My Dearest Friends,

My constant rambling about this country and the situation is one it seems we all share. Who among us wouldn’t want to escape to lands better off and forget, if for a little while, all the troubles and burdens that come along with being Lebanese in Lebanon?

That is why, after my trip to the Gulf on business, I am embarking tonight on an 8-day cruise with the Lebanese Abou Merhi Group, on their newly acquired Orient Queen 2. I will be covering all the cities we will be visiting, as well as the cruise ship itself. The trip includes cities in Cyprus, Greece and Turkey and yes, I’ll be taking you along with me with the shots I’ll be uploading here, tweeting and of course Instragramming.

Before any of you jump to conclusions, I am not being paid to do this. The cruise was a gracious invitation from the Orient Queen 2 team which I humbly accepted with no preconditions. So, worry not, it’s gonna be the honest type of reviews you’ve all gotten used to reading here. Now that everything has been made clear from the start, I hope you’ll enjoy the posts over the next week.

Luckily, the date coincides perfectly with my summer schedule, making it the escape I need as well as an awesome opportunity to review a cruise ship owned by a Lebanese company that sails from our very own port. It’s also my first ever cruise, so I’m excited!

So, see you next week Beirut and in the meantime, wish me a safe trip.