of squid from their hands, and Skip actually rubs the bellies of a couple of the rays.
The last stop on Kate’s fictional cruise is Key West, Florida. Key West is a common port of call for cruise ships. But it’s doubtful that a real cruise itinerary would include two U.S. ports. Again, this was necessary for the story to work.
Harry Truman’s Little White House in Key West (photo by Ebyabe CC-BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
One cannot go to Key West without having your picture taken at Mile O, the southernmost point in the U.S.
End of Route 1, Mile Marker Zero (photo by Deror Avi CC-BY-SA Wikimedia Commons)
View from the water, the end of the road! (photo by Marc Averette CC-BY 3.0 Wikimedia Commons)
Next stop: Ernest Hemingway’s house (photo by Andreas Lamecker CC-BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons)
(photo by Abujoy, CC-BY 3.0 Wikimedia Commons)
Hemingway’s study (photo by Abujoy CC-BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
His writing desk; note the cat in the inbox (public domain)
The grounds of Hemingway’s house (photo by Abujoy, CC-BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
I’m assuming the little houses are for the cats. (photo by Abujoy, CC-BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
One of the Hemingway six-toed cats (photo by Averette at en.wikipedia CC-BY 3.0)
A street musician on Duval Sreet (photo by 7Mike5000 CC-BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons)
Headed back to the ship (photo by-CedarBendDrive CC-BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
The locals and tourists gathering on Mallory Pier for the sunset (photo by Deror avi CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)
Wait for it! Here it comes… (photo by CedarBendDrive CC-SA 2.0 Wikimedia Commons)
And here it is… Sunset at Key West!
Sunset, Key West (photo by Brian W. Schaller CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)
