DAY 10 - MIAMI; TURN AROUND DAY

We wanted to begin by posting photos of the suite we are in.  As we did on the July back-to-back cruises, we are staying in the Crystal Penthouse Suite.  We booked the suite both times because of Anne Marie's compromised immune system as we knew she would spend more time in the room and less time in the Public Areas.  Full Disclosure.  On Crystal Serenity we really like the PH because we love the room layout with the two desks and all of the built in cabinets.  While the PS is larger than the PH we prefer the PH.  In addition, we have stayed in the PS a few times when we used Crystal Society upgrades to go from a PH to a PS and we have also stayed in standard rooms including on our first World Cruise.  As long as we are on a cruise it is always special.
 
Prior to these voyages we stayed in the Crystal Penthouse  for the first time  in 2017 when we brought our family on board with us.  This included our two children, their spouses and at the time three of the five grandchildren as the other two were not yet born.  It was a seven day cruise and it was for our 40th wedding anniversary and we renewed our wedding vows in the suite and it was a great meeting place where we enjoyed a couple of dinners and pre-dinner get-togethers.    One night we had two babysitters from the crew so the adults could have dinner together and one night we watched the grandchildren while our children and spouses went to Umi Uma by themselves.  The other time was after the 2019 World Cruise when we stayed on-board and at the time it was our 100th Milestone when 12 of the 16 days was complimentary as part of the 100th milestone.
 
Come next year we will be back to the PH and it will be great. 
 
When they have the next open house, I will try to swing by and take photos of the various room categories to post them

Serenity departed Bimini at 6:00 PM.  

We enjoyed dinner at the Silk Specialty Restaurant featuring Chinese food.  There were a few changes to the menu since we dined there in July.  For those who like spicy dishes those are available and for those who prefer something far less spicy this is also available. ​We enjoyed another nice evening on the ship.
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It was a lovely dinner made very special by the very professional, attentive and friendly wait-staff and bar staff teams.  

Following are the menus from Waterside.

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This is the menu from Silk.

They alternate the opening of Silk with the Brazilian Restaurant Churrascaria.  This is due to lower occupancy on-board Serenity and allows better use of the wait-staff and galley teams.

The original concept included fewer choices where most would be brought out to the table and eaten family style.  Feedback from guests indicated greater choice was desired and Crystal augmented the dinner menu accordingly.  You can still have the meal family style or you could have it served individually.  We prefer having a few items at a time so all of the food remains hot and some items we share while others we order for ourself only.  

We enjoyed many items and we will once let the photos show what we had.
 
 

From time-to-time we are asked by those new to Crystal or who haven't sailed Crystal for sometime, about the inclusive wines.  Following is the listing of inclusive wine being served on the ship.  The list changes from time-to-time based on availability and where the ship is sailing.  This listing includes 28 varieties of wine and there are other varieties served which are not on the list.
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Later in the night was the White Night Extravaganza so we each dressed in something white.

This is today's Daily Reflections Program.  

Keith took some photos while they were setting up the continental breakfast at Marketplace which runs from 6:30 AM to 7:00 AM followed by the breakfast buffet from 7:00 AM to 9:30 AM

Some photos as we began arrival to Port Of Miami and as we were getting ready to dock.

Today was turn around day for the ship as several guests will debark in Miami and others will board.  Overall guest count is expected to be around 190 guests.  When you return to a USA port and the cruise ends all guest must be off the ship including in-transit like us who are continuing on to the next voyage.  Guests continuing on for the next port of call cannot return until a zero count is achieved meaning all guests had debarked the ship.  As part of this process guests must present their passports to custom/immigration agents.  

Guests who are not staying on started to debark the ship shortly after 8:30 AM.  They called guests by Groups 1 followed by 2 followed by 3.  We were in Group 3.  We debarked about 9:20 AM.  We showed our passports to the agent, he took our photo, he asked if we planned to go into Miami and Anne Marie said she would wait in the terminal and Keith said he was going over to Bayside.

Keith started his walk to Miami.  It's been awhile since he walked the route from Terminal J which is across the way from the other terminals and it is a bit tricky to do this.  Finally he remember and found the underpass which would take him to the other side and then made a left to go over the bridge and walked past the arena and across the street to CVS to pick up items.  About 10 minutes before returning Anne Marie texted to say guests could return and she would wait for Keith and ten minutes later and an hour after he left we were both back on the ship.

One comment just for education.  When you leave the ship you are asked to wear a mask for the terminal area.  It is in the daily program and there was a couple near us and was told they needed to put on a mask.  They did.  However, after going through passport control you leave the building and go back into the check in area and Anne Marie saw many took off their masks as if it was OK.  It's still the terminal and masks are required.  Finally, one of the local representatives made a kindly reminder that guests need to wear masks.  It's the law.

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For lunch since it was another embarkation day we kept to the tradition of Cobb Salad.  

We are enjoying the rest of the day on-board Serenity. 

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith