Set sail on a quest to help others
“Would you like to have this?” I said to 12-year-old Juan.
At first, he gave me a curious look until he understood I was giving him the baseball cap in my hand. Then a grin lit up his corner of the room. Juan was my student partner in the Dominican Republic, while on a volunteer sampler put on by Fathom cruise lines. That smile provided me with an eye-opener as to what the cruise line is all about.
The cruise line, the newest in the Carnival Corporation fleet, was the brainchild of now-Fathom president Tara Russell, who wanted to create a cruise line dedicated to helping others.
Fathom will start sailing weekly cruises alternating between Cuba and the Dominican Republic from Miami in April. Unlike conventional cruise lines, you won’t be going port to port through the Caribbean … in the Dominican Republic you’ll be docking for an entire stay at Amber Cove in Puerto Plata and putting on your volunteer hat.
Personally, I like volunteerism, as it’s called, but I feared that with my lack of training I’d be more hindrance than help. That’s where the cruise part comes in … on your way from Miami to Amber Cove you participate in seminars and hands-on training, allowing you to choose the area you would like to volunteer in. There’s a choice of three options and you can change daily.
Option 1: At Chocal, a women’s co-operative makes artisan, organic chocolate from the cacao trees. To pay back the financial agency that loaned the co-operative funds for the equipment they use, members — mostly mothers and grandmothers — don’t draw a salary. Since they can’t afford to hire anyone, production is limited.
Here’s where cruise volunteers come in. They help out by choosing either to mix the organic fertilizer, separate beans from pods, or wrap the chocolate.
Option 2: Volunteers can also choose to visit schools and help with English instruction. On our visit, we sang a song in English with a class and then helped the students with their English worksheets. Teachers said learning English would help students get good-paying jobs in tourism.
Option 3: Help at a factory, mixing clay and materials for inexpensive ceramic water filters that purify river water.
The next day volunteers help distribute the filters to families who will probably tell you how much having better water access improves families and their communities. This immediate feedback validates the volunteer effort. Doc Hendley, who will manage this project, says having volunteers working on it was “an amazing blessing.”
You will not sail back to Miami and be left in a void. After the cruise, Tara Russell says “impact outcomes” will be sent to passengers.
Who will those passengers most likely be? Most involved in Fathom feel that millennials, boomers, parents who want to expose their children to helping others, church groups and corporations will make up the bulk of the passengers.
Now that I’ve had a sample I’ll be back for the full week, sometime next year.
Fathom, the ship, is coming from another Carnival Corporation brand, P&O. The former Adonia, a 710-passenger ship, will make her first cruise as Fathom to the Dominican Republic on April 16 and her first to Cuba in May. Per-person prices to the Dominican Republic start at $974 US. Details on the Cuban cruises will be available later this year.
More on Fathom at fathom.org.
Phil’s Pick of the Week
This Christmas Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral, Fla. visits Amber Cove, Dominican Republic. Departs: Dec. 19 Duration: 7 days Ship: Carnival Valor Ports: Amber Cove, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk Starting price: $719 US See a cruise agent or go to carnival.com. Visit portsandbows.com, sponsored
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