Okay, so this was NOT an RV trip! We recently went on a cruise from Ft Lauderdale to Key West and Havana, Cuba. Mike is now officially retired and we thought, what better way to celebrate than with a cruise!

The cruise was arranged through Escapees RV Club and was part of their Head Out Program. HOPs are planned excursions with other club members. They mostly involve RVing at popular places and events, but not always. We found out about the cruise almost a year ago and booked it right away. We cruised aboard the Majesty of the Seas, which is one of the smaller Royal Caribbean ships.

We had visited Key West years ago. It was one of our favorite vacation spots and we always wanted to go back. Unfortunately, the day we were there it was pouring down rain all day. We gave a lot of thought to going into town, but decided to just stay on the ship. Everyone that went in to Key West got soaked and the ones we talked to said they really didn’t enjoy it. So, we will have to plan to visit the Keys another time! In the meantime, a relaxing day on the ship, with our Kindles, and our Drink Package … is not a bad way to spend a rainy day!

For the Main Event, the ship spent a day and half in Havana and luckily the weather was perfect. Since we aren’t familiar with Havana we chose to do all of our sight-seeing on Royal Caribbean tours. The first one was a bus tour that stopped at Revolution Square, Colon Cemetery, and Fusterlandia. This tour also included lunch at a really cute restaurant with good food and a great view. We finally had some Cuban Ropa Veija and Candi learned that she did a pretty good job of making her own!

In the evening we went on excursion to Café Taberna to listen to some Latin Jazz music. It was a short walk to the bar and restaurant and it was fun listening to the band while sipping Mojitos.

After a late night we managed to get up bright and early for our final excursion which was a walking tour through the four main squares in Old Havana. Although we would have preferred to sleep in a little bit, the morning light in the square was amazing and made for some beautiful sights. It was fun walking on the cobbled streets and seeing some of the old buildings and cathedrals. After that we took a bus to Salon Rojo to learn how to combine coffee, rum, and cigars. Although I doubt we’ll ever use this ‘skill,’ it was fun to watch the demo!

We were happy to have a day and half on the ship to rest and recover before heading back to Maryland.