I got up at 4am to catch my 5am ride to the airport in Jamaica to head to Miami.
While Ogii was flying from Los Angeles to Miami.
I love Montenegro Bay.
The airport had a Jamaican Bobsled cafe.
With pictures of the bobsledders.
The only place open for breakfast was Starbucks.
They had a jerk chicken and cheese bagel.
A store selling many Jamaican sayings.
Ogii is flying over canyons.
I'm flying over water.
I was trying to sleep, but the two women beside me talked loudly the entire flight. At least it wasn't too long.
The ocean looks pretty below.
Small islands.
Miami.
With waterways cutting into the city.
I love Global Entry. It's so fast.
I met Ogii and the airport, and then we went to the Kompose Boutique Hotel.
Cool artwork on the wall.
Each floor had a different picture across from the elevators so you could easily remember your floor.
Another floor's elevator picture.
And another.
Our room.
And bathroom.
Ogii having some snacks I bought her before taking a nap.
The room doors kinda look like prison cells.
A gym on the upper floor.
With a nice view.
By the lobby.
A self-service snack area.
A bar.
And a little restaurant.
Some funky artwork.
A lot was red and black.
Including these.
In the lobby waiting area.
Chips and guacamole.
Main meal.
French fries.
A rooftop bar.
Bartender.
We were just east of the airport.
So we could watch the planes after take off.
Selfies with a plane and our drinks.
Ogii sneaking a sip of my drink.
While I was focused on getting the picture.
Breakfast buffet in the morning.
You had to pay to get a plate and bowl. What if we brought our own plates?
More cool artwork.
They had a wheel you could spin for things like free late checkout.
The daily schedule on the MSC Cruises app is loaded for today.
So I planned out our evening.
Geting a Lyft to the cruise. We had to wait for this drawbridge.
And saw an iguana running across the road.
Many skyscrapers.
Cool building.
Virgin cruise ship.
Many others.
Our driver didn't speak English and didn't seem to be quite sure where to go here, but thankfully I knew enough Spanish to tell him to go left.
Then right.
Then straight.
Somebody dropped a dollar bill. It's our lucky day.
We used to check in early so we could walk around the cruise ship, but it was kind of a pain hauling our luggage since we couldn't put it into our rooms until they were done cleaning. So the last few times we've chosen a later check-in time so we could go straight to our rooms after boarding. Another benefit is there are almost no lines at 2pm, compared to say, 10am, when the lines are huge.
Almost there.
At the ship, MSC Seascape.
The main atrium.
Neat steps.
Colorful, tall artwork.
You tell the elevators which floor you're going to before you get on.
Then they tell you which elevator to go to and how long the wait will be. I've seen these in a few government buildings and parking garages, but never on a cruise ship before.
We had selected cabin 13113 since we thought other people might think it was back luck to be on deck 13, not choose that deck, and it wouldn't be as full and noisy around us.
We also chose an inside room so it would be darker and we wouldn't get woken up by the sun shining through the balcony curtains.
Bathroom.
There were two US plugs, two USB outlets, and two European plugs above the counter.
And one USB outlet by the bed.
Info.
You can get a wristband instead of using your room card.
There's no printed daily schedule, but the app has the restaurant hours.
Do not disturb and make up room lights.
First thing on our todo list is get some free charms.
A clock.
She Maria discussed which stores to go to.
A map.
Except she said go to the stores right by the port, which is the opposite of what you should do. Those stores have jacked-up prices for tourists.
As a quick internet search of one of them illustrates. You want to go into the city to find where the locals shop.
She threw some prizes into the crowd, and I caught a selfie stick.
This guy won a free necklace in the raffle.
As did this woman.
And this guy won a bag.
Our prize.
Off to another raffle, this time at Effy.
And then to another charm with Maria.
Quite a long line, although it moved quickly.
Ship charm.
They had an iris photography studio on the ship like the ones we saw in Amsterdam.
Circular metal prints.
Different effects.
You could also print it onto a necklace.
A couple just got them done.
They look really good.
The camera.
A small mirror you could look at your own iris in.
They had good maps of the ship at each elevator / stairs area.
Sail away party.
It looks like they're giving something away.
Crew dancing.
Many people watching.
Leaving Miami.
Us with the smokestacks.
The front of the ship is private for the Yacht Club.
There were many private yachts in Miami.
The infinity bridges on each side are curved with see-through glass floors.
Virgin is also leaving.
Infinity pool at the back.
Which is under another sea-through glass floor walkway called the Bridge of Sighs.
Which you can get up to via the rear elevators, which have glass sides.
The bridge.
Looking down through it.
Looking down over it.
Virgin cruise terminal.
Other smaller boats.
A pirate ship.
Looking back at Miami.
To the other side.
All of the doors on the ship open automatically.
Except these at the back for some reason.
They open to the buffet.
Uh oh, the hand sanitizer is out.
The buffet.
Carving station.
Roast beef prime rib.
Ogii getting a slice.
Pasta.
More food.
And more.
Pizza.
Desserts.
Many different teas.
Ogii is too tall to go to the kids' food corner.
Plenty of open tables.
We sat by a window.
Dinner.
All of the cruise terminals.
MSC.
A pilot guiding us and a ferry with cars going by.
Huge resort.
With trees on the roof.
A $10 beach accessories sale on the first day.
Some people dressed up for the glow party.
Dance lessons.
Live music at the atrium.
Le Cabaret Rouge at the back of the ship.
Almost nobody was there.
Ogii with a drink.
Some musicians.
Juggler.
Dancer.
Acrobat.
Singer.
Back to Effy.
For another raffle.
Which we didn't win.
The atrium.
Many people took pictures on the light-up steps.
Free liquor tasting.
Ogii trying it.
A huge line for the Cala Jondal restaurant. We definitely don't want to wait in that later on in the cruise.
Chocolate art.
Chocolate octopus.
You're supposed to make a reservation for the evening shows in the theater.
Even though it wasn't very full.
The first show was Imaginocean.
Which had singers and dancers with a sea theme.
With some performaners.
Like acrobats.
Out in front.
All done.
Grabbing some late-night pizza.
Sitting at table 411.
Ogii enjoying her snack.
This guy was cleaning and was having trouble getting the seat cushion back up, so I helped him.
Glow party.