Dear Eric: My husband and I hope you can help us with a sticky situation. About six years ago, we met a couple on a cruise and as they had friends near us, we invited them to visit when in our area.

This happened and all went well as we share many common interests. However, as the years progressed, this couple has repeatedly invited themselves to our house, even more than once a year and always during the winter months.

I should also add that we live in Florida, and they are Northerners, and this invitation is never reciprocated. The lady of this couple is highly abrasive and we have reached our tolerance level. I’m sure they have no idea of our true feelings, although we never invite them to visit us. How may we extricate ourselves from this uncomfortable situation?

– Cruise Out of Control

Dear Cruise: Wow, these snowbirds really found the golden egg when they linked up with you on the high seas. They may not realize they’re overstepping, so it’s time to clip their wings, as it were.

You can have a direct conversation, telling them that things have changed on your end, and you think it’s best you all go your separate ways. This avoids confusion but runs the risk of ruffling feathers, especially if all has seemed well-and-good to them up until now. Their bruised feelings are their responsibility to deal with, but I understand if this is a little more hawkish than you’d like.

The other option is to simply tell them you’re not available to host them anymore the next time they call to invite themselves. “We’re glad you enjoyed yourselves, but things have changed for us down here and we can’t welcome you as we did in the past.” If you want to preserve civility, perhaps offer to get a meal if/when you’re next near their nest.

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Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.