Back to Back Cruises: March-April 2004

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Monday, March 22, we got up early and went to breakfast. While at breakfast the ship pulled into the dock in Miami. We went back to the cabin and packed our carry-on (off?) bags. We waited in one of the lounges for our baggage tag color to be called so we could disembark. Disembarkation was very organized which made it hassle-free. We found our luggage and a porter to help us get our luggage to the curb and flag-down a cab to bring us to the Crown at pier 10.
Since it is a very small fare from pier 2 to pier 10, we had a little trouble finding a cab to bring us since they felt they would lose their place in line for getting a large fare to the airport. We finally found a very reluctant cab driver to take us to pier 10.
When we arrived at pier 10 we discovered that dysentery had been brought on board during the previous cruise. We could not check our baggage as they were disinfecting the ship. About 15 minutes later a porter told us they had designated a holding area for the luggage and we could check our luggage, but we could not board until 1:30. This was great with us since we had planned to go to a mall near a park for the day anyway. We checked our luggage and since there was no one looking to go to the airport easily found a taxi to bring us to the mall/park.
The mall is the Bayside Mall, it is attached to the Bayfront Park. The first thing we did at the mall was find a place for Dale to get her glasses fixed, one of the temples had come off and the tabs with screw holes got bent so the holes no longer aligned. The first place we went to sold sunglasses, the lady there could not fix them. She told us about another store and we went there. There was one man working and he said he could do it, but he would have to wait on the customers that came in. We went off to do other things and checked back occasionally. We looked at some of the frames they were selling, they all had designer names. The least expensive ones we saw were about $350. We started to wonder how much the repair was going to cost, when it was done the man said that it was free and said he was glad we had come in because he had gotten to use a machine for fixing glasses in a way he had not previously done. In between checks on the progress we had a good time in the mall and park.
We had lunch at the Lotus Blossom in the Food Court. We have found that usually a Chinese or Japanese food place in a food court provides good food at a bargain, this was no exception. When we finished eating, Dale called our daughter Jeannine and Dale's sister Pat so they could spread the word that we were OK and having a great time.
We then went to the park. It was a pleasant walk around the park. There was a really nice fountain, an amphitheater, a war memorial, a playground that had a neat cement slide, and a great view of the bay.
We returned to the mall and sat outside listening to a guitarist/singer who was really good. When he took a break we found a taxi and returned to the ship. (Pictures)

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Last updated: may 05 2017