Our first port of call on the Islander was Cozumel, Mexico. We did an excursion to a small, local brewery and a distillery. The port that Margaritaville uses is a good way out of town, so our group took a taxi to the first stop, Cerveceria Punta Sur, Cozumel’s first and only microbrewery. The beer was good and we loved the guacamole.

Our group decided to walk to the next stop so we got to see a bit of downtown Cozumel on the way. The Destileria Cozumel makes gin and rum, but the tasting was for Tequila/Mezcal. Seems odd but I guess people expect to try Tequila in Mexico? We did try their rum, but didn’t really care for it. It’s apparently traditional to drink tequila with fruit, salt, Tajin, and … GRASSHOPPERS?!?!! Mike was brave enough to try the grasshoppers, but … will NOT go there again … EVER! The tacos we had for lunch weren’t great but we still had fun with a great group of fellow cruisers.

Since we have a whole year between our last cruise and our next one, we decided to take a quick cruise from Florida on the MAS Islander. It sails from Tampa Bay so it was a quick drive from where we’re staying in Clermont.

We were a little concerned about the quality of the Margaritaville at Sea cruiseline but decided to give it a try. Glad we did, the ship was beautiful, the staff was great and the food was good. Our room steward was great and made the cutist towel animals – he kept using Candi’s glasses as accents!!

We had originally booked an interior cabin but a few days before sailing we got an upgrade offer for a balcony room. It was nice to sit out on the balcony and we had some great views.

We went to a musical dance show that was a lot of fun, and saw Rob Little, one of the best comedians we’ve ever seen. There were also a lot of small bars with great musicians. We loved listening to Muzi’s soft guitar style. There was also a great Latin duo that had beautiful voices. We enjoyed the steel pan drum player, but in small doses (it was a little loud!).

We attended a wine tasting that featured wines from Ste Michelle Wine Estates in Washington state. We really liked their Eroica Riesling and were surprised to like their Domaine Ste Michelle Brut. We’re not red wine fans but we thought their Grand Estates Merlot would make a great Sangria. Luckily we didn’t buy any bottles on board, even at the 30% discount they were offering the prices were double what they are at Total Wine! We even got certificates to show our new expertise!

Debarkation was a little more confusing than we’re used to. The announcements weren’t broadcast in the rooms and weren’t clear. But we found our way off the ship and didn’t have to wait long at all for the shuttle to pick up our truck at The Car Park.

We loved that Rome was such a walkable city. And there were so many beautiful sites, and so many ruins!! We stayed at Hotel Dei Melini, a great hotel that was centrally located and had a nice little bar. Right down the street was a sandwich shop where we got lunch the first day. Also nearby was a wine bar, Vinoteca Tempere, with great dessert!

If you’ve followed us for any length of time, you know we love good food, so, being in Rome, we HAD to do Food tour! We chose the Trastevere Tour, an area known for it’s “Bohemian” vibe. The tour started at Trapizzino where we had their namesake, a freshly baked trapizzino kind of like a fancy meatball sub.

Next up was Essenza Wine Bar, for more wine! … and charcuterie. Of course we had to grate our own chocolate with the tiniest grater we’ve ever seen!

You can’t go to Italy and not east pasta can you? Our next stop was Pasta E Vino for … you guessed it – pasta and wine!

Finally we had gelato at Fonte della Salute because there’s always room for dessert, right?!?

Another “must see” stop when in Rome!

This beautiful 18th Century fountain is a “must see” when in Rome!

We took an amazing tour that included the Gladiator Floor. All we can say is WOW! Truly something that must be seen to be fully appreciated! We booked all of our tours in Rome through Viator and were really happy with them. Their tour guides are amazing! Our guide for this tour spoke 4 languages!

After the Colosseum, we toured Palatine Hill, where the ancient Roman Emperors lived. It’s hard to imagine that these structures date back to 59BC.

The final part of our tour was the Roman Forum. It was breathtaking to walk through where so much ancient history took place and literally step on ground Roman Emperors walked thousands of years ago.

After walking more than 13,000 steps that day, we were starved! We decided to try pizza again – finally success! We found a really good pizza at Vini and Cucina Blasi on the Piazza della Torretta!

Ending the evening with a glass of wine at our hotel bar!

A second century Roman temple that’s been used as a Catholic Church since 609.

What can one say? Any trip to Rome must include a trip to the Vatican! We scheduled a “Skip the Line” Small Group Tour thru Viator.com that was totally worth it. Unfortunately, since Pope Francis passed away while we were en route across the Atlantic, we were unable to see the Sistine Chapel, but we were able to tour the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica, which was amazing!

VATICAN MUSEUMS

SAINT PETER’S BASILICA

SAINT PETER’S SQUARE

Afterwards we got our second pizza in Italy at Universal Bar, a cafe near St. Peter’s Square … gotta say, still not impressed … but at least better than the first one. We took in some more sights as we walked back to our hotel.