Not Just Travel with Rob and Amy

31/10/2026

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆.

Slow mornings, lakeside strolls and Italian food worth lingering over. Your Lake Maggiore escape awaits.

𝟰★ 𝗛𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗟𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆
𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 £𝟵𝟮𝟱𝗽𝗽, 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 €𝟮𝟰𝗽𝗽 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆.
𝟳 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗱 & 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁

Double Standard Room.
Return flights from your selected airport.
Transfers included.
Based on two adults sharing.

𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲:
𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗹 — 𝟭𝟮 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳
From £925pp + approximately €24pp tourist tax.

𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 — 𝟭𝟱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳
From £925pp + approximately €24pp tourist tax.

𝗘𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗵 — 𝟭𝟱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳
From £965pp + approximately €24pp tourist tax.

𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝘁𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗸 — 𝟭𝟱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟳
From £1,025pp + approximately €24pp tourist tax.

Message me to plan your Italian lakes escape.

ATOL Protected.* Local taxes, fees, charges and exchange rates may vary before travel. Prices are subject to change and availability. Terms & Conditions apply. Supplier Citalia

29/10/2026

27/10/2026

The Month of November means Black Friday is coming and it is the perfect time to think about next years holiday.

Quite often the cheapest offers come during this period and will start going up throughout December.

You do get real savings: Data from consumer watchdogs indicates that prices for many package holidays and flights tend to rise immediately after the event or during January peaks so keep an eye out.

We will be posting supplier offers, package holidays and curated deals during November, keep following so you don't miss out!

27/10/2026

𝐍̲𝐨̲𝐭̲ 𝐉̲𝐮̲𝐬̲𝐭̲ 𝐓̲𝐫̲𝐚̲𝐯̲𝐞̲𝐥̲ 𝐰̲𝐢̲𝐭̲𝐡̲ 𝐑̲𝐨̲𝐛̲ 𝐚̲𝐧̲𝐝̲ 𝐀̲𝐦̲𝐲̲ 𝟐̲𝟎̲𝟐̲𝟔̲ 𝐇̲𝐨̲𝐥̲𝐢̲𝐝̲𝐚̲𝐲̲

𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘴 7 𝘢𝘯𝘥 8 - 𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘰𝘻𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘢

After our lovely relaxing day at sea we were ready to go exploring and tick another country off our list. Having never been to Mexico before, we were really looking forward to our next couple of days with excursions booked for both of them:
𝘿𝙖𝙮 7 𝘾𝙤𝙯𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙡 - 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙚𝙛 𝙎𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙡 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙥
𝘿𝙖𝙮 8 𝘾𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙖 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙖 - 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙣 𝙍𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

𝗗̲𝗮̲𝘆̲ 𝟳̲

We started our day the same way that most go when sailing, by heading outside on our balcony to survey the surroundings. It's quite exciting to wake up and realise you are somewhere different from the night before, catching that first glimpse of a new place and taking it all in.
However, on this occasion we had docked already and the angle we were at meant it was just a sea view. The ocean still looked beautiful though...

We had an early excursion and Amy had thoughtfully requested a cabin service breakfast the night before. The door knocked before we new it and a nice man delivered our food which we devoured quickly before getting ready to head out.
If you have an excursion booked, the tickets will be delivered under your door the evening before. Now, we definitely got our tickets the night before but upon leaving our cabin, could I find them.....NO.
We threw everything in the room around looking for the tickets but could not find them anywhere and it started to get stressful as we needed to be at our meeting point 9 decks below in 10 mins.
So, we just left hoping we could sort it at the meeting point. It worked out, they had to manually write a ticket our for us and meant we were last to leave but at least we were still allowed to go!

Once off the ship we walked along the pier looking for a sign held aloft with our designated number. We found our group and went through the brief instructions and safety info before heading out with our guide to find our boat that would take us around the Island of Cozumel and throw us into the water at certain intervals.

All ports are different but do also have very similar themes where you usually get funneled through an area with local shops/stalls where people try to sell you their wares. This was no different and after a little walk we were out on the waterfront heading towards our next boat.
Weather wise we had been very lucky so far and had not seen any rain on our whole holiday. It was looking quite overcast and with the tropical heat it felt like our dry spell would be over soon....

We joined our boat with about 14 other people and began our trip around the island. The crew and our guide explained the trip and provided us with all the necessary gear - snorkel mask, life jacket and fins.
After previously snorkeling in Thailand for the first time without any instructions or life jackets, this was a new experience and felt slightly backwards from how we should have done it but at least they had our safety in mind!

They took us to 3 different locations around the Island where we jumped into the water and got to explore the reefs. We spotted loads of different fishes, with huge shoals in places and random looking creatures. The highlights were the puffer fish and sting rays. Unfortunately, no turtles or Nemo's were found :(

When we were in the water on our third snorkel spot the heavens decided to open which was quickly followed by some bellowing thunder and streaks of lightning. Our guide shouted to everyone that we 'should' be fine but if we wanted to head back to the boat we could. And guess what, everyone did!!!
Amy and myself were bobbing up and down in the water looking at each other as everyone decided to get out of the rain. I was loudly exclaiming that they were all wimps (maybe in a slightly more cursive nature) and that we were wet anyway but as we couldn't be the only two left we had to follow the crowd and get back on the boat.
The journey back to the ship was made in pouring rain while the crew passed out little cans of b**r to everyone. We had a canape on the boat that everyone was huddled under to avoid the rain except for the two of us who stood proudly out in the open and at the front enjoying the warm water falling from the sky (sometimes horizontally) onto our already soaked persons.

Once back to shore we walked back to the ship in the still pouring rain with soaking clothes and squeaky croc's but still laughing and enjoying the experience.

It was a decent excursion which we would happily recommend to anyone else. Would have been a bit better if the sun was out and we could see more of the Mexican surroundings but is still a great option for all weathers as you will be getting wet anyway!

It was time to dry off, shower away the salt water and get dressed for the evening ahead. No themed night on this occasion but we did have a speciality restaurant booked for dinner at the 'Kaito Teppanyaki' to look forward to.

I had always wanted to have a Teppanyaki meal and we really enjoyed it. The food was all excellent and the man cooking for us did everything to keep us entertained and create a great atmosphere.

Things went a little pear shaped as the evening went on though. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time but the sake, w**e, wh**ky, cocktails and shots that somehow managed to get consumed must have added up over time.....we were on the dance floor by the end of the night busting moves and having fun. Nothing wrong with this but we did have an 8am start the next day for our trip to see some Mayan Ruins.....

𝗗̲𝗔̲𝗬̲ 𝟴̲

We woke up on this day with sore heads, dry mouths, hazy memories and some half eaten pizza which we can only assume was procured from the buffet on our way back to the cabin...

Our trip today was to the Chacchoben Ruins in the Costa Maya area of the Mexican Mainland. It was due to leave at 8am so we had no choice but to pull ourselves together and get moving.

No time for breakfast but we did pack a bag with some electrolyte drinks and snacks that would help us negotiate our day.

The Costa Maya cruise port was surrounded by jungle and it felt like we were totally in Mexico now. We headed out to meet our guide and jump on the coach which was to take us to our tour around the ancient ruins.
The next hour we drove through the Mexican jungle while we both fought off the nausea, anxiety and sore heads as a result of our previous nights antics.
At great relief we arrived to the car park and were now able to walk around and explore Chacchoben, one of the Major Mayan archaeological sites in Mexico.
This is the most visited ruins site in Costa Maya and has stood for centuries as a silent testament to the grandeur of the ancient Mayan civilization. While most of the site is still buried under blankets of lush vegetation there are some parts which have been fully restored and are available to wander around including the impressive 'Temple 1'.

We spent the next hour and a half walking around the ruins with our guide. It was a really good excursion where we got to climb up parts of the temples, watch monkeys jumping between trees and take plenty of photos.

Thankfully, the walking had brought us closer to the world of the living and by the end of our tour we were fully (almost) functioning adults again. After a quick visit to one of the gift shop areas we decided to get some authentic nachos from the food stall. Please note - do not purchase nachos from the food stall, take a sandwich or food from the ship. They aint worth it!!

Once we took our return journey back to the cruise port we wandered around the area to have a better look. There is a beach club here with pools, shops, bars and plenty of places to stop off for a while and enjoy the surroundings. After binning our nachos earlier we decided to buy a trio of quesadillas from one of the busier looking food stands. Unfortunately, we probably wouldn't recommend this earlier. Maybe it was just bad luck on the day but the food on the ship was way better.

We had spent a lot of the day in the sun and heat, walking about and burning off our hangover so were quite happy to go back to the ship and get cleaned up before joining in the 'White' party theme for the evening.

Amy had a beautiful white dress and I managed to scrape together my shirt and a light grey pair of shorts to partially join the whiteness.

We took the evening slowly, not wanting to indulge as much as the previous night. Having a couple of cocktails and some nice food before watching everyone in the ships atrium dancing with their outfits on..
One back in the cabin I was forced to wear a face mask and we chilled out for the evening with some TV and a quiet night

𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 '𝙍𝙤𝙗 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙢𝙮' 𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙮.
𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 4 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝘼𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝, 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥. 𝙄𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩, 𝙄 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚.....

𝘿𝙖𝙮 9 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩, 𝙥𝙪𝙗 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 (15 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙨). 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨, 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙗𝙖𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙘𝙚.

𝙒𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣.............

21/10/2026

🎯Sometimes its finding the right deals at the right time!🎯

Considering a cruise around the Canary Islands?
On selected cruises from 1st January to 30th April 2027, Marella are currently offering free upgrades from inside Cabins to Seaview options.
Need some outside space? Balcony cabins are only £10pn extra in the same deal!
Offer ending soon!

P&O cruises are offering an extra 10% discount to clients who have sailed with them before.
Offer expires 27th October!

If any of these sound appealing or you would like information on any other cruises or holidays, get in touch with us now.

&O

21/10/2026

𝐍̲𝐨̲𝐭̲ 𝐉̲𝐮̲𝐬̲𝐭̲ 𝐓̲𝐫̲𝐚̲𝐯̲𝐞̲𝐥̲ 𝐰̲𝐢̲𝐭̲𝐡̲ 𝐑̲𝐨̲𝐛̲ 𝐚̲𝐧̲𝐝̲ 𝐀̲𝐦̲𝐲̲ 𝟐̲𝟎̲𝟐̲𝟔̲ 𝐇̲𝐨̲𝐥̲𝐢̲𝐝̲𝐚̲𝐲̲

Days - 5&6 - Nassau, Bahamas and First Sea Day (Plus the quest for white shorts)

𝗡𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘂:

Our first full day of our cruise was going to dock at Nassau in the Bahamas. We didn't book an excursion for this one as we had done some research before hand which made it look like we would be better to walk off the ship and explore the area ourselves. We wanted to get some more time on the ship while it was a bit quieter as well and it's the perfect time to do this when others are off on trips ashore.

The ship came into port in the morning and we watched from our balcony as more and more of the Bahamas came into view. It was a beautiful sight and reminded us why we really like cruising, experiencing different countries and cultures on an almost daily basis that you may never visit again.

After a nice hearty breakfast in the morning, we took our time and had a leisurely stroll off the ship around 11.30am.

Now, we had a side quest today....aquiring a pair of nice, white shorts.
Most cruise lines operate themed evenings during the sailing and we had a few different ones coming up. Tropical, Gala, 60's/70's/80's and white night.

I'm not one that is great at picking wardrobes for these type of things but I was definitely more prepared on this occasion. A shirt with palm trees for tropical night, a nice black shirt and smart shorts for gala night, a shirt Amy described as 'it will do' for the throwback evening and a smart white shirt with anchors on it for white night.

However, I didn't have any white shorts and despite my efforts visiting loads of shops before we went on our cruise and frantically checking multiple gift stores on International Drive, there was no suitable attire anywhere.

So, this left me with two options. Procuring white shorts on board the ship or locating an appropriate clothing store on our port days in Nassau or Cozumel (time was running out).

After disembarking the ship we walked around the heavily tourist orientated port before heading a bit deeper into the town. There were shops everywhere and we probably visited 90% of them.
You can buy loads of little gifts, clothing (except white shorts) and random things but what surprised us most was the quantity of p***s shaped drinking receptacles, they were everywhere and all different shapes and sizes. We didn't fancy a ph***ic souvenir for our mantelpiece....

We walked on past the shops and went back towards the shore line further on from the ship. We fancied a cocktail as the temperature was pretty hot so went on the search for a suitable venue.
There was a Señor Frog's we went past but decided to miss this one out as the music was too loud.
After a 10 min walk or so we came across the Margharitaville beach resort. It was a nice place which had their own private beach and a bar outside the hotel so we grabbed a nice seat and sipped on a couple of fancy Marg's for the next 40 mins or so.
We really felt like we were in the Caribbean and it was nice to just sit down, chill and take in the surroundings.

After this we decided to head back to the ship and see what we could get up to onboard. Of course, not without entering another 30 shops on the way looking for white shorts than never materialised.....

We spent the rest of the day on the ship, wandering around the different venues, taking part in a quiz (we didn't win) and preparing for Tropical Night.
We had a really nice evening, adorned with bright colours, palm trees and pink heels (Amy!). There was lovely food, loads of drinks and a night in our favourite venue - La Cabaret Rouge, a beautiful part of the ship for evening entertainment with tiered levels of seating and a stage and dance floor at the bottom. We particularly like watching the Karaoke here, well produced with some surprisingly talented singers and some not so.....

𝗦𝗲𝗮 𝗗𝗮𝘆

Most cruises will have one or two days where you are plump in the middle of the ocean as they sail to your next destination and these days are ones where you really get to explore the ship, relax and take part in different activities.

MSC pack so many different things that you can take part in throughout the day and night, there is always something to do. And if you just want to relax, sunbathe or read a book then there are so many different parts of the ship where you can find a spot outside on deck or in a nice lounge to chill.

We like to mix it up, have some chill time and also take part in some of the activities so we tend to just go with the flow and see what happens.

On our first sea day we spent a fair bit of time in the Aurea area, relaxing in the sun and enjoying the peaceful feeling of sailing across the ocean.
It was Gala night so we dressed up for the evening and enjoyed our dinner and visiting a few of the bars and lounges. The night ended with us back in La Cabaret Rouge for the Karaoke.
It was an early night for us though as we had an early morning excursion booked for the following day at our next port of call:
Cozumel, Mexico and the Three Reef Snorkel trip.

15/10/2026

𝐍̲𝐨̲𝐭̲ 𝐉̲𝐮̲𝐬̲𝐭̲ 𝐓̲𝐫̲𝐚̲𝐯̲𝐞̲𝐥̲ 𝐰̲𝐢̲𝐭̲𝐡̲ 𝐑̲𝐨̲𝐛̲ 𝐚̲𝐧̲𝐝̲ 𝐀̲𝐦̲𝐲̲ 𝟐̲𝟎̲𝟐̲𝟔̲ 𝐇̲𝐨̲𝐥̲𝐢̲𝐝̲𝐚̲𝐲̲

𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝟰-𝟭𝟬, 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗠𝗦𝗖 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲

After our crazy 4 park day previously, we were now ready to embark on the next part of our holiday and have some much needed relaxation. We had booked a 7 night cruise with MSC for the middle part of our trip and were looking forward to something completely different for the next week!

Having sold a lot of cruises to our clients and this being our 3 time doing this we really feel like we are becoming 'Cruise' people. It's such a great way to see varied destinations in one holiday and with everything you need (usually more) onboard you ship it can be just as chilled as a good All Inclusive adventure on land.

This was a nice cruise at a really good price point when we booked it. Of course we had a drinks package but we also added on a few shore excursions and a couple of speciality restaurants to give us more variety during our trip.

The cruise we picked was sailing the '𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗯𝗲𝗮𝗻' aboard 𝗠𝗦𝗖 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲:

𝘋𝘢𝘺 1 - 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭
𝘋𝘢𝘺 2 - 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘶, 𝘉𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴
𝘋𝘢𝘺 3 - 𝘈𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘢
𝘋𝘢𝘺 4 - 𝘊𝘰𝘻𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘭, 𝘔𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘰
𝘋𝘢𝘺 5 - 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘢, 𝘔𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘰
𝘋𝘢𝘺 6 - 𝘈𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘢
𝘋𝘢𝘺 7 - 𝘖𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘺, 𝘉𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴 (𝘔𝘚𝘊'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥)
𝘋𝘢𝘺 8 - 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭

This post I will concentrate on our embarkation day, it wasn’t too eventful but it did feel quite busy and hectic at the time.

Once we had re-packed our suitcases and tested out our poor wee sore feet from the previous days escapade it was time to check out from the Rosen Inn International and head off to Port Canaveral for our embarkation day. The hotel is around 58 miles to the cruise terminal and we found the best option was to book an Uber to take us there.
It was about $80 for the trip and we got there in just over an hour.

Embarkation day for a cruise can be chaos. Similar to an airport, you need to drop your luggage to be transported onto the ship before joining a queue for the check in process. We gave our big cases to a man once we figured out where they were to go and then went to join the queue.

Now, there are different queues. The first one here was just to get into the terminal and it was long. In the beating Florida sun we were queuing outside for probably around 45 mins before we got up the escalator and into the terminal. We've done this before, we kind of knew what it could be like and to be honest, it wasn't that bad.
As we had booked an upgraded 'Aurea' level cabin, this provided us with a couple of perks, one of which was supposed to be priority boarding. We had hoped that this would mean we could skip the first queue but when we asked a 'man' we were advised to join the back of the big queue. The only ones who can skip right to the front are those who book into the 'Yacht Club', more on this later but it does cost about double the cruise fare....

Once we got into the terminal, we then got our priority boarding perk and went to the start of our 2nd queue. This one only took about 10 mins until we got to a desk where we gave our passports etc and completed the embarkation process. If we didn't have this, it would have been so much longer, the other queue was massive and we were certainly glad of our extra perk then!

The whole process took us just over an hour once we had arrived and in standard embarkation day terms, this is more than acceptable.

We had of course seen the ship already when we first drew up and while we queued up outside. It was huge, you couldn't miss it! With the capacity to hold 5600 passengers with an additional 1600 crew members it needs to be! Port Canaveral is massive and there were other cruise ships there but maybe we were biased, ours looked the best (well apart from the Disney one Amy was eyeing up).

We wandered up the different gangways/tunnels connecting the terminal to our ship. There are crew members waiting for you before you board who greet you, check your papers provided at the desk and then direct you to where your cabin is located along with your muster station.
Your muster station is where you need to go to if there are any emergencies and hopefully (and most probably), you only need to go there once. As part of the embarkation process you need to check in at your muster station and watch a safety video in your cabin. If you don't do this, they will find you and make you walk the plank. Okay, maybe not but it's something you need to do and probably best to just get it over and done with as soon as you board.

As we are seasoned cruisers and had already explored the ship virtually, we realised our muster station was close to where we were, so we went there first, checked in with a nice lady and then headed off to our cabin to drop our hand luggage and pick up our cruise cards.

Although you drop your luggage before boarding you should always carry a piece of hand luggage with you that contains everything you might need for the next few hours. Your actual cases will be delivered to your stateroom at some point during the day but it could be a wee while before you see them so a change of clothes, toothbrush etc is handy to keep on your person.

Our cruise cards were on our cabin door waiting for us to collect them. These are your bread and butter when on the ship and you use them for everything. They get you in and out of your room, turn on the electricity and are used to make any purchases. You will usually need to link a credit card to your cruise card for any purchases, this can be done 28 days before you arrive and is certainly advisable as there is always a rush of people trying to do this when they first come aboard.

We were on board for about 12.30 and our cabin looked ready. They say there are not ready until 2pm but you still get access to watch the security video and get a wash if you want to. Once we had freshened up and viewed the boring video on what to do if we sunk, it was time for us to explore the ship and get familiarised with our home for the next week.

There are 20 decks, 17 bars, 4 main dining rooms, 1 huge buffet, 4 speciality restaurants, a casino, water park, pools, theater and soo much more aboard the Seashore that it takes quite a while to explore the whole ship. It can often be quite daunting to even know where to start and on boarding day, everyone else doesn't really have an idea where things are.
This can mean it feels quite chaotic on the first day, people mill around and generally follow the crowds or bunch up in specific areas. Don’t judge your cruise by the first day, get involved with the rest of the crowd or go find a nice part that isn’t so busy and relax.
Try to do everything and you might get frustrated with how busy it is, just wait for tomorrow once people have found thier spots and it will be so much better!

Another perk of having the ‘Aurea’ experience was that we had an exclusive bar and area on deck 19. It was outside, with sun loungers, comfortable couches and nice cabanas to relax on. This is where we chose to spend a little bit of chill time, sipping on some lovely cocktails and enjoying the view out to sea.
It was a lot more chilled compared to the rest of the ship and perfect for the ‘sail away’. We frequented this area a lot over the coming days!

The next thing for us to consider was food. On day 1 the buffet can be a bit chaotic but we trotted off there anyway to see what was available. It was busy but we didn’t mind, we walked around to see what was on offer and grabbed a few bits and pieces to take back to our table. The food in the buffet is decent, quality can be a mix but it also depends on what you like. One thing MSC are famous for is their Pizza, it is really good and always has loads available at the buffet.

For actual meal times on the ship you are allocated one of the specific main dining rooms and given a daily time slot. If you are given one that doesn’t suit you then you may have to speak with guest services or the restaurant manager to have it changed.
This didn’t apply to us as another perk of ‘Aurea’ was ‘anytime dining’ so we could rock up to our restaurant whenever we wanted for dinner.
The sit down meals here are good quality and you get a few choices for starters, mains and deserts.
The MSC app will show you what is on the menu for thar day and usually the next couple, this certainly helps you to decide if you want to book a seciality restaurant for any of the nights or even just have dinner at the buffet.

We had a Teppanyaki dinner and a Steak Dinner booked before hand and just needed to decide on which day we were going to have them.
You get the whole daily itinerary on your app which includes everything that is happening around the ship (and outside on port days) so you can plan as much or as little as you like.

After we watched the ship sail away and said ‘see you in a week’ to Florida it was time to head to the room and freshen up for our dinner.

We got dressed for dinner and went for a nice meal. I can’t really remember what we had and to be honest, not much of what we did for the rest of the evening as we didn't take many pics and it had felt such a busy day we just wanted to chill.

There was karaoke (watching), a quiz and plenty of cocktails for us as we relaxed into our cruise before heading off to bed and our next day where we would visit Nassau in the Bahamas.

We did get our cases….

13/10/2026

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐨𝐛 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲
(beware, this is a long blog type post, you may need snacks before reading)

Day 3 - Disney World 4 Park Challenge

Okay, we love Disney and between us have visited 11 times. (me once and Amy x 10) but our holiday this time was mostly to visit Universal and go on our Caribbean Cruise.

However, a trip to Orlando cannot be done without some kind of visit to Disney so we decided to go big for our respective 2nd and 11th visit.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟒 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 - Doing Disney in one day...

There are a few ways to do this and you can make as many rules on it as you want but our own curated challenge was as follows:

Visit all 4 main Disney Parks - Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Magic Kingdom
Take a selfie at each of the main landmarks in each (tree of life, Millennium Falcon, Big Golf Ball and Cindarella's Castle)
Go on at least one ride in each
Have a snack in each
Use each unique mode of transport between the parks - Monorail, Disney Bus, Ferry and Skyliner
Also, because we are both borderline Jakeballs, have one alcoholic drink in each park
And see the fireworks in Magic Kingdom

Sound simple? Our legs and mental health beg to differ....

It took some planning but we basically knew how we were going to go about this. Some things went according to plan, some things needed to be amended but we completed the challenge, even if it may have caused permanent damage to our legs.....
Amy's use of the Lightning Lane options was essential and something I cannot explain. We just wouldn't have been able to complete the challenge without the magnificent manipulation off this added (cost) option.

Up early. Disney outfits adorned and Uber booked to the first park of the day for opening time - Animal Kingdom at 8am.

𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 - 8am

We did what is commonly know as 'Rope Drop' arriving at the park for the main opening. We really wanted to go on the ride 'Flight of Passage' in the Pandora area of the park so it was important to head straight to this attraction first. It can have a long wait time, often well over an hour and time was not a commodity we could play with.

It was busy, lots of people around and with the rule that you cannot run in the parks we had to make a beeline straight out the gate.
When we arrived to the ride queue and seen the start of it we kept walking to find the end we needed to join. We kept walking, and walking and walking. The queue was huge, obviously everyone else had the same idea and wanted to go on this ride too.
Never mind, in for a penny...

50 mins later we had completed our first ride of the day. 'Flight of passage' is still one of my favourite rides, an immersive experience flying through the world of Avatar on a banshee. This 3d flying simulator is top class and well worth the wait time.

Talking about time, none to waste. We wondered around the park, got our selfie at the tree of life and sat down with our first snack and drink of the day - Baked Macaroni with cheese and pulled pork, Black Garlic, truffle and Parmesan fries along with 2 x Bubbling Pink Lagoon's to wash it down.

Then we did another ride, oldschool but still cool 'Expedition Everest' (Yeti, broken tracks, backwards funetc)
After about 3 hours in this park, we headed off to catch a Disney bus to Hollywood Studios

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝟏 - 𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦
Selfie - In front of the tree of life
Ride/s - Flight of Passage and Expedition Everest
Food - Mac and Cheese, Topped Chips
Drink - Vodka Cocktail
Transport - Disney Bus to Hollywood Studios

𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐬 - around Midday

About 35 mins time taken to get from one park to the other we got here at lunchtime and were ready to head to my favourite part of the park, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

It's amazing, the whole land is made to look like you are on another planet with sprawling rock formations, spaceships and many storm troopers skulking around.

We got our selfie in front of the Millennium Falcon before heading into our first ride 'Smugllers run'. Great fun! 6 People ride at the same time, 2 on steering, 2 on guns and 2 on engineering. Amy missed shooting things and I crashed into things.
I don't care. One of my lifelong ambitions was to fly the Millennium Falcon and even if I smashed it off a few walls, it still counts!

Then, with the benefit of Amy's masterful Lighting Lane Planning we went to arguably the best ride in all Disney Parks - 'Rise of the Resistance'. An immersive, trackless ride with amazing cast acting, spectacular visuals and awesome story. Riding past full size AT-AT's while being shot at by stormtroopers is so much fun.

Our first 'snack' at animal kingdom was still sitting in our bellies so we had to go a little lighter for our next one. We chose a bag of freshly made crisps (chips...) with dips and a b**r flight. I greedily ordered a b**r flight for both of us rather than sharing but in my defense, my legs were already sore and I needed to numb them a little!

We wondered around the rest of the park, taking in everything but not stopping too much.

Time just kept timing and we had a mission to complete so we said goodbye to Hollywood studios and directed ourselves towards the 'Skyliner' to catch a cable car over to Epcot and continue our whistle stop tour.

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝟐 - 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐬:

Selfie - In front of the Millennium Falcon
Ride/s - Smugglers Run, Rise of the Resistance
Snack - Chips n dips
Drink - B**r Flight (each)
Transport - Skyliner to Epcot

𝐄𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐭 𝟑𝐩𝐦

We got to the gates of Epcot around 3pm. So far so good, 3 hours in each of the first two parks and well on schedule.

The Epcot international Food and W**e festival was on during our visit and we were really looking forward to wandering around the whole of the park and sampling different delicacies from all the pop up stalls.

This is where things started not going to plan...

September is generally a low season for the Florida parks as a lot of kids are back at school and it is prime hurricane season so they tend to get less visitors than at other times of the year.

However, everyone in Epcot did not realise this was the case and the park was absolutely heaving. The crowds were the biggest we have ever seen here and it made things a bit difficult.

We know why it was so busy but our holiday itinerary meant this was the only viable day for us to do the challenge. Being a Saturday, one of the last weekends the Florida Resident Ticket deals ended and sandwiched between Friday and Sunday's 'Not So Scary Halloween Party' meant a lot of regular visitors had funneled in on this specific day!

Some of the queues for the festival booths looked like they would be 30/40 mins long. This compares to about 10 mins on a usual day. Attractions had really long wait times too.

Never the less, we made the best we could out of the park. We walked around the whole circular route, through France, China, Germany, Mexico and all the other global marketplaces on offer.

Epcot is a great park but with it being so busy for our challenge it meant we didn't get to experience as much as we would like and take things in as usual.

for our ride, we went up to the area housing 'Soarin - Across Amercia' as this didn't seem to have much of a wait. When we arrived at the ride opening it said 20 mins so we decided to jump straight in.
'Soarin' is a simulator ride that moves around to give you the feeling of flying through all the different locations played out on screen. We have really enjoyed this in the past but the current iteration was not as good as previous ones. Not because of the places you were flying through, it just seemed a little dis-jointed and not in time with the music. Still fun though.

After we disembarked from the ride, we went into the large cafe area to grab our drink and snack.
Now, tiredness must have been hitting us at this point as we totally forgot to take a picture of the drink and snack we had. We just ate and guzzled what was in front of us for fuel and a little burst of energy.
In fact, in retrospect, neither of us can even remember what we had!

This was a disaster. When we left the area we realised no photo had been taken and without documentation, our challenge would have been failed!!!!

So, we did what any normal human beings would do. We got another snack and drink before sitting in a bench area and people watching for the next 30 mins.
We got a couple of different b**rs and a mickey shaped ice cream to enjoy while observing the people from all round the world, wandering all round the world.

This little rest gave our flagging muscles a little time to re-charge before heading over to magic kingdom. Of course, not before we got the obligatory selfie in front of the giant iconic Epcot golf ball (sorry, I know it has a name) - Spaceship earth.

Next stop, the Disney Monorail.

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝟑 - 𝐄𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐭

Selfie - Spaceship Earth (golf ball)
Ride - Soarin - Across America
Snack - Micky Shaped Ice cream
Drink - 2 Random B**rs
Transport - Monorail to Magic Kingdom

𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 - 𝟔.𝟏𝟓𝐩𝐦

As we needed to get on all four Disney Operated transport offerings we got off the Monorail at the 'Transport and Ticketing center' before heading down to the Disney Ferry across the 'Seven Seas' Lagoon to get to the park entrance.

We arrived into the park and immediately went for our selfie in front of Cinderella's castle. This was at 6.45pm which meant we still had plenty of time to explore the park, get on a few rides and find a place to watch the fireworks show at 9.30pm.

Part of our challenge was to get a wee alcoholic drink at each park. This is simple in the first three as you can find many locations for a b**r, cocktail or whatever your tipple is. However, magic kingdom is different. You can only purchase alcohol from speciality sit down restaurants or by booking a 'magical extra'.

Amy had arranged for something after the fireworks so I was going to need to wait for any further painkilling beverages.

However, I didn't have to wait too long for one of the snacks we had been looking forward to all day. Cheeseburger Spring Rolls from the Egg Roll cart just outside the entrance to Adventureland.
A true Disney Delicacy that in our opinion, must be experienced by every visitor!

Okay, time for some attractions.

Our first ride was on the newest one - Tron Lightcycle Run. We had this on lighting lane so only queued for about 15 mins (wait times can be 60-120 mins often).
It's a great coaster with a very different seating position. You sit down, lean forward, grab onto the handrails and pull down. This brings in a restraint that goes around your back. Sounds uncomfortable but once your in and locked up it was felt safe, secure and didn't hurt anywhere (well except our legs but that was from the walking, not the ride).
You are launched on your futuristic bike through a track with twists and turns, inside and outside, great soundtrack and awesome visuals. Really like this new coaster!

After this we walked across the whole park to get to the next OG coaster, 'Big Thunder Mountain'. We had this on lightning lane too and although you do cut out quite a bit of the queue, it was really warm and humid inside while we waited to board.
I'd forgotten how much fun this coaster is. It's a nostalgic trip but one that still has plenty of thrills as you fly around the track on your mine cart.

After this we wondered over to Space Mountain for another of the OG rides. This is not my favourite ride. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it but if I'm being honest, it just scares me a little.
I think its a mix of the darkness, old rickety track and being thrown around so much that just unnerves me a bit.
But, sometimes that's why we go on coasters. It's not all just about fun, occasionally you need to have a wee boost of adrenaline and fear to remind you that your still alive.....

Then we went to have a shot on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. The shooting dark ride where I was going to show Amy who was boss and get the top leaderboard score.
Unfortunately again, my gun was broken and Amy won by default. Not fair, they should do something about that....

It was getting a bit later on and we found ourselves wandering over to Main Street to find a nice spot to watch the fireworks. The park was super busy at this point and we actually couldn't see anywhere close at first.
Cast members were ushering people around to try and keep spaces open for people to get through the crowd and we thought we would have to walk away back but some how, we were directed through a throng of people and ended up standing directly in front of Walt and Mickey's statue. It was the perfect spot.
What wasn't perfect was our feet and the fact we had 30 mins to wait until the fireworks came on.
After 30 mins of what can only be described as excruciating the show began and it was excellent. Amy had tears in her eyes almost from the start and even my smile was ear to ear.

It felt like we managed to do something special in the most magical of places. Our exploits of the day had without a doubt been tough at times but it was thoroughly enjoyable and I am so glad we pushed ourselves to have a Disney day when it wasn't originally on our holiday agenda.

We were both ready to head back to our hotel, our bodies and minds screaming for a rest.

But, it wasn't over.

We hadn't completed the challenge yet. There was still the last drink to be had at the last park.

I have to say, Amy had planned this one perfectly.

She had pre-booked us into the 'Beak and Barrel' for our final celebratory drink and experience.

This themed lounge needs to be booked in advance. It is free to book but can be very popular so needs to be planned.
It is a pirate themed bar which has amazing, well thought decor. The cast members/staff are fully in character and there is a cheeky wee animatronic parrot who belts out songs and jokes throughout (his name is Rummy).
You get 45 mins maximum and are allowed two drinks per person.
Amy had a 'Lit Fuse' and a 'Hibiscus Rum Punch Royale' while I had a 'Siren’s Whisper' and a 'Barrels Ablaze'.
No idea what was in them, at that point I was just glad to be sitting down.
We shared some 'Island Provisions' which was a mix of Plantain Chips, Blue Corn Tortillas, and Toasted Flatbread served with Mango Chutney, Garlic Chimichurri, Spiced Guava, and Zesty Culantro Cream Dips.

After our 45 minutes of sitting down (thank you) and on about our third rendition of 'yo ho ho, it's a pirates life for me' it was time to leave and head down main street to board the monorail back to the transport and ticketing center.

But again, on leaving the Beak and Barrel I just couldn't help myself.
Pirates of the Caribbean had a 5 min wait time according to the sign so we just had to continue the theme and have one last ride.
We walked straight on, no wait. It was great and the perfect end to an amazing day.

𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 - 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦

Selfie - In front of the castle
Rides - Tron, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean
Snack/s - Cheeseburger spring rolls, Island Provisions
Drinks - Pirate cocktails at Beak and Barrel
Transport - Disney Ferry

So that was it. We left our final park and once we caught the monorail, jumped on an Uber at the transport hub and drove off back to our hotel.

37600 steps, 18.75 miles. Sore legs but happy hearts.

Would we do it again?

Probably not, it was a great achievement but we would both rather have more time in each park and enjoy aspects with a bit more freedom than the challenge provided.

Yo ho ho, it's a pirates life for me!!!