I Am A Celebrity!: 2025

Sunday, December 28, 2025

2025 - A Short One (Bahamas)

Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

LATE IN the summer of 2025, some friends let us know that they were going to be doing a 5-day cruise in November and and suggested that we consider joining them. Circumstances combined to make it a no-brainer for us. We are retired (and looked forward to the freedom to make spur of the moment decisions like this one). The cruise sails out of Florida and back, making it easy for us to drive to the cruise port.

As experienced cruisers would expect, however, it is basically a tourist trap with 100's of "trinket" shops and a few bars

THE SHIP was the Celebrity Summit. There were 2 stops and 2 1/2 "at sea" days. The stops were Nassau and Bimini, Bahamas. For those who may not have been to either of these stops, there are basically 2 things to do in Nassau: gamble or go to the beach. Bimini narrows it down even more. One thing: the beach (I put snorkeling in that category). Otherwise you can "explore," or bar - hop in Nassau. Clearly enough, this cruise was not about the itinerary. Nassau is under 200 miles from Ft. Lauderdale. Bimini is only 50 miles. So even our sea days involved mostly sailing around the Atlantic off the coast of Southern Florida.

As experienced cruisers would expect, however, it is basically a tourist trap with 100's of "trinket" shops and a few bars

WE HAD a stop on the Celebrity Reflection in Nassau back in 2021. Since then, they have expanded the cruise port both in terms of ship berths and onshore facilities. As experienced cruisers would expect, however, it is basically a tourist trap with 100's of "trinket" shops and a few bars. Bimini had an almost 3rd World feel. The port area is very small, with just a few obligatory tourist shops. The draw here is the crystal clear waters and beaches.

Cruise Ships - Nassau, Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

SINCE THAT is the extent of the shore activity, I will focus this blog a bit more on the ship. Celebrity currently has 3 ship groups or classes. In 2000, Celebrity launched the Celebrity Millenium. At that time, they began the process of retiring their much older, smaller fleet of ships. In 2001, the Celebrity Infinity and then the Summit were launched. In 2002, that last in the Millenium Class, the Constellation was launched. They have since all been upgraded and refurbished at some point, but 25 years is a long time and a pretty old ship in the cruise ship industry. In 2008, they would step things up with some (at the time) state of the art designs with the Celebrity Solstice. There are 5 ships in the Solstice Class, beginning with the Solstice and from 2008 to 2012 the Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette and Reflection. Then in January of 2018, an "edgy" new ship class, beginning with the Celebrity Edge was launched. There are 5 ships in the Edge Class, including Edge, Apex, Beyond, Ascent and ExCel. We have cruised on the Edge Class the most often (8 cruises on Edge, Apex, Beyond and Ascent), and the Solstice Class next (7 cruises - 5 on Reflection and one each on Equinox and Eclipse). We have been on only two Millennium ships (Summit both times).

Bimini had an almost 3rd World feel

OUR FIRST cruise on the Summit was back in 2014, only our second Celebrity cruise experience and 4th cruise overall. Our expectations were different, as was our cruise acumen. We joined 4 other couples on that one, cruising out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with stops in St. Croix, USVI, St. Kitts, Dominica, Grenada, and St. Thomas, USVI. There were excursions on a few of the stops, and in general, even when we didn't, we would explore the island ports on our own. I don't remember a lot about the Summit back then. It did have the signature Martini Bar with the ice topped surface, that we had experienced on our first Celebrity (Reflection) cruise. The ships were quite similar except that the sunset bar on the two newer classes is separated from the buffet's rear eating area and on its own (a huge improvement, in my opinion). In the years immediately following, that would be more of an issue for me, as sometime between the 2014 and 2015 cruise I began smoking cigars. I have noted here in the past my feeling that Celebrity treats cigar smokers better than its competition. The recent Summit Cruise in 2025, completely validated that sentiment. There were 3 smoking areas. Two of them were really nice, and the third, still adequate. All were conveniently located near one of the ships several bars.

Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

THE COMBINATION of being "off season," only 5 days, and a smaller, older ship, our cruise was less than full (I would estimate only about 60% of capacity). Some things about that are in favor of the cruisers. Less crowds. Generally a higher ratio of service to passenger. No long waits at the bars. No issues being seated or accomodated in any of the restaurants. No overcrowding in the buffet. Generally, room on the chairs in the pool area. That was our experience. Relaxing and enjoyable. We found the rooms to be clean and relatively modern for the most part. The Millenium ships also have the old-style outdoor balconies.

Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

ACCOMODATIONS WERE good for the most part. There are some nice bars and lounges aboard, including Cellar Masters (which has morphed from a wine bar to a full bar with a very robust liquor selection), The Martini Bar, The Rendezvous Lounge, each with upscale decor, comfortable seating, and well-stocked bars; and The Sunset and Mast Bars on deck 11 (as well as two other bars at each end of the pool area - deck 10). I was quite impressed with the liquor selection aboard; perhaps the best of any of my recent Celebrity cruises, including a good selection of mid and higher end bourbons, gins, and other whiskeys.

Atlantic off North Bimini - Shipwreck remains of The Gallant Lady in the foreground
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

I HAVE not been on a Solstice ship for some time, and probably won't again until February of 2027, when we are booked on the Eclipse, so I don't know what their complete smoking accomodations are these days. I know that my experiences on the Reflection and Equinox were very good. I really like the Sunset Bar setup on the Solstice ships, and that is where the primary cigar smoking is there. For the most part we have been on these ships in fair and warm weather, so things like wind, rain and cold haven't been an issue. On the Edge ships there are 3 very good cigar-friendly areas in different spots on the ship including one large area that is under cover. I had no real idea what to expect on the Summit. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Though unexpected by me, there are 3 smoking areas on the ship. All are at least partly under cover, though only one (the smallest and least comfortable on deck 10 near the pool) is completely under cover. The others are really just fine for warm weather cruising. One is on deck 11 on the port side immediately adjacent to the Mast Bar above the pool deck. It is a circular area with seating both in and out of the elements and is - interestingly - toward the front of the ship. The Mast Bar was well stocked and it was probably our most popular cigar smoking area. The third area is out on the deck just between the Martini Bar and Rendezvous Lounge on the Starboard side of deck 4. It is a small, L-shaped seating area, but when the sun was beating on the port side of the ship, a nice spot to get in some shade and have a smoke. Both the Martini Bar and Rendezvous are conveniently close by.

Bimini, Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

HAVING READ frequently on social media reports on some of the ships and cruises, I had rather low expectations for the food quality on board. We have (and continue to) had mixed experiences on all cruise ships we have been aboard, particularly since the Pandemic of 2019-2020 which we all know has drastically changed the industry. We did on board the Summit, too. But surprisingly little. I have to say that the food was better and more consistent than on my last couple Edge Class ships. We ate in the MDR 2 of the 5 nights and for breakfast 2 times and lunch on the final sea day. The food was very good. My wife and I ate in the buffet for dinner 2 times. That is way more than we would usually do - especially on such a short cruise, but it was just the way things fell. I was pretty satisfied with the quality - especially for a buffet. I would say that the times we ate lunch in there was equally good. Breakfast is - well - breakfast. In terms of quality. They are still serving powered scrambled eggs. That needs to stop industry-wide, in my opinion! Years back I looked forward to scrambled eggs, bacon and shredded hash browns in the buffet on all my cruises. Occasionally, I might break that up with eggs benedict. These days I go to the custom stations and get fried eggs, benedict, or omelets. It seems kind of silly for me to ask them to scramble them for me, but I suspect they would. On that point, I was again very pleasantly surprised that they had 4 different prepare to order egg stations on the Summit. Great plan!

Bimini, Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

BOARDING AND disembarking (both on boarding days and on shore stops) were handled with Celebrities usual efficiency. We had a later boarding time and wanted to leave early. We walked both on and off the ship with no wait or lines.

Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

I HAD a couple items to point out in the after-cruise survey, but there is one major issue we all had (and for some reason I cannot explain, I completely forgot to raise it in the survey - I need to figure out a way to go back in and point this issue out). Thinking about the demographics of most Celebrity Cruises, I would say the average passenger is between 50 - 70 years old. We still like to party but we are probably a bit more on the sedate side. With that, the live music in the atrium area and the poolside area is very nice - and very loud! Too loud. When we have to yell to have conversation sitting right next to someone one deck up from the pool deck and at the opposite end from the band, there is something wrong with that. When you have to yell to have conversation with staff in the guest relations desk, it is too loud. Way too loud. Programming people need to re-think their logistics. And production folks and bands: making it louder doesn't make it better. Just sayin.' 😏

Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

OVERALL, A good and fun cruise and - given the right itinerary and cost, we wouldn't hesitate to sail again on the Solstice.

Nassau Cruise Port - Bahamas
Copyright Andy Richards 2025 - All Rights Reserved

Sunday, December 21, 2025

2015 - 3 - St. Maarten

THIS WAS our third time in St. Maarten, but the other couples' first. The concensus for that day was to find a spot close by on the beach, rent some chairs, and get a bucket of beer. As I have said in the past, we are not huge beach people. I can take it or leave it. My wife doesn't do well in the sun. So we don't do a lot of it. But in the last two circumstances, it worked out great, because we were able to get shade under an umbrella. And - its the company you keep. 😊 We enjoyed just relaxing in the "chill" atmosphere of a Caribbean Island. Fortunately for us, we had seen a lot St. Maarten on our first two trips here.

Beach in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

THE SHIPS dock in the deepwater cruise port in Phillipsburg, on the Dutch (and south) end of the island. It is a quick 5-minute water taxi ride across from the cruise terminal to the main pier in downtown Phillipsburg. As you exit the pier, you can go either right or left. Interestingly, whoever was leading the charge decided to turn left. Down the beach in that direction is where all the "happening" bars are. Those bars face the waterfront, and there is a boardwalk that separates them from the beach, which makes a much narrower beachfront. Your feet are almost in the water.

Beachfront Bar - Phillipsburg, St. Maarten
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

TO THE right is a much wider beach in front of a number of highrise condominium buildings. From a sand and aesthetic view, I think it is the much nicer looking beach of the two. But in the end, we probably made the right call. About 2 hours into our day the skies darkened and a major dowpour with heavy winds opened up. We could feel the wind and see it coming and quickly abandoned our chairs to the attendant and walked just a few feet across the beach to one of the bars, which had a covered area - and a table for the 6 of us.

Beachfront Bar - Phillipsburg, St. Maarten
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

WE STAYED mostly dry, and ended up having some lunch, and in a short time the sun was out again. We would enjoy the ship's amenities for the next couple nights. We would have another full day at sea the next day before arriving back in Ft. Lauderdale in the early morning hours the following day.

As we now approach the end of 2025, this 2015 Caribbean Cruise was the last Caribbean Cruise we would do until after we came out of the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2022. Instead, we would turn our attention increasingly to Europe, including the Mediterranean, The English Channel, the Bay of Biscay, the North Sea and the Baltic. 2015 would mark our second cruise in the Mediterranean - on the Emerald Princess - more to come, so stay tuned. But in the meantime, Here is wishing all a Merry Christmas, a Happy and Prosperous New Year, and happy holidays to all those who observe one or more of the many holidays celebrated during this season!

Sunday, December 14, 2025

2015 - St. Thomas - Again

Celebrity Reflection coming into St. Thomas
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

THIS WAS our third time in St. Thomas. We had seen much of the island, including Magens Bay 😎 last year. The concensus was to find a nice beach somewhere. We had heard that the Island of St. John was cool, and it was a short ferry ride over. There are ferries from the Cruise dock. But that distance was nearly 12 miles and they were estimating close to an hour each way. Aside from not really wanting to spend 2 hours on another boat, we had some concerns about getting back to the ship timely. We would be dependent upon schedules, weather, etc.

Red Hook to Cruz Bay Ferry - St. John, USVI
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

I DON'T remember who, but somebody suggested we take a 15 - minute taxi ride to Red Hook at the east end of the island and take the Red Hook ferry across. Only 2 miles and 15 - 20 minutes. That's what we did and it was a great call. The vast majority of St. John is a U.S. National Park - essentially uninhabited. But the western side of the island has a few nice resorts and some amazing beaches. The little community of Cruz Bay, where our boat came in, was very nice, with some nice restaurants and shops. Our quest for a beach was solved when a local told us how to get to a small, but public beach that was little known and therefore not overrun with tourists.

Caneel Bay - St. John, USVI
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

IT WAS probably technically part of the large and popular Caneel Beach, but it was separated by a natural rock promontory which was actually a rather dangerous spot, and which physically kept it separate. We had to help rescue a woman who got pulled into that area by the current. Fortunately, we got to her before she got into the rocks. We did hear that there are drownings in that spot occasionally. You can see from the picture above how rough it is. Looking out toward the moored boats is north from our little beach. The big beach is off to the right. To get to our little beach, we took the shuttle from the port to the Caneel Bay Resort. Rather than go into the resort, we got off in the parking lot and walked down a little unobvious path our "friend" had told us to follow. I lead us behind some of the resort cottages and down onto a very beautiful little sandy beach. There may have been 30 - 40 people there during the day. It was obviously "spot," though, as the catamaran cruises were all anchored out in front of it (though it looked like those participants who swam to shore mostly went further to the north to the much larger Caneel Beach. The photo below is looking west from "our" beach. It looks tranquil. I took both shots withing seconds of each other standing in essentially the same spot. What a difference a handful of feet makes!

Small Beach at Caneel Bay - St. John, USVI
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

THAT IS the one and only time I have ever swam in the Caribbean. I have never seen such clear blue water. We were out up to our knecks and I could still see the sandy bottom clearly. We spent our afternoon there, had a few beers, and just relaxed. Surprisingly, there was a very small concessionaire and we were able to get an umbrella, some chairs, and some beers.

Cruz Bay Shops - St. John, USVI
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

WE HAD made certain we knew the return schedule of the ferries, and made our way back to Cruz Bay in plenty of time, with even a few minutes to walk around the little port area. An uneventful ferry ride back to Red Hook was followed by an easy flagging of a taxi and before we knew it, we were back on board and ready for our evening routine. Tomorrow we would do our (already) last port of call, St. Maarten.

Sunday, December 7, 2025

Another Year; Another Caribbean Cruise

Back from yet another southern cruise - the Bahamas, so technically not the Caribbean, but close enough, it seems fitting that I jump back into our cruises with yet another Caribbean adventure. This time it is our third venture into that part of the world in 2015. I was our reunion with the Celebrity Reflection and we were excited to be back on her - little did we know that we would board her 3 more times in future years

Celebrity Reflection - Caribbean 2015
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

WE MUST have decided, somewhere along the line, that we like this cruising thing. 😀 In February 2015, we went on our 4th straight Caribbean Cruise in 4 years. Later this same year we would do our "makeup" Princess Cruise in the Mediterranean.

Our 2015 Caribbean Cruise "Crew"
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

WE MAINTAINED only 3/5 of the same crew as last year. In order to keep it within the one-week period that seemed to fit our schedules (we were all still working full time), we found a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale that only made 3 stops. Sailing out of San Juan takes about 3-4 days at sea out of the equation. But we didn't want the hassle of flights in and out of San Juan again, and at this point, the stops weren't really that important. Once again, this one was going to be a mid-winter getaway for us in the sun.

I have probably spent more of my own time at the Sunset Bar on Celebrity ships than anywhere else aboard

MY PARTNER Bob (and Pam) and our friends Bob and Sue made up our group this time. The 6 of us got along swimmingly, and it was frankly easier to deal with the smaller group. This time we were on the Celebrity Reflection. It was - in a way - a homecoming for us. The Reflection was where it all started for us as far a Celebrity is concerned. This would be our second of 5 (so far) sailings on her. As much as we like all the Celebrity ships, the Reflection is a particular favorite of mine. Slightly bigger and newer than last year's Summit, there were just a couple amenities that we thought were a step up. In later years, we would ultimately sail more times on Edge Class ships than any other and Celebrity stepped those up yet again, for the most part. On the Reflection, my favorite haunt, and in my opinion, its best attribute, is the Sunset Bar. Unllike the Millenium ships, the layout of the Solstice ships (with its 16 decks vs. the 12 deck Millenium ships), allowed for a dedicated area on the rear of the ship on deck 15 for the Sunset Bar and ample seating area (there is a Sunset Bar on the Millenium ships, but it is part of the outdoor eating area of the buffet). As I described in our "Obrien Cruise" blog post, there was also the innovative "lawn" section, also on deck 15 aft. I have probably spent more of my own time at the Sunset Bar on Celebrity ships than anywhere else aboard. Sometime in the past couple years, someone had handed me a cigar on a golf course and I decided to smoke it. That began my - ever-since - cigar smoking habit. By the time this cruise rolled around, I had learned to bring my own cigars. Weather permitting, I spent every afternoon back there. Fortunately, my companions weren't averse to joining me for sunset and cocktails.

Sunset Bar - Celebrity Reflection
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

THE MARTINI bar, of course, had neither moved nor much changed, and was our rendevous point for our before dinner drinks. We were still on the old "set time and table" routine at that time (though it would be our last time). We had a nice table for 6 all week. As usual, the food was excellent. Partner-Bob had a routine of escargot every single night (carried over from last year's Summit cruise). Sue and I were the only wine drinkers, and our "package" got us most of the wine-by-the glass offered on board. You may recall the signature "wine tower" in the center of the dining room. According to our winelist, there was said to be $600 bottle of cabernet up there somewhere. We asked for a glass of it and our waiter just laughed. We had to try.

HUMOROUS ANECDOTE time (well, humorous to us at least). Cruisers know that in the ship dining rooms, the meals are usually in 3 courses: appetizers, main dishes, and desert. Celebrity wait staff takes the first 2 course orders and then brings a separate desert menu after the meal. Bob (the other Bob) was joking with the waiters. "Do you have an blueberry pie?" The are always very polite and very serious and they apologetically said they didn't and they didn't expect it to be on the menu all week. The next night, of course, Bob asked for blueberry pie once again. After the 3rd night, it became kind of a joke. On our next to last night, they brought us our desert menus. But they didn't give one to Bob. He looked at them questioningly, and they said we have a special desert for you sir. And - you guessed it. Blueberry Pie (a whole one). We all had blueberry pie the next night.

Castillo San Cristobal - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

OUR PORTS of call this time were San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. On all the shorter (one week or less) Celebrity cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale, it seems like San Juan is a port stop. But - presumably because of timing - it is always a 1/2 day or less. Many of the destination islands are a short sail from San Juan. But it seems like it takes a full day and 1/2 to get to San Juan. We stopped there again on our holiday cruise in 2024. In both cases we didn't get in to port until after 3:00 p.m., and departed usually around 9:00. That makes booking an excursion difficult. But this time we wanted to at least get off the ship. We knew the Fort was nearby and we walked up there for a while, and then back down into Old San Juan to do a short version of a "pub crawl." We stopped at a bar that had a stock of beers, and bought a "flight." Afterward, we found another bar down on the waterfront, just in view of the ship. I chatted with a bartender and got a short schooling on rums. I asked him to choose a good one for me and he poured me one. When we finished there, we headed back to the ship.

San Juan, Puerto Rico
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

I HAD never done any night shooting on a cruise. But I always bring a little travel tripod and this time, I decided to get off the ship again and go down on the wharf, to try to photograph our ship. The resulting photograph of our ship is the one I use here as the official blog "background."

EXCEPT FOR the sunset cocktails (we were on shore for the sunset this day), we followed our usual routine and met at the Martini Bar before dinner. Tomorrow we would be in St. Thomas, and this time we had a plan.

Monday, November 24, 2025

2014 - 6 - St. Thomas

St. Thomas, USVI

INTERESTINGLY, OUR first and last ports of call were in the USVI. On this itinerary, I think the primary reason was that they were both close to our out and back port in San Juan. We started in St. Croix, the largest of them. We finished in St. Thomas, probably about 1/2 the physical size of St. Croix. The populations of the two islands are, however, essentially identical. St. Thomas is - at least in my opinion - the much more popular tourist attraction and more frequent cruise ship stop. The bustling Charlotte Amalie is not only the capitol city of the USVI, but by far the largest city. It houses governmental facilities, including the main building of the Supreme Court of the USVI. It is a crowded, sometimes dirty and sometimes dangerous larger city.

Downtown Charlotte Amalie - St. Thomas, USVI
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

FORTUNATELY, much of the rest of the island is much more rural and tranquil. And beautiful. A vocanic island like a lot of the Caribbean islands, it is mountainous. Although there are numerous seaports around the island - especially on its southern side, the cruise ships dock in one of two harbors in Charlotte Amalie: "Havensight" or Crown Bay. The main piers are at the older, Havensight Port (formerly the West India Company Docks). Of the several times we have stopped there, we normally have docked at Havensight to the east of the city. One time, however, in 2012 on the Ruby Princess, we docked at the Crown Bay port, which is across the Long Bay and to the west of the center city. Crown Bay Marina houses some very large, very expensive pleasure cruisers as well.

Magens Bay - St. Thomas, USVI
Copyright Andy Richards 2014 - All Rights Reserved

SINCE THIS was our last stop on the cruise, some of the group wanted to do some shopping. So our plan as we got off the ship was to find an easy mode of transportation to downtown Charlotte Amalie, where we knew we could find anything we wanted to shop for. My wife and I had done this before, and knew that the "golf - cart style" taxis were easy and inexpensive. We walked up to one that was filling up and spoke to the driver. There was apparently a communications problem. There were 6 of us who all very clearly said we wanted to go to Charlotte Amalie. He gave us the thumbs up and we climbed aboard. It wasn't the trip I remembered from back in 2012, where it was a relatively straight shot to town. Instead we got a tour up some curvy, steep switchbacks up a mountain. Eventually, he stopped at a viewpoint looking down on one of St. Thomas' mosts popular tourist beaches: Magens Bay. It was a pretty spectacular view. After we all re-loaded, we eventually ended up at the Magen's Bay public beach. A long way from Charlotte Amalie. But we thought he just decided to take the beachgoers (which turned out to be everybody but us) first. Then he got really angry at us, saying we were trying to scam him into a ride when we told him: "no, we said Charlotte Amalie." Anyway, he grudgingly took us back to town and got paid and we all moved on with our lives. This wasn't really a photo or excursion day. We did some shopping for gifts, etc., and found a nice bar by the water and sat for a while before returning for our last night on the ship.

IT WAS a good trip. One that would be repeated (for some of us) the next year. We would not cruise again until then. We did some "world traveling" but not on a cruise ship.

That wraps up 2024 Cruises - In just a few days, we will board the Celebrity Summit for the shortest cruise I have ever taken (5 days in and out of Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas and back). It will be our 21st! I will continue to catch up, with 2025 cruises, when I return in December See you then!

Sunday, November 16, 2025

Grenada

Celebrity Summit - St. George's, Grenada
Copyright Andy Richards 2014 - All Rights Reserved

OUR GROUP was all pretty well- educated and up to date with political current events. We were all approaching middle age (late 50's) at that time, and all remembered the events in 1983 with the "invasion" of Grenada by U.S. troops under then President, Ronald Reagan. As all military actions are, it was controversial, but its ostensible mission was to rescue U.S. students attending St. George's Medical School, in the Grenadian city of St. George's, founded by some wealthy American physicians as a place for students who were unable to get into any of the U.S. medical schools - all of which were at the time extremely competitive and had very limited openings. As a political coup was in the works, there was real concern for the safety of these students and much disagreement among Caribean nations about the "need" for the U.S. operation. It went forward.

We were a very congenial group. But not really cohesive

LOOKING BACK, I am actually surprised, given our backgrounds and political interests, that we didn't do some kind of tour - which maybe involved the University. As I think about it - and it was a pattern at all of our stops - there were a number of contributing factors. First, as I mentioned, this whole group/trip came together rather quickly and - at least in terms of planning - at the last minute. It was one of those things where we found a cruise that fit our time schedules and we just all started jumping into it. I will add to that that the "nature" of the group probably also contributed. We were a very congenial group. But not really cohesive. Part of that is - in my view - size. Having organized and having joined a few golf-outing groups over the years, I can say with some authority that there is a "manageable" number, after which it just gets too hard to try to be "organized." In the last years of our golf trips, it was not unusual for all the guys to show up at the Tee-times, and then for us to go in two or more different directions for dinners. Those factors all conspired together to make this more of a tropical vacation in the sun than a serious cultural trip. And that is o.k. For us, that has become more and more the "norm" for Caribbean cruises.

THE UPSHOT is we didn't. We did find an "island tour" down at the port entrance, in a multi-person golf cart. We were all in, and on the way to board, my wife had a (thankfully minor) "medical issue," which forced us to back out at the last minute. Of course we had to tend to things, but it sounds like they had a nice excursion, and I always was disappointed we ultimately weren't able to join. When we returned to Grenada in February of 2025, we remedied that, signing on with a several hour tour that gave us a great overview of the island. At the end, our driver did a "drive-through" of St. George's (now a full-blown university with undergraduate and other professional schools). The campus is beautiful, and if I get back, I would love to get some time to walk around and make some photographs. Until then, I'll be satisfied with the memories that we did have there.

BECAUSE WE basically stayed behind and only spent just a few minutes off the ship, I didn't see much and I didn't really make any pictures (the ones that I did make, were mostly of the City of St. George's from on the ship. I did make one nice image of the Summit moored at the pier, but for the rest, I liked my "take" in 2025 much better). Fortunately, though, I did make several photographs of our recent visit to Grenada in 2025. By then, I was also writing blogs about my cruises, so we will have been caught up by the time we get to 2025. You can read about Grenada and the St. George's story in much more detail in Another Year; Another Caribbean Cruise, complete with pictures.

Sunday, November 9, 2025

Dominica

Roseau, Dominica
Copyright Andy Richards 2014 - All Rights Reserved

THERE ARE 2 places that are kind of on the "regular" Eastern Caribbean lineup that we have only been to twice: St. Croix, and Dominica. Until this past spring, we could add Grenada to the list, but we finally visited it again in 2025 and got our trip around the Island (more on that in the next post). We will be in Dominica again for only the second time (good lord willing and the creek don't rise - hey that rising creek thing is real here in Florida 😅), in February of 2026. It will be interesting to see the changes that may have ocurred, as at least 2 major hurricane devastated Dominica since our 2014 visit.

Roseau is the capitol and primary city in Domica

WE SPENT the least amount of time here. It was a mostly rainy day. We walked around for about 1/2 hour, and then found a bar in view of the ship, where we had a couple rounds of the local stuff, before concluding that with our drink packages, we were probably better served to find a spot to sit on the ship.

Colorful Cafe and Quirky Sign - Roseau, Dominica
Copyright Andy Richards 2014 - All Rights Reserved

THE ONE thing that - for whatever reason - really stuck with me was the really long pier that stuck out into the water from the shore. Unlike most of the Caribbean Islands that we have ported at, Dominica does not have any large, protected harbor. The cruise ships stop at Roseau, a city on the west side of the island, almost to the southern end. Roseau is the capitol and primary city in Dominica. Over 15,000 of the roughly 65,000 inhabitants of Dominica live in Roseau. As you can see from the view from our ship deck, like most Caribbean Islands these days, they favor the bright, pastel "Caribbean" colors on many of their buildings, making them fun to photograph.

Cruise Pier - Roseau, Dominica
Copyright Andy Richards 2014 - All Rights Reserved

THE ROSEAU cruise port seemed more on the rustic side and not nearly as commercial and built-up as many of the more popular stops. They still had their share of shops and street sales points, though. Though we missed it, there is a cobblestone marketplace very near the cruise port that was once a slave trading spot (the French brought slaves from Africa through Dominica to work in their coffee plantations in the Caribbean).

Bright colors in one of Roseau's obligatory, Portside tourist shops
Copyright Andy Richards 2014 - All Rights Reserved

DOMINICA's "INDIGENOUS" settlers were the Arawaks (now mostly extinct). In the late 17th century, Dominica was colonized by the French, who controlled it until the end of The Seven Years War when it was taken over by the British in about 1763. The British controlled it until it gained its independence in 1978. English is the official language of the island nation. Although we didn't explore, I later learned that Dominica is noted for its natural wonders, including a boiling lake and the endangered Sisserou Parrot which is only found on Dominica. It is also the youngest of the Lesser Antilles archipelago and is supposedly still undergoing its geological formation (hence the boiling lake). I will try to do more detailed research before our trip next February. But this time, we didn't even venture far from the port.

Double Rainbow over the island of Dominica - off the stern of Celebrity Summit
Copyright Andy Richards 2014 - All Rights Reserved

STILL, THERE were some distinctly memorable things about that day. First, the long dock is what I always think about when Dominica comes up. It made a great diagonal element for my photograph of the cruise port (such as it is). Perhaps equally (maybe more) memorable, was the most stunning formation of double rainbows I have ever seen, of the coast of the island, just as we departed. I was able to make a few shots off the stern railing at the back of the ship - but really didn't do it justice. But a pretty cool ending to another laid back day of socialization and fun with friends. And a nice "garnish" to our sunset cocktails.

Sunday, November 2, 2025

St. Kitts (Again)

Port Zante Entrance to St. Kitts from Cruise Ships
Copyright Andy Richards 2014

WOULD OUR third time stopping at St. Kitts be "a charm?" Not really. In the next several years we would stop there 2 more times, with a planned 6th stop on a scheduled cruise in 2027. Having done the island tour/catamaran ride and the narrow guage railway on our first two trips, we were kind of "excursioned - out." For the next 3 trips, I didn't really do much. Time will tell what we do in 2027.

ON THIS trip, we had 5 guys and 3 of them were pretty active and athletic. Two of us were less so-inclined. The three "athletes:" Bob, Mark and Bob decided to join an excursion that was designated a "volcano" climb. The 5 ladies decided to take a Jeep tour (which they reported later, was fun). Jon and I demurred on both counts (for the volcano climb, we made the right choice - even our "athletes" agreed and said it was torture). Instead, we met in the buffet for breakfast and agree to meet up down in the port later.

I SOON got a little "stir - crazy," so I grabbed my camera and went ashore. Its always enjoyable for me to get some time off to myself with my camera - exploring. On our first two stops on St. Kitts, we really didn't get much time to just walk around. Not knowing much about our port city (Bassetere), I didn't really leave the port area. But I always seem to find some interesting, often colorful subjects in the ports. I have always liked "marine" subjects - especially boats of every description. I started with the Tug. It has been in the marina every time I have been there. Usually it is berthed over a bit from the ship pier, but today it was moored right on our pier, so I was able to get rather close to it. I like the colors and reflections, but probably my favorite shot was a closeup I made of the bow and reflection. I have photographed it a number of times over the years - an probably will do so again.

Looking around, I had a funny sense there might be a photo here

ONE OF the unique features of Port Zante at St. Kitts is its classic arched, bright yellow entrance portico. Not only must you walk through it to get to shore, but it has become - for me - a kind of beacon of familiarity whenever we approach (or leave) St. Kitts. It immediately attracts the eye.

THE PORT Zante cruise port is one of the largest, most modern, and clean of the tourist/cruise port entrances to any island we have visited in the Caribbean. It is very commercial, but also very lively. Directly inside there is a large courtyard area. It is not uncommon for performers to be out there (hoping, of course, for "donations"). There is also a large area of bar - seating, with a Gazebo style bar in the middle. It is always hopping. The drinks are good, but it is probably not your best bet. Especially if your drink of choice is beer. There are several spots in the port where there are "specials" on one of the local beers (Caribe). I would be meeting up with Jon in a short while, and we would probably be finding one of those spots.

As an unkowing viewer, my first thought would be to wonder who belonged to those sandals?
St. Kitts, West Indies
Copyright Andy Richards 2014

ON MY own time, I wandered some of the side streets of the port. It is really kind of misleading to call them side-streets, as there is not very far you can go in either direction before hitting water, while in the port area. So these "side-streets" were mainly just more tourist shops. And St. Kitts has all the "regulars:" Diamonds International, Kay's, Luis Vuitton, Nike, Duty Free stores, Cigars (remember my admonition: "Just Don't Do it"), and even a Harley Davidson store. One of my partners at the time had a thing for Harley Davidson "stuff" (he didn't - nor had he ever - owned a bike 😕), but thinking of him, I wandered down that side street. I saw a young woman (she worked in the Harley store), sitting on a picnic table, but as I walked that way, someone entered the store and she quickly walked back in. I took the brief opportunity to make what I thought was a kind of interesting photo before she returned.

BUT I probably enjoyed the next two images as much as any I have ever made - certainly one of my lasting memories of St. Kitts. I had seen the little shack with the Caribe Beer sign (3 for $5 USD), and wandered down that street; the colors attracting me as usual. I made a few images from that spot, including some of the street activity. Finding a shady spot,I sat for a few minutes. Shortly, this very attractive, well-dressed, local woman came walking down the street. She was clearly on her way somewhere with a purpose. Looking around, I had a funny sense there might be a photo here, so I got ready. I immediately knew this was one of those "moments" that happen on the streets. Watch the guy in the blue shirt from the first to the second image. 😈 LOL. I don't blame him for looking. I did! I doubt either of them even knew I was there.

I HAVE seen the National Museum of St. Kitts a few times when we have visited. I have never been inside. It is one of those places that I probably should visit. Maybe on our next stop. It is, as you can see, a very photogenic building, and as I was looking at framing it up, I was having a hard time isolating it for any kind of interesting shot, when I realized that the people in the foreground were the interesting shot.

WE KNEW the beer would be cold and cheep somewhere in the port, so as soon as Jon and I met at the appointed time and place, we began our search. I had done some scoping earlier, and it turns out we didn't have far to go. Out of the arch and immediately to the right. Caribe at The Sweet Lime for $0.99 USD! 😋 The other guys met us there at the end of their excursion and we "reminisced" about our "eventful" days before returning to our ship to clean up and get ready for sunset cocktails.

Sunday, October 26, 2025

St. Croix, USVI

OUR FIRST port of call after departing San Juan was nearby St. Croix, USVI. The sail was just over 100 miles from the Port of Old San Juan to Frederiksted, at the western end of St. Croix. To date, this was our one and only stop in St. Croix. It was rather different from any stop we have made in the eastern Caribbean, but we had a nice, relaxing day there. At times, it felt like we were the only ones in the port. We docked there on a Sunday morning, and the whole port was very quiet. The port and town of Frederiksted felt like "old" Caribbean ports were probably like. No EFFY, or name brand designer shops and no brand new construction My own impression is that St. Croix is not one of the very popular and heavily visited cruise stops

THERE WERE a lot of very old, weathered buildings that house shops, bars and restaurants. On this particular Sunday morning, things were pretty dead. Frederiksted has a population of only about 1,000 people, so I am sure the tourism is what makes it crowded. I think we were the only ship in the port that morning, At just over 2,000 passengers, the area seemed to absorb those that got off the ship rather easily.

ST. CROIX is the largest of the USVI chain, and yet is a relatively small island, with the primary port in Christianstadt (though the cruise ships do not come in there). The entire island has a population somewhere around 40,000. There are about 3,000 between the town and suburban part of Christanstadt. There was very little going on in the cruise port area. Because we had not made major plans for excursions, we stayed right in Frederiksted. It looks like we might have found more to do over in Christianstadt, but we didn't know about it, and to get there would have required transportation. We didn't even see any taxis out and about the day we were there.

EVEN THOUGH clearly exposed and beaten by the Caribbean weather, the old buildings had a beauty all of their own (in it felt like each of them had soul, character, and pride that it was still standing, though sadly a couple major hurricanes came through in the years after we visited and did catastrophic damage to much of the town).

ON THE main street, there were signs (mostly in similar buildings to what I have published here) for dentists, lawyers, and there is even a USVI Supreme Court Building. I found the sign on the pink restaurant humorous. Here we were. But they didn't appear to be open for business.

THERE ARE said to be a number of nice, sandy beaches around the island, and it looks like it might be place for adult families to do an extended vacation in a very laid back atmosphere. Certainly not a "wild party" destination.

WE WALKED around the main street and up a back street to a beautiful cemetery with a very "caribbean" scheme of bright colors and burial tombs, and then back down past a large, Catholic church (St. Patrick's) that was in full Sunday ceremony. We stopped outside the doors and listened to the music for a bit.

BRIGHT COLORS is a recurring theme for me photographically, and it is my good fortune that it is also a recurring theme throughout the Caribbean. St. Croix is no exception as you can see from the cemetery, and some of the brightly painted buildings in the town. So you can see where my eye was immediately attracted to this building (the Oscar E. Henry Customs House), with a large "square" or plaza in front of it and more colorful buildings off in the background.

BUILT IN the 1800's the Oscar E. Henry Danish Customs house is just a block off the cruise pier and within a stone's throw to the 1700's Fort Frederik. Back in the 1800's, St. Croix was a Danish colony and these houses (this one and a larger and grander one over at the port in Christianstadt - which is not a national historic place) were the first points of entry, where customs duties were collected and administered. The building is owned by the USVI government, and though there have been plans in the miss for several years to create restaurants, shops and a museum there, sadly the building remains unused - save a fresh coat of paint shortly before we visited.

BACK AT the pier, we passed nearby the historic, 1700's, Danish Fort Frederick, at the harbor, now a National Historic Landmark, before re-boarding our ship. The promenade in front of the fort and along the waterfront yields up one of those sandy beaches off in the distance.