Julie and Graham’s Fantastic Adventure

  We left the Silversea Dawn and started our next venture which is Miami through the Caribbean to the Amazon and back on the Regent Mariner. 25 days including Christmas and New Year onboard. After breakfast on the Dawn we disembarked, uber to the Biltmore Hotel approximately an hours drive from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. It was a very smooth transition, Silversea had the process well in control.  The Hotel looked very impressive. Very old worldish. It  is a luxury hotel  in  C oral Cables, about 20 mins from the Cruise Terminal . The hotel was designed by  Schultze and Weaver  and built in 1926. At that time it was the tallest building in Florida at 96 mtr. The birdcage Gingerbread house inside the hotel We arrived early and were very fortunate that the room was ready so dropped off our luggage and headed out to the shops.  A very long and warm walk 0f 45 minutes into Coral Cables. Julie also decided to get her nails done. 4.5 hrs later we were fin...

 As we start the 6 day crossing, noting how good the weather has been on this cruise to date, my mind races back to our infamous cruise from hell we took earlier this year on the Le Boreal, Miami to Honfleur (France) where the Atlantic sea conditions were not so nice.                                                                                                Crossing in April on Le Boreal However on this crossing Neptune has looked upon us favourably and the calm seas remain. Without land tours the challenge ahead was to find things to do. So the plan was to go to the gym (weight reduction), sit by the pool or in jacuzzi with cool refreshment in hand (countering the trip to the gym)), deciding which restaurant to go to for lunch and dinne...