Condo cleaned (well, beds stripped, trash out), car packed, we hit the road at our desired 8am departure time. It’s a little less than 3 hours to Miami, and we have a Dollar Tree stop in between, so we want to give ourselves plenty of time to turn in the car and get to the port. All goes according to plan: Dollar Tree is right on the way, where we stock up on cough drops and cough medicine (Yep, either the Red Tide got us, or the Celebrity Crud did – but we both have developed a cough – ugh!), along with other toiletry supplies; the drive across Alligator alley is smooth and relatively traffic free; we find the rental car return in Miami without a hitch (we switched from the port return office to one in a mall about 10 minutes from the port after we read reviews about how horrific the port office was, too small, standing in line for hours, shuttle taking forever – with 6 huge ships in port, no way we were getting into that mess); Uber to the port showed up fast and we were on our way a little before noon.
The port was – as I mentioned above – crazy busy with all the ships. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the pier location for Oceania, it was never mentioned in the doc’s and we thought there would be a big LED sign showing pier locations (as there is in Ft. Lauderdale, or maybe it’s Barcelona), but no such luck. We thought it was at E, so we fortunately directed our Uber driver to that area of the port while I frantically searched the web for info. I finally found something that said Oceania and Azamara type ships docked at Pier J, and after confirming this with a security guard, we continued all the way around the port complex to the last pier on the opposite side of the island. Phew!
Bags handled, porter tipped, we head upstairs to check in, which goes according to “status” – suites, concierge, etc., first, us verandah peons last. It took a while to get an open agent, but once at the desk it was quick and painless. Arriving onboard, we immediately headed to the Terrace cafe for lunch, but that wasn’t happening – it was jam packed without a table to be had. We traipsed out onto the Waves grill and patio area, managing to snag one of the last 2 tops available. Into the fray for lunch, where someone asked me what Steamship Round was, (we were served our steamship round – and everything else (one of the differences on Oceania, virtually everything on the buffet is served to you – with the exception of rolls and some fruit, you have to wait for a server for all food)and then back to the somewhat quieter patio/pool area. As we are eating, we are surveying the other passengers, and oh my gosh, the demographics are not at all what we expected. I am one of the youngest people on this ship, besides the crew! It’s amazing! And a good 1/3 of the ship have mobility issues (canes, walkers, wheel chairs). What are these people going to do in the Amazon where there are rainforest hike tours and little boats that need to be boarded to see the river and the sights??? This is going to be interesting……
After lunch we reserve our 4 specialty restaurant dinners, all late (8:00 and 8:30) because the suites and concierge got to reserve first and they took all the good times. But, nonetheless, we have 4 dates, including Thanksgiving, which will be nice. Then we settle in to wait for the cabins, which are available at 3pm. And then its the normal embarkation day, get the luggage, unpack, go to the muster drill, then try to find the Cruise Critic gathering for sailaway that is supposed to be in the Patio by the pool. That area though is where the band is playing, so the get together doesn’t really materialize, and we spend sailaway upstairs in the nice breeze watching Miami fade from view.
Off we go on our 25 day Caribbean and Amazon odyssey.
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