Thank you for the Bon Voyage wished Patricia. Embarkation day is very exciting no matter how often we sail. After breakfast we got ready for the start of our cruising adventure. A photo right before we checked out of our room. We were met at the hotel by a vehicle Crystal Cruises arranged taking us from the hotel to the Port Of Miami. Our driver was Shelly, a very nice person. She has lived in Florida for many years and works for the agency which supports Crystal and some other lines. Ironically, she has never been on a cruise. We drove the same way Keith walked yesterday as we made our way to Terminal J which is used by the smaller ships. We enjoyed a very smooth check-in. The person who helped us we had met at the convention center in Nassau and guided us along the way. Check in was a breeze including the COVID-19 test which we both passed. Thank goodness. We saw so many familiar faces including Hotel Director Hubert, Ervin the front office Manager, the Concierge, Arielle Cruise Director Raph, Head Sommelier Jiri and our Butler for these voyages; Alex who escorted us to our room. We are in the same type of room as last time but one door down. We began with Lunch and had our traditional Cobb Salad and toasted our love to another wonderful adventure. We are going to post early today but will post more about the rest of the day tomorrow.
We want to close with a quote from former President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. "I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes and the light changes and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came. Below is a Memorial in Miami we have stopped at many times and Keith saw yesterday in memory of John F. Kennedy.
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Patricia thank you for your thoughtful comments. You had asked about the eyewear. It was a between the two sets of glasses and the two masks it was a little uncomfortable from time to time on one area of each ear but we did have them on from the time we left home until after we were in our room at the hotel which was about 8 hours. After that when Keith went back to one set of glasses and two masks when he left our room to run those errands he was fine. After we posted Keith went out on one final walk. For those familiar with the location of the hotel he walked to the left and made another left to walk with Biscayne Bay on his right hand side to enjoy the views of the Bay along with the vessels sailing the area. It was overcast and by the time he returned to the hotel it was a little misty. Once again the challenge is all of the work being done including portions of sidewalks no longer available for pedestrian traffic. Nevertheless he navigated all around this and enjoyed a lovely walk. The vast majority of Keith's working career was with MCI; which at the time of its sale was the second largest telecommunications company in the USA behind AT&T. Although the name is no longer in existence it's facilities still exist including fiber optic cable in the largest cities throughout the USA and the markings on the sidewalk were part of a fiber locate likely done in preparation for nearby construction. As we did on our prior two trips which began in Nassau and Reykjavik respectively we will have our pre-cruise meals in our room. The exception was two meals for lunch at the hotel in Nassau where we were able to dine outside. For dinner, we had room service along with some wine complement of our travel specialists Gerri and Gabby. We just feel more comfortable this way under the circumstances. One of the nearby restaurants we would enjoy dining at each time we returned to Miami is Pericone's. They had a very unique looking restaurant near Mary Brickell Village. With the land in that area very valuable they sold the property to a developer a few years ago. They planned to open at another location but the two time we returned there were delays and the opening kept being pushed back. Finally they opened but with COVID-19 we didn't feel comfortable dining there. We look forward to the time when we can as we always enjoyed their cuisine and service and the atmosphere, setting and overall ambiance of their found at their former location. We slept well and that was not very difficult as we were exhausted. While the direct flight was great and we are so happy to be here a 5:40 AM flight meant we were up very early to get ourselves and our home ready and for the drive to the airport. The good news is we feel great and we are happy to be here. As we mentioned, w've been staying in Miami for our pre-cruise visits starting in 2007 when the Crystal Cruises 2007 World Cruise Gala was held at the Four Seasons Hotel. We remember back then construction was in early stages as many of the low rise buildings were being replaced with high rise buildings. The number of cranes in use was amazing and other than being in Dubai with so much construction in 2007 we had never seen anything quite like this. The 2008 great recession slowed things down as many completed buildings had no tenants and this took a few years to sort out. Eventually things boomed and demand increased and more construction took place and this continues even today. We have seen additional changes since January of 2020, our last stay in the city. The downtown area boasts many more hotels and restaurants along with a beautiful shopping mall along with many new condominiums and office buildings. We remember driving through Miami with Keith's parents when they were alive and living in Florida back in the 1980's and had a not so nice impression of the city and in the 1990's when we took cruises from South Florida we avoided Miami and booked cruises leaving from Fort Lauderdale. We also avoided the Miami airport. Fast forward to 2007 and if Crystal had not left out of Miami we might not have realized how much we enjoyed the evolution the city was going through and these days we prefer staying in the city over Fort Lauderdale. Likewise, we prefer Miami airport, particularly Concourse D at Miami International Airport. After breakfast Keith went on a route he and Anne Marie took often and this was all the way up Brickell, then towards Bayside and onto the bridge which is one of two main routes to the Port Of Miami. He reminisced along the way as he saw familiar sites. One of the Oceania Vessels is at Terminal J where Serenity will be tomorrow and only one other ship was in port and it looked like an NCL ship. The port was eerie with very few vehicles going in and out and on the way back on the bridge almost no vehicles; absent the many limousines, suv's, and taxis. Keith also notice the center which used to be called American Airlines Center has been renamed. Over the years we attended one to two Miami Heat Basketball games when we would stay in Miami in December or January for several days pre-cruise. Other places Keith saw along the way was Truluck's where we have dined three different times on New Year's Eve at this location and also in our home state. He saw the Seafair Vessel which conducts sales of art work and makes stop along the East Coast. We often see it in December. Lots of large groups of bicycle riders on the street, several people jogging, others walking their dog(s) and others just out for nice walks. When he got back Anne Marie joined in for a walk and we walked back up Brickell and made a right and walked over the bridge to Brickell Key Island home to various condominiums and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. We walked around the island and then returned to the Hotel. After lunch Keith took another long walk and went wherever his legs would take him.
We will have dinner in our room. We are sticking with the plan we developed for this stay and this included no cleaning service today. Anne Marie called housekeeping and asked for a variety of items including fresh towels so we could avoid having anyone clean the room and avoiding the need to wipe down everything they touched. All in all a great day. We are getting ready in the afternoon to leave the hotel and make our way to the pier at the designated time tomorrow. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith Mintra asked if buffets are operate during COVID09 and what vaccines are acceptable. Yes buffets do operate but with protocols including assistance from the food & beverage team, distancing from the food, and entrances and exits to keep traffic flow moving in one direction. Guest must complete their vaccine protocol 14 days or more before boarding. Vaccines must be accepted by the country which guests enter. Guests who have received mixed vaccine dosages of AstraZeneca and one dose of an MRNA vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna) will not be considered fully vaccinated. Many thanks to Gill, Dave & Rocky, Patricia (so sorry you had to cancel your cruise) and Carol. We very much appreciate your thoughtful comments. We wanted to begin with a big thank you and shout out to our Travel Specialist Gerri and her Assistant Gabby for all their efforts in preparation for our third adventure of the year. Also many thanks to the many people at Crystal Cruises at sea and on land for their assistance. Some people ask why another cruise of the Bahamas and why now? These are two good questions. The answer is simple. We believe in the saying not to put off until tomorrow those things you can do today. COVID-19 reenforced this view. We have no idea how things will be later this year or next year given all of the curves and bumps on the road which this virus has thrown our way. We also are making up for lost time. We hope things get a lot better but we don't want to wait to find out. We also believe life is like a book and no one knows when that last chapter will be written. With this in mind, we booked this cruise shortly after booking the July 3 and July 10 Bahama Cruises. At first it was a back to back cruise. While on Serenity we were having such as good time we added the third cruise. They changed the original suite we booked to an adjacent one in order to get the same room for all three cruises. Shortly after arriving home with the announcement of Miami as the third option for embarking and debarking Serenity we had Gerri and Gabby revise our reservation to Miami. We were up early to take advantage of a direct flight to Miami which left before 6:00 AM. Our driver arrived to the house early and we enjoyed a nice conversation on the way to the airport. Our goal was to make sure he didn't fall asleep driving. LOL. We arrived to the airport minutes before the airline desk opened and in short order checked in for the flight and went through TSA Pre Check. After our drive by the private vehicle service we use regularly for trips we were dropped off at our regional airport. Check-in was quick and with TSA Pre Check we went through security quickly. The airline lounge opens early so we made a stop at the lounge before boarding our flight. We each wore a shield which is worn over our glasses to provide a little more protection from COVID-19. The good news is the aircraft for the flight arrived last evening from Miami and we boarded and took-off early. Flight arrived early. Then we walked from Gate 2 to the luggage carrousel and it felt like we walked forever. As it turned out a one-half mile walk. No big deal for us but I am sure might be a challenge for some. We were met at the luggage carrousel by the driver who would drive us to the hotel. We stayed at our go-to hotel in Miami; Four Seasons Hotel. Our first stay at this property was in 2007 before the start of the World Cruise which was used by Crystal Cruises as the pre-cruise hotel and where the World Cruise Gala was held. Since 2007, we have stayed at the Four Seasons many times including a pre-cruise stay prior to boarding Crystal Serenity in January of 2020. We originally booked the hotel for two nights but we know from experience the room would not be ready until 3:00 PM With COVID-19 on our mind we didn't want to sit in the lobby for hours. We had Gabby add an extra night as if we were checking in last night so the room would be ready upon our arrival. The good news is they had a special stay two nights get the third night free. This promotion had a slightly higher per diem cost but overall it didn't add too much to the overall cost and our room was ready when we checked in. Keith went to a Publix Grocery store we have gone to many a time near Brickell Village to pick up some items including salad entrees for lunch and after lunch went to the other Publix. We are happy to have today's journey behind us and we are thankful the flight was not only on-time but early. This was a much easier travel day than the long 30+ hours when we flew to Iceland last month. We wanted to close with a special song about sailing. It's a beautiful song. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith
Welcome to our Blog.
After a month at home following the Crystal Cruises Endeavor adventure, we return to Crystal Serenity for three back-to back cruises of Nassau. Our itinerary is very similar to the back-to-back cruises we sailed in July. The difference is Miami has been added to the itinerary and is one of three locations where you can begin and end the cruise along with Bimini and Nassau. We chose Miami for the ease of flights. Following is the itinerary for our three back-to-back cruises. ARRIVE DEPART September 18 MIAMI PRE-CRUISE September 19 MIAMI PRE-CRUISE September 20 EMBARK MIAMI September 21 7:00 AM 7:00 PM SAN SALVAODR September 22 7:00 AM 7:00 PM GREAT EXUMA September 23 7:00 AM 7:60 PM LONG ISLAND September 24 CRUISING September 25 6:00 AM 7:00 PM NASSAU September 26 8:00 AM 6:00 PM BIMINI September 27 8:00 AM MIAMI September 28 7:00 AM 7:00 PM SAN SALVADOR September 29 7:00 AM 7:00 PM GREAT EXUMA September 30 7:00 AM 6:00 PM LONG ISLAND October 1 CRUISING September 26 6:00 AM 7:00 PM NASSAU September 27 8:00 AM MIAMI September 28 7:00 AM 7:00 PM SAN SALVADOR September 29 7:00 AM 7:00 PM GREAT EXUMA September 30 7:00 AM 6:00 PM LONG ISLAND October 1 CRUISING October 2 6:00 AM 8:00 PM NASSAU October 3 8:00 AM 6:00 PM BIMINI October 4 5:00 PM MIAMI October 5 7:00 AM 7:00 PM SAN SALAVADOR October 6 7:00 AM 7:00 PM GREAT EXUMA October 7 7:00 AM 6:00 PM LONG ISLAND October 8 CRUISING October 9 6:00 AM 7:00 PM NASSAU October 10 8:00 AM 6:00 PM BIMINI October 11 8:00 AM MIAMI October 12 MIAMI & FLY HOME
Starting today, we will blog each day.
We read all comments and you can comment by clicking on the comments section found at the end of each entry. You can also send comments directly to us by clicking on the top tab labeled comments. We look forward to returning to Crystal Serenity and back to sea.
Cheers,
Anne Marie & Keith |
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