DAY 17 - MIAMI - TURN AROUND DAY

Before dinner we enjoyed some Champagne.  After all, Bimini is considered one of the embarkation ports for this cruise and since early on it was Cobb Salad Day and we didn't have the champagne over lunch, we needed to keep close to tradition and have it sometime before the day ended.  Traditions are one of the keys to life.

Butler Aleks surprised us by also bringing an appetizer for us to enjoy with the Champagne.  This was very thoughtful of him.  It was a perfect match with the champagne.  Keith said 10 hours in the Fitness Center tomorrow.  LOL. Well, maybe it was a good thing he played singles Paddle Tennis yesterday afternoon as it involved lots of running.

These are dinner menus from last evening at Waterside.

We decided to have a relaxing dinner in our room. Decisions...Decisions....Where do we eat?  Umm.  Well it didn't take long to decide on making last night an Umi Uma night.  

​From our first time on Crystal Serenity in 2005 when we dined at Umi Uma (back then called Silk Road) we loved the cuisine created by renowned Chef Nobu served at this restaurant.  We have had so many memorable meals by ourselves and with others over the years.

We will once again let the photos do the talking other than say we enjoyed some amazing sushi, sashimi, appetizers and our entrees.  
 

Sunrise in another 20 minutes and a view of the moon overhead.  

This morning we returned to Miami once again.  Today is turn-around day when several guests debarked while others boarded Serenity.  This is the start of the next cruise and we will debark Serenity a week from today.  

Like last Monday, guests were assigned to one of three groups.  The first two groups are those who are leaving the ship and the final group is mainly in-transit guest whose term refers to those guests continuing on for the next voyage.  

Every guest must be off the ship before the ship can be cleared and in-transit guests can return and later in the day newly arriving guests can board.

Just minutes before Serenity was cleared we stopped by the Reception area and spoke briefly with Reception member Claire, Chief Concierge Ariella a Hotel Director Hubert came by to chat with us as he is leaving the ship at 1:00 PM to fly home for a well deserved holiday. 

This time instead of waiting in the terminal with other in-transit guests for the ship to be cleared as she did last week Anne Marie walked with Keith from the port, over the bridge, and over past the arena where the Miami Heat Play and across the street from Bayside to a store where we picked up some items including some snacks our Penthouse Attendant, Stateroom Attendant and Butler knowing they can't go into the ports other than on occasion to the beach near the pier at Bimini but there are no items to purchase.  

With cloud cover instead of a full sun as it was last Monday it made it more comfortable to walk and on the way back as we got close to the arena there was a slight drizzle until we were a couple of minutes from Terminal J.

As they say mission accomplished.

With cloud cover instead of a full sun as it was last Monday it made it more comfortable to walk and, on the way, back as we got close to the arena there was a slight drizzle until we were a couple of minutes from Terminal J.  As luck had it about 30 minutes after we arrived back to the ship, there was a rain downpour.

While walking across the bridge towards downtown Miami, Keith noticed a great deal of progress has been made from last week and the week before with respect to the new stand along Cruise Ship Terminal under construction.  On the way back we noticed the signage for Virgin Atlantic Cruise Lines.  We wonder if this is a dedicated terminal for them.

As was the case with last Monday in addition to Crystal Serenity at Terminal J, across the way were two Carnival ships plus one NCL ship.  The only difference was a Celebrity Cruise ship in port instead of the Virgin Atlantic cruise ship.  

We timed things to arrive to the Port Of Miami shortly before the ship was cleared last time.  This time it was cleared about five minutes later than last week (excellent) due to the final couple of people coming off a little later according to a couple we know.

Last week Anne Marie had noticed most guests in the terminal not wearing face masks until someone made an announcement.  Today, about eight people were not wearing them and Keith went up to one of the people who work shoreside for Crystal (third party company) and mentioned it to them.  They had someone walk around to remind those guests and they had face masks should someone needed it.  It is the law to wear them in the terminals as it is at airports and other facilities under federal jurisdiction.  

Speaking of Face Masks, we only wore them on our walk if someone was close to us when outdoors and while we were in the store shopping thus you see us wearing masks outside.

This is todays daily Reflections Program.

We are enjoying the rest of the day on-board Serenity and continue to have an amazing time.

Life is good.  Better yet, life is great.

Cheers,

​Keith