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 

Day 18 – Thursday, October 17, 2024

 This is our second and last day in Madrid and we had no plans.

Having gotten to bed very late last night, we slept in.  The first thing that we did was to walk about 30 minuites to the huge train staion as we were told it was a place to see.  Well we saw it and moved on!  

Then we took an Uber to an amazing food market, with lots and lots of food for sale and lots of people as it was lunch time.  When you see the video, you will understand.

We found 2 seats and Ed went multiple time to get different Tappas, including wine of course, for lunch.

It was fun eating and people watching.

After that we walked to the main Basilica of the diocese only to find out that it was not going to open until 6:00pm.

So we walked towards to very large steeples only to find out it was the main government building!

At this point we were in one of the larger squares so we relaxed with cokes and enjoyed the sun.

It also just happened that there were more scarf vendors in this square that anywhere else we had seen so Barb was able to find a few new scarfs to add to her “collection.”

Then we took an Uber back to the hotel, rested and then we out to dinner.

There is one major waling street that is lined with bars and Tappas restaurants and that is where we went for dinner and it was very enjoyable.

We ate at 7:30pm in this delightful restaurant that we found last night. Tat is very early for the local crowd you normally eat around 9:00pm and by the time we finished it was getting very crowded.

The manager brought us 2 carmel liquor shots to finish off the meal - wow they were good.

Madrid is a big, bustling city and while some people said we would like it better than Barcelona, we did not.

We have been here now once and have no plans to go back.

Tomorrow, we leave to come home and will be arriving in Chicago at 2:20pm on Iberia Airlines and will take a Hertz car home from there.

See everyone soon.

                                                       Lunch at the market - that's a fish dish

                                                                 Lots of litttle bites

                                     These were cheeses and they were very freash and wonderful

                                                   The market from the outside

Relaxing before shopping

                                                               Lots of scarves!!

                                                     Then Food Market - the sights and sounds

               Following are pictures of the restaurant where we had dinner on our last night

                                           Where we had dinner

                                                         They brought us this plate with our wine

                                             Shrimp in Garlic Sauce

                                              Our main course - Salmon

                                       The Manager with carmel shots

                                           The Tappas menu

                                               We had the Salmon fromt his menu

                                                              The regular menu

                                       The restaurant where we had dinner

Day 16 & 17 - October 15 & 16

 We had a 10:30am flight from Marrakech to Paris and then from Paris to Madrid.  This meant we had to be up at 6:00am, up to the rooftop restaurant at 7:00am and in a car to the airport at 7:30am.

Normally the restaurant is not open until 8:00am; however, two came in early and served us a nice breakfast before we left.

Again, this was probably the best service, nicest people and best hotel stay that we have ever had.

Have there been better hotels – yes, but nothing like this one.

In additional Marrakech is unlike anywhere we have ever been.  Written words simply do not describe what we have seen and we are so blessed to have gone there.

So, we spent the rest of the day flying and in airports before getting to Madrid at 7:20pm and to the hotel by 9:30pm.  Then we simply checked into the hotel and went to bed.

Day 17 –

We woke up in time to take a 3-hour Tuk-Tuk tour of central Madrid and the old city and it was run.   It was raining a little when we started the tour and then cleared up for the rest of the daytime and evening.

After the tour, we had lunch at a Tappas restaurant and of course had a glass of wine.

Then we spent the rest of the day in the Galleria Royal Collections which is basically the national art gallery attached to the Royal Palace.  It took us about 4 hours to visit the entire museum and it was a wonderful display of art and the history of Spain.

At this point we went back to the room and crashed waking up at 8:00pm. 

We then took an Uber to a small street with lots of Tappas restaurants and stopped at two of them for dinner and of course had wine each time.

It is not midnight and time to go to bed.

Instead of taking a lot of time to download all the pictures, we did a short video for you to see what we have experience, starting with breakfast with the house cat at our Riad in Marrakech.

Tomorrow is another day in Madrid before heading home.

Night for now\

Days 13, 14 & 15

Day 13 – Rome to Marrakech

We have been on a dead run for the last three days so we are sorry we have not been able to do the blog.

Getting to Marrakech was the worst travel day we have ever experienced.

The first thing that happened is when we got off the ship, we could not find our big suitcase.  The staff helped us and finally Barb realized that in our area there was another suitcase in the same color and style.  Our had yellow duct tape all over it and this one didn’t.  We called the person whose name was on the luggage tab and he was just arriving at his hotel in Rome.  He turned around and we met his at the airport.

Then we had to wait 5 hours in the waiting room of the terminal before we could check in which was 3 hours before boarding.  We were able to go to the American Express Lounge and have a nice complimentary meal and relax before the flight.

We flew into Casablanca and it took us about an hour and a very long walk to switch terminals to get to our gate.  The only problem was that Ed did not have his boarding pass and they would not let us in the new terminal.  A security policeman took Ed out of the terminal, in the rain to the next building to get a new boarding pass and he then went back to a waiting Barb!!

Then when we finally got to the gate to fly our last flight to Marrakech, Barb could not find her boarding pass.  All was ok as they looked it up and let here on the plane; however, we had to leave the waiting area, walk to a bus, and then climb up a large staircase to get on the plane and it was pouring rain!!

We arrived in Marrakech at a little past midnight and a driver was waiting for us to take us to our hotel – The Dar Ankia and it is a beautiful Reaid.  That means that it is in a rectangle form with rooms around a large open area / central courtyard, complete with t pool.

Our room was great, small but very nice. And we finally got to bed about 2:00am.

Day 14 – Marrakech

We slept in until 9:00am and then went up to the roof top at the hotel and was served an amazing breakfast.  One of the best ever.  Following breakfast, we were met at the hotel later in the morning by our guide with a Tuk-Tuk which is a scooter with room for 4 passengers

So, for the next 3 hours we explored the old city of Marrakech and it was an amazing time.

Dinner tonight was in the hotels roof-top dining room and we had an excellent dinner.

 

Day 15 – Marrakech

Totay was a day to just wander the old city and all of the amazing streets.  We first started off by going to one of the original palaces and touring it.  The Bahia Palace was built in the 19^th century and was the greatest palace of it time.  The King had 4 wives and 24 concubines!  There is a 2-acre garden in the center of the palace.

Then we started walking the narrow streets.  The first street that we walked down took us an hour just to walk the length with little shops selling everything on either side.  When you see the videos, you will realize how tiny the streets are. 

Later on, we went to a restaurant close to the hotel and have a chicken gyro type sandwich and it was very good.

Tomorrow we are up at 6:00am, breakfast at 7:00am and then we leave by car to the airport at 7:30am.  Words cannot describe the experience we have had over the last several days.  It was an experience unlike any we have ever had and we wish everyone could experience this part of the world – its sights, sounds and culture!!

As we will be travelling all day tomorrow, there might be a blog entry.

So, good night from Marrakech, Morrocco

Instead of trying to sort througgh the humdred or so pictures that we have taken, we made a couple of videos so that you could enjoy the sights and soungs of Marrakech.