Day 5 – March 3, 2024

We have arrived in Nassau along with 4 other ships from other lines so the port would have about 20,000+ people today!!

While Barb got ready, Ed went to the top deck and the YC pool area where they serve a big breakfast buffet.

The only reason that we got off the ship today was to go to St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, a church we have been to before for Sunday services.  As before they were very welcoming.  

Yes, the port area was very crowded!

It was about a 20-minute walk to the Cathedral and we went to their 11:00am service.

Then we walked back to the ship and had lunch, again on the pool deck.

Of course the weather was nice enough (77) that we sat out on the pool deck for the rest of the afternoon.

The show tonight was a comedy performance and she as very good.

After the show as is our custom, we went to dinner.  We have a picture of the dinner menu and it was a nice meal.

Of course, after dinner we went to the casino.  The casino staff is amazing as they have made us feel very welcome and all points to our making MSC Cruises our favorite cruise line.

Tomorrow we are at sea and we have a slot tournament and a blackjack tournament.

Night from somewhere in the ocean.

c

                                                             Church

                                                          Lunch from buffet on the pool deck

                           The Butler making up a pool lounge for us.  Yes they are spoiling us!!!

                                            

                                                    Just relaxing

                                             Going out for the evening

                                              The dinner menu

 

Day 4 – March 2, 2024

We woke up to another beautiful day in Miami

After eating breakfast, Ed took the rental car a couple of blocks and turned it in and walked back to the hotel.

This was, no question, the best location to rent a car if we were going out of the Port of Miami and the hotel a TownPlace Suites by Marriott.  They had upgraded us to a 1-bedroom suite so it made it very nice.

We were supposed t be able to board the MSC Seaside at 10:00am so we left the hotel in an Uber and arrived at the port just before that time.

For some reason, the ship was delayed so we finally were the first ones on the ship a 10:30am.  The cabin wasn’t ready so they had us all wait in their lounge before we could get into the cabin at 11:00am.

We unpacked our carry-on and went to the pool deck to have lunch.

Just for fun, we walked around all the public decks outride of the Yacht Club j(YC) just to see everything and then back to cabin to unpack our big suitcases which had arrived at our cabin.  The nice thing about the YC is that you also get your bags first.

We sat up on the top deck watching other ships leave the port and then it was time to get ready for the evening.  One of the ships leaving ahead of us was the Icon of the Seas from Royal Caribbean, the largest cruise ship to date!!

On MSC Cruise line, most (5) of the show are production numbers and on our last cruise they were all good.  Tonight’s show was very, very good.

After the show we went to dinner were both of us had Tuna which was quite good.

Then it was onto the casino where to our amazement, our Casino Host Angel was the same host we had on our October cruise in Europa!!

By the time we were done in the casino we had also met some new staff members and this casino promises to be delightful.

Night for now – tomorrow, Nassau.

                                        Ready to go to our ship with the start of a tan also.

                                            Lounch on the YC pool deck

                                        The Icon of the Seas as it left before us.  

                                            First night out

                        The first production show

                               Our bedroom - spacious and very nice.

                                                    The bathroom

                                                       Barb playing slots

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