We were looking for a nice cruise and ran across a Trans-Atlantic offering from Celebrity. When we did the math, it worked out to $88/per person/per day for the 16 day trip. For two people who love their sea days, love cruising, and are newly retired, what more could you ask for? Oh - you get off the ship 16 days later in Italy...
So what did we learn on the run up to our cruise? Well, since the fares were so good, we upgraded to an Aqua Class (A2) Balcony. We live in Naples about 2 hours from the Port of Miami. So how do we get there? Shuttle (cheaper), Limousine (get to pick your seat mates) or... Rent a car one way for 24 hours - just right. Cost us $48 plus the 4 gallon fill up before turning the car in. Picked it up at Naples Airport (APF) the day before our departure and had it all packed up and ready to go that evening.
When we looked at the map we noticed that Tamiami Trail (Highway 41) essentially goes straight to the Port of Miami from East Naples. So next morning about 0900, we took off on the very scenic and tranquil drive to Miami. Weather was perfect and driving through the Everglades at 55-60mph with little or no traffic gave us a chance to reflect on how beautiful South Florida is. Two hours later I was dropping Valerie off at our pier. While she was getting our bags and herself checked in, I drove back to Miami International (MIA) to drop off the car. It was a little difficult to find the signs for Rental Car return but once located, everything went smoothly. There is a free shuttle from MIA to the Port of Miami that stops at each of the terminals -- all told from the time I dropped Val off until I got back to the ship was about an hour (15 minute drive, 5 minutes to fuel, 5 minutes in-processing car, 5 minutes to walk to shuttle and 30 minutes on the shuttle to ship). This was our first experience with one way rentals between East and West coasts of FL and is the subject of our first Travel Intelligence Tip for this cruise.
Travel Intelligence Tip: If you are taking a cruise from Miami or Ft Lauderdale and live on Florida's west coast, consider doing a one way rental. Your car stays in the garage at home, no parking fees while you are away, and the cost for two one-way rentals is equal to or less than a shuttle van and half the price of a round trip limousine ride. We had a one way rental from Miami International back to Naples, and we have used one-ways for boat trips originating in Stuart and Cruise Planners class in Ft Lauderdale. We have paid as little as $42 and as much as $52 for each one way rental. One caution though - all of our trips were in "off season" your costs may be higher "in season".
Embarkation was generally good. As Aqua Class passengers, we were behind Suite embarkation but before the majority of the 2800 or so other folks boarding.
Travel Intelligence Tip: Do you have to ask other folks to take your picture only to have them cut off your head or not get the beautiful scenery in the background? Our TA cruise was our first run with a GoPro. Now I know that GoPro is not news to someone below the age of 50 - but for those of us who are, and not planning any extreme sports - you wonder why you would want one. If you like to take couple selfies with a broad view of the background, a GoPro on an extendable pole, is the perfect solution. Why? Because it takes a very broad background picture but the point of focus is perfect for getting you both. It also comes with a remote control, so you extend the pole out, hold the remote in one hand, adjust your angles (our pole came with a little mirror on it which makes it easier to get you centered up, and snap the picture, video, or photo sequence. The pole also allows you to change your perspective - hold in up and you can take pictures above the action. They are very small cameras, you can get a nice water proof case so you can take them anywhere in any weather. Why not? GoPro doesn't allow detailed pictures so it isn't good for portraits and it doesn't have a built in flash, So take it along as a supplement to a normal digital camera to catch those special background shots or night time shots.
Travel Intelligence Tip: Do you have to ask other folks to take your picture only to have them cut off your head or not get the beautiful scenery in the background? Our TA cruise was our first run with a GoPro. Now I know that GoPro is not news to someone below the age of 50 - but for those of us who are, and not planning any extreme sports - you wonder why you would want one. If you like to take couple selfies with a broad view of the background, a GoPro on an extendable pole, is the perfect solution. Why? Because it takes a very broad background picture but the point of focus is perfect for getting you both. It also comes with a remote control, so you extend the pole out, hold the remote in one hand, adjust your angles (our pole came with a little mirror on it which makes it easier to get you centered up, and snap the picture, video, or photo sequence. The pole also allows you to change your perspective - hold in up and you can take pictures above the action. They are very small cameras, you can get a nice water proof case so you can take them anywhere in any weather. Why not? GoPro doesn't allow detailed pictures so it isn't good for portraits and it doesn't have a built in flash, So take it along as a supplement to a normal digital camera to catch those special background shots or night time shots.
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| GoPro Selfie - notice how nicely the background is captured |
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| Catches background action in good focus |
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| Met a nice lady from Vancouver, BC at the Sail Away party |
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| Held the camera up on the pole to give a bird's eye view |
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| The wide angle helps capture the entire scene
We left the dock with two other cruise ships in perfect weather.
This is what Miami's South Beach looks like during Spring Break - looks like a lot of fun for the young people; I like our view and the adventure across the Atlantic more.
We closed out our first night heading due west with the sunset behind us. This made it easy to choose the Tuscan Grill as the place to eat since it is all the way aft (back end of ship) and had a wonderful view of the sunset. The Italian food was pretty good too...
Entrance to the Tuscan Grill  
Sharing the sunset from the Tuscan Grill
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