Off the Noordam, starting our Miami exploration
November 13: Today was disembarkation day at Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, and on to the next stage of our adventure.
I spent a while this morning getting a few more photos of the Noordam. The hallway outside our cabin – our door is the 2nd on the left, close to the stairs and elevator but not close enough to get the associated noise.
The waiting area outside the lower level of the Vista Dining Room. That’s the dine-whenever-you-want level of the bi-level full-service dining room.
A tiny section of the Lido buffet-style dining room.
A corner of the large, well-equipped fitness centre on deck 9 forward.
One of the many ships in port was Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, now the largest cruise ship in the world. I had said that I wasn’t interested in sailing on a ship that large but after seeing her, I am curious enough to book a cruise on her. This photo was shot at 06:36 am.
The Crown Princess, with the little Discovery Sun behind her. The Discovery Sun sails to the Bahamas from Fort Lauderdale every day.
Everything about the layout of Port Everglades is extremely efficient.
Once again, while most people were bunched up frantically going nowhere in a hurry, we and a half-dozen other folks spent our pre-disemarkation time in the Crow’s Nest. We had a 9:45-10:00 time slot to pre-disemark, one of the latest times at our request since we were going to a hotel.
Having 2,000 people disembark in small blocks makes even finding luggage in the terminal easy.
A couple of friends down from Ontario arrive in a rental car to pick us up – we were told to watch for “a couple of old ladies in a gangster car” 🙂
Miami freeways – thank heaven for GPS!
For our 2-night reunion, I’d booked a 2-bedroom suite at Marriott’s Villas At Doral. This is a Marriott Vacation Club property, a timeshare/rental program. It’s right across the road from Marriott’s famous Doral Golf Resort. The suite is beautiful – that’s a 2-person soaker tub beside the King bed.
The view from the balcony. We’re on the top (6th) floor overlooking the lake and one of 5 golf courses.
The view from the side of our balcony, to the pool, hot tub and main building.
After getting settled and enjoying a glass of wine on the balcony, we took a shuttle across to the golf resort for a look. Wow!
The girls checking out the menu and wine list at the Mesazul restaurant.
The Mesazul from the table we occupied later that evening. The food was superb.
This is the spa, which is a spa like I’d never seen the likes of. Prices are very reasonable, and we all booked Swedish massages for tomorrow evening after our day of activities 🙂
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