January 29

Wednesday night was the first formal night, and I was fortunate to get invited to dinner in the Signature Restaurant by one of the world cruisers. I filled in the spot vacated by someone who wasn’t feeling well. The Signature Restaurant is one where you need to make reservations. The food is French (cordon bleu) and out of this world.

St. Bart’s is a small island (8 square miles) and I didn’t schedule an excursion for this stop. The ship anchored in the harbor and we took a tender to the town of Gustavia (I think it’s the capital). Fortunately the waters were calm! We took a walk around town and window shopped the very expensive shops (Dior, Bulgari, Hermes etc.) Here are two pictures of the harbor - I did manage to catch a rainbow in one of the pictures.




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There was to be a barbecue by the pool last evening, but unfortunately it rained. The barbecue got moved inside and the food still tasted good without the outdoor ambience. This cruise ship is half full for this segment - I’ve heard numbers between 350 and 370. Sounds like it’s going to stay that way until the Alaska segment. With the lower numbers, there is never a problem getting a table anywhere - the veranda on a nice day, the coffee shop, lounge chairs at the pool etc.

We're docked in Dominica now (Friday morning) and I'm off on an excursion in about an hour.

January 26 & 27

The World Cruisers had a wonderful send off. Sunday night accommodations were at the beautiful Biltmore in Coral Gables, Florida. We were checked onto the ship at the hotel on Sunday which made for an extremely smooth boarding the next day. Guests were treated to cocktails & dinner at the hotel. Dinner was delicious, crab cake, steak & lobster and a sampling of several miniature desserts and I enjoyed the company of a charming couple from Savannah. Entertainment was provided by The Three Tenors Undercover. They sounded fantastic & were an enormous hit. Here’s a picture of the hotel & the never-ending pool.





Tuesday morning we were transferred to the ship and treated to a lovely lunch in the new restaurant Prime 7. My luggage all arrived safely & is now neatly unpacked. I went on deck for the sail away at 4:45 and met two really fun couples from Hartfordshire, England. I’m glad I was able to enjoy the sail away with them! Here’s a picture of the sunset when we left Ft. Lauderdale.



I joined the Solo group for cocktails, dinner and the show. Regent hosts the Solo group for breakfast, cocktails and dinner every night which is a great option for the solo traveler. Tonight I’m looking forward to having dinner with the charming couple from Georgia & another world cruiser.

I hesitate to mention that I prepared a draft of this blog on my laptop while sitting at the pool in partly cloudy 75 degree temperature.

We will arrive at our first port, Gustavia, St. Barts on Thursday morning.

Bon Voyage Party

Thanks to everyone for an awesome Bon Voyage Party. Here are some pictures: