New Years – 2025 – Day 10 – Saturday, January 11 2025

We woke up to being docked at the MSC’s private island called Ocean Cay.

We were here a couple of years ago and since then they have added land and facilities.

The Yacht Club area is the farthest away from the ship and they had golf carts so of course we hopped on one to get to area set aside for us.

They brought us up lounge chairs to go on the grass between their beach and restaurant.

We had a delightful lunch of 3 entrees - Lobster Roll, Salmon, and Steak.

The weather turned very cloudy later in the afternoon so we decided to go back to the ship.

As we got to the ship, I think everyone on the island realized that it was about to rain and it did.

Thank goodness we got in before the rain.

The ship was to stay in port until 7:00pm; however, the Captain cut the visit short because of high winds starting along with heavy rain.  They called everyone from the ship off the island and set sail at about 4:00pm.  It was a little rocky at first but calmed down by 4:30pm.

Tonight the entertainment was from the music of Michale Jackson and it was very good.

We had dinner with a couple we had met yesterday from Italy and had a lot of fun.

We are docking in Miami tomorrow and taking a rental car to the St. Petersburg airport – a 4-hour drive.

We fly Allegiant and will be to Peoria at 7:22pm and then pick up an Avis rental car to drive home.

We have had a wonderful cruise on a great ship with unbelievable service, including a good casino.

Tonight, in the casino, for the second night in a row, we had the must obnoxious tables and most fun we have every had!  Their were only two of use, ourselves and the pilot from Frontier Airlines who were not playing up to $2,000 a hand and also had way too much to drink.  We certainly had fun on the table - how could we? - we did.  For the cruise and Barb was postive and Ed had a huge win and together it was the biggest 7-day cruise total ever!!  WOW!

It will be good to be home.

Night and see you at home tomorrow.

Packed and ready to leave tomorrow

Drinks in the lounge

                                                                          

                                                                     Menus

                                                 A nice win for Barb later that night

                                                                 Videos for the day

                                                             Ocean Cay and the Yacht Club

                                          (there is a bad place in the middle, just skip over it)

                                                      Having Lunch at Ocean Cay with 

                                              the Yacht Cay Head Butler and the Maitre d' 

                                                Our wonderful Butler Aryana walking us off the ship

New Years – 2025 – Day 9 – Friday, January 10 2025

Today we are at sea all day and the best way to describe it is that it is HOT!

No clouds, a little wind, and a perfect day to be up on the pool deck, which is where we were for breakfast, sun and then lunch.

We did a walk-around the upper decks of the whole ship and below you will find the regular pool and ours – quite a comparison!

At 2:30pm we came in showered, and then went to the casino for a qualifying round of blackjack.

Ed did qualify for the tournament but did not win.

At 4:00pm we went to the lounge for afternoon tea with the butlers which was fun.

A busy and fun day.

We went to the show which was called a Guinness World Record Show were passengers and crew attempted to break world records.  A little hokey and but we sat through it.

Dinner of course was wonderful and we spent time at the end of dinner with a couple from Italy and plan to have dinner with them tomorrow.

Night from the sea and tomorrow is our last day and a stop at their private island Ocean Cay and it will be fun.

                                                             Time for dinner

                                                              Snacks in the lounge before dinner

                                                                      More snacks

                                                                   Salmon for Ed

                                                 Lamb for Barb and yes she picked them up!!

                                                      Having High Tea in the Yacht Club Lounge

                                         This was the tour of the Yacht Club kitchen from last night

New Years – 2025 – Day 8 – Thursday, January 9, 2025

We docked at the island of Ise de Roatan, Honduras, an island off the mainland of Honduras.

We are not going into this town as the reports from the US government and what we have read are not very good.  The ship even said “Don’t wear any Jewelry”

So we laid out on the pool deck and ate lunch with the former football player and had a great time with him.

After lunch we stayed on the pool deck until later in the afternoon when a couple came to the deck for musical entertainment.  They played Reggie and were very good.

At 4:00pm we came back to the room, changed, and went to the casino to play in the slot tournament and blackjack qualifying rounds.

Then we came back to the room to get ready for the evening.

Tonight the entertainment in the theater was a production show featuring all of the singers, dancers, and acrobats of the cast.  It was one of the best of any cruise.

Then we went to dinner where we met the football player and his wife and had arranged a tour of the kitchen by the head chef and we were invited to go along.  It was amazing how small of a kitchen it was.

Dinner was great as usual.

Tomorrow is a day at sea and it should be very relaxing.

We have included a video of the entertainment that came to the Yacht Club and they were very good.

Night from somewhere in the ocean heading towards home with only one stop left.

 

It's White Night

Barb's Lamb Shank

Enjoying dinner with new friends

Lisenting to music on the pool deck

New Years – 2025 – Day 7 – Wednesday, January 8, 2025

We had already docked at our second stop – Cozumel when we woke up.

This is a very short post because we really did nothing and there was no reason to get off the ship!!

Breakfast was on the pool deck. 

Then we laid out on the pool deck and ate lunch.

After lunch we stayed on the pool deck until late in the afternoon.

Then we came back to the room to get ready for the evening.

Tonight the entertainment in the theater was a magician and he was very good.

Then we went to dinner where we met a couple from Cleaveland.  He is a huge man and a former football player.  He was a star through college; however, he did not make it to the pros in the US.  He did play a little a pro league in Europe. 

We have included some videos that we have made so far that we thought you would enjoy.

Night from the sea – heading to Ise de Roatan, Honduras, which is an island off the coast of Roatan.

Our for dinner

Having some wine in the lounge before dinner

                                                     Beef Tartare for an appetizer

                                                                   Salmon

                                                                Beef Short Ribs

                                    Here are some videos from the trip

                                              Boarding the MSC Seaside in Miami

                                        A walk around the pool deck of the Yacht Club

                                                  Wishing Barb a Happy Birthday

New Years – 2025 – Day 6 – Tuesday, January 7, 2025

We had already docked at our first stop – Costa Maya when we woke up.

It had been raining; however, the good new is that it had stopped.

Since it was cloudy, we decided to walk into town on a very long pier.

Costa Maya is basically a made for the cruise industry “town,” but we had fun walking around even if it was drizzling.

We went to the restaurant to have lunch and had an enjoyable lunch while meeting new people.

Finally we got ready a little early and went to the lounge for snacks and some wine.

Then our butler took us to the show and show tonight was a comedy show and the comedian was pretty funny.

We met a delightful couple at our blackjack table tonight and snuck them into the Yacht Club Lounge and spent a couple of hours just haveing fun talking about all things family.  He is an airline pilot for Frontier Airlines and she travels the world for her work.

Tomorrow, we dock at Cozumel, Mexico, and if the weather is sunny, we will probably stay on the ship.

Let’s hope so.

Night for now.

                                                                Ready to leave the ship

                                                   On the shuttle getting to the port

                                                             Just had to sit for a face "fix"

                                                           Testing something strong together

                                                                   Walking back to the ship

                                      Time for dinner, the show and then the casino

A salad for dinner with tuna

New Years – 2025 – Day 5 – Monday, January6, 2025

We woke up to beautifulhot weather as we are at sea and headed for our first stop – Costa Maya.

One of the nicer things about the Yacht Club is there are so few people that you don’t have to get up early and save lounge chairs.

There are 2200 cabins on the ship and of those only 80 are in the Yacht Club – now that is being spoiled!

After breakfast by our pool, we spent until 1:30pm relaxing there, including eating a great lunch of carved Salmon.

Then we came back to the room to change and go to the casino for the first day of qualifying for the Blackjack tournament.   Ed did ok but there are two more days of qualifying so we will just wait and see what happens.

We then went into the general area see what kind of shops they have.  They have lots of shops and things for people to do on the ship, including 2 lanes of bowlng.

Tonight is elegant night and we enjoyed most everyone dressing up in our area.

The show tonight is called Moondance and it is a tribute to Michael Bublé and it was very, very good.

Tomorrow is our first port; Costa Maya and we don’t know if we are going to get off or not.  We will see what tomorrow brings us.

Night from our first sea day.

Eds's breakfast

                      Barb's lunch at the pool with of course a little wine always makes lunch special!

                                                   Going out for the afternoon

                                           The brought us wine during the afternoon.

                                                    Ready for the evening

                                          Barb's Lobster

New Years – 2025 – Day 4 – Sunday, January5, 2025

 We left the hotel via Uber for the port at 9:30am and were in our room at 11:15am.  It was later than usual as they didn’t now get all of the passengers off the ship like normal.  We were on first so it was all good.

A butler took our carry-ons and took us to the Top Sail lounge where we waited a little bit before our room was ready.

We were out on the pool deck by noon eating lunch.  This is probably the first cruise we have been on in the Caribbean that we have not joined the ship with a tan!!

At 3:30pm we came in and since our luggage was in our room, we unpacked.

Our Butler met us at our room at 7:15pm and took us down to the main show theater.

The show tonight was called Rock Nation, a night of Rock with wonderful singers and dancers.

Then we went to dinner and had a wonderful meal.

Each night we will be going to the show, then dinner and then to the casino – wish us luck!!

One of the neat things about the Yacht Club is that when we go to an elevator we simply put our card against a place on the floor panel and press the floor we want and that elevator then stops for us with no one else on it and takes us to our floor. 

Tomorrow will be a day at sea so that will be fun.

Night from the MSC Seaside from the Port of Miami.

                                              Ready to go on the cruise

                                           At the baggage station for the Yacht Club

                                                                A spot on the pool deck

                                                       Lunch

                                           Time to go out for the evening

                                            A Birthday cake for Barb

At dinner

They decorated our room for Barb

The Bedroom decorated

                                                

New Years – 2025 – Day 1 – 3 - Thursday - Saturday - January 2 - 4, 2025

New Years – 2025 – Day 1 – Thursday, January 2, 2025

Day 1- Since it was much cheaper, we left Blooming at 4:45pm with a 1-hour flight to Chicago and then it was to be 1 hour to make our connecting flight.

A was a good idea, however American Airlines did not cooperate as the flight we were to take came from Chicago and it was 1 hour late!

The pilot attempted to make up the time; however, we landed as the other flight took off.

We went to customer service and they put us on a 6:30am next morning light to Miami, gave us $24.00 worth of food vouchers at the airport and a “free”night at a Whyman Hotel close to the airport.

After eating dinner, we went to pick up our hotel shuttle and it was 1 hour before we were able to get one. 

We finally made it to the hotel and had about 4 hours of sleep before getting up and taking the 4:30am shuttle to the airport.

The plane left on time and we were in Miami at about 11:30am.

Not wanting to mess with shuttles again, we took an Uber to the hotel.  There after moving us twice because of problems in the room, we finally were able to get our room for the next couple of days.

We woke up in time to go to lunch at a Cuban Café we have been to before and it was close to the hotel.

By this time, it was too late to go to the beach so we took 3 hours driving about the cruise port, Miami Beach & Surfside before going to Weston, Fl to meet long-time friends Renee and Eric Degelau.

We met them a long time ago when Eric was the #1 Corvette salesman in Wisconsin and a sponsor of our Adventures events.  Great, fun couple and we have seen them each year when we have come down for a cruise for quite some time.  They live in the Fort Myers so it was a great for them to come, once again all the way across Floria to see us.

Another couple from here, Pam and Jeff Beier, usually join them; however, they are still in Ohio as Pam had knee surgery and of course we miss them.

On Saturday and we woke up late and realized while the sky was clear and about 70, the wind was terrible but we went ahead and took our towels and headed out.

We drove over to Surfside and our favorite beach Hallover; however, it was just too windy to be out on the beach. 

So, we drove to downtown Surfside to eat lunch; however, all the good sidewalk restaurants were closed because of Rosh Hashanah, a Jewish holiday festival that marks the beginning of the Jewish calendar. 

Our next choice was a Russian restaurant farther north; but, the owners were Russian-Jews and it was also closed.  We final ate lunch at a Peruvian Restaurant and then headed back to our hotel so pack and get ready for dinner.

After lunch we drove the length of Surfside and Miami Beach - 181 blocks.  We think at least 25 years ago, we took Jackie, Jason, Jeff and their spouses on a cruise.   This was in the early days of the internet and the pictures of the El San Juan Hotel, right in the middle of Miami Beach looked wonderful.  While the outside and the lobby were just fine, the rooms were not.  I think we all slept with socks on!!

We also walked on the beach and Barb had a Pelican poop right on her head!!   One of those unforgettable experiences before the cruise.

But, for one day and night, we sure did have a great memory to talk about.  

Dinner tonight was in Little Havana at a restaurant called La Camaronera Seafood which we have been to before and it has wonderful fresh fish.  We had grilled whole Yellow Fin Red Snapper and it probably was the best fish we have every had.  We also had fried Plantains to go with it.  As you can see by the photo, the Snapper was on ice when we got there.

This is probably the first time ever that we have not been to the beach in Miami or Fort Lauderdale before a cruise so we will start the cruise without a tan and hopefully get one quickly!!

Tomorrow, we check out and board the MSC Seaview and we are really looking forward to it.

Night for now.

                                                        Barb and Becker

                        Leaving and Becker wants to go  - He did, to Jason & Sharons to play with Captain

Finally on a plane to Miami
 

Lunch at a local Cuban Restaurant

                                      At Bonefish Grill, Weston, FL with Renee and Eric - Such great friends!!

 

We thought we were going to the beach

                                                              El San Juan

                                       Going out for dinner in Miami's Little Havana area

                                                  La Camaronera Seafood display case

                                                               Brought in today for our meal tonight!!

                                                   Fried Plantains 

                                                Nothing fancy

                                            Grilled whole Yellow Fin Red Snapper