Caribbean Cruising--7 reasons why this is one of my favorite vacations:

1. We leave winter behind as we sail away.

2. We are pampered in decadence aboard ship.

Our cabin

steward makes art with our towels.

3. I get to sit on a beach and ponder:

how many shades of blue are there in the Caribbean Sea?

4. Flowers! And more flowers! And palm

trees! And...um?

Barbados

5. It's colorful and cheery.

Dominica

6. We get vistas like these:

Martinique

Sint Maarten

And sunsets, oh my!

7. I always learn something new. This is a ruined sugar mill from the 19th century. Slaves gave their lives to run this unreported mill on a sugar plantation on St. Martin.