Progressive travel report including msc divina 13 may

04:09:59am

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The alarm clock Shows 04:10am it's Friday, almost an untidy early morning in Sweden, and the vacation starts right now.

Who are we?

I am Mikael and I am traveling with my wife Kerstin. We are seasoned travelers , mostly in Europe, and USA. We work to be able to travel as much as we can. We live in a middle sized suburb about 21 km northwest from Stockholm Sweden. I work as a field engineer with IT, and my wife works as a registerd nurse, just a few hundred meters from our home.

Background and booking:

After our first cruise Feb 2016 on NCL Getaway we fell in love with the cruising holiday concept. We had some friends that were on the Divina in July 2016 and they absolutely loved every minute of that cruise.

We have not planned to go on a cruise this summer, the plan was to go to Greece or Cyprus for a week. But when the prices are almost the same. The choice was a no brainier. We made the booking direct on the MSC webpage. We opted for a fantastica inside guarantee. This included the all inclusive drink package "classic" for about $549 with tax per person. After about three weeks after the booking we was "upgraded" to a fantastica balcony on the 13th floor. This is one of the smallest balcony cabins on the ship. And we have the room right under the start of the buffet. The balcony also have the infamous overhang. Is it a upgrade?, a balcony is a nice upgrade!

To quote a fellow cruise critic member:

"Don't they know that balcony staterooms are gateway drugs leading to suites?"

I will get post more about the cabin later. We found a flight the day before the cruise with Scandinavian. We are flying from ARN (Stockholm - Sweden) to OSL (Oslo-Norway) with a one hour layover. And from Oslo direct to Miami on a 10hrs flight. First flight out is at 07:45am local time.(Translates to 01:45am EDT) I think we would like to cruise more, but the costs for the flight and pre-cruise hotels is eating a hole in the travel budget. And Mediterranean cruises, do not have the same appeal. We have visited quite a few of the ports and islands and attractions in Mediterranean and Scandinavia.

Pre cruise travel Itinerary:

May 12th

CEST 07:45 - CEST 08:45 ARN - OSL

Liveflight tracking click here

CEST 09:55 - EDT 14:00 OSL - MIA

Liveflight tracking click here

EDT 15:30 pickup rental car at Alamo

EDT 16:30 Arrive at Hampton Inn & Suites Miami-Doral/Dolphin Mall

EDT 18:00 Dinner at dolphin mall

EDT 20:00 One or two beers at the hotel.

May 13th

EDT 08:00 Last minute shopping

EDT 11:00 Return car at Miami airport

EDT 12:00 Alamo courtesy bus to Port

Cruise Itinerary:

1 Miami Sa. 13 May 2017. To leave port at 19:00

2 At Sea - - Su. 14 May 2017

3 At Sea - - Mo. 14 May 2017

4 Philipsburg, st Maarten Tu. 16 May 2017 09:00 To leave port at 18:00

5 San Juan - Puerto Rico. We. 17 May 2017 08:00 To leave port at 16:00

6 At Sea - -

7 Nassau Fr. 19 May 2017 12:00. Leaving port at 18:00

8 Miami Sa. 20 May 2017 07:00

Pre-booked activities:

Philipsburg, st Maarten

Maho beach bum tour, provided by Shorefox

cost 43 $ per head

https://www.shorefox.com/shore-excursion/849/maho-beach-bum-tour

******

San Juan - Puerto Rico

El Yunque rainforest tour, provided by msc

cost 55 $ per head

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Cruise-Destinations/Caribbean-Antilles/Puerto-Rico/San-Juan.aspx

******

Nassau - Bahamas

Balmoral island beach day, provided by msc

cost 55 $ per head

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Cruise-Destinations/Caribbean-Antilles/Bahamas/Nassau.aspx

******

Post cruise Itinerary:

EDT 07:00 Get of ship early

EDT 08:00 Fight for the Alamo courtesy bus

EDT 08:45 Pickup Rental at airport

EDT 09:30 - 12:50 Express shopping

EDT 13:00 Return rental at airport

EDT 15:50 - 06:50 CEST MIA - OSL

Liveflight tracking click here

CEST 07:45 - 07:55 CEST OSL - ARN

Liveflight tracking click here

Diagnosis :D

Grumpy middle age man.

I love planning the holidays as much as I enjoy traveling on them. I sure there is a proper diagnosis for that behavior.

Boring bit:

The opinions I may express here is my own, and may not reflect someone else opinion.

This is meant to be a progressive travel report and not a full blown review. I'll try to write this report in my best possible English, English is not my native language. I And all I'll learned was in elementary school ages ago. So please bear in mind that the use of grammar and spelling may be completely batty sometimes.*

Let's start this progressive travel report.

Local time 05:15am

Bags are loaded in to the car. We like to take the car to the airport and not use taxi. By taking the car and not the taxi we "save" about 50 usd round trip.That’s includes the airport parking that is about 58usd for a week.

Last time we took a taxi to the airport was a near death experience.

We live about 30 km from Arlanda airport and the trip was no longer than 35 minutes not that much traffic a early Friday moring to the airport.

From the parking loot, we took the terminal bus to terminal five.

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** RANT **

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If there is something that can get me in a bad mood before a holiday, it's alfa and beta long-term parking at Arlanda Airport. It begins by driving into a gravel / semi-paved plane and if you have a newly washed car, you will be annoyed already there. Once you've finally found a spot to park, most likely in different time zone. You have to go out on the gravel road with a rolling bag that immediately gets dusty and gets gravel in the wheels. And the shoes that was newly polished will be dirty at once. The buses to the terminal only run 4 times per hour, which means they are always cramped. The buses are not adapted to passengers with luggage. This means that there will be a complete chaos when bags, people and prams are to be shared by narrow lanes and seats. This is under all criticism and one might wonder who did not think about it!

Shame on you Swedens biggest airport

And before anyone asks, I have taken my MEDICATION today !

#GrumpyMiddleAgedMan

We did the bag drop with Scandinavian at terminal 5 in less than 15 minutes. Loyalty pays, we got upgraded from coach to SAS business. Sweet. Now we have access to the SAS lounge and fast track security. Let's get a second breakfast at the lounge,and check if the beer taps are open at 6:00am ;D

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After small breakfast and lounge it's time to board the 737-700 to Oslo and our final flight to Miami.

"A seminar on time travel will be held in two weeks ago"

Announcements from cockpit, we are due for departure. But we got a broken light in the cockpit, and we are waiting for a flight tech to replace the light. Hopefully it will be fast replacement.

We got only 1:15 to change planes in Oslo.

We can not miss the flight to Miami from Oslo. There is no more connections from Oslo to Miami later that day.

The repair was probably successful​, push back at 07:58 local time. Delayed 12 minutes. The plane taxies about 10 minutes before we reached the take off runway Y10 / 19R heading North. Take off time at 08:06 local time.

Visibility is fantastic, clear blue sky. And not that much clouds. Even though it's technically spring in Sweden, this morning temperature was only 2 degrees Celsius. About 39 Fahrenheit if I am not wrong. Can't wait to feel some warmer weather.

We was offered a breakfast free of charge, this would be our third. I just had some apple juice.

Landed at 08:49, only 4 minutes after the schedule. Good for let's find the main flight

"A seminar on time travel will be held in two weeks ago"

Flight is full, boarding started at 0930. As we are traveling in business class we was among the first abord. As we where escorted to our seat. A glass of champagne magically appeared on table. Push back at 09:55 just according to schedule.

Leg room is amazing and this is something you can get used to. Seat even got built in massage function and firmness controller. How will I be able to go back to coach?

"A seminar on time travel will be held in two weeks ago"

I am loving this. Thank you!

They served cocktail before the meal service. I had a bloody Mary.

It was mix with shaker 😀 and it was so strong. There is a good selection of fine wines aboard. I am not a wine person, but my wife is enjoying the selection. They also have a selection of craft beers. I have tasted them before and sas selection of craft beer is a to advanced for my taste.

Starter:

Mixed salad with olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.

Fried pork neck, moose and juniper sausage from Norway with pickled onions and lingon berries.

So good

"A seminar on time travel will be held in two weeks ago"

Main Course:

Grilled iberico pork with parsley potatoes, green asparagus, cherry tomatoes and peppercorn jus

"A seminar on time travel will be held in two weeks ago"

Dessert:

Italian gelato with strawberrys with taste of Churchill's late bottled vintage port 2012.

Fantastic meal service. Good work sas.

"A seminar on time travel will be held in two weeks ago"

Definitely interested in hearing about the El Yunque Rainforest Tour as it is labeled as not hiking, but seems to be more of a driving tour.

I'll try to do my best on reporting that as well. Feel free to ask anything during this report.

"A seminar on time travel will be held in two weeks ago"

I am loving your report so far ! Thank you for sharing ! Have a great trip and safe travels !

After the meal service I had small nap in the lie flat seat's. They are most comfortable airlines seat's I ever tried. We started this trip in the early morning at 04:15 with not more than 4 hours of sleep. So this nap was the best. Right now we got 4:25 until touch down at Miami international. After we have landed, I have rental at Alamo that I supposedly​ have the bypass the counter service. Last time in usa at Chicago international, we was so fooled by the agent at the budget rent a car. We was tricked to sign for a silent upgrade, even though we have prepaid all rental and insurance. That will not happening again. Sometimes not being a native speaker make an easy target. I need to stop being so blue eyed. Time for a coffee and a snack

"A seminar on time travel will be held in two weeks ago"

Best coffee I ever had in the sky. For you coffee aficionados out there, they served illy coffee. So smooth and rich in taste without any bitter aftertaste.

"A seminar on time travel will be held in two weeks ago"

Great travel report!! Good luck with the rental car!

Final meal before arrival, tasted much better than it looks.

Veal cold cut, black-eyed peas, capers and cornichon. Potato salad with dried tomato, spring and red onions. Kale and apple pesto. Fresh cut fruit and some Valrhona Chocolat. Amazing per-landing meal. Only about 1 hrs before landing. Next update will be from the hotel in the doral area.

Subscribing. How fun.

The airline food is killing me. I've only gotten crackers and soda lately!!

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After frustrating navigation round the airport, we finally found the hotel. The gps took us on interesting detour. Now we need some food. Tomorrow's is cruise day. Weather here is so nice, when we left our home in Sweden is was 37 degrees!! Now something like 86. What an improvement. There might be some pictures from the hotel later, if not the jet lag hit me first.

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Alamo bypass the counter, gets my vote for best rental car service. Book your car online, choose type and any extra. Login add your driver's license information and credit card. then when you get to rental office , just go and grab any car in that range you booked. Drive up to the tollbooth hand over your license and your are on the way. No waiting in line, no upsales no hidden costs. Best choice I made in the car rental Jungle. No we have some food, there are some shopping to be done at dolphin mall. Wife probably need some more shoes ,😉 or a handbag. The ones packed are probably not the right colour.

Your wife has you trained!

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Thanks for the report and enjoy your cruise.

12 hour countdown; safe travels to port!

Looking forward to reading more! Have fun!

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Great review!

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Hello jet lag my old friend. 6hrs time difference, woke up at 2am. My body was screaming for coffee. This two hours after my body clock. Managed to go back to sleep. Soon we are heading down to get some breakfast. Hotel here is like what was the decorator smoking? Brownish carpet, pistachio green and yellow walls. Room is clean but could need some tlc. Checking in at the hotel was easy, the the staff here is very friendly. There is some more shopping to be done, before we go to the port. We have a check in time at 14:00. More to be upload and updated later. Will take some pictures from the hotel after breakfast.

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Love it!..See you soon