While enjoying your Caribbean cruise vacation, you'll be visiting several ports which are foreign countries. Each of these countries have their own customs, traditions, and laws. If you violate these laws, you could wind up not only left behind when your ship departs, but incarcerated in rather unpleasant surroundings.

Drugs are the main threat in these ports and in many areas, these drugs are sold openly in public areas. In Nassau, in the Bahamas, I was asked to buy an ounce of marijuana at the open air market with a police officer standing only about twenty feet away in plain view. Don't take the risk!

Jails in foreign countries can be frightening places and once you're out of the U.S., you no longer have the constitutional rights you've become so accustomed to. If arrested, you'll be tried and sentenced under the laws of that particular governing nation, so beware.

Legalities aside, as an Amercian in a foreign country, you should endeavor to act in a friendly, polite manner, respecting the people and customs of the nation you're visiting. Doing a bit of research and reading prior to your vacation about the countries you'll be visiting, can not only help prevent you from inadvertantly insulting a culture, but can make your adventure much more enjoyable.