WARNING: This post might well not be worth reading. We are writing it to recount certain mundane parts of our journey significantly affected by the pandemic and what we did to overcome its impacts.
Cathy and Steve start out on the first cruise opportunity since the dreaded COVID-19 upended travel plans for the planet almost two years ago. Normally, we wouldn’t write a post about such a routine part of our journey, but COVID-19 caused us to make special arrangements, so it seemed worth it to chronicle these two days.
The real stress was the absolute necessity to pass the Covid antigen test given right on the dock prior to boarding. Fail that and we spend five days in quarantine. That headache plus the fact that we would not be eligible to receive any of the money back from the cruise unless we also were tested less than 72 hours prior to boarding and passed. That necessitated our visit to a clinic for an antigen test at 3:30pm on Tuesday the 11th, which we indeed thankfully passed. It also means that we will be avoiding contact with people when in Miami to minimize exposure to the virus.
Today’s post is about our trip from Hartford CT to Miami and the time spent here waiting to board Oceania Cruises’ ship MS Riviera for a Caribbean cruise. Feel free to think: “Who wants to hear this? Air travel is so boring.” We just want to make notes to reread a few years from now.
The virus continues to affect e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, sometimes in odd ways. All our decisions during these two days are inevitably driven by an effort to avoid infection, because we have to pass that test on the dock just before we board. We haven’t been so nervous about passing a test since college, because a lot rides on it. If we flunk, we are consigned to a hotel chosen by the cruise line to quarantine for five days. The prospect of such an experience sounds dreadful for two reasons: 1) we suspect that any hotel that runs its business allowing folks to quarantine because they have tested positive to COVID-19 isn’t going to be the Four Seasons and 2) five days stuck in a hotel room in Miami sounds like torture.
As we are checking in for our flight online the day before, we are offered an opportunity to upgrade to First Class for a fairly reasonable fee. We take the bait, which, in hindsight, Steve thinks might be a mistake. Cathy loves it, and vows that this is the only way we will subject ourselves to air travel from now on. This decision could get expensive.
Whatever. We do board on time and thoroughly enjoy the perks associated. Cathy somehow was not slotted for Pre-Check but Steve was. Because she’s in First Class, there is a Priority line for TSA security. Steve is in Pre-Check, but his knee replacement requires a “wanding” inspection. All in all, no big deal. The flight is uneventful other than having a full breakfast, with Steve swilling coffee for the entire three-hour flight, taking advantage of the premier service available.
Another COVID consequence that we had to plan for was that hundreds of flights had been canceled during the New Year’s holiday because the airlines couldn’t staff the planes. The last thing we wanted to happen was to book a flight for the 13th, the day prior to sailing, only to have that flight canceled, essentially leaving us possibly stranded with not enough time to get to Miami for the 1:30pm boarding appointment on the 14th. So we moved up our Hartford departure to the 12th.
So we arrive on time at MIA, walk the 2/10ths of a mile to the anything-but-luxurious Miami International Airport Hotel located right in the airport. It’s only noon, but they do have our room ready. Drop our stuff in the 12’x12’ room and go back downstairs for lunch. We end up at Sky Margaritaville for Cuban sandwiches, served by an efficient and friendly waitperson named Yipsi.
The restaurant uses an electronic gizmo to collect the restaurant charge that Yipsi puts on the table. She explains that a 18% tip is already added in. She says something else that Steve thinks means we can add more to the tip. He thinks he is adding 8% more for the excellent service. He fiddles with the gizmo and chooses an email receipt.
We mention all that because, well, Steve checks the email receipt hours later and discovers that instead of adding 8% to the 18% tip, he has replaced the 18% tip with the 8% tip. He is mortified. Somehow, we must rectify this screwup. More on that later.
In the meantime, we take a long, long nap. Up around 5, watch Miami TV news and then decide to go back down to dinner. We check out a creole place but opt instead to return to Margaritaville. Yipsi is gone! $#@%! Now what. We find out she’s working lunch tomorrow and starts at noon. Whew. Steve has an opportunity to redeem himself. We split a quick Fish ‘n Chips dinner and pay (this time Steve does the tip procedure correctly!).
Back in the room, we watch planes landing. Between 7:45 and 8:10, we see around 10 planes land on the same runway, sometimes as close as 2 minutes apart. The complicated choreography of landing huge aircraft full of people safely one after another after another never ceases to amaze us both. Miami is an enormous airport; the gateway to all of South America and the Caribbean. If you are a transportation geek, like we both are, it’s fun to watch.
The next morning, we are up shortly after 7. We have decided to kill the morning here, check out around noon and definitely find the waitperson Steve under-tipped to make amends. At 9:30, we head for breakfast at … yes … Margaritaville. The person at reception asks if we have a voucher. No one told us about that when we checked in, so we go across to the hotel desk (all of thirty feet) and find out that, sure enough, we qualify for breakfast vouchers. Back to the restaurant, are seated and receive a special voucher menu. We tip in cash this time, especially because the waitperson is the same guy who tipped us off to the voucher.
Back to the room to spend the rest of the morning. Check out as planned around noon, walk over to Margaritaville, find Yipsi and hand her a $10 bill, apologize for the screwup, and leave. Arrange to have an Uber pick up, take a 20-minute ride to the InterContinental Hotel. The driver is a very interesting guy. Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, he first moved to Wisconsin. Then Fort Myers, FL. He’s a young guy, and joked that he left Ft. Myers for Miami because the former was mostly populated with retirees. Miami, we have noticed, is just the opposite. Smart move on his part. We compliment him on his English, which is excellent. He thanks us but observes that most people in Miami speak Spanish.
The InterContinental Hotel Miami is light years more grand than last night’s digs. It’s the place Oceania put us up the night before our ATW cruise in 2018. Amazingly enough, it all does seem familiar four years later. The reception we receive is warm and enthusiastic. They give us room 2508: 25th floor facing the harbor (a photo of which begins this post). What a sight.
Because of the late breakfast, we aren’t ready for lunch, so we watch an hour of court shows – two of them that we have never even heard of before. They’re bizarre: Paternity Court, where the judge quizzes the potential father and the child he thinks he has fathered. A DNA paternity test has been given, and the result revealed at the end. Then one called Couples Court. The judges are a married man and wife, and the antagonists are two people that are supposedly together. One has accused the other of infidelity. The judges ask tons of questions and the two antagonists yammer. At the end, the show reveals a voice test of specific questions that supposedly determines who is telling the truth. Lord, if this is what people from other countries see about the USA, they must think we are idiots.
In our continuing effort to avoid Covid exposure, we opt to go to Whole Foods (yes, there is a very upscale Whole Foods in one of the high-rise apartments buildings in the neighborhood) and pick up sushi to eat in the room. Then more frittering of time until dinner at 7:30.
The restaurant is Toro Toro, which is in the hotel. The food was delicious … but expensive. Unfortunately, the kitchen got backed up, so the meal took a long time. Good opportunity to people watch. Most interesting event was watching a young couple at the next table be treated to a fun- flaming presentation of their steak-for-two meal. Cathy explains:
The waiter wheels over a cart with a wooden cutting board top and large knife holder. There is a big thick porterhouse steak on the cutting board. He stands it up and cuts off the tenderloin portion and then the sirloin portion with one quick slash. Then lays the pieces down and slices them. Rubs a large quantity of butter all over the slices, saying “truffle butter.” Oh my god…THEN, he lights up a small blow torch and melts the butter all over the slices of steak! It was wonderful. Steve had an 8 oz tenderloin with truffle fries and Cathy had an heirloom tomato and burrata salad. We shared everything. Excellent meal but very expensive. Then we found out that it is a small chain with other restaurants in DC and Dubai. Guess they have the Dubai prices here in Miami!
Back to the room to do something we can’t do at home: watch TV while lying in bed. The end of our day of transition from Two Star airport hotel to Five Star hotel. We are comfortable in the former, but could certainly get used to the latter.
