The Harbor Column:

Ahoy.

I am having a tough time getting back to work after returning from seven days of cruising the eastern Caribbean islands aboard a cruise ship and spending a couple of days at the five-star Hilton resort in Barbados at Needham’s Point. During the cruise my pre-dinner martinis would appear before I had a chance to sit down aboard the 856-foot Princess Cruises’ ship, and I did not have to stand watch on the bridge, as I was a passenger.

Built at a cost of more than $300 million, the Sea Princess can carry 1,990 passengers and up to 900 crew members on its spacious 14 decks.

The ship is powered by diesel electric that cruised at 21 knots. The ship was recently renovated in San Francisco.

We boarded in Fort Lauderdale and set sail that afternoon to Princess Cays, which is the cruise company’s resort where we relaxed for the day while swimming in the clear blue waters.

That evening we dined at our table with six fellow passengers as the ship’s course was heading for Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, our next port-of-call.

After which, we set sail for St. Maarten where numerous jewelry stores were luring the tourists with their island specials.

It is the end of hurricane season, however.

The weather was nice, with a few scattered thunderstorms that did not stop me from my usual lounge chair on the Lido deck.

For those not familiar with ships, the outdoor deck by the swimming pool(s) is referred to as the Lido Deck from the Lido di Venezia.

That evening we watched an incredible sunset as we feasted on tender delicious steaks in the ship’s steak house.

The next morning we awoke in the Antigua where we walked along a beautiful beach before heading to St. Lucia. Our last night aboard the ship was fun-filled before disembarking on Barbados to stay at the Hilton Resort.

The resort is on a point flanked by beaches with white sand that is soft as a fine powder.

The highlight was the resort’s snorkeling trip that included four shipwrecks in shallow waters that I could swim down to view the hulls’ remains close-up.

It was tough boarding the flight home but not to post the pictures on Facebook.

MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating columnist. Send marine-related thoughts and story suggestions to mike@boathousetv.com or go to www.boathousetv.com .