MSC Seascape – Spring 2025 Day 4 – March 16

 MSC Seascape – Spring 2025

Day 4 – March 16

We woke up to temperatures in the – another wonderful day as we prepare and board out ship.

The nice thing is that we were only 30minuites to Port Canaveral; however, we first stopped t a Catholic Church on the way just in time for their 8:30am service which was very nice.

We then drove the rest of the way and turned in the rental car.

Then it was a quick trip via their shuttle to the ship.

Apparently, the ship had gotten in late so it was not yet ready for boarding.

After about ½ hour we were able to board.

As we are in the Yacht Club, we went in through their special entrance.

This boarding experience is amazing as while several thousands board in a mass entrance, we are boarding with a group of 131 cabins out of 2,270 cabins on the entire ship!

We gave our bags to the check-in staff and were led onto the ship and check-in.

It has been a couple of years since we saw them last so we are really looking forward to enjoying the cruise and casino with them.

We were in our cabin in about ½ hour and we first unpacked our carry-on bags.

This trip is special because our friends from New York, Vera and Jeff Wurst and Barbara and David Schlachter will be joining us.  We last saw Vera and Jefff2 years ago and more than that for Barbara and David.  

We left our room at 6:30pm and went to the casino to see who we might know from previous cruises.

Then we met everyone in the YC lounge and our Butler took us to the show and our reserved seating.

The entertainment tonight was a production number by the cruise show performers and it was very good

After that we went to dinner where Barb and I both had tuna and it was very good.

Night for today and tomorrow will be docking in Nassau and we do not plan on getting off the ship.

That will give the pool area almost all to ourselves.

Night – night from somewhere on the sea.

                                                           Heading to the ship

                                                      Sitting by the Yacht Club pool

                                                          The pool and buffet

                                          Left to right, Barb, Ed, David, Barbara, Jeff & Vera

                                                          Going out for the evening

MSC Seascape – Spring 2025 Day 3 – March 15

We woke up to temperatures in the mid 70’s and going up to 86 – our kind of weather.

We first went to an area on the Indian River to see the Manatees. 

After that we ate at a dinner downtown and it was very good.

Today was to be a day of relaxing and going to the beach; however, it was soooo windy that we didn’t go.  This beach is part of the Space Center property and is 26 miles long with no hotel, just miles and miles of beach.

Then we took a driving loop around a wildlife preserve and it was very interesting as there were 12 different stops where you could either get out and walk a bit or simply read what was there.  Most of the birds left the first park of March; however, we did see a few.

Dinner was downtown again at a steak and seafood place and it was very good.

After dinner we stopped at a cute little ice cream stand and both had a cone - delicious!!

Tomorrow, we board the ship and join our friends from New York.  We will be sailing on the MSC Seascape and we have been on this ship before and it was delightful.

Night from Titusville and land and tomorrow the sea for 7 days – it will be fun. 

                                                         Blue Heron hunting 0 5' away from us

                                                                         Manatee Pictures

                                       They never came totally up but we saw dozens of them

                                                                 Leaving for dinner

                                                     Ice cream for after dinner

MSC Seascape – Spring 2025 Day 1 & 2 March 13 & 14

We are going out of a port we have never used before, Port Canaveral.

Our flight on Allegiant left directly from Bloomington airport at 8:24 and landed at the Sanford International Airport at 11:42, basically a 2hour and 20-minute trip.

We picked up our rental car and headed to our hotel, a Fairfield Inn & Sites in Titusville.  We are about 30 minutes from Port Canaveral but this Marriott was about $200.00 a night cheaper that one close to the port!!

We had dinner at a restaurant right on the Indian River and it was fun and had some good food.

It was a long day so we went to bed and watched on the iPad the University of Illinois/Iowa basketball game and yea for the Illini!

 

Day 2

We woke very late to temperatures in the high 70’s

Finally it was time to leave so we went downtown to a restaurant that we had read about and had their sampler patter of 8 different dishes.  A couple were a little too spicy for Ed but the rest were just fine.  Barb liked them all.

While we were walking around the restored downtown, we went into the Titusville History Museum and they told us of a great spot to watch the launch later in the evening.

After that we attempted to go view the Manatees along Indiana River; however, the police had shut off the road because of the space shuttle launch.

By this time it was 4:00pm so we came back to the hotel to change our clothes and go back downtown along the Indian River to view the launch.  From our vantage point we could look across the water to the launch site which was only 6 miles away and we could see the rocket poised for lift-off.

Precisely on time, the rocket lifted off and we followed it up and then in about 4 minutes the booster stage came down to land on a barge just off-shore.  It was amazing to watch it.

We then ate dinner at a first restaurant before going back to the hotel to watch the 2^nd half of a very bad University Basketball game which they lost.  All of our teams, Syracuse, Miami, and Illinois are now out for the Big Ten Tournament and that leaves the major tournament, the NCAA tournament for us to watch.

                                                            Becker wants to go also

                                                      By the hotel pool

                                                        First evening out

                                                     Dinner - Tuna and Shrimp

                                                            Going out - Day 2

                                                               Lunch from New Orleans

                                                                The launch site

                                                                 The launch

                                                 The booster rocket return to a barge landing

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