We got another restful night’s sleep. Julie had purchased the cruise package with
the hotel that gave us late checkout at 2pm.
Crystal had called last week to inform us that we could not board until
2pm, so the plan was to leave at about 1pm or so to get to the Port.
After another continental breakfast at the hotel, we decided
to start the day with a walk. We made it
down to the ocean area where there was an excellent walkway behind all of the
large buildings. We just kept walking
and made it out to Brickell Island where the Mandarin Oriental hotel was
located. As we rounded the east side of
the hotel, we could see the Crystal Serenity off in the distance (it is the ship on the right, next to an NCL and a Carnival ship).
This building has the odd stepped architecture reminded Bob
of the Q Bert video game from a long time ago.
Clearly he has been teaching video games too much.
We kept walking and then ended up by the Miami River where
several very large yachts were docked.
We watched the drawbridge go up to let a couple of boats through and
then headed back to the hotel. All in
all, for the day, we walked 15,000 steps and 9 miles.
We finished packing our stuff and ended up leaving right
around 1pm. We got a taxi this time as
we were concerned that the port might have some kind of regulations that would make
Uber not work. This was not a factor and
we made it to the dock without incidence.
We then went through security and were greeted by waiters offering
champagne or other drinks. We both had
some champagne and waited in line to check in.
After that, we went to a holding area and were given a blue group
boarding card. They used the cards to
send people onto the ship in waves so as to not overwhelm everything. Eventually we boarded the Serenity at about
2:30.
Our rooms were not ready yet, so we went to the Lido and
grabbed a quick bite to eat. When we
were eating, they made an announcement that the rooms were ready, so we headed
to our room. When we got there, we
didn’t have any luggage and noticed that a different couple’s name was on some
correspondence in the mail holder on the door.
We went down to the desk to see if we had the wrong room number. Fortunately, we did have the right number
(our luggage would have gone to the wrong place if that were the fact) and the
piece of mail was wrong.
In the meantime our luggage began arriving and we started to
unpack. It came in slowly, which was
about perfect as we were able to get one piece unpacked and then another would
show up. We were able to get everything
unpacked by about 4:30. The next event
was the muster drill at 5:30.
After our muster drill, we met Les in the Crystal Cove for
pre-dinner cocktails. Les is a single
cruiser that we sponsored. After drinks,
the three of us headed to dinner in the dining by reservations at 6:30 (we
pushed the time back 15 minutes because of the muster drill).
For the appetizer, Bob and Julie both had shrimp cocktail,
which was simple, but excellent.
Les had Tuna and Scallop Ceviche, White Meso Soup. The presentation was amazing and Les said it
was fantastic.
For the soup/salad course, Bob had Cuban Garbanzo Bean Salad
with Peppers, Red Onions, Tomato, Lime, Cumin & Coriander. Julie had a Caesar Salad, while Les had the
Crab Soup with Brie Cheese. All of us
thought that they were very good.
Entrees were next, Bob had Grilled Black Angus Sirloin
Steak, with Sauce Béarnaise, Baked Beans in Filo Cup, Grilled Zucchini and
Country Fried Potatoes. Bob thought that
the steak was very good and the Béarnaise was amazing.
Julie had the Black Pepper Crusted Salmon with Celeriac
Puree, Broccoli & Merlot Red Wine Sauce.
Finally, Les had Pink-Roasted Milk-Fed Veal Rib Eye from the
Modern Menu. That included Pumpkin Pearl
Pasta & Broccolini.
For desert, Les and Bob both had an assortment of
cheeses. Julie had the Raspberry Zuppa
Inglese, Vanilla Cream, White Sponge Cake, Raspberries & Soft Meringue.
After dinner, Bob and Julie decided to skip the welcome show
and went to the movie: Selma. After
that, we went to the Avenue Saloon and then went to bed. Unfortunately, tonight we had to set the
clock ahead an hour, the first of many.
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