It was another lovely Miami morning, but we were too busy getting ready for the trip to enjoy our last hours here. We had tried to avoid unpacking too much for our couple days here, but it still took some time to put everything back. We had our last breakfast at Titia's Tea Room at listening to our fellow guests, mostly older Latina women, chattering away, was like being in the beauty parlor scene in In the Heights. I was ready to dance on the table and start singing, “Tell me something I don’t know….”
We took an Uber to the Port of Miami to get on the ship.
John had been experiencing a bit unsteadiness since we left Ashland, so I ended
up getting another transport chair in case he had another low blood pressure
incident. When we reached the Norwegian Cruise Line terminal, it proved quite
helpful. I wheeled him through the doors and from then on we were moved to the
front of every line with two or three blue-shirted people making sure we were
registered, photographed, and on the ship as fast as possible.
Once on board, we found our room easily enough and I started
to unpack. As it turns out, we have already sailed on this vessel before. When
John and I went around the Horn five years ago, we were on the Norwegian Sun.
That time we started our trip in Santiago, and this time we will end in in that
same city. So, walking around the ship was “deja vue all over again.” Of course, there were a few cringy moments as well like watching the guests around the pool joining in "YMCA."
I learned on my first ship that the only way to have a good time on a cruise is to accept your fellow passengers for who they are and quit judging them.
At about five-thirty, the blast of the ship’s horn indicated that it was time to sail. I went up to the one of the decks above the stern expecting to see downtown Miami fade away in the distance as we left the harbor. But to my surprise, the ship mostly backed down the channel stern first. I guess these ship have even better backup cameras than my Outback. John kept calling me, trying to figure out where I was standing, but he never did find me until we had finally made open waters.
After dinner, we went to a pretty lame “welcome aboard” show in the theater. John was not feeling well, so we left early. As we were coming back to the cabin, the cruise director, a flamboyant Filipino queen, came on the speaker to announce that one of the passengers was seriously ill and that the ship was going back to Miami so that the person could be transported to the hospital. This gave us a chance to see the Port again, now all lit up. It looked better at night.
We have a couple days at sea because it’s a long way to Columbia.
