As promised in Part 1 of this two-part blog series, I will share here in Part 2, where in Dubai we stayed after our MSC World Europa cruise, what we did in Dubai on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and the pricing for our round-trip Emirates flights between JFK and DXB, as well as pricing of other elements of this first UAE trip for our family of 5.

Day 4 of the pre-inaugural MSC World Europa sailing was also Christmas Eve, and on that day, our family of 5 disembarked in Dubai where we would spend another two days before flying back to New York. Prior to leaving the United States, we booked our transportation from the cruise port to our post-cruise hotel, but with stops at the Dubai Miracle Garden and the gold souk in between, since we would disembark the ship early in the morning, and hotel check-in times are usually in the afternoon. In full transparency, the night before getting off the ship, I received communication from the ground transportation company through WhatsApp messages confirming our cruise port pickup. However, at some point during the WhatsApp communication, when the company “realized” that we are a family of 5 with luggage, the company stated that the transportation that I already booked from the cruise port would be too small to accommodate all of us and our luggage. Even after I explained that 2 of the 5 of us were small children, the company insisted that I would need to book a separate van transport from the cruise port to the hotel, and then, the initial car that was reserved for us could pick us up from the hotel to take us to the Dubai Miracle Garden and the gold souk. There was a lot of back and forth with this on the night before disembarkation, which honestly annoyed me

Organized Travel Goals

Do you have a list of places that you desire to see? If you don’t yet have such a list, why not create one?

On September 8, 2017, I published a blog article, entitled: “Organized Island-Hopping and Further Globetrotting,” where I talk about how my travels started and mention my goal of visiting every Caribbean country. In that blog article, I share my checklist for this goal. I find it is important to have a checklist for achieving certain goals in life, and for this goal it’s sort of easy to see why a list is helpful. Anyhoo… I am writing this revamped article today because I am super close to achieving this huge goal that I’ve had for years, and I’m excited!

Taking Flight As The Globe Re-Opens

In our March 2021 blog article, we talked about pivoting, specifically, PIVOT, that is:

· P for Planted

· I for Intelligence

· V for Vision

· O for Opportunities

· T for Take flight

Although that article focused more on pivoting in life in general, it made mention of how we’ve even had to pivot in relation to traveling. As I write this, I am beaming with excitement because I feel like I’m tasting travel again! Our family has three trips already booked, and if you know me, then you know that planning for these trips is a lot of the fun for me! That said, it’s been a journey to get here, and the journey included a pivot. During the pandemic, we’ve stayed physically PLANTED at home, venturing out only to places relatively close to home like Coney Island, the Botanic Garden, the Nautical Mile, the Jurassic Quest Drive-Through, Long Island’s North Fork, and Santa’s Christmas Tree Farm, which are all drivable locations. Yes, this airplane-loving, cruise-loving family, decided to visit a few places by car over the course of the past year. We’ve also been spiritually PLANTED in our faith, believing that this pause/standstill in our global travels would be only temporary. In gathering INTELLIGENCE / INFORMATION about the reason for the global pause on travel, we have also gathered INTELLIGENCE / INFORMATION on options available to us at present and potential options for the future. We have a VISION to safely travel the world again. We have had the OPPORTUNITY to be vaccinated to help slow and potentially stop the spread of a deadly virus, and to be able to travel safely again, and we have made use of that OPPORTUNITY, so that the three adults in our house have now received two doses of the vaccine. We are now preparing to TAKE FLIGHT as I’ve researched and planned three future trips, with my eye on a fourth… two of those three / three of those four will be during the schools’ summer vacation months!

Have you been getting excited about the travel possibilities opening up?

Jamaican Christmas Cake Recipe

I’ve been in the kitchen, watching my Grandma and Mommy make Christmas cakes for decades, and I have yet to bake a traditional Jamaican Christmas cake myself. Well, this Christmas, I am sharing the general recipe with you so that you can plan to bake it next year, as I am planning to do so also. Here’s the general recipe recorded from Mommy making our Christmas cakes this year. As with all recipes, folks may choose to add their own flair, so please don’t take this as the only way to make Jamaican Christmas cake, but it is the recipe that has produced delicious Christmas cakes in our family for years! Culturally, we tend to not use super strict recipes and we tend to use our judgment while learning by doing.

Destination Wedding Q & A

Allan and I had the honor, pleasure, and privilege to attend my friend’s wedding at Beaches Negril in Jamaica this August. If you’ve been following My Cruising Family, LLC and you’ve been paying attention to our stories on this website, Facebook, and/or Instagram, then you know that we are preparing to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. At this time, 10 years ago, we were preparing for our wedding to be held at the then-Beaches Sandy Bay in Jamaica with approximately 80 guests. So, to be invited to attend and to be able to attend my friend’s wedding with approximately 180 guests, this year in particular, at Beaches Negril, which is next door to our wedding venue was very special. However, some ask “WHY?” Others ask “HOW?” If you’re wondering or have ever wondered why couples choose to have a destination wedding and what the experience is like, this blog post is for you!

Here, my newlywed colleague and friend shares her experience!

Real Talk: It’s Been A While! Where Have You Been?

Well, My Cruising Family, LLC is still here. Prior to this, our most recent blog article is the one that showcases our most recent international trip, Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba, Colombia, and Panama, which was in October 2018. The year 2018 was a very busy travel year for My Cruising Family, with international travel in March, June, August, and October. While it was a blast, before the year was out, I had already started to feel as though, as a mom and just as a person, I needed to slow down on travels to focus on not just self-care, but family care. Travel is amazing for self-care, but too much of it can be draining. Balance is the key.

What's The Deal With This Blog?

Hi!

Some of you may have read this on the homepage for this blog, but my guess is some didn't scroll through the homepage... lol. I know how we can get, clicking around and jumping from link to link, so I've added this introductory information as well as a bit more insight in this blog post because I think it's important to know the reason and motivation behind things that I read, support, and/or engage in.

As Featured In