Miami, USA
November, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011 Miami
It was very sad to leave the ship this morning. We had made so many good friends after spending seven days crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Our friends, Esther and Isaac allowed us to use their phone so that we could organise a hire car, because the public transport system is not very good in Miami.
The ship docked at Fort Lauderdale and we took a taxi to the car rental place. Cars in the USA are twice the size as the cars that we hired in Italy and France. We hired a Hyundai Sonata and drove straight to Sawgrass Mills, a huge factory outlet complex. It consists of five avenues, each the size of Epping Plaza. We had both lunch and dinner there. Zeke and I left the girls to shop. We explored all five avenues and even had time to catch up with some friends from the cruise ship. Gwen and Jamaica had only seen two of the five avenues when the stores began to close at 9pm.
It was 45min drive to Miami, so we programmed the GPS. When we arrived at the address, all we found was an old abandoned hotel. We were a bit worried until we rechecked the address. It turned out that I had put in 1030 Collins Ave instead of 1330 Collins Ave. That was a relief. There was no car parking at our hotel, so we hired a valet to take our car away. Gwen and Jamaica crashed while Zeke and I watched Monday Night Football. I also went online to book some tickets for our airboat ride at Gator Park tomorrow!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 Miami
We had subway for breakfast this morning, then I drove out to the Everglades for our visit to Gator Park. The airboat ride was so much fun. We saw many wild alligators including 2 baby alligators and other wildlife such as turtles and various birdlife. The airboat was wild and loud. Our tour guide was exactly what you would expect of someone who would live in these parts, complete with mullet and moustache. We learnt a bit about the history of Miami and saw a wildlife show containing alligators, snakes, scorpions and legless lizards. Zeke had his photo taken holding an alligator.
For lunch, we drove back to Sawgrass Mills. Zeke and I went to Walmart, but our Mastercard was declined when we tried to buy something. We found Gwen, and she had the same problem. We had to call the Commonwealth bank in Australia. It turned out that they had put a block on our account because many mastercards have been stolen in the Miami area and have been used to buy things from WalMart. They unblocked our account and we were able to withdraw some cash once more.
We purchased a lot of new clothes, so we decided to mail some old clothes back to Australia. When we found out that it would cost $100 to send only 5kg, we quickly decided against that idea, and thought it would be more wise to just throw out our old clothes!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 Miami
We had to return the car this morning. It was only a 5 min drive away, so we all went and then walked back to the beach for breakfast. The Miami beach was enormous. We were there early and already the crowd was building up. We walked along the Collins Street shopping area all the way to Lincoln mall. Unfortunately, we had to be back at our hotel to catch the taxi at 12pm, so it did not leave much time.
We arrived at the port at 12:30. It was next door to American Airlines Stadium, the home of the Miami Heat. We were meant to see the Heat play last night, but the players are still on strike so we missed out. The queue to get on the Norwegian Dawn was huge.but it was quick. It is a much bigger ship than the Rotterdam, over 2400 passengers.
Our room was not yet ready so we had lunch in the garden buffet. The crowd is much younger than the last cruise and there are 200 kids on board, because students in the USA have the week off school due to thanksgiving. After we unpacked, we went to the poolside party. It was crazy, people were dancing and screaming, completely different to the Rotterdam where the average age was 76. We spent time in the hot tub, and met the cruise director, Paul, who announced to the ship that there were some Australians on board.
We had dinner in the Aqua restaurant and met some of the dining stewards. It turns out that most of the crew aboard are from Cebu! Dinner was okay but not up to the Holland-America standard. The kids went to kids club and Gwen and I had an early night… exhausted!
Sunday, December 11 , 2011 Miami
I had been looking forward to today ever since I picked up the tickets for today’s game back in July. We walked off the ship at 8am with our luggage in hand so we could take a taxi directly to our hotel. Four ships were docked at Miami, so there was a slight hold-up going through customs.
Our Hotel was next door to Sun Life Stadium. We arrived at 10am. Our room was not yet ready so we dumped our bags in storage and walked one mile to the stadium. The heavens opened up before we arrived. Luckily we had three umbrellas between us. We arrived 20min before the gates opened and we were able to stand first in line, under shelter, as the rain bucketed down. Once inside, they confiscated our umbrellas, so the first thing we did was find a merchandise stand and bought four ponchos.
The stadium was empty, so we did a circuit and went anywhere and everywhere that people would let us enter. We took many photos. The security were always happy to take our photos when they heard that we were from Australia. Our seats were up in the top deck, a long way for the action. The game began with five jets doing a flyover just above our heads. We met some crazy fans around us who were more than happy to explain what was happening and where things were.
By half time, the rain had stopped and we were getting cooked, so we went and found some seats on the wing, in the shade. There we met some more crazy fans who wanted to hear all about Australia. We spent the last quarter down on the ground level, just behind the coaching staff. Miami lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 26-13, but the game had everything, including fumbles, interceptions, punt blocks and even a safety.
We got back to the hotel around 6pm, and checked in. We confirmed our bus pickup to Orlando for tomorrow morning. Just as well, because they had 8pm instead of 8am on their records. We ordered in pizza for dinner, and then had an early night.
It was very sad to leave the ship this morning. We had made so many good friends after spending seven days crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Our friends, Esther and Isaac allowed us to use their phone so that we could organise a hire car, because the public transport system is not very good in Miami.
The ship docked at Fort Lauderdale and we took a taxi to the car rental place. Cars in the USA are twice the size as the cars that we hired in Italy and France. We hired a Hyundai Sonata and drove straight to Sawgrass Mills, a huge factory outlet complex. It consists of five avenues, each the size of Epping Plaza. We had both lunch and dinner there. Zeke and I left the girls to shop. We explored all five avenues and even had time to catch up with some friends from the cruise ship. Gwen and Jamaica had only seen two of the five avenues when the stores began to close at 9pm.
It was 45min drive to Miami, so we programmed the GPS. When we arrived at the address, all we found was an old abandoned hotel. We were a bit worried until we rechecked the address. It turned out that I had put in 1030 Collins Ave instead of 1330 Collins Ave. That was a relief. There was no car parking at our hotel, so we hired a valet to take our car away. Gwen and Jamaica crashed while Zeke and I watched Monday Night Football. I also went online to book some tickets for our airboat ride at Gator Park tomorrow!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 Miami
We had subway for breakfast this morning, then I drove out to the Everglades for our visit to Gator Park. The airboat ride was so much fun. We saw many wild alligators including 2 baby alligators and other wildlife such as turtles and various birdlife. The airboat was wild and loud. Our tour guide was exactly what you would expect of someone who would live in these parts, complete with mullet and moustache. We learnt a bit about the history of Miami and saw a wildlife show containing alligators, snakes, scorpions and legless lizards. Zeke had his photo taken holding an alligator.
For lunch, we drove back to Sawgrass Mills. Zeke and I went to Walmart, but our Mastercard was declined when we tried to buy something. We found Gwen, and she had the same problem. We had to call the Commonwealth bank in Australia. It turned out that they had put a block on our account because many mastercards have been stolen in the Miami area and have been used to buy things from WalMart. They unblocked our account and we were able to withdraw some cash once more.
We purchased a lot of new clothes, so we decided to mail some old clothes back to Australia. When we found out that it would cost $100 to send only 5kg, we quickly decided against that idea, and thought it would be more wise to just throw out our old clothes!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 Miami
We had to return the car this morning. It was only a 5 min drive away, so we all went and then walked back to the beach for breakfast. The Miami beach was enormous. We were there early and already the crowd was building up. We walked along the Collins Street shopping area all the way to Lincoln mall. Unfortunately, we had to be back at our hotel to catch the taxi at 12pm, so it did not leave much time.
We arrived at the port at 12:30. It was next door to American Airlines Stadium, the home of the Miami Heat. We were meant to see the Heat play last night, but the players are still on strike so we missed out. The queue to get on the Norwegian Dawn was huge.but it was quick. It is a much bigger ship than the Rotterdam, over 2400 passengers.
Our room was not yet ready so we had lunch in the garden buffet. The crowd is much younger than the last cruise and there are 200 kids on board, because students in the USA have the week off school due to thanksgiving. After we unpacked, we went to the poolside party. It was crazy, people were dancing and screaming, completely different to the Rotterdam where the average age was 76. We spent time in the hot tub, and met the cruise director, Paul, who announced to the ship that there were some Australians on board.
We had dinner in the Aqua restaurant and met some of the dining stewards. It turns out that most of the crew aboard are from Cebu! Dinner was okay but not up to the Holland-America standard. The kids went to kids club and Gwen and I had an early night… exhausted!
Sunday, December 11 , 2011 Miami
I had been looking forward to today ever since I picked up the tickets for today’s game back in July. We walked off the ship at 8am with our luggage in hand so we could take a taxi directly to our hotel. Four ships were docked at Miami, so there was a slight hold-up going through customs.
Our Hotel was next door to Sun Life Stadium. We arrived at 10am. Our room was not yet ready so we dumped our bags in storage and walked one mile to the stadium. The heavens opened up before we arrived. Luckily we had three umbrellas between us. We arrived 20min before the gates opened and we were able to stand first in line, under shelter, as the rain bucketed down. Once inside, they confiscated our umbrellas, so the first thing we did was find a merchandise stand and bought four ponchos.
The stadium was empty, so we did a circuit and went anywhere and everywhere that people would let us enter. We took many photos. The security were always happy to take our photos when they heard that we were from Australia. Our seats were up in the top deck, a long way for the action. The game began with five jets doing a flyover just above our heads. We met some crazy fans around us who were more than happy to explain what was happening and where things were.
By half time, the rain had stopped and we were getting cooked, so we went and found some seats on the wing, in the shade. There we met some more crazy fans who wanted to hear all about Australia. We spent the last quarter down on the ground level, just behind the coaching staff. Miami lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 26-13, but the game had everything, including fumbles, interceptions, punt blocks and even a safety.
We got back to the hotel around 6pm, and checked in. We confirmed our bus pickup to Orlando for tomorrow morning. Just as well, because they had 8pm instead of 8am on their records. We ordered in pizza for dinner, and then had an early night.