Marella flavours of the Caribbean -day 5

[mitch84]

I wake up at 7 this morning, ouch, knew that late night wasn’t a good idea. I try and fail to go back to sleep, and to be honest I feel a bit hungry (how I have no idea) so I have a shower and get dressed for the day.

Back to the main dining room for me for breakfast and I order an egg, a sausage and some beans with toast.

It’s only 8.30am by this point, and when I go out on deck shock horror it’s raining, so I decide to chill in my cabin for a bit, let the rain pass and hopefully be a bit more refreshed for when I start my days wandering.

It’s 11 by the time the weather clears, so I decide to wait and grab a quick lunch again before setting off walking, we don’t have to be back onboard until 6.30pm.

I order the country terrine which to be fair is the first thing on board I didn’t really like, followed by a jacket potato with beans and cheese, it was really hard not to have the burger again as it is on every day and so nice.

I kept seeing the most beautiful cars yesterday. There were a particular couple of turquoise convertibles I had my eye on. I didn’t want to pay a lot of money for a tour, but had an idea of seeing if they would drive me one way to the Hotel Nacionale for a drink. It’s apparently set on a hill, and so it seems better do it that way round then walk back, it’s quite a long way, about 5km I think.

I also apparently missed the main square yesterday. The Plaja Vieja, so that’s on my list too, but otherwise really just wandering until my feet hurt. Straight through passport control this time then I just spend 20 minutes messaging home. My SIL sends me some really lovely photos of my puppy, so I’m happy.

I find the Plaja Vieja, and take some photos, but really it’s no more exciting than any of the other squares I saw yesterday.

I then walk back to the cruise terminal, and try to find a taxi to take me to the famous hotel, I find a rank, no turquoise convertibles but I haggle on an old ford and we agree to £12. Not cheap but quite a way to make an entrance.

I arrive at the hotel and have a good look around, it’s stunning and really oldy worldly. I sit outside and order a Mojito, with the most stunning views of the seas, and get chatting to a gentleman from Auckland who is staying there.

He suggested that the Plaza de Revolución is worth a visit, so I make a split second decision to walk there, as it didn’t look that far on my map. Well it’s absolutely miles, along a main road in the glaring heat, what a plonker, and when I get there it’s attractive, but not really much to see other than the big monument. Ahh well. Still I got to see quite a lot of traditional houses, cafes and the like.

There was also a taxi rank, I didn’t get to ride in a turquoise one, but I got my Convertible, a pink Chevrolet.

I was miles from the ship by this point, and I couldn’t negotiate him down below £15, but it was well worth it to rest my weary feet. He couldn’t drop me off at the cruise terminal itself, probably because I realised at this point I hadn’t got into a licensed taxi (ooooops) he was saying he’d get fined, so he dropped me 5 mins walk away, and I promptly fell over into a big puddle, it was hilarious, I was soaked.
I go back through, and decide to buy DH some rum, as I have bought him so little by this point, 2 x 50ml bottles one dark one light and a can of Cuban beer come to about £11. I then go and change my money back, annoyingly they don’t take their own coins, and won’t give me UK coins, so they give me a £10 note, and more bloody pesos alongside the pesos they don’t take. I go back to the shop and buy one more beer, then end up giving them the rest of my coins. I absolutely kick myself immediately after as I should have given them to my room steward, he could have bought a couple of WiFi cards, oh well.
I’ve loved Havana though, especially the ability to do it all myself, no tour guides, paddles or coaches in sight, yay... it really was worth coming all this way just for Havana.

Back in my cabin I wash my legs and feet, turning the shower actually black, put my cossie on, and up on deck 9 jump in the pool. The salt water is really good for my psoriasis, as is the sun, so I make myself get in and do a few lengths, before getting a strongbow and getting in the jacuzzi and chatting to a nice Canadian couple. They do a big BBQ on deck, so I just grab a skewer and some potato salad as a small snack. I take a shortbread cookie

I have a shower and get dressed. There is a behind the scenes ships tour tomorrow morning that I really fancy doing, so I phone reception but they say it’s full. I go up though to just try again and one nice receptionist persuades them to add me on, yay.

My guitar man is playing at 7, so I settle in and watch him, seen him every day so far, all the musicians are excellent but he’s my favourite.

There is then a duke box style game show which I have no clue what it is. But I decide to give it a shot, it turns out you vote for what you want to listen to, quite interesting even though I didn’t get my choice on once.

A comedian was on at 8.30, so an obligatory saunter past the drinks table, and I choose a seat near the back as I haven’t actually properly eaten yet, and I need to make sure I make the Italian by 9.30. So I nip out 5 mins to the end, he was actually very good, just relied a bit heavily on the old fart joke.

I go to Gallery 47, and order Pate, and carbonara. You have to be so careful as they bring you the same bread and picky stuff as 2 people, so you can end up stuffed. It was all great, the staff are so very lovely.

The only slight negative was a table of 4 sat near me, well one woman on that table moaned non stop at top volume. Her pasta wasn’t creamy enough so they brought her more sauce, her pasta wasn’t cheesy enough, well they bring her more cheese, still isn’t as good as their local which was so good she’s been to twice. The portion wasn’t big enough for her husband so they brought him a second, well that’s shaming him. Complained that today was supposed to be a booze free day, but then complains her wine is nearly empty for 2 minutes. Doesn’t eat sweet food but then eats both hers and her husbands food. She was only in her 40’s and she was so unbelievably dis-satisfied with life. She was sarky and passive aggressive with all the lovely lovely staff and I so wanted to tip my beautifully creamy and cheesy pasta on her head, except I actually wanted to eat it.
It’s nearly 10pm by now, and I’m pretty tired, but I am full of food so I go back to the atrium, get a drink and watch some music for a short while, just long enough to let my food digest, then it’s bed. Another great day x

[Sparksy72]

Those cars are awesome! A pink Chevy - what a treat! Dinner looks amazing some people just don’t know how lucky they are, I’m glad you didn’t waste your pasta by tipping it over her head and you even managed a swim, a great day

[mitch84]

Originally Posted by Sparksy72

Those cars are awesome! A pink Chevy - what a treat! Dinner looks amazing some people just don’t know how lucky they are, I’m glad you didn’t waste your pasta by tipping it over her head and you even managed a swim, a great day

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Thanks for reading, was my favourite day I think

[mobeckwith]

this cruise and the all inclusive sound amazing,off to price it up x

[mitch84]

Originally Posted by mobeckwith

this cruise and the all inclusive sound amazing,off to price it up x

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I really like Marella. Not stuffy/fancy, but good value and I think great service and food

[disney owl]

What great cars