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 Miamis 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.

Travel on an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise to Freeport, the second-largest city in the Bahamas after Nassau, and surround yourself with white-sand beaches and turquoise waters. Once the capital of Grand Bahama until it was moved to West End in the 1950s, Freeport today has become a tourist centre par excellence with parks, nature reserves, water sports and its free-trade zone. Freeport’s main commercial district is centred on The Mall, located between Ranfurly Circus and Churchill Square. The cheerful Lucaya district by the port showcases beautiful beachfront hotels, fashionable clubs and pubs, carefully tended lawns and shrubbery, and tidy, candy-coloured shops and houses. Book an MSC excursion and tour the winding trails of Garden of the Groves, an inner-city botanical highlight dominated by a large fig tree. Take a guided walking tour or explore on your own and admire the lush vegetation, birds, cascading waterfalls, fountains and a picturesque chapel. Children will find space to play on the Fern Grove Trail, with leafy shade in between limestone boulders to either side. Or discover an “almost” secret paradise and keep an eye out for wildlife on a guided kayak tour through a 40-acre spread of mangroves, palm and pine trees at Lucayan National Park. The park, established in 1982, is home to caves that are part of the world’s most extended underwater limestone cave systems, with one cave entrance accessible by stairs. If you’re keen on shopping, Freeport is duty free and the perfect place for retail therapy. Don’t miss out on Freeport’s spectacular outdoor market at Port Lucaya Marketplace for its scores of boutiques, restaurants, cafés, Bahamian craft artisans and straw vendors. There’s something here for everyone.

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 Miamis 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.