SOMEWHERE OVER THE ATLANTIC - As the flight nears our destination in the Bahamas, my son Noah looks out from under his shaggy mop of hair and asks, “How will we know what stop to get off?”

A grey sky hangs over our cruise ship when we drop anchor off this Caribbean beauty. But we refuse to let the weather dampen our spirits because we’re eager to explore this island where Christopher Columbus became the first foreign tourist back in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World.

GUSTAVIA, ST. BARTS - Merde! The French expletive jumps out of this Montrealer’s mouth when the snooty shopkeeper on Rue du Bord de Mer looks down his pointy nose and tells me in a smug Parisian accent that “we only accept euros here,” while I (and everyone else on our cruise ship) only have American dollars to spend.

KINGSTON - Jamaica has pretty much been the Caribbean Island destination for lo these many years. It always ranks among the top 10 honeymoon vacations, and is usually on some travel magazine’s “Top 10” something list. Ever wonder why?

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - It seems visitors only flirt with this Caribbean beauty — no long-term relationships, thank you.

ST. GEORGE, GRENADA - In order to make the most of any travel adventure, you must wander out after dark and experience the nightlife - find out where the locals party.

ST. GEORGE, GRENADA - Pierce, a hulk of a man from Florida who has come to Grenada to dive in the shipwreck-rich waters off the coast of this lush West Indies’ island, tells us this is the first time he’s been back here since “the mid ’80s.”

ARUBA – The elderly man with the chiseled face and skin like leather walking towards us doesn’t look like a vintner. But then again, tropical Aruba doesn’t look like a wine growing region, either.

ARUBA - Ricardo, the man taking me on a driving tour of this lovely Caribbean nation whose motto is “One Happy Island”, is not happy.

SOUTHAMPTON, BERMUDA - I can get lost in a phone booth. So it came as no surprise that the Waterlot Inn where we had made dinner reservations was no where in sight.