IntrepidFromDC

Clean windows to gaze at the Caribbean while eating breakfast, more space including available window seating at 9am at the back of the ship.

Lido breakfast buffet is similar to Carnival's but more European style offerings like a better variety of Italian cold cuts and cheeses. I didn't try the "bread and butter pudding" but it looked good.

This morning again the bacon was grossly undercooked. I dug and dug for crispy morsels. The biscuit and chicken gravy was much better than any I had on Carnival, especially the sweet, soft, flaky biscuit.

I had an excellent double cappuccino (included in drink package) this morning. There are more cappuccino bars on this ship than I remember being on any Carnival ship, but I sail Carnival Venezia next month so maybe that will change. Funny that this ship and the May Carnival cruise are both themed after my favorite city, Venice, Italy.

MSCs Steakhouse is called Butcher's Cut. I have eaten in Carnival's Steakhouse many times and rank it higher than what I experienced last night. Delicious, good quality and preparation but neither WOW nor memorable. Next time I would try the sushi place instead.

I miss the dogs and ferrets.

I was surprised by a Venezuelan woman who took pics of people and she did email mine, she did a nice job positioning me between the lighthouse and ship..

I did the kayak excursion but left my phone back on the beach because we would hit rough patches of wind and waves according to the tourguide. So, no pics. But we did see one huge stingray and one beautiful loggerhead turtle.

Divina and lighthouse, hopefully my Steakhouse dinner doesn't happen at same time as laser show.

The line for food at the main trough was long and didn't move quickly. Fuhgettaboutit.

More beach pics. Lots of space for everyone, not crowded as much as HMC. Better vibe for more people due to variety of music at the different beaches.

That's one small step for a man...

Beach pics. The water at the small bay was much warmer than the Caribbean water.

Ocean Cay map. I really like this island and want to come back. Great Caribbean feel, less contrived than HMC.

Some random pics just walking around. Ocean Cay feels much bigger than HMC. There are four or five distinct beaches and it's a bit of a walk from one to the other. The beaches are all very nice in their own ways, but HMC is still my favorite. There is limited shopping on the island and bars well spaced. Half the food trucks were closed, other half had long lines. One guy climbed a tree and handed out unripe coconuts at one of the bars. His buddy blew chunks about 10 minutes after boasting about coconut and tequila consumption. I thought he had an eye problem because both eyes were looking a bit to the side of his head, picture the angry birds pigs, but they straightened out after throwing up at the bar, which brought out cellphones flashing like papparazi.

Divina docked at Ocean Cay

Off the ship at last, the water is mesmerizing.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere (Azores?)

Better, zoomed pics of the calm beach at the far side of the island...

Plenty of space in the pools and yet the island appears to disperse the herd nicely.

Ocean Cay from Lido deck (I don't know what they are calling their Lido deck). I'm going to walk to the far beach in the shallow bay, at the top of this pic. My kayak excursion leaves from the area with the waverunners.

MSCs version of Fun Times. Less fun for sure.

No MDR breakfast or brunch, which just makes the Lido breakfast buffet madness that much crazier. No bacation days, but the bacon was undercooked a lot worse than Carnival does and the overall food quality was eh. Since cappuccinos are included in the included drink package, I tried one, and sampled the free coffee. Both were yummy. Instant buzz on second sip of strong, bitter, sweet cappuccino like in Italy.

Today is Ocean Cay marine reserve, and tomorrow is too. So we can stay on the island late into the night since the ship remains docked overnight. They have several beaches on the well but very-lightly developed island. They have food trucks which are additional cost and I hope they're worth it. You'll be second to know. I have a 145pm kayak excursion and I really am hoping to see sea turtles.

Tonight I'll be trying their Steakhouse.