The adventure begins!

Monday, January 4: 

We are now ensconced in a lovely room at the Mandarin Oriental (MO) in Miami. This evening we have a welcome cocktail/dinner party. We have already seen and re-acquainted with several of our cruise buddies from last year’s cruise that are also doing this year’s. We now know that there are 195 people doing the entire world circuit. Last year we had 158 and thought that was a lot for a ship that only carries about 380 when full. 

We remember when the MO was built back in the late 80s. Its avant garde (for the time) architecture, high room costs, and international cachet caused quite a stir. She is still an elegant lady, but very Miami (think a slightly garish color palette) and beginning to show a little wear. 

As I look out our window at the Miami skyline, I am amazed at how the city has changed since we first came to Florida almost 37 years ago. The high-rise dwellings and signature commercial buildings just seem to go on and on and on. Here is the view from our room looking west just at dusk:



The road in the middle of the picture is the causeway from Brickell Key to the mainland. It becomes SW 8th St (Calle Ocho) on the land side.

Just for kicks, here is the same view after dark:



Cocktails and dinner were very interesting. We managed to re-acquaint ourselves with at least a dozen people who we had met on last year’s world cruise. It was a major homecoming. We purposely sat at a table with some people that we did not know from last year and that were new to us and to Silversea. One couple was from Phoenix, one from Switzerland, one from Rumania, and one was a couple we knew from last year. Great table and very interesting conversation. After a very interesting dinner and conversation, we crashed and look forward to tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 5: 

Our first day aboard the Silver Whisper. The day dawned gray, cloudy, and drizzly. Not a good omen – except for the fact that we are about to begin a four-month odyssey that will take us to many places we have never been. By the time we boarded the bus to get to Port Everglades and made the roughly 40-minute trip, the skies had cleared somewhat, but the weather was still chilly and very windy.

At the terminal, the boarding procedure was so smooth, we almost didn’t even realize we had walked into the terminal, stopped at the check-in counter for a few minutes, and then – Shazam! – we were aboard. We dropped our carry-ons in the suite and went to lunch.

Entering the Terraza Restaurant and recognizing – and being recognized by – several of the wait staff was like a homecoming. We felt as if we had just been on shore for a while and were returning to our “mothership” after an extended shore stay.

The rest of the day was spent renewing acquaintances – passengers and crew – and unpacking. After last year’s trip, we vowed to pack much lighter since we knew that the laundry service aboard ship was very good and very quick. Yeah! Right! We still managed to over pack and it was exhausting putting everything away. Lifeboat drill at 5:00 followed by a short show in the lounge to introduce the major staff and on-board entertainers. Then a shower, dress, and to the bar!

Dinner was simple and now we are back in the room ready for an early evening. 

Tomorrow it is a stop in Key Weird…er, umm… I mean Key West. We will probably just stroll and make it a quasi-sea day since we have no real desire to once again see the Hemingway House, the Aquarium and Butterfly Sanctuary, or Mallory Square. Having lived in Florida for so long and having spent so many wasted (in more ways than one) weekends in the Keys during our scuba diving days, we want to rest up for the next big thing: Zip-lining in Costa Rica. 

Wednesday, January 6:

Yep! Key West was a yawner…woke up to dreary skies, a drizzle, and blowy winds. We were docked at the Naval Air Station pier because the Celebrity Constellation was docked at Mallory Square. Compared to our modest ship of about 300 passengers, it was a behemoth of almost 3000 – but oddly enough from a slight distance when, looking at them side by side, we were not all that much smaller it seemed. The difference must be in the space per passenger ratio…

The ship provided a shuttle into town and we made the obligatory CVS stop. It seems that almost everyone who makes a Key West stop manages to remember something that they need that only a CVS could have. In our case it was lip gloss – for Bonnie, not me!

A short walk along Duval Street reminded us why we don’t return to Key West much since our days of scuba diving ended. Back to the ship for lunch, a nap, adding to this blog, setting up a new trivia team, and getting ready for dinner with another couple of cruise friends. You may not think that the trivia thing is important, but for some reason, it has become a big deal to try to find out just how much totally useless information you carry around in your head that might one-day win you big – Silversea Dollars redeemable for valuable prizes: pens, 4 GB thumb drives; little stuffed teddy bears; Tee-shirts!

We are now on our way to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. Two fun-filled sea days and then we get to go zip-lining again!

Stay tuned…