Cruise ship passengers who visited Bermuda last week were keen to shout about the Island’s immense beauty from the rooftops — but their handwritten postcards almost never made it to their family and friends.A batch of 68 stamped cards, addressed to destinations all over the world and featuring gorgeous water views and effusive praise for our beaches, weather and hospitality, were discovered littering Middle Road, Smith’s, by a concerned reader of The Royal Gazette.The 57-year-old maintenance worker picked them up from the road and sidewalk outside Whitney Institute Middle School on Friday and brought them to our offices yesterday.We passed them to the Post Office, which has promised to put them on a plane today.The reader, who asked not to be named, said: “I was on foot and first of all I wondered what they were. My initial thought was they were probably from one person who lost them.“But when I looked at them I realised they were all written by different people. Some mentioned the Summit [cruise ship] and some mentioned Breakaway.“I found it strange how they got there in the first place and then my concern was the people that they were being sent to. If I hadn’t picked them up, they probably would never have got them.”The postcards were addressed to countries around the globe, including the US, Finland, the UK, Sweden, Poland and France, and a quick glance at them suggests the cruise passengers had the time of their lives in Bermuda.“Bermuda is gorgeous — we’ve had seas so smooth you wouldn’t think we were moving and perfect weather,” reads one. “You’d love it here.”Another says: “Oh! What a beautiful place! Beach sand really is a pinkish hue and the water is amazingly clear neon green aqua tinge and blue! A topaz! Golf was incredible at Mid Ocean.”A third reads: “We have been having a wonderful time in Bermuda. You will have to experience it at least once in your lifetime. The most beautiful blue water I have ever seen.”Another says: “Having a wonderful time with family. Lots to do. Beautiful water and a lovely community.”Veteran postman Scott DeGraff picked up the postcards from our office yesterday and Postmaster General Wayne Smith thanked the reader and this newspaper for highlighting the matter.He said it was “highly unlikely” a Post Office employee deliberately dumped or destroyed the mail, as such an action would result in severe penalties under the Post Office Act 1900 and the Postal Regulations 1933.Major Smith explained: “Before mail can go through the Bermuda Post Office (BPO) system, it must be cancelled, meaning a mark placed on the stamps to indicate that they have been received by the BPO and the stamps cannot be reused.“I have now seen the postcards in question and they have not been cancelled or stamped in any way by the BPO.“There is no indication that they have been touched by us prior to falling on the ground.”He added: “I can say without fear of contradiction that there is no way that these postcards fell out of a BPO vehicle.“The most probable explanation is that someone was riding a bike with these cards in their possession, with the intent of delivering them to a post office, when the cards must have somehow fallen out of the individual’s possession and onto the road.“The postcards have now gone into our system and will go on the first truck on Wednesday morning to the Bermuda Mail Processing Centre and on a plane tomorrow afternoon to the USA.”Useful website: www.bpo.bm.