Should We Stay or Should We Go - Our Travel Journal

  When it comes to winter escapes, we retirees are always on the lookout for destinations that offer not just warmth and relaxation but also an affordable, comfortable lifestyle. Punta Cana, located in the Dominican Republic, stands out as one of the top choices for those seeking to enjoy an extended winter stay. Among the many charming areas in Punta Cana, El Cortecito (a beachside village located on Bavaro Beach) is a popular choice for retirees. Here’s why: 1. Ideal Climate for Year-Round Comfort Punta Cana is famous for its year-round warm tropical climate.  While much of the world braces for freezing temperatures in the winter months, people can enjoy pleasant, sunny days with temperatures ranging between 24°C - 29°C. The comfortable temperatures allow for outdoor activities year-round, whether it's strolling along the beach, enjoying a round of golf, or simply relaxing by the pool. The refreshing ocean breeze is an added bonus, helping to keep the environment pleasan...

  As we were coming up to our retirement years, we spent a fair bit of time talking about what we wanted our retirement to look like.  We are proud Canadians, having no desire to live anywhere else, but John, in particular, was eager to escape the harsh Canadian winters and spend two or three months out of the cold. Our original plan, one that we may circle back to in a few years, was to enjoy each winter in a different location, taking that three months to explore and get to know each place. The one thing we knew for sure was that we had no interest in going to Florida.  Most of our thoughts were on the Caribbean and Mexico. If it had great weather and a beach it would meet the criteria. As stated in one of our first blog posts, shortly after retiring we were thrown into the world wide pandemic. Just prior, we were fortunate enough to celebrate our retirement with an amazing 2-month trip that consisted of two separate cruises. After arriving back home we, along with the ...

The last port of call for this cruise was Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.  We were very much looking forward to this port of call as we had an excursion booked to go up the mountain to hike to some waterfalls and to some zip-lining.

Photo by Nils Huenerfuerst on Unsplash One of my favourite places in the Caribbean is San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I was so happy to see that it was one of our ports of call on this sailing.

  We woke up in the Bahamas - at MSC's private Island, Ocean Cay. Ocean Cay is a man-made island that was created in the late 1960's for the purpose of mining Aragonite sand. The island sat abandoned for many years before MSC signed a 100-year lease in 2015. After spending 5 years and 200 million dollars the island was cleaned up and transformed into a beautiful 95-acre cruise resort. The island has eight white-sandy beaches and plenty of room for 5,000 passengers to spread out and explore. 

We sailed out of Miami for our cruise, but to save some money (even with the rental car), we flew into and stayed in Fort Lauderdale the night before. With our check-in time at the pier set for 11:30, we had a relaxed morning without the need to rush. It set the tone for the whole week – just take it easy and enjoy! We had a laid-back breakfast at Starbucks (mostly because it was convenient) before heading to Miami.

  Photo by Julian Hochgesang on Unsplash If you read my last post you would have read about my flight being cancelled at 11pm ahead of my 7am flight the next morning. I was able to finally get some sleep and make it to the airport for my new 10am flight. The change in flight plans meant that my friends would make it to Fort Lauderdale an hour ahead of me, and would have to wait around the airport for an hour until I arrived, before we could pick up the car rental, as it was in my name.

 What's the quote? "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." - Robert Burns

  Photo by Arnel Hasanovic on Unsplash Tomorrow we are leaving the snow and ice behind and escaping to warmer temperatures.

Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash  Reflecting on our trip afterward brought a clearer understanding of what could have been done differently. While we were focused on enjoying each place, there were details we missed that would have enriched the experience. It's easy to feel like you’ll remember everything, but in hindsight, I see how helpful it would have been to plan more thoroughly or to take notes along the way. So, what are the lessons we've learned? Do More Research Before our travel, we did searches on what the must-see spots were in each place we visited.  Due to the limited time we had to plan the trip (and the amount of stops we were going to have on this trip) we didn't do a deep dive into what we were going to see.  After the trip, I looked into each location further and discovered things I wish I had known beforehand, as well as historical spots I regret not learning about in advance. Take Time to Sit and Enjoy the Location It was very easy to get caught up i...

  Photo from ncl.com We are seasoned Norwegian cruisers.  We've been on many Norwegian cruises, enough that we are now Platinum. Our preference is typically for smaller, somewhat older ships, as we enjoy port days and exploring new destinations. These smaller ships can access ports that larger, newer ships cannot.  Our review should be read with that lens.  

As we left the Azores behind we began the last leg of our journey - 5 days at sea.