Wine and Spirits Travel

I was up early for another fun-filled day with MSC Cruises . It was my first time to Grand Cayman, an island I had heard nothing but good things about. I let Mom sleep in and I had breakfast in the Yacht Club’s Top Sail Lounge. It was an excellent cold buffet filed with fruits, Danish, cake, bread, muffins, cheese, cereal, and yogurt. I had a little of everything along with a cappuccino, also complimentary to MSC Cruise’s Yacht Club guests. I had made arrangements with Viator to take a tour so I had a quick breakfast and took one of the first tenders from the MSC Divina to the island. It was warm and sunny as I walked around looking for my guide.                                                                          Rex found me at the pier and took me to the bus to cool off and wait for the others on the tour. Once we were all onboard, he told us about this wealthy island with beautiful beaches and lots to do. As we drove, Rex pointed out some of the inte

After a relaxing day at sea on our MSC Cruise, it was time for our first stop in the Caribbean. It had been about a dozen years since I was in Jamaica. I had previously visited Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, but I had never been to Falmouth. I was excited to discover this city with Falmouth Food Tour Guides . We were already docked in Jamaica by the time I was up for breakfast outside at 8:00. I was happy the wind wasn’t as bad as the previous day so I could enjoy my yogurt, pancakes, and cappuccino outside at One Pool, which was reserved for the MSC Cruises Yacht Club guests. Mom had decided to stay on the boat and I bid her farewell and headed off the boat. The Port of Falmouth was beautiful and new, with lots of souvenir and jewelry shops. I browsed for a bit and then met up with the Falmouth Food Tour Guides at the information booth. We had about a dozen people in our group with two guides, so it was easy to stay together and be able to have all our question

I have been on many different cruises on various cruise lines. I have to admit, however, that I knew nothing about MSC Cruises . As soon as I did, I was immediately intrigued at the concept of this European line who had one ship in the U.S. I was also fascinated with their Yacht Club idea which gives a luxury “ship within a ship” experience. It didn’t take me long to say “yes” and before long Mom and I were off packing to head off on the MSC Divina. The ship leaves out of Miami for the Caribbean, while the other ships of this Italian owned line travel throughout the world. ( MSC is in the process of bringing two additional ships to Miami in the next few years.) It’s a fairly large vessel with 1,637 cabins that can hold nearly 4,000 passengers. I’d like to say that the check-in process was all quick and easy, but there was a bit of confusion as to where the MSC Divina Yacht Club passengers were to go. Once that was settled and we were in the right place, we had ch

I had fallen in love with the Nisbet Plantation on Nevis and was going to make the most of my final day here. Friend and fellow travel writer Sue Campbell, who was going to be heading back to snowy Montreal when she left, was right alongside me – on the beach. Fortunately, we did have a little more sun time, even when we left here. The first thing that excited me when I was reading about Nisbet Plantation was the hammocks on the beach. Ironically, I had been here four days and hadn’t made it to the hammocks. After we had our last beachside breakfast at Coconuts, Sue and I went right down to those hammocks. I actually finished a book for the first time in months. All too soon it came time for our driver to pick us up and take us to the boat launch to St. Kitts .  We said goodbye to the staff, especially our very gracious host, General Manager, Alistair Forrest. We waved goodbye to Nevis as our boat docked in St. Kitts after a very short six minute ride.

I slept well after a full day that had included an amazing snorkeling trip on a catamaran . After dressing casually I took a stroll down to the beach to meet my friend and fellow travel writer, Sue Campbell, for breakfast at Nisbet Plantation in Nevis. Coconuts is the name of the beachfront restaurant at the resort. It was once again a beautiful day to enjoy the view of the turquoise sea while we ate.  I had some tasty banana coconut pancakes with fresh juice and yogurt. We didn’t have much time to admire the view as we were being picked up soon for a tour of Nevis with a representative of the island’s tourism board. Our first stop was to look at the remains of the last sugar plantation on the island. It was here we also started talking about the monkeys. We were told the green monkeys in Nevis outnumber the people, yet we hadn’t seen any in the three days we had been there.  There were none to be seen at the old plantation, so our hopes were on the n