We sailed on the Silver Cloud from San Juan through the Lower Antillles. The itinerary looked promising: no days on sea; some interesting islands like Dominica and Grenada; and a ship full of alumni from great colleges and universities. Indeed, the lectures were good; the embarkation and departure went smoothly; and the service staff were well-meaning and mostly very kind.

Some falsehoods to dispel immediately:

1)No one has a personal butler. The butler instead roams through several floors and has an appreciably high number of cabins to service. Often, it was difficult to find anyone, telephoning or peeking out into the hallway. Once you could reach the butler, he was attentive: room service was lovely, shoes were shined, and, if you care for this sort of thing (we do not), towels would be twisted into little animal forms at turn-down time. Rose petals were sprinkled into the bathtub, left for ther passenger to clean out if he or she wanted to take a shower! Read more