It would seem that nothing, not even a devastating earthquake that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, can deter the American vacationer's drive to unwind. To prove the point, one cruise ship from Florida-based Royal Caribbean International landed in Haiti on Friday, the Guardian reports, and three more are due in this week.

Royal Caribbean cruise passengers visit Labadee Beach, a walled resort only 60 miles from the epicenter of the quake. On its Web site, the company advertises "pristine beaches," "breathtaking scenery" and "native charm." Armed guards patrol the perimeter, even under normal conditions.

Caribbean vacations have always provided a stark contrast between decadent resorts and the impoverished countries that house them, but not even the magic of the cruise ship could hide the horror at this uncommon port of call.

Royal Caribbean is continuing to ferry passengers to its Haitian resort at Labadee despite the misery wrought by the earthquake in Port-au-Prince.

"I just can't see myself sunning on the beach, playing in the water, eating a barbecue and enjoying a cocktail while there are tens of thousands of dead people being piled up on the streets," one commenter wrote on an Internet forum about cruises.

While Royal Caribbean's decision to cruise on to the destroyed country might seem callous, the company defends its decision, saying its ships are transporting not just cruise passengers but also foodstuffs for Haitians. The company has promised to use 100 percent of the proceeds from its cruise visits to Labadee to benefit victims of the quake.

"In the end, Labadee is critical to Haiti's recovery; hundreds of people rely on Labadee for their livelihood," Vice President John Weis told The Guardian. "In our conversations with [Haiti's special envoy to the U.N.] Leslie Voltaire, he notes that Haiti will benefit from the revenues that are generated from each call."

Cruises and resorts suffer from the same moral difficulties as sweatshops. On one hand, the symbolism behind impoverished workers slaving to provide luxuries to Western consumers is repulsive, while on the other hand, those industries are vital to the economies of developing nations. Guardian columnist Gwyn Topham points out that Friday's visit was really just business as usual -- the only difference was scale.

"Tourism provides a microcosm of modern globalized inequality, with all the advantages or injustices it bestows on those on different sides of the divide," he wrote. "From the Caribbean to Southeast Asia, cheap labor and land allow holidaymakers to relax in style for less."

Some passengers are determined to make the best of their sunny day in hell. "I'll be there on Tuesday, and I plan on enjoying my zip line excursion as well as the time on the beach," one told The Guardian.

Royal Caribbean says it is providing "at least $1 million in humanitarian relief" to Haiti

It seemed like a solid strategy for Bill Hudak, Republican candidate for the state’s Sixth Congressional seat and a political novice: latch on to the sudden popularity of Scott Brown.

A day after Brown’s improbable election to the US Senate, Hudak announced that the victorious Wrentham Republican had endorsed his candidacy. Hudak released a video featuring him and Brown campaigning together. In it, he mentions the name Scott Brown six times in just over a minute.

The strategy has backfired. Badly.

And the aftermath has inserted an unfortunate wrinkle into an otherwise glorious week for Brown, whose defeat of Democrat Martha Coakley brought him national fame as a candidate for the people and a barrier-breaker in a state that almost always votes Democrat. It also served as a harbinger of challenges Brown faces as politicians attempt to draw on his sudden status as the face of the Republican Party.

The brouhaha began Thursday, when Brown denied he had made an endorsement. That came as several political blogs cited news reports from the 2008 presidential campaign, when Hudak erected a poster on his lawn in Boxford that depicted Barack Obama as Osama Bin Laden.

According to the reports, Hudak voiced an argument popular among far-right Republicans at the time that Obama was not born in the United States and therefore could not serve as president.

Hudak initially brushed aside the reports and denied he was a birther, as supporters of the argument are called. He insisted that Brown had endorsed him, and accused the senator-elect’s advisers of backpedaling.

But Hudak issued an apology yesterday and retracted his statement about the endorsement, saying things were “misinterpreted.’’

There are some political ties between the two. Brown had used Hudak’s campaign office as a telephone center, and the two appeared at events together. But Hudak evidently hoped to parlay that into much more, particularly now that Brown’s star is soaring.

It is something Brown is going to have to get used to and deal with.

“There’s going to be a lot of people saying, ‘We helped you win, and we want you to help further our cause,’’ said Dan Mulcare, a political science professor at Salem State College who specializes in American government. “He has a lot of political capital, a lot of legitimacy, and he’s inspired a lot of people in Massachusetts.’’