The travel agent tried to scare us into travelling to Miami the night before the cruise. I wouldn't go for that, but conservatively elected to take the earliest possible flights. We got up at 4:00AM to catch a 6:10 flight to Atlanta and 8:30 flight on to Miami. In Miami we found that the port authorities had delayed debarkation of the previous cruise passengers. Since Norwegian operated the airport-seaport shuttle, they held us at the airport for a couple of hours, until the ship had emptied, to avoid a mass at the pier. Hurry up and wait...
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We got the front seat in the bus because Jan has difficulty ambulating. After leaving Raleigh on a frosty morning, Miami was exotically warm and sunny at 70°F.
Arriving at the port, 15 minutes ride through downtown from the airport, was exciting. I couldn't resist taking pictures even from the moving bus through tinted windows.
The port is under construction. These are construction cranes, not loading/unloading cranes. This part of the port is for passenger ships.
A ship, not ours, over the top of the port. We can tell it's not the Norwegian Spirit by the number of decks with balcony cabins.
It was quite breezy, when we embarked at Miami. This is not the resting shape of a palm tree.
In the port we registered and were given these ID cards. They opened the stateroom door and were used to charge anything we ordered (sodas, drinks, etc.)
Jan was completely exhausted, from the effort of registering and boarding the ship. When we got to our stateroom, she immediately flopped on the bed and took a nap. We boarded around 2:00PM, and the ship didn't get under way until 6:30PM, so we had this boring view of the causeway for quite a while.
We booked the trip too late to pre-book our excursions in port. One of Jan's friends advised us to book them as soon as possible, since the best excursions sell out, so while she napped I did so. I asked the agent to help me identify low-exertion excursions, and he did an excellent job.
Another view of the causeway.
The view became more exciting, when another cruise ship left port before us. We're still at anchor here, in the same spot, as the other ship sets out. This occurred during the midst of a lifeboat drill we were required to participate in.
As the other ship passed by, its passengers lined up at the railings and jeered at us, because we were still at anchor.
The lifeboat drill continues. We were right outside one of the ship's pubs. You can see one of the lifeboats overhead.
The lifeboat is overhead. You can see its screw (propellor) and rudder.
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