MSC Cruise Experience 2023

This year, Dewayne and I went on our first cruise together (we’ve been married 19 years at this point). This was actually the first time I’ve been on a cruise, and I was very excited. We booked it in the winter (2022) and got a really good deal.

Our ship was the Seascape, a newer ship, in the MSC fleet.

We chose the 8-day Eastern Caribbean cruise route that stopped in the following ports and itinerary:

  1. Miami, FL
  2. Nassau, Bahamas
  3. Day at Sea
  4. San Juan, Puerto Rico
  5. Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
  6. Day at Sea
  7. Ocean Cay Marine Reserve
  8. Miami, FL

Nashville, TN to Miami, FL

We are in Nashville, TN, so we booked a flight to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. It’s a much cheaper flight (round-trip) than flying directly into Miami, FL. We planned on getting an Uber or taxi from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami. We left at 4:45pm and were supposed to land at 6:10pm CT.

We decided to give ourselves some extra time, so we booked the flight on Southwest the day before and planned to stay in a hotel overnight before heading to the Port of Miami.

Leaving Nashville, TN, was pleasing. While in the air, some nasty thunderstorms prevented us from landing in Ft. Lauderdale, so our pilot diverted our route to the Atlantic Ocean to bide some time. We circled forever, and after a couple of hours of doing this, the plane was rerouted to Orlando to refuel. We were on the tarmac at Orlando airport for an hour, getting more fuel and waiting for the storms to pass. However, while waiting, we had to take off again to bypass another storm heading our way. Morale was low, though people maintained a good attitude during the long wait.

We finally arrived at the Ft. Lauderdale airport at 10:00pm! That’s four (4) hours past our arrival time.

While waiting at the baggage claim, our luggage was also delayed another 30 minutes.

When we left the airport in a taxi, it was very late. We arrived at the Meridian Hotel at 11:00pm, and I was crawling into bed at 11:15pm, exhausted and hungry (we couldn’t get food).