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.

Back On Board - Celebrity Reflection - 2022

Back Cruising on Celebrity - Western Caribbean - 2022

YOU HAVE no doubt heard the expression: "never say never." The so-called "Western Caribbean" seemed to be one of those times. To me there is a lot of "sameness" when cruising in the Caribbean. You have to see out the unique aspects for shore visits. For us, it is really all about the ship, the company, and the normally great weather. And, on the positive side, we were back cruising - and it looked like "out of the woods." No more masking (not even employees). We were once again allowed to approach bars and order our own drinks. And we were back aboard our favorite Celebrity Cruises - on my own all-time favorite ship: The Celebrity Reflection. This would be our 5th trip on her (and I hope to have yet more chances). The weather was beautiful, and my favorite spot on the ship,the smoking side of The Sunset Bar, continued to be our place to finish the days. But by the end of this one I was ready to say to the western Caribbean: "never again."

You have no doubt heard the expression: "never say never"

THE (minor) NEGATIVE was the itinerary. Again, a rather short one, designed to get us back out there, it was our first (and maybe last) so-called "Western Caribbean" cruise. We have cruised many times in the Eastern (and southeastern) Caribbean, both before and after the pandemic. There are some now very familiar places (I think we have been to St. Kitts 7 times). For us the western side was all new (actually, my wife did a short, 3-day cruise with a friend some years back) to me. Which brings me back around to the "never say never" thing.

New Cruise Port - Nassau, Bahamas (it didn't look like this when we stopped in 2022)
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

OUR PORTS of call were Nassau, Bahamas; Cozumel, Mexico; Belize (Belize City); and Roatan, Honduras. As happy as we were to be aboard the Reflection, the itinerary pretty much left me cold. Indeed, it prompted me to think (and I maybe said it out load once or twice) that I did care if I ever did another "Western Caribbean" cruise.

Carnival Cruise Ships - Nassau, Bahamas - 2022
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

I HAVE been to Nassau a couple times now. I am still of the firm thinking that I don't care to go there again. Sometimes it is just on the "rotation" for some of the shorter cruises, so I acknowledge I probably will. But not if I can avoid it. Probably the largest cruise port in the world (certainly in the south - The Bahamas are not technically in "The Caribbean"), it is built for "party cruise" tourism. In 2022 it was not a commercially developed. By the fall of 2025, when we were last there, the cruise port had been completely re-built and enlarged. Still build solely for tourism and partying.

Our Celebrity Reflection moored next to Disney Fantasy - Nassau, Bahamas - 2022
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

WE GOT off the ship and walked around the old port and then walked right back on board. I did make a few pictures, mostly of the other ships in the port. I was trying out a new M4/3 camera outfit and wanted to make some images for further evaluation. Nassau is close to our origination port in Ft. Lauderdale, making it an easy first stop before the longer sail (involving sea days) down to Cozumel on the far western shore of the Caribbean.

Nassau, Bahamas - Celebrity Reflection 2022
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

COZUMEL IS an island just off the mainland of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. It is directly across from the major resort area of Play del Carma, south of Cancun. Aside from the beach and crazy tourist resorts, the area is also know for some of the best snorkeling and diving in the world. It is also know for good fishing. For cruisers? Unless you are going to do a diving or fishing expedition, or if you like to party or buy cheap souvenir trinkets, there really isn't any draw. Maybe that is unfair. Coming of the pandemic we were so much in a hurry to get on a cruise, we didn't do a lot of research. There are, we know, lots of great natural resources on the mainland, including some of the most magnificent Mayan Ruins. We probably should have booked an excursion to one of them. But, you see, they are over on the mainland. We docked on the Island of Cozumel.

Cozumel, Mexico Cruise Port (one of the things I have been trying to do is get an image of these somewhat uniform colorful signs in almost every Caribbean Port)
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

INSTEAD, WE just walked off the ship in the main port area. Within the port is a complex that looks pretty much like every other developed cruise port in the Caribbean. Commercial restaurants like Senior Frog and Margaritaville. Other touristy establishments and shops. We were used to that. What we weren't used to was the annoyingly persistant "hawking" of the folks on shore in this Mexican port. We made the mistake of walking outside the cruise port to see what was there. More restaurants and souvenir shops. And one particular bar proprietor who literally followed us a couple blocks down the street harranging us to come into his restaurant where he would make us a great deal! Our polite "no thank you's," and "we are just walking," fell on completely deaf ears. He was persistent to the point of making us uncomfortable. He was, in a word, rude. I couldn't wait to get away from this shore and back on board our ship! But I did buy a T-shirt. 😀

Once again, we found ourselves quickly back on board

OUR NEXT stop was Belize City, Belize. If you "Google" Belize and ask if it is "safe," you will get mixed results, but mostly that it is not really safe. There is apparently a lot of crime, including violence and gang related activity. We always like to at least get off the ship - so we can say we did more than anything. Right in the cruise port, things were just like other developed Caribbean ports, with the usual commercial establishments. Almost as soon as we exited the port, we immediately felt unsafe and re-entered the port. Once again, we found ourselves quickly back on board. I was carrying my camera and made just a couple "obligatory" images. But can you see a pattern developing here?

Cruise Port - Belize City, Belize - 2022
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved 

THE FINAL port of this cruise was Honduras. When we booked, I was thinking maybe there would be a chance to visit a cigar factory somewhere as I knew Honduras to be a substantial cigar producing region. My research soon told me otherwise. Our port was actually Roatan, which is (again) an island some 40 miles to the north, from the mainland. Most of the cigar manufacturing and tobacco production is found to the western and southwestern side of the mainland, well away from the Caribbean.

Anyone who - like us - saw it only from our cruise ship deck, could be forgiven for thinking we had just docked in the proverbial "third world."

IT IS probably fair to hold me responsible for poor (or non-existent) research once again. Our cruise berth was in Coxen Hole, on the southwestern side of the island. Anyone who - like us - saw it only from our cruise ship deck, could be forgiven for thinking we had just docked in the proverbial "third world." The dock was nothing more than a dock. From what we could tell, there was really nothing on shore that resembled a cruise port as we know it. To our southwest, there were dilapidated buildings right on the shoreline with waves lapping onto and into the first floor. The buildings were build from whatever materials the owners could find. I was out on deck as we came into our dock and quickly concluded that we would not be getting off the ship today. Maybe if we had booked an excursion and someone was meeting us at the dock. But otherwise, I had visions of getting off and never returning. O.k., that is a bit of an exaggeration. But we seriously could see no reason to go ashore.

Coxen Hole Cruise Port - Roatan, Honduras - 2022
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

THIS SITUATION was surprising to me. I would have thought there would be better accomodations when a major cruise line/ship was going to dock there. Well. I learned only later, upon coming home, that there actually was a much more "developed" cruise port, much like what we were accustomed to just a 3 miles up the south coast of the island, at Mahogany Bay. For us, the problem would be that the much more "developed" and modern Mahogany Bay is Carnival's (parent company of Princess and HAL as well as Carnival Cruise Lines) terminal, so our RCL owned ships port at Coxen Hole.

Coxen Hole - Roatan, Honduras - 2022
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

SO FAR, this is sounding like perhaps the most negative post I have ever made here. And maybe a little bit of that "entitled American" is coming out here. That is not my intent. I am just calling it as I see it in regards to the western Caribbean ports. They weren't great. But then, with a couple notable exceptions, the Caribbean is - to us - more about the ships and the weather than about the ports. There are fun and interesting things to do, but we really focus our cruises there on the "cruise experience." Today, several years later, we are more likely to get off the ship and at least try to see some of the local culture. That was just a weird time in the world.

Celebrity Reflection (image courtesy of cruiseship gallery - copyright above)

AND THAT was great. It was refreshing to be back on familar "ground" with the Celebrity Reflection. We have generally found the food to be superior to the competition (particularly Princess and Holland America). We love the amentities and the laid back (and perhaps more mature) "vibe" of the Celebrity Ships. Not being particularly focused on the on shore portion of the cruise, we were happy as clams, just to be cruising again in "familiar waters." The weather was what you hope for at that time of the year - warm, mostly sunny, and beautiful. It was very enjoyable just to sit out on the ship, both at sea and in the ports.

Martini Bar - Celebrity Reflection 2022
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

AS FOR "never say never," we are booked for the upcoming February (it is 2026 as I write this) for a kind of unique cruise. I think it may be the first of its kind - at least for Celebrity. We will be sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale on the Celebrity Eclipse, a Solstice Class ship, like the Reflection. We have not been on the Eclipse. It was the third of 5 in the class, while the Reflection was the last (and had a few touches that were newer than the prior 4). Since the last time we were on a Solstice ship, Celebrity has done some major refurbishing (they refer to it as "revolutionizing") of most of the Solstice ships, adding some new (and looking like welcome and exciting) new venues, while maintaining the general layout and popular venues (like the Sunset Bar and the Martinini Bar). From what I can tell the Eclipse has not yet been "revolutionized" and it is uncertain when that will happen. No matter. We like it the way it was just fine, too.

As for [the] "never say never" [thing], we are booked for the upcoming February [2027] . . . on the Celebrity Eclipse where we will do the vaunted "ABC" cruise in the western Caribbean

WHAT MAKES this cruise new and different is that over about 10 days, it splits the Eastern and Western Caribbean. Leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale, we will have the customary 2 sea days, before docking first at St. Kitts, followed by St. Lucia and then Barbados. We have friends joining us and (with the exception of St. Lucia which we will probably not even leave the ship), we have a pretty lively excursion agenda planned. We then have a another day at sea, as we head to the Western Caribbean where we will do the vaunted "ABC" cruise (Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba) where we again have a full agenda. My understanding is that the ABC islands will "change my mind" about the Western Caribbean. Looking forward to it.

Celebrity Reflection - Nassau, Bahamas - 2022
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

THIS ONE ended well and we had the usual almost melancholy about the last day. Fortunately for us we were both then retired and already looking forward to the next adventure. In September we would cruise on the Celebrity Apex (sister to the Edge) in the Baltic; a new part of the world for us. We would meet some great new friends on that cruise who would become familiar and frequent cruising companions and lifelong friends. Stay tuned.