Caribbean & Antilles from Miami MSC Divina departing 13 Mar 2023

Miami is called the gateway to the Americas, and it’s indeed a very glamourous global city to explore at the start or end of an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise. Home to many cultures, the city of Miami sizzles with flavours from the Americas, beginning with Cuba and the Little Havana neighbourhood – one of the most historically significant places, while Wynwood is famous for its wall art and Puerto Rican history.

Across Biscayne Bay lies the city of Miami Beach, home to the world-famous South Beach. An MSC-arranged guided private tour opens up a world of possibilities for you: enjoy the beach, take in the city’s Art Deco architecture and enjoy a drink on legendary Ocean Drive, where you can people watch, and perhaps spot a celebrity. If time permits, take a stroll on artsy Lincoln Road packed with street side cafes and shops.

Facing the MSC Cruises port in downtown Miami is Bayside Marketplace – a lively commercial centre that is a staging area for boat tours of Miami. Seeing the city from the water, with its impressive skyline and waterfront mansions, is an experience in itself. The downtown area also boasts the dazzling Performing Arts Centre, the Museum of Science, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (known as the PAMM), scenic Bayfront Park and the arena where the 3-time NBA champion Miami Heat basketball team plays.

Miami is renowned for its shopping. Hop on a tour to see the major city sights followed by retail therapy at one of Miami’s largest and newest shopping malls: Dolphin Mall. With more than 240 retail outlets, you’re bound to need a bit of room in your luggage for your purchases. Luckily, there are several luggage stores at the mall to fill that need.
Head west past the city into untamed wilderness on an MSC excursion into the Everglades. At this national park where water is the central feature, unlike any other in North America, nature enthusiasts can hop on an airboat tour through the swampland and waterways to spot alligators and a variety of birds.

Proclaimed a pirate republic by the early 1700s, Nassau once sheltered more than 1,000 pirates, outnumbering the hundred inhabitants of the town.

While its pirate history runs deep, today Nassau, located on the island of New Providence, is the capital and commercial centre of the Bahamas and the archipelago’s largest city. AS you arrive on an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise, take in Nassau’s charming colonial-style buildings and pastel-coloured wooden shops that alternate with Georgian-style structures. Founded by the British in 1670, Nassau stretches from the harbour to Bay Street, the main drag through town that is replete with shops, souvenirs, restaurants and entertainment. At Straw Market, where typical Bahamian souvenirs are sold, be prepared to bargain – it’s a tradition that is almost a duty.

A popular tourist area is Cable Beach, a 4-mile stretch of beach and resorts on the north central coast of New Providence, 3 miles from Nassau. Paradise Beach, on Paradise Island, is one of the best beaches in the area.

For a nearly private beach experience, take an MSC excursion to Blue Lagoon Island, a private island with one of the most secluded beaches in the Bahamas, or opt for a VIP beach cabana experience at the offshore picture-perfect oasis of Balmoral Island.

Book an MSC excursion to Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, where you can enjoy a diverse choice of attractions. These range from Aquaventure, an exhilarating 141-acre waterpark where you can ride swells of rapids and fly down 7-story slides, to the Dig, a faux archaeological site that recreates the ruins of ancient Atlantis, or Predator Lagoon, home to sharks, rays, barracudas and sawfish.

For something special, take a bush medicine gardens and tea tour, an exclusive Martha Stewart & MSC Cruises excursion, to learn about local traditions and botany. Then sip afternoon tea and dine on scones and dainty finger sandwiches at the lavish Graycliff Hotel, a landmark property that since 1740 has housed pirates, privateers and prisoners alike.

Don’t miss the magnificent views of Nassau, Paradise Island and a good portion of the Bahamas from the top of Queen’s Staircase at Fort Fincastle. Watch as water cascades alongside the his-torical staircase, comprising 65 steps hand-carved out of solid limestone rock by 600 slaves between 1793 and 1794.

Miami is called the gateway to the Americas, and it’s indeed a very glamourous global city to explore at the start or end of an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise. Home to many cultures, the city of Miami sizzles with flavours from the Americas, beginning with Cuba and the Little Havana neighbourhood – one of the most historically significant places, while Wynwood is famous for its wall art and Puerto Rican history.

Across Biscayne Bay lies the city of Miami Beach, home to the world-famous South Beach. An MSC-arranged guided private tour opens up a world of possibilities for you: enjoy the beach, take in the city’s Art Deco architecture and enjoy a drink on legendary Ocean Drive, where you can people watch, and perhaps spot a celebrity. If time permits, take a stroll on artsy Lincoln Road packed with street side cafes and shops.

Facing the MSC Cruises port in downtown Miami is Bayside Marketplace – a lively commercial centre that is a staging area for boat tours of Miami. Seeing the city from the water, with its impressive skyline and waterfront mansions, is an experience in itself. The downtown area also boasts the dazzling Performing Arts Centre, the Museum of Science, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (known as the PAMM), scenic Bayfront Park and the arena where the 3-time NBA champion Miami Heat basketball team plays.

Miami is renowned for its shopping. Hop on a tour to see the major city sights followed by retail therapy at one of Miami’s largest and newest shopping malls: Dolphin Mall. With more than 240 retail outlets, you’re bound to need a bit of room in your luggage for your purchases. Luckily, there are several luggage stores at the mall to fill that need.
Head west past the city into untamed wilderness on an MSC excursion into the Everglades. At this national park where water is the central feature, unlike any other in North America, nature enthusiasts can hop on an airboat tour through the swampland and waterways to spot alligators and a variety of birds.

Formerly British Honduras, Belize hosts a melting pot of cultures – Garifuna, Mayan, Mestizo, Chinese, Indian, Creole and Mennonite – each having made their distinct mark on the country’s traditions and its cuisine. In the heart of Central America, bordered by Mexico and Guatemala, Belize offers bountiful nature: from unspoiled jungles, rainforests and caves to the largest offshore barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, a mecca for snorkelers and scuba divers alike.

While Belmopan is the country’s administrative capital, Belize City is the country’s business capital, with banks, offices and shops lining the streets, a place where fruit and fast-food vendors jostle with those selling knickknacks. Divided by Haulover Creek, a tributary of the Belize River, Belize City’s north and south sides are connected by the Swing Bridge, the oldest manually operated swing bridge in South America, an admirable example of 1920s architecture and a historical landmark. Built in Liverpool, England, and transported by sea to Belize City, the bridge requires four men to manually operate it – marking it as one of the few manually operated swing bridges in the world still used today.

As you arrive in Belize City on an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise, you have the perfect starting point for offshore MSC excursions, offering water sports in the crystal blue Caribbean and a wealth of inland excursions, from Mayan ruins and howler monkey sanctuaries to cave tubing and ziplines.

To experience something really special, there’s even an exclusive Martha Stewart excursion in the jungle that’ll have you tasting street food, cacao and artisanal cheese, while exploring rainforest botany during a full day adventure.

Don’t miss an MSC excursion to one of three major Mayan archaeological sites: Altun Ha (Rock Stone Water), Lamanai (Submerged Crocodile) and Xunantunich (Stone Woman). Here, among the foliage of a spectacular jungle, discover the magnificent ruins of a civilization that had survived for centuries. See where the famous Jade Head “Kinich Ahau” was uncovered by Dr David Pendergast of the Royal Ontario Museum, visit the Temple of the Mask with its huge crocodile-shaped mask, or explore the Temple of El Castillo, the administrative hub of elite rulers of the time.

A wonderland experience, admiring dolphins in their natural habitat, you will be able to touch these exhilarating creatures and swim with them in the crystal clear waters of the islands beaches.

Puerto Costa Maya, where the Caribbean and Antilles MSC cruise ships dock, is out of sight north of Mahahual, but its influence is felt on cruise-ship days, when the village springs to life with souvenir stands and jet-ski rentals along the slick seafront promenade, an extremely miniature version of Playa del Carmen.

The two towns in the area, Mahahual and the smaller Xcalak, were hit hard by Hurricane Dean in 2007. Mahahual was rebuilt, but Xcalak is still quite battered. On an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise you will typically stay around Mahahual, while divers and anglers head south to Xcalak. If you stop for only one ancient site in the Río Bec area, Kohunlich is your best excursion choice.
The ruins, seldom visited by anyone other than enormous butterflies and wild parrots, are beautifully situated, peering out above the treetops. The buildings date from the late pre-Classic to the Classic periods (100–900 AD) and the majority are in the Río Bec architectural style. Foliage has reclaimed most of them, except for the Templo de los Mascarones, which is named after the five 2m-high stucco masks that decorate its facade.
Disturbing enough now, these wide-eyed, open-mouthed images of the sun god, Kinich Ahau, once stared out from a background of smooth, bright-red-painted stucco. Also look for an elite residential area called the 27 Escalones, worth the detour to see the great views over the jungle canopy from the cliff edge on which it is built. Set in a drier area with sparse trees, these two neighbouring ruins are an interesting contrast to Kohunlich.
Kinichná’s hulking pyramid, built in metre-high stones, layer upon layer by successive leaders, barely clears the trees, but you can look over the surrounding terrain (and spot a glimpse of the Dzibanché ancient Maya archaeological site), now broken into farmland.

Miami is called the gateway to the Americas, and it’s indeed a very glamourous global city to explore at the start or end of an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise. Home to many cultures, the city of Miami sizzles with flavours from the Americas, beginning with Cuba and the Little Havana neighbourhood – one of the most historically significant places, while Wynwood is famous for its wall art and Puerto Rican history.

Across Biscayne Bay lies the city of Miami Beach, home to the world-famous South Beach. An MSC-arranged guided private tour opens up a world of possibilities for you: enjoy the beach, take in the city’s Art Deco architecture and enjoy a drink on legendary Ocean Drive, where you can people watch, and perhaps spot a celebrity. If time permits, take a stroll on artsy Lincoln Road packed with street side cafes and shops.

Facing the MSC Cruises port in downtown Miami is Bayside Marketplace – a lively commercial centre that is a staging area for boat tours of Miami. Seeing the city from the water, with its impressive skyline and waterfront mansions, is an experience in itself. The downtown area also boasts the dazzling Performing Arts Centre, the Museum of Science, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (known as the PAMM), scenic Bayfront Park and the arena where the 3-time NBA champion Miami Heat basketball team plays.

Miami is renowned for its shopping. Hop on a tour to see the major city sights followed by retail therapy at one of Miami’s largest and newest shopping malls: Dolphin Mall. With more than 240 retail outlets, you’re bound to need a bit of room in your luggage for your purchases. Luckily, there are several luggage stores at the mall to fill that need.
Head west past the city into untamed wilderness on an MSC excursion into the Everglades. At this national park where water is the central feature, unlike any other in North America, nature enthusiasts can hop on an airboat tour through the swampland and waterways to spot alligators and a variety of birds.