Off the Carnival Destiny and onto the beach
When I began writing this, it was 05:30 am on the 21st, and I had just watched Holland America’s new ship Nieuw Amsterdam sail into the channel leading to Port Everglades. I went back to bed, though – it’s now 07:10 and I’m watching the sun come up over the beach that our hotel sits on. But let’s back up a couple of days…
November 19: Our final day was a sea day, sailing back to Miami. Our plan was simply to explore the ship and maybe take in some activities.
This photo of the nearly-full moon glistening on the ocean was shot from our balcony at 03:20 am. A few minutes later, the Carnival Liberty came into view all lit up but my camera is unfortunately not capable of getting shots like that.
This is the Sun & Sea Pool area on Deck 9 aft. It has a retractable roof (which is open in this photo), a 24-hour pizza station and a grill that serves up excellent burgers.
The Sun & Sea Restaurant is the main buffet. This photo was shot from the little-used second level of the restaurant.
Looking up at the funnel and the walking track on Deck 10.
Destiny’s Bar and the huge casino on Deck 5 mid-ship.
“Cafe on the Way” on Deck 5 serves specialty coffees and desserts. It was always closed or too busy when we went by so never did get to try it out.
Cheers Wine Bar on Deck 5 aft.
The “Internet cafe” on Deck 4 clearly used to be a wide hallway. The tiny library also appears to be an afterthought – it was closed for this entire voyage, having been turned into a souvenir-selling location for the Rick Springfield people.
The Universe Dining Room on Deck 4 aft.
November 20: We’ve been rather sorry to have to leave every cruise ship we’ve been on – not this time, though. We were looking forward to getting off the ship and on to the last stage of the adventure, 4 days at a beachfront resort in Fort Lauderdale.
Looking back down the channel to the sea at 06:50 am.
The city of Miami at 07:00 am. We were hoping for a late disembarkation so we would have less of a wait checking into our hotel, but no luck – we needed to be off by 08:15.
We had reserved a shuttle to the hotel with SAS Transport. The company did everything they could to make it efficient but got jerked around by 2 inconsiderate passengers who were late. Patience in that business is a must.
We arrived at the Marriott Harbor Beach a few minutes after 10:00 but there was no problem checking in early. We got a room on the 3rd floor of the sunny side overlooking the pool. We’re already very impressed by everything about this property 🙂
The hotel has 1/4 mile of private beach, the largest private beach in South Florida. On that beach is every amenity you could want, from snorkel/scuba trips to jet-ski rentals, 3 bars, and lots of loungers and umbrellas. The red high-surf-warning flag is unfortunately still flying.
We had an excellent lunch at the hotel’s Sea Level Restaurant. This local ale, Monk in the Trunk, is very nice.
As we had lunch, the Goodyear blimp flew past, on its way to the big race weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It’s now 08:00 am. I’m just going to post this, have a coffee and go to pick up a rental car for a couple of days of exploring and visiting.
About The Author
