All Aboard!

We made it through some more hurdles finally getting aboard the Crystal Cruise line’s ship the Symphony. Actually, it was a little more stressful than planned but it all worked out. We made it! All aboard!

The plan was to drive the five hours to a place about an hour north of the Miami port, spend the night and then make the hour drive to the port for our 3pm time to board. The cruise line has designated times to board so as to space out arrivals and maintain the 6 foot spacing rule. Our time was one of the later ones at 3.

The only drawback to that timing was the last boarding time was 4pm and a traffic issue could mean we would be late and miss the ship. So, I decided to leave early to get to the port at 1:30 pm and just wait for our 3 pm time. It was certainly a good idea.

Miami traffic on I-95 is completely nuts. People driving by at 100 mph and weaving between lanes. Soon after we saw an overhead sign say that all right four lanes we closed due to an accident. Our gps took us off on side streets along with hundreds of other cars. This obstacle added an hour to the drive.

As soon as traffic was back to smooth sailing we had several more backups. I kept watching the GPS arrival time. It was now a 2:30 arrival. Plenty of time. Then some more tie ups. After all of this, we did arrive right on time at 3pm. Luggage unloaded at the terminal and the handlers took it from there.

Into the terminal we began the processing. It has become way more complicated since Covid. Not only the spacing people out but wearing masks and constantly sanitizing. We had to “check in” with passport, vax card, cruise ticket and a passenger info card. Seems we had to do this check in about four times actually. Guess they were thorough.

Then it was to the Covid quick test station. That was a bit nerve wracking as well. What happens if one of us tests positive? It would be a trip back home. The testing result was back in 20 minutes and we passed! Then another check in and photo taken for facial recognition. Finally, I saw the lady holding the wine glasses! We made it!

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The ship will sail for two days and then arrive at St. John USVI on Tuesday. Another surprise came when checking in. They gave us an automatic upgrade to a better room having a veranda (balcony) for the entire 21 days. Very nice! I was planning to ask if any were available after we boarded. None were when we booked the trip.

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That brings up another item good for us, but bad for Crystal. The ship is built to accommodate a maximum of 950 passengers, but usually sails with 850. At the time that we paid for it, they had only 450 people. After Covid tests and other cancellations, the final on board was 357. With this large of a ship, we have most dining rooms and other places mostly to ourselves. It’s great. But can look like a ghost ship.

Below is our itinerary for all 14 port of calls. It will be a busy cruise.

That’s all for today. Thanks for following along. Take care and God Bless.