We arrived into Miami at 6.00 am and it is like saying hello to an old friend as this was the port we left from on our very first cruise to the Caribbean. Miami is still as beautiful as ever with palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze contrasting to the very busy freeway beside our dock.
 |
| Miami |
We went upstairs to enjoy a hearty breakfast for the last time in Moderno Restaurant. This restaurant has been especially set aside for breakfast and lunch for suite owners and has been our home away from home as we got to know the staff and they us. The concierge also made sure to talk to each of us over breakfast and kept us up to date with coming events.
 |
| Moderno Restaurant |
We, almost sadly, disembarked the ship at 9.00am. Actually, I should say we were called at 9.00am but we didn't leave customs until after 11.00 am. There were too few staff for too many people!We finally made it outside to the bus that was talking us to the Miami International Airport (MIA) for our flight to New Orleans.
 |
| Nobody builds freeways like the Americans can! |
MIA is a disaster as far as we are concerned. It is huge and our gate (60) was the very last gate from where we checked in. There are no business class on flights with American Airlines just first class. We mistakingly thought that the First Class lounge area would be a lovely place to wait for our flight that was almost four hours away. American Airlines does not have any lounges in Miami! So we tried to make the most of our long wait and went to a nice restaurant and had a delicious lunch with a couple of drinks. We tried to spin it out as long as we could but we were getting looks from the waitress saying "ok, finish up folks". So we went to Gate 60 to sit it out.
When we finally boarded our plane it was such a relief and I have to say the flight and staff were magnificent. We flew right across the Bay of Mexico and touched down 1.5 hours after we took off.
The Royal Sonnesta Hotel that we are staying at is lovely. It is on Bourbon Street where all the action is and boy oh boy is there some action. We walked down Bourbon Street, that is closed to vehicles, completely mesmerized. There are kids whacking out a beat on nothing more than plastic drums and drumsticks,
 |
| These kids are really good! |
musicians on every street corner,
 |
| Street Performers |
food vendors everywhere, ladies of the night wandering the streets wearing nothing more than a g-string, every bar has a musician playing everything from jazz to rock,
 |
| Loved this musician playing in the bar opposite the hotel |
hip-hop street performers, wedding parties with a complete steel band lead by a police motorcyclist,
 |
| A passing wedding party |
the list just goes on. It was almost certainly too much to take in our first night but we have 10 days here so one day at a time.
No comments:
Post a Comment