MSC Meraviglia
We like cruises. They are, in our view, very relaxing and generally a good value. We have always had a good time. Even our aborted attempt at a 27-night transatlantic/Mediterranean cruse last April, interrupted halfway through by Jett’s hemoglobin problem, was fun until it wasn’t. So we are going to try again. This time it is a 14-night cruise on the MSC Meraviglia, a huge (4,500 passengers) and new (built in 2017) ship. It is actually 2 back-to-back 7-night cruises (in the same cabin!) with different Caribbean itineraries:
First week:
- Day 1 ∙ Miami Depart 5:00pm
- Day 2 ∙ Cruising
- Day 3 ∙ Costa Maya, Mexico Arrive 8:00am – Depart 5:00pm
- Day 4 ∙ Belize City, Belize Arrive 8:00am – Depart 6:00pm
- Day 5 ∙ Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras Arrive 9:00am – Depart 5:00pm
- Day 6 ∙ Cruising
- Day 7 ∙ Ocean Cay Msc Marine Reserve (private island) Arrive 9:00am – Depart 11:55pm
- Day 8 ∙ Miami Arrive 7:00am
Second week:
- Day 1 ∙ Miami Depart 7:00pm
- Day 2 ∙ Cruising
- Day 3 ∙ Ocho Rios, Jamaica Arrive 9:00am – Depart 5:00pm
- Day 4 ∙ Georgetown, Cayman Islands Arrive 8:00am – Depart 4:00pm
- Day 5 ∙ Cozumel, Mexico Arrive 10:00am – Depart 6:00pm
- Day 6 ∙ Cruising
- Day 7 ∙ Ocean Cay Msc Marine Reserve (private island) Arrive 9:00am – Depart 11:55pm
- Day 8 ∙ Miami Arrive 7:00am
We have been to many of these ports on previous cruises, but have never been to Ocho Rios or MSC’s Ocean Cay, so we are especially looking forward to those. On the first week we will be accompanied by Jett’s sisters, Sybil and Christine. It will be our first cruise with them, so that should be fun, too. But I will be outnumbered, so wish me luck.
We will bring Jett’s wheelchair, to eliminate the need for her to walk if there is any roll while at sea. But we are hoping we won’t have to use it much. Sybil will bring hers, too, for the same reason.
We are really hoping that we complete the full two weeks without any medical issues. I guess one of the advantages of the back-to-back cruises is that we will never be more than 7 days away from Miami. But, just in case, we have purchased the trip insurance.
One of the most difficult aspects of arranging this trip was getting to the ship. We booked the cruise, out of the Port of Miami, departing Sunday, February 2. That just happens to be Super Bowl Sunday, played this year in… yes, Miami. So our usual plan of staying overnight near the cruise port suddenly became very expensive, both for us and for Jett’s sisters – over $400 for a single night in a hotel. So Plan B was to have Sybil and Christine fly into Fort Myers, stay overnight there and we would all drive together to Miami in the morning – a 2.5 hour trip. The only problem with that plan was that the Corolla was simply not large enough to take 4 adults, their luggage and 2 wheelchairs. So we will have to take the truck. I will park it at the Crowne Plaza, which is where I left it for the last cruise, so I know that the plan is feasible. But I certainly would rather have traveled to Miami the day before. The truck has been working well (as evidenced by the trip to Ocala), but it is less reliable than the Corolla. I will just have to keep my fingers crossed.
