January 18, 2012

Today was the first day of our Caribbean holiday.

We arrived in Miami last night via America n Airline from Las Vegas and met up with our good friends and cruising buddies Rich and Tina (who were already in Florida) and Steve and Doreen (who flew in from Seattle, WA). We all stayed in this hotel for the night.

 Because we had the day to spend in Miami (our ship didn't sail until 9 p.m.) we rented a van and toured the area. We visited the downtown area, where we had lunch at the Lucky Clover Restaurant. We also drove out to South Beach and viewed the Art Deco District.
We were all over the place - Michel was the chauffeur - and WOW the drivers in Miami are CRAZY!!





This picture of me and the girls is taken on the bench outside the restaurant. (Doreen, myself, Tina)

This is the inside of the restaurant

We went aboard our ship, the Costa Atlantica around 5:00.

We had all seen the news the week prior, about the Costa Concordia, and we chatted that up a bit. But, you can't let something like that dampen the spirit. But it was definitely an Italian ship - there were only 120-130 English speaking passengers aboard!

The Miami skyline at night from aboard our ship.

 This picture was taken on Steve and Doreen's balcony prior to our first dinner aboard.

We got a new camera - so we tried the panorama setting....

And the first sunset!