So I took a trip on Celebrity's Solstice which is truly a massive hotel on the water. 14 stories and every floor unique. It was a delightful ship with great service and smiling attendants and luxurious service.

We left Ft. Lauderdale in the late afternoon under cloudy skies and sailed off towards Cuba. I was laughing at how high the ship was as we passed out of the harbour by the condo towers which I was looking down on. Lots of champagne as I wandered the decks looking to see whom I might bump into. A good cross section of ages on the ship from people in their 20s through to older folks.

This was my first sort of luxury cruise as previously I had cruised on Princess to Alaska and the ship was old and still rather maritime in its configuration as opposed to a luxury hotel suite like Solstice. Anyway, I managed to spend some time chatting with a dermatologist in the scotch bar and don't remember much of the rest of the night other than the balcony room was superb and standing on the balcony at night in the Caribbean in the humid August air was such a delight after the insufferable rains of British Columbia. Read more