Keith1010

Ivi, another nice walk is to walk on Brickell and go over the bridge that takes you to the man-made Island where the Mandarin Oriental is located. You can walk around the island and view Biscayne Bay and read the signage and see the port from the distance. There is a slight detour as you are towards the back of the Mandarin for about a few minutes of your walk. From there clear sailing. I can't remember if you are staying downtown or in South Beach. South Beach is always fun to walk around. In our case we have them drop us off by the Art Deco hotels on Ocean Drive and walk with the beach/ocean on our right continuing on the board walk and then go as far as we want before heading back. We were discussing Miami with some people yesterday and how much we enjoy it. It's vibrant and we like the diversity of the locals and the visitors. Just fun for us to walk around. Only issue is watching the sidewalks closely as the locals are not always good about their dog droppings. Ouch. Keith

Thank you so much. We're getting closer to launch day. Keith

Ivi, I arranged transfers for Anne Marie and myself rather than taxis. While there are many at the airports, I prefer to use a private transfer even though I pay more than a taxi. You will not have a problem with a taxi at the airport. By the way the same goes at the port. There are tons of taxis at the port. For those who do take taxis they are metered. They used to have some rates that were flat rates such as between port and airport but that was eliminated. Be sure when you get into the taxi to that it is metered so that someone doesn't try to make up the rate. Keith

Early January 2017. Keith

You are correct. That is your Crystal Society Number. If there are multiple people on the booking and each one is a Crystal Society Member it will show one for each respective person. Keith

At the present time, there are no cruises as this is planned for a charter. Keith

Thank you Bill. We had another fun day in Miami. Three days till we board Serenity. We took another nice walk-in downtown Miami in the morning. It was a little windy, but the temperature started off in the low 60's versus 50's on Tuesday. One of the places we stopped off at is the Brickell Centre. It has lots of stores, restaurants, and a hotel. We had lunch at a restaurant in the Mary Brickell area called North Italia. It was a bit windy today but nevertheless another wonderful day in Miami. Happy Holidays. Keith

Ivi, for seafood I recommend Truluck's,. We have dined there several times. They excel in Seafood. You can make reservations there. https://trulucks.com/locations/miami-florida/ Just walking on Brickell is fine. You can stop off at Brickell Centre (shopping area) and Mary Brickell Village. May lunch at one of the restaurants at Mary Brickell Village would be nice. Keith

I want to add that if you would like to know your Crystal Society number you can call Crystal reservations and they can provide that to you. Keith

A very nice writeup/review about Crystal Serenity. https://splashmags.com/index.php/2023/12/18/10-things-to-love-about-crystal-serenity/#gsc.tab=0 Keith

Now I understand and an excellent recommendation. I have used them before on Embarkation Day. Keith

I haven't asked so it will be a surprise for me too. I do know that Chef Jon will be on board which will be super. Keith

So true and this is why so many have returned even though many worked on other cruise lines during the shutdown of Crystal. This is what sets Crystal apart from other cruise lines. Keith

My wife and I are back in Miami for a pre-cruise stay. We have been staying in the city for several years starting in 2007 before we boarded a cruise from the Port Of Miami. Our last visit was in November of 2021. We find Miami to be a vibrant city with lots of choices for hotels, dining and entertainment. We arrived on Monday the day after the storm. Weather has been great. Took a long walk yesterday over to the Cruise Ship Terminal with one ship in port. Happy Holidays and Happy Cruising. Keith

Thank you Adrian for the restaurant suggestion. I will be sure to check it out. Keith

Thanks Dwight. I remember when Anne Marie and I walked with you in Seward, Alaska and the snow on the ground. We were the first ship of that Alaska season by two or three weeks. Keith

Thank you so much for the good wishes and kind thoughts. I understand the feeling of leaving. I am so glad you have enjoyed the cruise. Continue to enjoy every minute. Keith

Thank you for the good wishes and the recommendation. Keith

Thank you Nancy. We were very fortunate flying in the day after the storm. Keith

It is for those who don't want to walk. In our case, it would defeat the purpose of say going to the port as we did yesterday. Keith

There are many spots around the pool deck with shade and here are a couple of photos. Along the port and starboard sides of the pool lounge chairs are are underneath areas providing shade plus you have some areas with umbrellas. Then on one side there are tables and some chairs with shade too. As to availability, this is going to vary by cruise. The holiday cruise we will be is either sold out or very close to sold out and on the sea days it likely will be busy out there. While many prefer shady areas some want to sit out with full sun. Someone mentioned that to minimize chair hogs that if items are left on chairs for 45 minutes with no one there that the crew has been instructed to retrieve them and walk them down to lost and found. Keith

For me 50 minutes is no big deal. From there we went to other areas and then back to Hotel and then out again a few more times. Keith

Crystal Serenity Manhattan day before we departed from Northwest Passage cruise of 2016. Keith

Ivi, I would say around 50 minutes. Keith

Great day in Miami. Fabulous weather. Walked from the hotel up Brickell over to the Intercontinental Hotel. Anne Marie stayed there while I proceeded North and then walked over the bridge to the Port Of Miami. This is something we like to do on each visit. I passed the arena where the Miami Heat play their home games. We have seen several games at the arena on past visits. Only one ship was in port and ironically it was at the terminal which we will embark on the 23rd. We walked to a few other places as we passed many familiar sites. This even included a vessel named Grand Luxe near the Intercontinental Hotel which we have seen numerous times this time of year. We believe it sells art work. At least that is what it did several years ago. We think the owner of the Susie Q II is not very pleased at the position of their vessel as you can see in the photo we've included. After lunch we took a walk from the hotel over to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel located on Brickell Key a 44 acre man-made island built in 1943. We walked around the entire perimeter of the island except for the slight detour due to construction behind the hotel. Cheers, Keith