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TR: Norwegian Pearl: Pt 1 (Pre-cruise, 12/29-1/1)
(Sorry for the delay in writing this: Just been busy ever since
getting home. Happens sometimes.) Any number of things can justify a trip. Sometimes its the location. Sometimes its the sense of adventure that's in the journey. On other occasions, it may be that one simply wants to get away and relax for once. All three of those things played into the booking of our fifth cruise together on the Norwegian Pearl over the New Years. It would be a longer trip than many we've taken in the past, with three nights spent in hotels leading up to the trip itself, and then seven nights aboard the first repeat of a cruise line I've had yet. NCL had been the first line we had taken all the way back in 2008 (trip report: http://tinyurl.com/78qvlh6) and we returned to them again for a number of reasons. First among them was amenity level. With suites on their ships, food from both the specialty restaurants and main dining rooms could be brought to the room. Balconies were large. Room size was large. Those are all things we like and have become, to some degree, accustomed to in our travels. NCL does have a downside, which is that it has few really exciting itineraries for us. We ended up choosing a somewhat general Western Caribbean cruise that would bring me to my first stop at Ocho Rios, a new private island, and a couple of repeat ports that we could take or leave (Cozumel and Grand Cayman). Before the cruise itself, there is the journey to the port. That started with yet another late night arrival at the Westin Detroit Metro Airport; our third stay there of 2011. The 10 days of valet parking and having a quality hotel room are still worth it in our opinion, especially in the winter months when the possibility of returning to a snowed in vehicle in a surface lot is high. Our room was again on the second floor as it had been a month prior before our trip to Orlando, and was equally comfortable and pleasant to stay in. Due to the high cost of airfare leaving earlier in the day, we spent the following day (Friday 12/30) sitting around the airport relaxing. That sounds lame, but after getting a 30 day pass for the Delta Skyclub and checking out as late as possible from the hotel (and then eating at DEMA, the hotel's restaurant), most of the time ended up being accounted for. The Skyclub is pretty fantastic - free booze, free food, free wifi, free magazines to read and TVs to watch. Considering that we had a long time to wait in Miami before flying home as well, this seemed like a great deal for the two of us. We settled into playing with our electronic gizmos and waited for time to pass. Arriving into Miami Airport for the first time is not unlike any other. The only thing that really differentiates MIA from something like Chicago Midway or Cincinnati is an Arrival/Departure board filled with flights to exotic Central/South American locations. I remarked to Meredith that life would be very different living in Miami - rather than thinking about the Old World, we'd be planning more regular adventures to places like Managua and Medellin. There were no issues getting our bag or acquiring a taxi to take us to our hotel for the next two nights in Coral Gables. Staying in Coral Gables and not renting a car was the result of cost containment for the trip: Originally, we planned on renting a vehicle and driving down to the Keys to stay there. Then Economy cars were going for $120/day, not including extra taxes and BS fees. That was absurd and we refused to pay it. In Downtown and out on South Beach, hotel prices were what you would anticipate given the holiday - Kimpton's EPIC was on the cheaper side at $499 a night for a base room, while the likes of the Setai were closer to a $1000/nt. Again, cost containment. We don't party and don't care to, so we went with something a little further away and equally luxurious; The Biltmore. For the unacquainted, The Biltmore is a historic, opulent hotel in Coral Gables that houses large conference facilities, a golf course, one of the largest pools in the world, spa, restaurants, etc. It is a full service resort with great furnishings and undeniable style. Walking around the grounds only proved to reinforce the opulence - cross beams in the courtyard area were painted in Mexican motifs, lighting fixtures were enormous brass pieces hung with attractive chains, and the original elevators in the main building were decorated in rich woods and glass. The lobby is a really amazing space - there's bird enclosures that look sorta like diving bells, lots of historic pieces of hotel merchandise in glass cases to look at, and all around cool public areas to sit in. The aformentioned giant pool was the world's largest when constructed - we never went in because the water was cold, but spent lots of time sitting by it and watching people. A tennis center is located within short walking distance, there's bocci courts, the golf course, large areas for weddings/meetings, all that. All fantastic. One other thing I want to mention: Very few Americans at the hotel during this weekend. Lots of Brazilians and Europeans though. Also not a lot of lounge chairs by the pool. If you wanted one, you needed to be out at 8AM. Our room was a Junior Suite located on the second floor, staring out at the entrance way. Merely opening our windows and looking out at the traffic coming and going from the hotel was exotic enough for entertainment many hours. It was a solid size, and featured a pair of flat screen TVs as well as a decently sized bathroom given the classic nature of the hotel. If there are any complaints, it's that many hotel rooms of this class have separate showers/tubs (again, given the classic nature, not a huge complaint) and that the remote controls will often turn on both TVs at the same time - who likes to get out of bed to walk around to the living room to shut off a second TV? Meredith and I were not terribly festive for New Years. We instead spent it asleep, having gone to bed early after ordering room service late in the evening. The Biltmore did offer a special New Years Gala with private fireworks at $250 a person, but we didn't want to bring ball gowns and tuxes on this trip (ergo, why we went with Norwegian Cruise Line) nor socialize with randoms, and we stayed to our room and watched a mix of German and Italian built automobiles stop for valet service. And man, did we eat a lot of room service while there - we must have had it 4-5 times. We had no real interest in leaving the resort for anything, so eating in and enjoying the surrounds seemed like a much better scenario than asking for a town car to take us to downtown (and the accompanying masses). On our way out of the hotel, check out was a breeze, but it wound up taking 30 minutes to get a taxi cab. Apparently the companies in Miami were taken aback with the number of people flying back on the 1st and had understaffed, expecting them to stay longer. No big worry - we knew we'd get expedited check in at the pier anyhow. |
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