In more than three years of writing about cruising in this space — five to seven days a week — one blog stands out because more of you visited cruisingdoneright.com that day than any other, by quite a margin.
So what compelling cruise blog did we write that day?
It was a blog that had only a peripheral connection to cruising. It was about a man, a close friend of ours, who had passed away three weeks earlier. The connection to 
cruising — and some of you may have considered it a stretch — was that he was an alcoholic who spent the last 23 years of his life sober and helping others, and we had noticed that on every cruise we took there was a "Friends of Bill W" meeting every day.
Alcoholics, whether they've become sober or not, know about Bill W. His name was Bill Wilson and he has one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. We learned about him from our friend, Jean-Guy Pelletier.
And the connection to today's blog is…?
Our friend wrote a book (with our assistance) that was nearly finished when he died 23 months ago. The book was about his recovery at the Betty Ford Center in California, the years that followed when he dedicated his life to helping other alcoholics at the Center and his friendship with the former First Lady. It was to be his legacy, as things unfolded, and he always told us that if telling his story helped one other person, then the book was worth writing.
We who knew him so well are committed to honoring his wishes of trying to help others, and at the risk of compromising our integrity, we are bringing this book to your attention. It is called Addicted to Betty Ford — because that's what he was, on two counts — and it sells for $15 plus shipping. Inquiries can be emailed to addictedtobettyford@gmail.com.
Given that we had a record number of visitors to cruisingdoneright.com on that summer day in 2011, we are left to conclude the reason for so many visitors was AA or Dr. Bill. If that's so, then some of you may be interested in reading Jean-Guy Pelletier's book. And some may, for whatever reason, find it helpful.
If only one does, that makes it worth noting.
Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas
7 nights
October 27, 2013
Port Canaveral (return): Labadee, Falmouth, Grand Cayman, Cozumel
Inside: $635
Cost per day: $90
www.royalcaribbean.com