2026 - Antigua

English Harbor, Antigua
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

THIS WOULD be our third time in Antigua. The first time was in 2023. I was solo on that cruise, joining Mike, Elaine, Terry and Deb for the first time. My wife was unavoidably detained for that one. Little did we know at the time that this would become an annual "thing." In 2023, we hired a taxi for a half-day tour of the entire island. My four companions were on a back-to-back and they used this to "scout" for nice beaches for their return the next week. It was a good overview of the feature - filled island. On our return in 2025, my wife elected to stay on board, and I walked off and around just the cruise port for an hour or so, making pictures. We have yet, a fourth stop planned in Antigua for 2027 with our friends Todd and Heather. We have a private tour with a fully scheduled day - primarily around rum (for which Antigua is know as the birthplace), on the Celebrity Eclipse.

Antilles Distilling Company - English Harbor, Antigua
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

OUR TRAVELING companions on the prior 3 trips live in Buffalo, New York (a/k/a "The North Pole" 😀), so this 12 - day respite from snow, ice and freezing temperatures is a true Caribbean Vacation for them. They spend most at sea days in the sun by the pool, and most port stops involve a trip to a nice beach. In 2025 and this year, that is what they did. We live on the Florida gulf coast which is like living in the Caribbean year-round. And as we get older, we are not really "beach people." So this year, I found another tasting experience, this one labeled a "spirits distillery."

Antilles Distilling Tasting Area and Distillery
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

ANTILLES DISTILLING Company was really tucked away down in English Harbor, near the southern tip of Antigua. English Harbor was Great Britain's Naval Base, commanded by the famous Admiral Lord Nelson, on Antigua. It was originally set up by the British to "police" the American ships that attempted to trade with Antigua. Today, there is a national park there, and also a quite "ritzy" development of wealthy residential housing and fancy hotels, bars, and restaurants. It is also the site of one of the world's most prestigous sailing regatta's: Antigua Sailing Week, with upwards of 100 racing sailboats participating and hundreds of other pleasure boats in the harbor area during the week. But the distilling company is northeast of the harbor, up in the hills in a quiet, middle class residential area. It wasn't easy to find as we wound our way up into the mountainside and it was only with the assistance of some very small, handmaid blue fish signs that we ultimately did find it.

Antilles Distilling Company - English Harbor, Antigua
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

THE COMPANY, much like Clifton Rums, did a lot of blending. But in this instance they did distill much of their base alchohol from different plant materials. Antilles does not make rum, choosing to stay out of that very competitive Caribbean craft. Instead, they concentrated on mainly clear liquors (basically vodka and gin or some variation), infusing them with locally grown (in their own garden) botanicals. It was a very interesting process. The liquors we tasted did not really appeal to me for the most part, though they did serve us the equivalent of a couple mixed drinks that were not bad. All the products were bottled, canned or otherwise prepared on-site and packaged in colorful containers, whose artwork was all designed by the proprietor's wife. We purchased one liter bottle of one of their "Lemongrass" spirit, which, when mixed with something like a lemon simple syrup, or perhap some Limoncello, made a kind of tasty cocktail. We also bought a coffee liquor that we will probably use to make espresso martinis one day. The site was beautiful, and it was another interesting day.

2026 - We Finally Made it to Nevis

WHEW! I think I have finally gotten us up to date! It was fun to reminisce about prior years; the good and the bad. 2026 would make a major change in our cruising (and travel in general), with two completely new experiences. One was a river cruise, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, some new cruising for 2026.

Port Zante, St. Kitts, West Indies
Copyright Andy Richards 2014 - All Rights Reserved

2026 MARKED the second year in a row that we did multiple warm-weather cruises. In 2025, we did our now-routine mid-winter cruise in the Caribbean, and then added a last - minute, short Bahamas cruise in November. For 2026, we did two full Caribbean Cruises; one in February/March, and then again in April/May.

Port Zante; St. Kitts, West Indies
Copyright Andy Richards 2014

THE FIRST one was our routine cruise which - for several years now - has included our friends, Mike, Elaine, Terry and Deb. This one was our more typical 12 - day cruise in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean. Following the customary 2 at sea days it requires to sail from Ft. Lauderdale to the Caribbean, our first port of call was Basseterre, St. Kitts. This was our 6th time in this now very familiar port (we would stop yet another time later in April), and we felt like we had kind of "been there, done that." I always love the yellow port entrance, even if it is "touristy" and is the gateway to one of the most touristy cruise ports we have visited over the years. It is familiar, and it hasn't changed much since our first visit in 2014. We have had some fun times here, and I have some fun photographs from the past. But one of the things I had always wanted to do was to visit the sister Island of Nevis (the nation is technically "St. Kitt's and Nevis." It had always kind of intrigued me, since our second visit there back in 2013. Somewhere along the line, I learned that Alexander Hamilton was born and spent part of his early childhood there. Being a student of history, I thought it would be cool to say I had been there someday. But up until this cruise, it has still - for whatever reasons - eluded me.

Clifton Estate Nevis Spiced Rum
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

THIS TRIP, we finally decided to venture over there. We found a small rum facility on TripAdvisor (Clifton Estate), and I reached out to the proprietor, Mark Theron, and made an appointment for a tasting. Since we got home, I have ordered 4 5ths of his signature rum (pictured above). There is a U.S. distribution point here in Florida and you can order online. If you buy 4, shipping is free. I really enjoy it (it has some orange and spices flavor with just enough - but not too much - sweetness). I highly recommend it! 

"it all started with a drunken night in a bar."

MARK HAS an interesting story. Learning he was from Cape Town, South Africa, I asked how he ended up in Nevis. His answer was humorous: "Like so many stories," he said, "it all started with a drunken night in a bar." Sometime prior to 2010, he crewed on sailboat racing boats. Following a regatta win, Mark was celebrating with the owner and crew somewhere in Cape Town, and the owner asked him if he was interesting in being crew to sail the racing boat across the Atlantic. He might not have said yes in a more sober moment. 😅 Something like 50 + days in the sun without a bimini; these boats are not made for ocean cruising. But they made it intact to the Caribbean, and eventually, he made his way to his now home in Nevis. Nice guy. Fun tasting. It was just him and the 2 of us as the other couple he had booked had a weather-related change in plans.

Special Reserve Edition - Clifton Estate - Blended for celebration/installation of Alexander Hamilton Statue - Unfortunately, we couldn't buy a bottle of this one
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

GETTING TO Nevis, it turned out, was a bit of an adventure. Mark had suggested an (better) alternative to the Ferry at Port Zante. The large, ferry terminal there is a block or two from the cruise port and an easy walk. But over the years, I had been told by locals that it was undependable with its schedule, and often involved a rough ride. Most online sources note that it is a 45 minute ride (12.5 miles), and is fairly dependable, though it looks like only 4-5 trips a day, so scheduling around docking and all-aboard times will be important. Mark's alternative involved taking a taxi down to the southeastern part of the island to Reggae Beach, and taking a water taxi for the 2.5 miles over to Nevis. This was a short ride (5-10 minutes) and relatively calm waters. You can see to the other side. The taxi ride took 20 - 30 minutes, but you do get to see some of the island of St. Kitts (on our second trip in April, our tour of St. Kitts re-traced some of that). We used the "official" taxi stand in the yellow building and got a round trip from the port to Reggae Beach. Once at the water taxi, we again got a round trip ticket. One thing that was a new thing for us: there is a customs terminal at the water taxi port over in Nevis, and we had to pay a (I think it was $5 each) "fee" to go back to St. Kitts. Interesting.

Getting to Nevis was a bit of an [fun] adventure

ONCE WE were ashore in Nevis, there was a guy who was coordinating transportation who called us a taxi. Another round trip fare. Did I say it was a bit of an adventure - but kind of fun. Not sure whether we will do this again in 2026, or just take the main ferry from the cruise port area. Clifton Estate turned out to be a very small "shack" for a tasting room, with a small, but very modern and heavily built warehouse and distilling area behind it. As far as we have been able to learn, there is no real presence of distilleries in St. Kitts and only Mark's very small footprint in Nevis. There are several blending operations though, and a desire to rejuvinate the distilling industry. Mark's rums (and we learned, other liquors - primarily gin) are blended from base liquor he imports (the rum mainly from Antigua). He then uses his still operation to infuse them. His main product is Clifton Estate Spiced Rum. It is really yummy. Not like some of the sickly-sweet spiced rums we are accustomed to in the States. It is a sipping rum (and I can attest, it goes really well paired with a hand-rolled cigar). The best part is that it is readily available here in the U.S. and can even be gotten from Amazon in other parts of the world (not in the U.S.). The U.S. distributor is Clifton Estates, and if you buy 4 or more bottles, shipping is free. We bought 4 bottles as soon as we got home. We are down to 2. If you don't want to take my word for it, there is a good review here. Aside from the Nevis Spiced rum, Mark makes his "bread and butter" blending and bottling private label rums for several of the Nevis hotels and restaurants.

We bottled our own "pint" bottle, complete with the hot - dipping experience
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

WE TASTED several of his rums and his Nevis Gin (which is very interesting, with what I would describe as a licorice or anis touch to it). For a reasonable amount, we tasted and then we got to bottle our own pint, including the hot-dipping of the seal. Fun. We retraced our route. Taxi driver showed up as promised and all was well. After paying our fee, we reboarded the water taxi for the short ride back to Reggae Beach.

St. Kitts, West Indies
Copyright Andy Richards 2014

WE HAD one final interesting experience. Reggae Bay was not one of the gorgeous Caribbean Beaches we have seen over the years. Kind of dumpy, actually. There were a couple beat up shacks from which you could rent an umbrella and chairs for the day. Speaking with a couple young people who had been there for the day, they said the water was nice. We had about 45 minutes to wait before our taxi driver returned for us. It was very hot and we were tired. I walked into one of the shacks and asked if we could sit if I bought a beer. The lady was older and had - by appearances - had a hard life. But oh, was she nice! She said you don't have to buy anything. Come on in and go ahead and sit down. I did by a beer and my wife bought some kind of fruity concoction. While we sat there a group of what looked like college age kids came in from the beach to turn in their chairs. When she saw one of them on his phone, she asked him what he was doing and when he said calling a taxi, in a motherly, but stern way, she told him to hang up and she already had them covered. Then she came over to us and started quizzing us about our taxi. At first I thought she had some kind of deal going with her own drivers, but she explained that unlicensed taxis have become a problem there and the taxi drivers will hijack you for a "ransom" payment before taking you back to the cruise port. Our guy was licensed and had even insisted that I take a photo of him when he dropped us off. She actually knew him. But I was heartened to know that they looked after their customers. Our guy showed up right on time and got us back to the Ascent with plenty of time. Good Day!

Dipping a Toe in the Water - 2021

Princess Cruises
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

WHEN THINGS shut down in late 2020, we had no idea what was in store for us. Or the rest of the world. We had had flu, ebola, West Nile, and numerous other "outbreaks," and I think many of us thought this was just another one of those. Very bad, but addressable. By now, everyone knows that was not the case.

It was not until October, 2021 that we were able to find a cruise that fit our thinking

AT THAT time, we had a couple future cruises booked - mostly in Europe. The were eventually cancelled, as were a series of "replacement" cruises we booked. It was not until October, 2021 that we were able to find a cruise that fit our thinking. For that cruise, we went back to Princess and the sister ship of the Royal Princess (our first ever cruise in Europe); The Regal Princess.

IN MANY ways, it was a bit of a letdown. The itinerary was not an ideal one for us (and it got worse as 2 of the 3 main ports decided it was still too soon to allow cruise ships - necessitating "pivots" in both cases). Having been thoroughly indoctrinated to Celebrity by now, we found the food to be mediocre and the dining experience likewise. And, with Covid-19 Protocols still in place, the overall experience was not what we were accustomed to.

AS NOTED in the previous post, getting to Europe (and back home) and getting on the ship were complications we had never previously had (and thankfully no longer have today). Our trip to London (which was a wonderful, weeklong, pre-cruise adventure) involved testing in the U.S., and testing immediately upon landing at LHR airport. Then we were tested again by Princess before boarding the ship, and once more at the end of the cruise, before shuttling to the airport. These were all so-called "rapid" test which gave results within a very short period. Princess handled their part of the testing admirably. They were very organized, and we were quickly moved through the testing area and then sat in a waiting area until cleared to board. It took us less than an hour and the subsequent boarding was quick and well-organized.

Princess' Medallion "Key Card"

BUT WE were cruising again! And we were optimistic that things would improve along with the rest of the world. It was going to take some time. And there were a couple things we actually really liked on the Princess ship. One of them was Princess (now on all their ships, I believe) the rollout of their "Medallion" program. The medallion replaces the traditional "seapass" card. It is very similar to an Apple airtag and transmits electronically everywhere aboard the ship. It is your room key and boarding pass. With a "smartpone" app, it also allows you to "connect" to others (it was great for my wife and me to be able to know where to find each other on board), and to order food and drink anywhere on board and have it delivered! While some have some trepidation about it, I loved it and wish other lines would adopt the technology (to the best of my knowledge, only Disney has done so). Princess offers a wristband and or waist clip (I bought the latter and found it great for my purposes).

PRINCESS IS said to be the first cruise line to offer "anytime" dining, but for numerous reasons, we had not embraced that concept fully yet and on this cruise had an assigned table. In our view, the layout of the MDR on the Regal Princess wasn't ideal. We were placed away from the center of the dining room, up on a raised area and back in a kind of corner. There were two rectangular tables in that corner, seating 4 couples altogether. We never saw one couple. The second couple at the adjoining table were only there for one night. I can only surmise that they asked to be moved (we probably should have, too). Our table mates were a perfectly nice couple from New Zealand. They were there punctually every night and we did have nice conversation with them. But it was essentially "private" dining with the 4 of us for the entire cruise. We didn't feel comfortable asking to be moved, as we thought it would be insulting to the couple. Along with mediocre food offerings, it was not our best outing. But at the same time, it was perfectly nice company. I think, though, that it was the last time we ever had assigned time and seating.

Le Verdun-sur-Mer, France (from the deck of the Regal Princess Cruise Ship)
Copyright Andy Richards 2021 - All Rights Reserved

WE WERE Originally scheduled to stop at The Isle of Guernsey, LaRochelle, France, and Bilbao and "A Coruna, Spain. Shortly before the cruise, we were informed of a change of itinerary. Guernsey was still not allowing cruise ships and that stop was dropped entirely (substitution a sea day). The fact that it is a tender port probably added to the issues involving on shore Covid-19 protocol. Either way, a disappointment.

Shops - Soulac-sur-Mer, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2021 - All Rights Reserved

FOR REASONS never explained, La Rochelle was changed to Le Verdon-sur-Mer ("the port for Bordeaux"). Current searches online suggest that at the time the changing and inconsistent Covid-19 protocols exercised by different French municipalities made La Rochelle problematic. The do not specifically say that the port would have been impossible. They also suggest that Le Verdon fit better with Princess sailing times and fuel effeciency. Not something a passenger really wants to hear about a promised port. The problem, in our view, was the La Rochelle is a sizeable community and at the time offered some things to do. Le Verdon? Not so much. While it might be touted as "the port for Bordeaux," it was a rather long train ride to Bordeax (aligning with my oft-repeated complaint that cruise lines are sometimes misleading with their port descriptions). The port itself is very industrial, with no walking and no place really to go that is nearby. Instead, Princess offered a shuttle to the nearby beach town of Soulac-sur-Mer. A pretty little town. Also a tiny little town. The beaches were impressive, but this was not beach weather and they were desolate at that time. The town was little more than about 2 blocks of typical touristy shops and the like. Nice, but quite a letdown over anticipated La Rochelle.

A 'Coruna, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2021 - All Rights Reserved

THE REMAINING  stops - for us - were just ok. La Coruna was just kind of your "everytown." To take a few days to stay and get a feel for a place like this might be rewarding. We got off the ship, got a cappuchino and sat at a cafe near the port, walked a bit, and re-boarded the ship. In Bilbao, we did pretty much the same. I also searched out a cigar shop where, ironically, the cuban cigar the proprietor talked me into buying was terrible (not properly humidored), and the 3-pack of "American" (you have to imagine the derogatory tone in which the proprietor described the "mere" American cigars) cigars were actually decent. But I digress. 😁.

A 'Coruna, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2021 - All Rights Reserved

IN FAIRNESS, we did not really do our "homework" for this cruise. Denominated as a "sampler cruise" by Princess, it was a bit last minute for us and we did not do our customary planning and excursion bookings. We just wanted to get out on a ship and get back in the swing of things. Bilbao, we know now, has a lot to do and at the very least we probably should have visited the Guggenheim Museum. We finally did do that, just recently, in 2026 on a Gate 1 Travel stop in Bilbao. It is a pretty spectacular work of art (in my opinion, it is mainly the very modern architecture - both inside and out - that "steals the show").

Bilbao, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2021 - All Rights Reserved

IN THE end, it was still a fun experience. The smoking area on the Regal is on the back, much like the Celebrity Solstice class ships, but not as well thought out. It was often windy, and we felt a little like we were shoved into a corner. But that didn't stop me from having a few cigars, and make some new acquaintences. By January (2022), we would be back on board our familiar Celebrity Reflection; this time back in the Caribbean.