Day 3 – March 1, 2024

 We work up a little late again and it was another beautiful day.

We went again to Hallover Beach and stayed on the beach for 3 hours, until 1:00pm.  This was out third day of perfect weather – 80 degrees and just a few clouds.

Then we went up to Surfside to eat at a wonderful Russian/Jewish Restaurant.

The sandwich was a caprese sandwich with all kinds of goodys and oils on it and was one of the best sandwiches we have ever had on a trip. The Mozzarella cheese was wonderful and you couple tell it was fresh.

After eating we went back to the hotel, Ed did some work and then we went down to the University of Miami to watch Miami play baseball against the University of Florida.  Florida was a college world series runner-up last year so everyone expected them to be good and they were.  Miami sadly lost 6 – 3 but the experience of being back on campus was great.

The game was exciting and we had perfect seats, along the first base line, close to home plate in the 4^th row which was the first row of chair seats behind the first 3 rows of box seats.

This was big time baseball and the stadium looked sold out with a capacity o 5,000 people!!  Barb wanted a hot dog and peanuts from the ball park so that was dinner and the hot dogs were great. 

Tomorrow, we board our second MSC cruise and we hope it is as great as a ship as our first cruise with MSC back in October.

Night from Miami and tomorrow from the MSC Seascape at sea.

                                    The restaurant for lunch

                                        Lunch - Caprese with freash Mozzarella and more

                                         Our seats at the ball game

                                    The Miami Touchdown chain - no Ed didn't buy one!!

                                   Barb's much anticipated hot dog at the ballpark

                                            Just park of the crowd at the ballpark

Day 2 – February 29, 2024

 We slept in really late as we have been up almost 24 hours the day before.

We drove to one of our favorite beaches, Hallover Beach north of Miami.

The weather was all we could ever ask for, 80 degrees and just a few clouds.

Of course, Ed sunburned just a little his forehead and Barb just got darker!!

At 2:00pm we decided it was time t go to lunch and so drove down to Surfside and ate at a Kosher restaurant called Carrot and had a wonderful Tuna wrap to share.

Then back in the car driving down to Miami Beach and Lincoln Rd, which is a pedestrian only street for 10 blocks.  We walked the 10 blocks and back before getting in the car and coming back to the hotel.

The shops on Lincoln Road are very expensive.  Barb saw some beautiful slacks she liked and they were $150.  Another store had ad sress she liked and it was $750!  But it was fun walking and seeing all the people.

We changed for dinner and went to Little Havana to eat in a Cuban restaurant called laCamaronera.  If you didn’t know about the place, you would not stop.  We had been there before and as before, dinner was wonderful.  We had fried Plantains, Ceviche, and fresh grilled Mahi-mahi.

By then it was late and time to go back to the hotel and crash for the evening.

Tomorrow is the beach and the University of Miami vs Florida baseball game.

Night from Miami

                                The entrance to Hallover Beach

                                           

                                                Barb on the beach

Resting at Lincoln Rd

                                    The front of the restaurant

                                                            Inside

                                                        Appatizers - Plantains and Ceviche

                                            The main course - fresh grilled Mahi-mahi

 

Day 1 – February 28, 2024

 We were up at 4:00am to get ready for our next cruise – an Eastern Caribbean 7-night cruise on the MSC Seascape from Miami.

We will be going to Nassau, San Juan, Dominican Republic and Ocean Cay, their private island.

Our Delta flight was great with a 2-hour layover in Atlanta which give us time for a bite to eat, a drink and then we boarded the plane to Miami.

The plan was right on time, landing at 1:00pm.  As the airport was under construction, we had a huge walk to get our baggage. 

Then it was just outside the door to wait for the shuttle to take us to our hotel, at TownPlace Suites only a mile from the airport.

After checking in, Ed was a couple of blocks to the Enterprise car rental and picked up a new Enterprise – basically just like the one we have so that was nice to have.

We left the hotel at 4:00pm to meet our friends, Eric & Renee Degelau and Jeff and Pam Beier at a restaurant to the west, just on the outskirts of the Everglades.  What was supposed to be a 30 drive took 1 hour and 15 minutes!!  The traffic was horrible.

We spent the next couple of hours enjoying each other’s company.

The Degelau’s and Beiers met at Corvette Adventures have been friends since then and both couples have moved to the Ft Myers area – what a neat story.

Back to the hotel only took 30 minutes on the same route – so much for driving in rush hour.

Tomorrow, we plan a day at the beach.

That’s all for tonight and we are going to fall asleep watching the Illinois basketball game. 

                                                      Becker waned to go!!

 

                                              Pam, Jeff, Barb, Ed, Renee & Eric

Photos from the Ships photographer

 

Day 10, January 5, 2024

Today is a day at sea and Barb’ birthday.  Her celebration started last night at 20:01am in the casino where we started it and everyone joined in wishing her a happy birthday.

Ed was up at 7:30am and the deck was already crowed with people sitting on or saving deck chairs.  The pool area had every deck chair occupied.

We always are on the deck above the pool and while it also was busy at that time, we were able to get deck chairs where we wanted to be.

It was already hot and clear and stayed that way until a very brief rainstorm of about 10 minutes happened.  After the rain ended everyone got new towels, the skies were clear and we stayed there until lunch until after lunch.

Of course we had lunch with our friends and after lunch at 2:30pm, we came in and started packing and just relaxing. 

At 5:45pm, were packed, cleaned up and went down to the foyer to sit with people, dance and just enjoy the last night before getting off the ship.

Dinner was very good and with we probably had the best wait staff of any cruise.

After dinner, Barb, Barbara, and Ed went to the theater to see the comedian/magician again and he was probably the funniest we have ever seen.

Then it was on to the casino where Ed had a great win.   For the first time in 17 cruises we had a losing cruise; however, thank goodness we ended on an up note to almost wipe out our losses.

It is 1:00am and we get up at 6:00 am to leave the ship.

See everyone soon.

Hugs from Mom and Ed 

                                       Going out for the evening - Packed for the trip home

                                Everyone singing Happy Birthday to Barb

Day 9, January 4, 2024

Today, we arrived in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

The ship is docked a long way from the end of the pier so we took a little Tuk-Tuk scoter from the ship to the end of the pier.

Then Puerto Plata is not a town but a made for tourist place to visit.  There were shore excursions but you had to be taken to them by excursion staff. 

We were up on the top deck in our usual spot until 1:00pm when we joined our friends for lunch.  As we were in port, there were not very people at the restaurant or out in the sun so that was really nice.

As Barb wanted some lip balm with sunscreen, we went into the port taking a Tuk-Tuk after lunch.

The first spot had lip balm for sale at $17.00 so we passed.  Finally we found a place for $10.00 so we took it.  We walked around; however this is not a town were you can walk around.  This is a place with lots of shops and probably owned by one company, maybe the cruise line.  So, it is a made for the cruise industry stop.

We then came back to the ship and relaxed until it was time to get ready for the evening.

Once again we listened and danced to music until the 7:00pm show. 

The show tonight in the theater was 3 guys called NYC3 and will we had seen them before, we enjoyed them.

Then it was time for dinner and the service and food was very good.

After that of course we went to the casino where Ed won a little.

Tomorrow is a sea day and we also will be packing. 

It has been a fun cruise but we miss everyone and can’t wait to be home.

Night

                                The casino manager and the three couples on New Years Eve

                                                Arriving at the port

                                                Going into the port

                                            Riding in the Tuk-Tuk back to the ship

                                        Time to go out for the evening

Day 8, January 3, 2024

We woke up in Tortola and the sun was really, really hot.  By 9am we were baking and it didn’t get any cooler.

We went to the back deck and in the shade had lunch with our friends.

Then we went back up on deck and by 2:30pm, we felt we couldn’t be out there anymore – it was just too hot!!  If you know us you know that our saying we couldn’t be in the sun means it was very, very hot.

One of the things we are doing differently this trip is walking and we are walking a lot, link all around the top deck every 30 minutes.  Easily we are over 10,000 steps a day, even when we are doing nothing!!

So, we came in early, cleaned up, relaxed a bit, and then went to the casino to meet the Manager, Sol.

Sol was also a Casino Manger in 2018 on another ship and we really liked her.  We met her at 4 and went and had “coffee” and just talked with each other – what delight.

Once again we listened and danced to music until the 7:00pm show. 

The show tonight in the theater was a production show titled “Broadway Cabaret” and it was very good as then featured Broadway hits from the past through today’s modern musicals.  It was just fun.

Tonight, for dinner we had ordered 6 Branzino whole fishes and Jeff prepared them for us at the table.  They were wonderful.

Then it was off to the casino where Ed did not do well.  The bad news is that this may be the first losing trip in the casino in 17 trips!!  Hopefully we will be able to do some good for the last two sessions of this trip – wish us luck.

Night for now and see you tomorrow when we stop at Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.  All three of the couple do not plan to get off the ship.

                    The pool deck at 9:00am when most everyone is off the ship

                                       The pool deck at 2:00pm when most are back on the ship

                                                Going out to meet with the casino manager

                                        Having tea with the casino manager

                                        Going out for the evening

                                        

                                                Jeff deboning one of the 6  Branzinos