My husband and I were going to Miami for the NASCAR race at Miami Homestead so we decided it was a perfect opportunity to take the 4 day Bahamas cruise.

We arrived the day before the cruise and stayed at the Marriott Biscayne Bay. It is a lovely hotel. We stayed in a corner room with a panoramic view of the bay. There is a marina at the hotel and nearby is a bridge that lifts to allow larger boats through the road. They have a nice restaurant outside by the marina so you can enjoy the warm weather.

We cruised on RCCL Enchantment of the Seas. It is an older ship but has been remodeled and does not show its age. Embarkation was speedy and within 30 minutes of arriving at the ship, we were seated in the buffet enjoying lunch. We stayed in a junior suite at the aft of the ship. The cabin had a large balcony so we spent a lot of time taking in the views.

This itinerary has 3 stops. Nassau, Bahamas is the first. Then the ship normally stops at Coco Cay which is a private island. Unfortunately, the weather did not allow us to stop at the island that day. We spent a leisurely day on the ship playing trivia and getting to know a few of the other passengers.

The last stop was Key West, a delightful town. We took the hop on- hop off trolley. This is a great way to see the town and learn a bit of the history. For me, one of the highlights was going by the ocean. Brown pelicans were divebombing for fish, an incredible bit of nature to view.

The only bad thing about a 4 day cruise is that it goes by all too fast. Friday morning we were already disembarking. Since we had several hours until we could check into our hotel for the NASCAR package, we decided to add an Everglades tour onto our package.

The Everglades were fascinating. We saw 2 alligators while riding on the airboat. We went to a gator show where the host showed 2 snakes, a young alligator, a young crocodile and then an older alligator. My husband then held a young alligator.

If you are going to Miami for a few days, it is a perfect opportunity to add a short cruise and visit new places.