Barcelona for a while

From the 17 till Saturday we stayed in Barcelona. We met Quio and Anna, Sergio… we went to Salamanca for lunch with the family… relax.

Then to Geneva.

Key Biscayne

In our last day in Miami, we packed and checked out. Had breakfast and put everything in the trunk of the car. Then we headed to Key Biscayne where we spent most of the day.

We went to the lighthouse and to the beach, then we went to Boaters Grill, where we had some seafood before taking the car and drive to the airport.

End of trip. We took the plane, of course Iberia did not give us the right seats, but there was a very nice lady who gave us hers, so we could put Kai in his little bed.

Miami: downtown, little Haiti and design district

We spent the day exploring other parts of Miami. Distances are big there. We went first to have breakfast at bayfront, in downtown. We did not manage to get breakfast at the hotel because we went down too late… but breakfast at bayfront was nice.

We walked around and went to downtown. After that we took the car and drove to little Haiti and the design district where we had lunch in a very nice Italian restaurant (no pizza). After lunch we drove to coconut groove, visited a commercial centre and finally went back to Miami Beach. That day we had dinner at the hotel by the pool. Very nice.

Everglades

After having breakfast at the hotel, we took the car and headed towards Florida city and Everglades, in the south west of Florida. And incredible natural park that is like a the biggest delta of the world, coming from a lake and instead of ending in the sea like a traditional river it does so in this particular way, so a mix of salty waters from the sea and spring waters from the lake and rivers. The only place in earth where you can find together alligators and crocodiles.

There was a lot of people with incredible digital cameras just to photograph the birds. The wild life in the everglades was incredible, honestly. We took a boat the took us through the canal and to the lakes. Very nice experience, seeing all kinds of animals and birds.

End of the cruise: Fort Lauderdale

When we arrived we took the budget shuttle that took us to budget where we took our car for the next 4 days.

First we had breakfast at bagels Einstein or something like this. Then was to visit fort Lauderdale. They said it was the Venice of Florida, and it is quite a Venice (huge extensions though).

We went to the river side, to the beach, where we had lunch, and then at around 6pm to Miami beach to check in at our new hotel: Indian Creek, no so centric, but with swimming pool and bigger rooms.

Nassau, this time in Paradise Island

In our second time in Nassau we decided to go and spend the day at Paradise Island, 15 minutes by boat from Nassau. There you have the Atlantis hotel where we wanted to stay for the day and visit all the aquariums.

We realized that last time we did not see anything. Atlantis is huge! and you can spend a full day without managing to see it all. It is a sort of disneyland but in aquarium, with all sort of fish and sea life. To get it is 35 usd, but you can go around. We had a nice day there.

On the Sea

From Road Town to Nassau you have a full day of navigation. We spend the day in the MSC Poesia, in the pool area, having cocktails, having a swim, sun, … and in our nice balcony, reading… chilling out. There are plenty of activities to do, so you never get bored.

Road town, Virgin Islands

We arrived early to Road town. We took it easy though. Had breakfast and then left. The nice thing of cruising in the Caribbean and I guess is the same in the Greek islands and other small towns, is that with a day you have more than enough to visit them. I guess it is not the same in a Mediterranean cruise stopping in Rome, Barcelona and so, which deserve a dedicated trip.

Road town again was a nice colonial town. Small.

We did not take any of the excursions suggested in the MSC Poesia.Normally it works this way: they are expensive. When you go down to the harbor, you have a pile of tour operators offering you the same thing cheaper. If you go out of the port, there you find the good deals, so this is what we did. We took a tour around the island. It took us to several places and it was fun and nice.

We stopped at a rum distillery, very very crappy but I bought some old rum. See the photo, it looks like a dirty place anywhere in Africa… but the rum, that I tasted yesterday, was not bad. Not great either but a nice souvenir.

The tour took us also to a beach crowded by the cruise people. We were there only for 15 minutes, but we soon continued our tour. There we met a couple from texas. The guy had big land where a farmer was growing cotton and where had some oil excavations. They were nice people. We also went to a hill (not a lot in these islands) where we could see the tons of little islands that are part of the Virgin Islands (american, british…), and of course the harbor with our “little boat”.

All these little islands had to accommodate their ports to this big cruises. Now they are digging even more in order to be able to have the “oasis of the seas” from Royal Caribbean.
Road Town, Virgin Islands
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Philipsburg, Netherlands Antilles

We did not get to Philipsburg until 1pm (ship time). During the trip some places had different time zones, but in order to avoid problems the cruise always referred to the ship time (Miami time). The night before they let you a print out of the activities for next day. The time you get to port, the local time and the time you should be back to the ship. Also a list of all the ton of activities organised through the day in the ship. Specially for those who decide to stay on board.

Philipsburg was a very cute place. A long and narrow town, small and with the ocean at both sides.

The weather was variable. When the sun went out it was terribly hot, but when cloudy it was OK. It rained for a while.

When a ship of the caliber of the MSC Poesia arrives to a city like this, the town feels crowded and I am guessing that during the rest of the week, when no ships are there (normally they all go on the same day) it is a dead city.

Nuria had a bath in the sea and we had lunch there.
Philipsburg in British Virgin Islands
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San Juan de Puerto Rico

We are now at San Juan de Puerto Rico. The ship leaves at 10pm (ship time) and we head towards Philipsburg. I found free wifi here and I managed to upload all previous posts. From the ship it is impossible to upload photos…

I did not have the time and the occasion to take the photos of the big camera out, so no photos now, but I will update this same post later on.

San Juan is a beautiful place. I wouldn’t mind staying here a couple of days. Honestly.

I am now editing the post again, from home. I am adding a couple of photos from the iPhone.

Puerto Rico was very nice. The old town beautiful and full of life. So far and now with the perspective of being back home, I can say that Key West and San Juan (both US) are probably the destinations we liked the most.
San Juan de Puerto Rico
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In the way to Puerto Rico

Navigation day. Puerto Rico is far from Florida. The day started rainy and a bit cold but as the day was progressing the sun took over and the temperatures raised.

We spent most of the day in the pool area. I am reading “the Help”, from Kathryn Stockett which is about maids in Louisiana on the 60’s.

It was the gala day, with the captain and the nice dinner. Everybody (except me) with suits, ties….

Before I went to have a hair cut here at the ship’s hair dresser. Wow, beautiful with great views  over the sunset.

After the captain’s cocktail we went to listen jazz for a while and then to the theatre. It was Island, a story with dancers, magicians and more. Very nice.

Fort Lauderdale, half way

Half way. For most of the people the cruise is over, but we continued. We discussed weather it was worth to go down and visit Fort Lauderdale and we concluded that we will be here next Saturday and with a rental car, so it was the best day to enjoy the ship, which was again by the oasis of the seas. We had most of it for us. We spend most of the day in the pool area. We had a bath at the Jacuzzis with Kai. It was nice.

Nassau, Bahamas

We arrived to Nassau this morning. now in an hour we will be leaving to For Lauderdale to start the second part of the cruise.

In Nassau we had a great day. The temperature is great, it is sunny… mmm…

We went down and after us 4 more cruises arrived. We are all here. the last one in the biggest cruise ever build, and I encourage you to Google it or to look in a previous post in my blog. It is called “oasis of the seas” from Royal Caribbean. It is amazing. Huge! Ours, the MSC poesia is the second biggest and it is noticeable smaller.

Anyway, we went down and met the a couple with a kid that we know who live in Brazil. We all took an island tour with a very nice chap who explained everything and kept us entertained for nearly 3 hours. First we went to the Atlantis hotel, a 900 million dollar hotel, with an incredible aquarium.  We just saw part of it but as we are coming back to Nassau in a couple of days, we will take the whole tour, which has tunnels with sharks and other fishes. The suit of this famous hotel costs 25.000 usd per night. It is a nice hotel, but I was not that impressed.

After that we visited several places and when we were done, we had a walk around town, had lunch (seafood, of course) and went to the beach. Now the sun is going down and from the balcony of our room I catch several wifi (paid) so I am going to pay for one in order to post all the blog entries. By the way in the last photo you can see all the cruises from the beach. The one of the left is the Oasis of the seas.

ps; I did not succeed with the wifi in the balcony…. I try once more from the ship.

Navigation day

From Montego Bay to Nassau you have quite a long distance. The day was all day navigation. The ship is packed with activities: in the pool area, theatres, etc… and it was a gala night. Everybody with suits and ties… I did not bring any… like in the titanic.

We spent most of the day in the pool area, reading. Nuria had a massage before the theatre and gala night.

Limited Internet Connection

I have been writing posts every day, but Internet on board of the MSC Poesia is limited, specially to upload stuff (photos).

We are leaving Jamaica now, in our way to Nassau (Bahamas). Everything great.