"Anonymous" wrote in message
. ..
I am going on a Royal Carribbean cruise soon, and wondered about the
feasibility of bringing along my Sony 2010 shortwave radio.

Is there anything interesting to listen to while at sea in the Carribbean?
(in English?)

Anything on some of the islands?

Should I bother?

Thanks!

Keep in mind that the Caribbean is a huge place. All depends on what area
you will be cruising.

I suspect you will do either the Miami-Jamaica-ABC Islands route or the San
Juan-USVI-Caracas-Trinidad-Windward Islands route.

In the Lesser Antilles (USVI all the way to Trinidad) there is a lot of FM
activity on every Island, and some stations have delightful local reggae,
socca and calypso music. Many others are just like US pop stations, though.
AM in that area is on the decline, with more than half the local stations
having disappeared in the last decade or so. Shortwave on the local scene is
irrelevant, except for a few Venezuelans.

The other route also takes you to the homes of many FM stations. AM is also
declining, except in Cuba, which blasts the band in that area. Of course, as
you get near South America, the big regional AMs from 540 to about 1050 will
cover the dial, and a few have interesting music but most AMs there are also
talk now.

AM could be fun on deck at night, as out on the ocean you can DX lots of
things, including the US. In port, scan the FM for unusual local
programming.