Europe goes Caribbean, MSC Poesia cruise, March 30 2013

[Tatka]

Пожалуйста (pozhalujsta!)

 

Have a great trip! I truly believe Poesia is a great choice for TA... both as a nice ship, and as a ship where you will never be bored.

Oh, and Northern Europe is a wonderful destination, we had a cruise out of Southampton to Scandinavia and Europe last Summer and visited Germany and neighboring countries on many occasions.

Both capitals and small towns there are something not to miss!

 

I will continue tomorrow. :)

Edited April 18, 2013 by Tatka

[neptuno]

Thanks for the wonderful photographs. They show the elegance of Poesia that I have been trying to describe..."a photo is worth a thousand words". And, btw, smoked salmon is served for breakfast and lunch in the MDR. Cheers.

[Tatka]

Thank you for your kind words!

 

OMG. Just browsed thru the text... so many silly mistakes. Please do not mind. :o

[sidari]

Tatka ... Dobryutra(Good Morning) ... I hope i spelt that right and it applies to yourself, thanks for posting the great pictures especially those of our favourite bar the Zebra Lounge .... :)

[tbmrt]

Thanks so much for your wonderful photos and information! It makes me want to book the Poesia now!

Barbara

[papcx]

Great photos! I want to be back on the Poesia NOW!

[Tatka]

Thank you (Spasibo) for you attention to my photo review!

Good Morning (Dobroje Utro) ! :)

 

Somehow I could not post photo of a Library from outside yesterday

Edited April 18, 2013 by Tatka

[Tatka]

Another lovely area is Vine bar. Here you can do wine tastings or even participate in the creation of a own one. I thought a "teacher" was very knowledgeable.

 

 

 

[Tatka]

Reception area... I've never seen it crowded.

 

[Tatka]

This place people use for different purposes. Mainly to find their photos. :) I liked it the most when it was completely empty, including photos. Gave me an opportunity to see beautiful photos of rural Italy and France

 

[Tatka]

One of the main areas of any ship is a theater.

We have seen many of them, most are beautiful, some are more than others. Some is more convenient to view the show, some are less (viewing lines)

Poesia is in the good group. We could see our shows from any angle.

 

 

 

Due to a very international crowd, most of the shows were the ones, where entertainers do not have to speak...We usually prefer production show, so this was great and unusual for us. Every day production show!

 

This one "Chess" was not the best, but it had pole gymnastics act which still makes me wonder about how it can be done!!! Guy basically was walking in the air. I believe his name was Yury Nosik, from Belorussia.

 

Here he is on the second level, right next to the woman singer

 

 

In the right corner Anna Werner - our Cruise Director. Beautiful woman from Germany. Fluent in 5 languages!!!! She flawlessly went from one to another.

 

Also we enjoyed singing of tenor Giuseppe! I have a feeling ships are not the only place he performs

 

Could not resist .. to take short video of him with my phone

 

 

Quality is really bad, and sound disappears after 35 sec, but....

Edited April 18, 2013 by Tatka

[Tatka]

Aside from the nightly entertainment I like to attend lectures whenever they are available. This time we had four. This is a lecture about Mayan Ruins.

 

[Tatka]

Even elevator banks and stairs аre beautiful

 

 

[Tatka]

Now to the ports... We generally prefer Eastern/Southern Caribbean, for it's green hills and pristine beaches, but ones in 4-5 years we go to the Western too.

 

This itin was picked for Jamaica, which we missed in 2008 sailing on Ruby Princess and Roatan, Honduras, new port for us

 

Our first port this time was Cozumel, Mexico. We have been here 2 times before.

 

Here you have several options

 

 

- Go to one of the beaches on Southwest. They are well equipped, nice for families, but IMHO not the place we wanted to spend whole day.

 

- Take a ferry or excursion to Tulum ruins. They are beautiful.

 

- Spend a day at Chankanaab park. We have never gone there, but many people enjoy.

 

Last time we simply rented a car and drove around Cozumel.

 

Cozumel has three piere

 

- Punta Langosta

- The International Pier

- Puerta Maya

 

This time we docked at Punta Langosta

 

 

Our neighbor for a day was Disney Wonder

 

 

Very nice ship for the Disney fans... and kids. See toys hanging from the ship stern? :)

 

Edited April 18, 2013 by Tatka

[Tatka]

Port is situated right in the city and is pretty modern.

 

 

 

 

I love live figures. . :smile:

 

[Tatka]

We are in luck! I would have never guessed Cozumel had its own Navy.

Parade

 

[Tatka]

This is a map of Cozumel's diving places and beaches

 

 

 

As you can see most of them are situated in the Southwestern part of an island.

 

We spend some time thinking about which car/truck to rent. First an idea to drive a Jeep was appealing to us, but it was around 87F. Too hot for a car with no A/C. Same with old buggy. So we picked brand new Chevy Aveo(?) with A/C... not a car to drive every day, but for half a day it is just fine.

 

 

As I said it was too hot, so the first destination was a beach.

 

 

Beautiful houses on our way

 

 

Cozumelians

 

 

Race.. race!

 

[Tatka]

I do not remember exact name of the beach. Paradise? California? They all look good. This one also had nice surroundings

 

 

pool

 

 

bar

 

 

Very clean restrooms

 

Maybe this is why it is used for nice occasions :)

 

[Tatka]

Beach itself is not the best Caribbean beach.

Water was also not very warm and clean, seagrass. No jellyfish though!

 

 

But it is nice if you have kids

 

 

You can also snorkel from a pier.

[Tatka]

Well, beaches are not a reason we like Cozumel.

 

Continue our drive to Punta Sur Park. Along the road we saw a sign about ruins nearby. Cozumel has small ruins San Gervasio where we went last time. . It is ok, nothing really special comparing to the famous ones. This time we had enough time to visit another ruins.

 

It was very poor neighborhood... with Bazaar.

 

And "ruins" :)

 

 

 

A church.

 

Edited April 18, 2013 by Tatka

[Tatka]

Punta Sur Park is waiting for us. It is a nice place to drive a Jeep along the beach.

 

 

Restaurants

 

 

Bob Marley is famous and loved here too

 

 

[Tatka]

Interesting church-like building

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2013 by Tatka

[Tatka]

 

In case you wonder .. we have not noctice any nudists. Maybe you need to spend more time with Bob M to see or even join them :D

[Tatka]

We are continue to move along the coast. This is a great place to relax and feel free!!!

 

 

 

[Tatka]

Waves meed earth!

 

Man could not win here. No beaches and crowds! :)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 18, 2013 by Tatka