Jamaica to Manchester UK and onto Cyprus.

 We started the long trip back to Cyprus with an 8 hour flight from Jamaica to Manchester, the flight was comfortable until we came into land, where the crosswinds made for a bumpy landing.

We once again spent a couple of nights at Tina and Mike's house, which included a lovely meal at The Greyhound pub near Altrincham. 

The Easyjet flight  from Manchester to Cyprus was a comfortable crossing and took under 4 hours. It was good to see Tania's friendly face waiting for us at arrivals with a special gift for Mandy. 

Stormy Monday in Montego Bay Town

 We woke up to overcast skies and very breezy conditions, the Red warning flag was flying on the beach which meant no swimming or watersports.

So we decided to jump on a bus and made our way In to Montego bay town. The main streets were very busy with local shoppers and a riot of colour, noise and colourful characters. 

The heavens then opened up so we ducked into the "Margaritaville" bar and what a depressing place it was, a real overpriced, tourist trap. We had a couple of quick beers while we waited for our bus back to the hotel.

In the evening we had a tremendous downpour of rain, so much so, that we could not walk over to the Seabreeze restaurant for our dinner reservation. 

Beach, sea and sunshine

 We spent a Very relaxing week on the beachfront, we went out on a Hobby Kat, watched the staff cut down coconuts and shared a bottle of wine while we watched the sunset from "Tak it Easy" island.

 

In the evenings we had some good meals at the speciality restaurants,Sea Breeze and Sorrentos. We also saw some very good entertainment shows including singers, bands and superb violinist. 

A day on the beach

 The day started with a stroll down the sea front until we found a cabana under a palm tree where we decided to set up base camp. 

We spent the rest of the day Sunbathing and swimming in the Caribbean sea.

In the evening we walked over to the Sea breeze restaurant , where we enjoyed a dinner of crab cakes, salmon and grilled snapper. 

Rosehill market, colorful fish and an Italian

 Our day started with the complimentary bus shuttle to Main street Rose hill shopping market. This turned out to be a huge disappointment as it was just a tourist trap with stores charging inflated prices for their goods.

We returned to the hotel and set up base camp near the pier. Rob went swimming under the pier and was surprised to see so many colourful fish there.

We also notice one of the regulars who was selling souvenirs from a small boat that he was pushing through the water. 

We stopped off at the Jerk hut for a quick drink before relaxing by the pool.

In the evening were popped along to the "Sorrento " Italian restaurant,  the food was a bit  hit and miss, as was the service, we hate to give poor reviews,  but we need to be honest.

The night ended with a band playing local music on the outdoor stage.

Holiday Inn - Montego Bay - Jamaica

 Early on a bright, sunny  morning, we docked into Montego bay, we left our ship, Marella explorer 2 and were driven to our hotel for the next stage of our holiday.

We were booked into the "Holiday Inn Montego bay". This beachfront hotel sits just a couple of miles from the small town and the airport. 

We quickly unpacked and began exploring, our first stop was the small private island that sits just off the beach.

Georgetown - Caymen Islands

With nothing planned we took the tender over to Georgetown,  we popped into cafe to check our emails. We stroled through the town which was very clean and manicured.

We stopped off at a bar for a quick beer, but the prices we extortionate,  so after a couple of hours we jumped on the tender and returned to the ship.

Down on the pool deck some of the crew took to the stage for a well deserved cheer and a round of applause. 

 Saw Dem boysz and the the collective music show bands in the Squid and Anchor. 

A day at Sea

It was a cloudless sky and a very calm sea that saw us sail over to our next port. Mandy sunbathed and Rob relaxed in the Indigo lounge with views heading forward.

In the evening we enjoyed a pre dinner drink on Flutes and our evening meal at Latitude 45. We then strolled over to the Indigo lounge where we were entertained by Elton John tribute performed by Lucss and then Dem boys cranked up the lounge with a high energy set.

Cozumel - Mexico

We were both still quite poorly as we berthed in the Mexican port of Cozumel. Rob managed to struggle ashore to get some medicine and check a few emails.

Bus tour of Havana

 The following day we were both in good spirits as we took the tourist bus around the City, for 10 US dollars we thought it was a good price.

We left right outside the cruise terminal  and headed into the city.  Our first stop was outside the Anglettera hotel and beside it the very impressive Grand Theater of Havana Gran Teatro de La Habana “Alicia Alonso”

We then headed down the Malecon, this was a beautiful part of the ride, right along the seafront with the hair whipping through our hair and splendid views of the skyscrapers in the distance.

We then drove onto Revolution square, with its  huge monument and large murals of the revolutionary leaders.

Sadly this was about as good as the tour got as we then proceeded driving through the suburbs and residential areas and there was not much too see. We thought that the tour was well over an hour too long, plus the commentary is only in Spanish.

At around 3.00pm we left Havana's harbour and set sail for Cozumel in Mexico after enjoying a couple of days in this fascinating City.

That night we went to the show lounge to see the comedian  Scotty Miller.