Day 4 At sea.

Yesterday afternoon we took the 120 bus to the downtown terminal and then with a transfer ticket, boarded the 208 bus and arrived in Little Havana

Calle Ocho is 

in the centre of Little Havana, a centre for those who fled Cuba after the Revolution. (Fare $2.60pp)

The street was full of colour - men playing dominoes in the street 

restaurants reminiscent of Havana 

and many cigar stores selling what proposed to be Cuban cigars but I believe it is illegal to sell Cuban cigars in the US!!! 

We had a Cuban coffee - rich and sweet. Then we continued down Calle Ocho (8th Street) 

and boarded the 208 to return to the terminus. We waited in vain for the 120 and eventually settled for the S bus which dropped us reasonably near our hotel at Collins and 17th. 

We ate at Via Emilia, an Italian restaurant at 15th and Lennox. The food was excellent especially the pasta made in-house on a daily basis.  

We quitted Miami Beach today. We were pleased with the Hotel Flora’s location adjacent to all city attractions. Be warned however that in high season, around X-Mas and New Year, hotels here in South Beach are very expensive. Our 3 star hotel cost $300 per night. However, it’s convenient location on Collins Street with buses on nearby Washington and 13th st. - 50 metres from the hotel. Here one may board free trolley buses around the city, take a bus 120 to Aventura Mall or downtown. or to the airport no.150. All fares are $2.35 pp. 

To board Celebrity Cruises Silhouette, our home for the next week, we had to go to Everglades cruise terminal. This necessitated a bus to airport €2.25, a train to Fort Lauderdale €5 and a taxi from the train station to the cruise terminal €22. This was all done so we could experience the train journey aboard Tri rail !!!!  

On arrival our bags were taken from us and we set about checking in! It was organised chaos, passports checked numerous times, once through a security scanner, ESTA checked and finally, one hour later, we got our passes and boarded A welcome glass of Vueve Cliquot greeted us. The Queen Mary was much better organised but in fairness not all passengers embarked at Southampton, some had earlier boarded at Hamburg and others still were doing a return trip!! One elderly gentleman told me that he took multiple cruises annually, it was cheaper than a nursing home!! So there’s an idea for your old age.!! 

Finally we reached our state room. Our bags had been delivered. 

From our balcony, the port lay before us. 

It was beautifully appointed with a balcony to enjoy the evening sun. We adjourned to the Ocean View Cafe for lunch. Food from around the world was available, from Asian to Mexican to American and European. All tastes were catered for. 

After lunch we attended the mandatory fire drill and afterwards we returned to our room to rest as the ship sailed out of the harbour,  on time at 16.15 hrs  accompanied by the US Harbour Patrol with a machine gun to the ready!! 

Destination: San Juan, Puerto Rico 

It’s been a long day as we had quitted the hotel at  0930 this morning.! 

Dinner is at 20.30 and after it is a show at 22.00 and various venues are available to ring in 2018, depending on one’s taste.  And so we sail the high seas.....