Our flight from Harrisburg left in 20 degree weather. Our driver is a math teacher at our local high school and he got us to the airport in plenty of time and helped us bring our many bags in to check in. They actually emptied and scanned our Miralax and vitamins, but let them all in.
The flight to Charlotte got us there in plenty of time and our connecting flight got us in to Miami at 11;30 so we arrived at the hotel before the rooms were ready. Of course, three minutes after we started walking away, they called us to tell us that a room was ready!
After we checked in and organized ourselves, we embarked on a walk through the famed Art Deco District of South Beach. There are a lot of lovely buildings that are mostly small hotels and cheap restaurants with Happy Hours and 2 for 1 meals that don't look particularly appealing.
The walk finally landed us at Joe's Stone Crab, a vintage restaurant that specializes in stone crab claws, a pricey, but delicious appetizer. We had long thought that, if we found ourselves in South Beach, we would dine at this classic place. We began with an order of the large claws, followed by fried oysters and crabcakes. With wine, the dinner was pretty expensive but tasty and worth the visit.
We then got to the American Airlines Arena for Jewish Heritage Night and a game between the Miami Heat and Portland Trailblazers. There were a lot of Chanukah celebrations and a back and forth game that eventually ended up with the Blazers pulling out a win. We couldn't find an Uber but there were taxis near the arena so we got back in pretty good time.
With the big World Cruise upcoming, I felt it would be proper to spend the day in Miami Beach retracing the "Grah Route" where my grandmother lived between 1969 and 1977. We eventually found her building, which was being renovated and got a few pictures before heading off to Lincoln Road Mall where we got a gelato and rambled among the various shops before finding the beach and strolling back to the hotel.
After a brief rest, we put on our bathing suits and walked down to the beach. After dipping our toes into the rather chilly Atlantic, we observed sea birds known as skimmers and enjoyed the ambiance of the beach before returning to the hotel.
Dinner was at an oyster bar that I found on Eater. We loved a dozen fresh oysters each then followed up with popcorn conch, grilled octopus, golden beets and red cabbage. It was quite good though a bit pricey, especially as it had zero ambiance.
After a night of sleep and a quick breakfast, we took a taxi to the Cruise Terminal and embarked on the Viking Sun World Cruise. Five of our six bags got the the room, a lovely Explorer Suite with wraparound balcony. We had a quick lunch, unpacked and got the lay of the land. It was pretty easy as the Sun has the same setup as the Star, on which we sailed last year.
Although my bag hadn't been retrieved before we sailed, all was well as they had it in the Cruise Director's office, the tag having fallen off during loading. So we were able to go to the Chanukah candle lighting and dinner before retiring for the night as the ship made its way towards Cuba.
With so much time before us, we managed to visit the gym for a quick treadmill session, then cleaned up for a light lunch at Mamsen's, the Scandinavian spot at the Explorers' Lounge, before trying our hand at Trivia. While we don't expect to win by working alone, we prefer it to the team approach. We got 11/18 while 14 won the day so we are ready to try again on the next Sea Day.
There is a female trio or flute, violin and cello that play light classical music in the Atrium so we opted to listen to them before attending the Chanukah candle ceremony and the Captain's reception where we are introduced to the ship's officers.
While there are many dining venues, we always enjoy the Chef's Table where they serve rotating tasting menus with wine pairings. tonight's was a Mexican dinner which bore no resemblance to Taco Bell. The menu was innovative and relatively light and a good ending to our first full day on board.
We then returned to the cabin to prepare for landing in Cienfuegos where we will disembark for our Havana Sojourn, a one and a half day trip to the capital with food, drink and entertainment. this is the first of our ports and one of the key moments in the trip!