Tuesday 23 April, 2024 - at Sea

When we arrived back in the cabin last night, the was a bowl of fresh fruit, and some gourmet biscuits, along with an invitation to a Cocktail Party with the Captain in the Top Sail Lounge at 11am this morning, for member of Yacht Club.

It was really great, all the waiters in tails and white gloves, the Butlers there to meet us on arrival, Prosecco, Aperol Spritz, Martinis, etc, etc. all very swish !!!We spent the time with Jim, Maggie and Malcolm

Thankfully, the weather has calmed a bit, the sun was out, so along with Jim and Maggie, we decided to head to Deck 18 as a different option for lunch.  It didn't take long to realise that the it was still to windy and cold, so back to the Le Muse Restaurant we went, where we had lunch with Malcolm and his wife Jean, Jim and Maggie.

The wind seemed to die down and the sea was quite calm, so after lunch John & I went back to Deck 18 and had a spa (Hot tub) which was lovely, 

Back to the cabin and some cross stitch for me, and surprise, surprise a sleep for John.

Found this little guy on the bed when we returned :)

We had pre dinner drinks in the Top Sail Lounge and were the escorted by our butler to Le Muse Restaurant for dinner, which was a Mediterranean theme, and then back to the Lounge to listen to some music.

Monday 22nd April

Today is an at Sea day and has been rainy and windy with quite a heavy swell, which has meant that its been a bit rocky. We have had a really relaxing day, John went exploring the ship a little, morning tea in the Top Sail lounge, then lunch in the Le Muse Restaurant, we met up with Jim and Maggie for a drink, then a little cross stitching, pre dinner drinks in the Top Sail Lounge and dinner.

We met Malcolm from Jersey, (not New Jersey), off the coast of France, in the Lounge after dinner.

Sunday 21st April

We were collected by our Uber driver from last night, Cerci, at around 11.15am.  She was amazing, and when she realised we had plenty of time to get to the port, she drove us around back streets and different areas of Miami, instead of just taking the freeway.  She even stopped at Walgreens Store for us. 

On arrival at the Port of Miami, which is huge, our check in procedure was very quick, as being in Yacht Club, gives priority boarding.  We were escorted onto the ship by one of the butlers and taken to the Top Sail Lounge, in Yacht Club, for drinks.

There were at least 5 other cruise ships docked and boarding at the Port. 

Carnival Horizon, Carnival Celebration, Norwegian Breakaway, Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Sea, Virgin Scarlet Lady as well as our ship MSC Divina

Check out the Roller coaster on the top

Our cabin is very comfortable, king size bed, 24hr room service, and a butler to look after us.

We had dinner in Le Muse Restaurant, with Jim and Maggie, who are from Tallahassee, Florida.

 

Saturday 20th April, 2024

 We both slept reasonably well, but were awake at 6.30am.  John went for a walk, and we then both went back to bed and slept until nearly midday (we were obviously tired!!)

We then called an Uber into the centre of Miami, to the Bricknell Centre. An amazing complex with lots of high end shops and places to eat, that spans a couple of blocks.  We shared some lunch here, and most of the conversation we could overheard was Spanish, or as one of the waitress called it " Spanglish"

We the wandered around for a while, and were trying to figure out what direction the port was in, and as we were in need of another drink - coffee for me, we went back to where we had lunch and asked the hostess which direction it was !! her reply was priceless !! "I don't know, I lived here all my life, and didn’t know there was one !!!! I will go get the manager "

Miami is considered the largest cruise port in the world, and is probably 15mins from the Centre where we were 😊

The manager, was very informative and spent some time talking to us.  
We then decided to go to Bayside Marketplace, as it was after 5.30 pm. What a great place !! lots of market stalls and eatery places, right on the bay.  Lots of scenic cruises and party boats leave from here.  We just sat and soaked up the atmosphere, which was amazing.  Music, dancing, (they love to dance, and have such great rhythm!!. We can only explain it as "Darling Harbour on steroids x 100"

After dinner, we ordered an Uber (what a mixup!) and eventually had a lovely lady driver, take us back to the hotel and also agree to collect us to go the the ship in the morning.

And so it begins :) 18th April-19th April 2024

 We left home at around 11am on Thursday 18th April and dropped our little Mazda at Deanne's.  Deanne and Daniel then drove us to Albury Airport. when we were nearly there, John realised that he had left his phone in the Mazda, which Deanne kindly went to retrieve.  Thank you.

Janene, Ness & Laura & Cathy were already there, having coffee, and we were lucky to say goodbye to Janene before she boarded her flight to Brisbane, before heading back to Sweden. Deanne and Daniel then joined us after collecting John's phone.

The flight to Sydney was very quick, only 1 hr, so we had time to relax before Chris collected us for a lovely dinner at Brighton Le Sands.

Friday was an early morning (I hate early mornings!!), we left the hotel at 7.15am, and even then the traffic around the airport was horrendous.  The check in at Sydney was very busy and unfortunately, not well organised.

Our flight to LA was QF17, on a Boeing 787, which left just over 40 mins late was very comfortable, and service and food was great, but we didn’t  manage to get much sleep.  Arrival into LA, was 30mins earlier than expected, and getting through customs and security was a breeze - not what we expected.  I have an assistance on flight booking, and LA worked like clockwork - very different to Sydney, which was disorganised to.

We had about a 5 hr layover in LA before our flight to Miami, which was good.

The flight to Miami was on a Neo A321, American Airlines, overbooked !! 

Arrival into Miami 4hrs 30 mins later at approximately 8pm (local time) at which point we had been travelling for 24 hours since departing Sydney.

We caught a cab from the airport to the hotel, which was quite close, but the airport is so big and the fare was $28 before we actually cleared the airport !!

Both exhausted, were showered and fell into bed.

24th September, 2022

Today was our last day in London, before making our way to Heathrow to fly home.

So, nothing too strenuous!!! A visit to Selfridges Department Store, where we enjoyed morning tea.

Then a visit to the Pandora Shop (or 2) before heading back to the apartment to collect our luggage.  We had an uber booked for the trip to Paddington, which cancelled, so ended up with car booked by the apartments.  We then caught the Heathrow Express from Paddington Station to Heathrow, where check in was a nightmare !!!

 

23rd September, 2022

We spend this morning packing as much as  possible in readiness for our return home, before catching the No 15 bus towards Charing Cross to catch another bus over the Thames to the Imperial War Museum

We spent hours in the Museum, such an incredible place.  The exhibitions are from WW1 to the present day. 

We left the Imperial War Museum and headed down the river to another of the famous pubs.  This time the Grapes, in Limehouse, over looking the Thames River, which Sir Ian McKellen, (Gandalf, in the Lord Rings) is the co owner.

Gandalf's staff in in prime position behind the bar.