Sunday, 26 October 2026

At Sea on Seabourn's Quest

I have several days to catch up on as I am enjoying my first day at sea--only seven more until we reach Ponta Delgada in the Azores. 

Saturday in Miami

I have a full day in Miami on Saturday. As planned I spend the morning, after my included free buffet breakfast at the Hilton, shopping for a bunch of stuff for the cruise. It requires a long walk and two different CVS's to find everything I need. In the shade there is a cool breeze that makes the temperature (much lower than Tucson), and the humidity (much higher than Tucson), at least tolerable. But the direct sunshine here is really unpleasant. Every time I see all the wonderful cultural and architectural things going on here, after a couple of hours I am always reminded how awful it is trying to get around.

In the afternoon I finally turn to more interesting activities. I ride a free trolley (on  wheels), that takes me through downtown and then further south to the Brickell area that is quite close to the cruiseport.  Brickell City is now the hot neighborhood for just about everything:  shopping, dining, parks, beach, architecture, and culture. Brickell City Center is a four-story mall packed with high-end labels, but only one department store--the now bankrupt Saks Fifth Avenue. I am looking for a couple of pairs of brown socks, but I cannot find them anywhere in the mall. Fortunately, Apple Maps locates a Marshall's a few blocks away, which has everything I need. 

Old and New Brickell City Architecture

Another free trolley ride takes me back to the Hilton where I have the evening to rearrange my packing in preparation for the cruise.

Sunday in Miami

After another filling breakfast, I am ready to check out and leave the Hilton at 11am. While awaiting my Uber driver, I chat with another Quest passenger who is traveling solo. I seem to have made a friend, as she has already joined me for several meals on board.  My driver arrives right on time at 11:30 and in very short time he finds the correct terminal in the very large Port of Miami and deposits me out front where my bags are swiftly carried away. Then it's waiting-around time until boarding at 12:30. With only 450 passengers, the process doesn't take long at all and staterooms are ready and waiting.

Even with all my cruising experience, there is always something new to discover in my stateroom. The Quest was built to accommodate mostly European travelers, so the number of American electrical outlets is rather small. But I am prepared, with lots of adapters and converters to plug in everything I need. One perk of my fifth cruise on Seabourn is that I can use wifi on two devices at the same time (computer and phone, e.g.). Most cruise lines only allow the use of one at a time.

Everything I have pre-requested is waiting in my stateroom. My cabin stewards are two young men from Peru. I take the elevator up to the 8th floor, where a sumptuous feast is available for lunch. Carrying a large Caesar salad and fresh vegetable lasagna, I find an empty table on the outside terrace at the aft of the ship, where the temperature is cool and comfortable.

Although the day has been hot and sunny, there is a brief shower during the sail-away celebration. Having been to so many of these on previous cruises, I decide to skip the festivities and take a nap before dinner.

Solo travelers are often invited to dine with officers and staff members. Tonight I join a group of eight passengers, including the passenger I met at the Hilton, welcomed by the Assistant Destinations Services Manager, who hails from Peru. Everyone has interesting stories, but there is too much jockeying for attention and one-upmanship for me to really enjoy the very long dinner. I will receive one of this invitations almost every day, but I think I shall decline in the future (call me a snob; I happily agree).

The food and drink is excellent, with wine and champagne flowing freely. I begin with a lovely plate of beef carpaccio (one of my favorites), followed by Caesar salad and pan-seared fillet of king salmon with melted orecchiette pasta and snow-pea salsa verde. Dessert is a hot white chocolate soufflé with dark chocolate sauce. 

It has been a long day of traveling and getting settled, so I am ready for an early bedtime and a good night's rest. LFLatSea will be back again soon.