Sea Dog Conducts: Symphony No. 1: Food Fantastique with the UDP “As if Live”

[Sea Dog]

 

It’s time to strike up the orchestra and conduct another review. This time on Symphony of the Seas. This is our first cruise on Symphony. This Symphony cruise will feature the Unlimited Dining Package and Deluxe Drink Package. It’s going to be musical cornucopia of fine food and drink. After all a good pirate knows how to eat and drink.

 

 

So without further a due it’s time to strike up the band and what better way to preview what you will be in store for is watch my cruise hype tease video.

 

 

THE DETAILS:

 

Who: Sea Dog a bonafide pirate with a love for the sea and ships and his lovely wife Linda.

 

What: A 7 night Western Caribbean (our first Western itinerary) 

 

When: September 17-24 with one night pre stay at the Miami Hilton Downtown.

 

Where:

Leaving from Miami with stops in:

Puerto Costa Maya

Roatan

Cozumel

Perfect Day at CocoCay

 

This itinerary includes two sea days Here is Google Earth Video of our adventure.

 

 

 

[h20skibum]

Great intro, Greg.   I await your symphony. 

[beach pirate]

Thanks for sharing. So Cool. 

[Sea Dog]

‘Twas The Night Before Flightmas! 

 

The night before leaving on a cruise I feel like a young child on Christmas Eve waiting for the arrival of the fat man and his sleigh. I tossed and turned dreaming of the skinny man with 3 strips on his shirt whisking me away. O dark thirty came pretty early with an obnoxious alarm at 2:45am.

 

 

The pups were like what the heck is going on here?

 

 

After taking them outside and encouraging them to drop a present on this special morning , we crated them up and told them mommy and daddy loved them and the dog sitter will be here soon. It really helps to have a good sitter that loves all dogs. Her first meeting with her went well. I hope the pups are nice to her.

 

 

4:30 and we are at the gate thanks to TSA Pre Check which made everything so easy. Note to self, I need to get used to the X-ray machine beeping at me for a new knee that has metal in it. This is the first time using my last years Christmas present Apple Airtags. More on that later. Imagine my relief and comfort knowing our suitcases each with Christmas ribbon tied to the handles were now safely under the tree… I mean plane.

 

 

Now in the gate area patiently waiting for my gift to open soon we will be up, up and away where I hope to nap in route to Atlanta to change planes. Soon away we all flew, like the down of a thistle:

 

 

I drifted off to sleep but could of sworn I heard the Captain exclaim, ere we flew out of sight-

 

 

Happy  Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

 

Note: Those who know me well know that I am a Christmas freak. 

[Sea Dog]

Tag You’re It !

 

 

Speaking of Christmas, last year my DW Linda gave Air tags for Christmas for our cruises. For those of who don’t know, Apple Air Tags are round little devices that you can put into your luggage, or for finding your car keys, something my son needs. You can keep track of their location via “Find My iPhone.”

 

 

Setting them up was easy pull the little plastic tab out of them and have it near your phone. It will beep and your phone will recognize it and you can follow the prompts to custom name it and assign an icon for it.

 

How do they work? The Airtags send out a Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the find my network. These devices send the location to the iCloud where you can see it on a map.

 

 

How did it do? Pretty well as you can see it showed my two pieces of luggage were together at KCI.

 

 

In Atlanta I got some funky locations. Sometimes a signal could not be picked up.

 

 

 

My guess is that it was having a hard time picking up nearby devices. I did like the fact while we were at the luggage carousel in Miami waiting for all the bags. It did show that they were both in the same area near us.

[Sea Dog]

Taxi and Uber Lessons Learned

 

 

Having not been to Miami since I was a kid I was pretty unfamiliar on how things worked. My plan was to get the luggage and find a taxi or get an Uber to take us to the hotel.

 

 

First time for me at Miami airport and I had not idea that I would have to do the "Bataan Death March" to the bag claim. On that level I saw many yellow cabs. I thought to myself we will just get that and not worry about an Uber location. Once we exited bag claim I was greeted by a man  who rushed us and asked “Taxi?” I said sure. He proceeded to take us over to white van. I asked “are you Uber or Lyft?” He replied independent and said it would be $45 to take us to the hotel. Against my better judgement I said ok. I was tired and just wanted to get to the hotel. I will say the man was professional, courteous and helped load and unload our luggage. With tip I gave him $50.

 

 

Later I searched on Google average taxi fare from Miami Airport to Hilton Downtown and I found out it should have been about $22 half of what I paid. Lesson learned, do your research before and know what the cost should be.

 

I’ve used Uber only a few times. At the hotel we thought we would use it to go to our dinner. In the room I pulled up the app and saw an Uber was 4 minutes away and booked it. We went downstairs and I was messaging the driver where to meet us and what we looked like. We stood on the corner of the hotel even when the message said he was a minute away, no driver after that minute and several minutes after that. I then get a message that the trip was cancelled as he waited two minutes for us. I got a notice from my bank that we were charged for the fare and an extra $6 dollars. We disputed the charges with Uber and got refunded. The rest of the evening was more successful in getting Ubers and had no problems. I am going to chalk this up as a bad driver who last minute decided to stiff us.

 

[Sea Dog]

 

Hilton Miami Downtown

 

 

 

The hotel was nice but boring. Only a restaurant/bar and not much else. Many had suggested we stay at the Double Tree. We walked around a little bit after checking in and putting our bags in our room. The Double Tree is across the street. It had so much more going on with shops, restaurants and being right by the marina.

 

 

We will stay there next time. The rates were just about the same.

 

Across from the Hilton I did see my Uber ride.

 

 

[A&L_Ont]

Should have had the Ferraris pick you up, that would be a Sea Dog move.😁

Edited September 25, 2022 by A&L_Ont

[Sunshine3601]

Loving your review and looking forward to more😃

[cruisingpeople]

Greg, My "HAHA" in post #7 was for the Ferraris Uber, not for the earlier misfortunes with the taxi and 1st Uber.

[BonTexasNY]

What a wonderful creative start.  It's evident why you were awarded those Emmys.  Carry on!

[DaniDanielle]

Thanks for this😁

[ReneeFLL]

2 hours ago, cruisingpeople said:

Greg, My "HAHA" in post #7 was for the Ferraris Uber, not for the earlier misfortunes with the taxi and 1st Uber.

Same here.

[grapau27]

Very interesting Greg.

Following.

[Momof3gurlz]

Wow Greg, great start, thoroughly entertaining.  I can’t wait for the rest of your report!  

[jmh2006]

Loving every word so far @Sea Dog!

[Ocean Boy]

Looking forward to the rest!

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Very interesting Greg. Following.

 

23 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Wow Greg, great start, thoroughly entertaining.  I can’t wait for the rest of your report!  

 

23 minutes ago, jmh2006 said:

Loving every word so far @Sea Dog!

 

11 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Looking forward to the rest!

 

+ 5 + all of the above 👍😄

[Luckynana]

Looks like you've nailed it, Greg!!!!!  Loving it so far...looking and knowing there will be so much more to come!  i.e. food, entertainment,  beverages....Kraken, bourbon, need I say more?  😊

[jagsfan]

This is going to be fun!!!

[bobmacliberty]

I’m here for every word Greg!  Will watch your videos a little later when I get better internet service. Cheers!  Miami Vice, with Kraken of course. I’m guessing that Kraken will play a role in your review. 😉

Edited September 25, 2022 by bobmacliberty

[Sea Dog]

9 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

I’m here for every word Greg!  Will watch your videos a little later when I get better internet service. Cheers!  Miami Vice, with Kraken of course. I’m guessing that Kraken will play a role in your review. 😉

 

Hey that looks just like my drink! Cheers!!

[Sea Dog]

Little Havana 

 

For our one night pre-cruise in Miami we wanted to try some Cuban food which we had never had before. My dear friend and former anchor at my television station is Cuban and grew up in Miami. She said you must go to Versailles in Miami’s “Little Havana” district. We took a cab ($25) and soon got to the restaurant.

 

 

They don’t take reservations and I can see why. This place is huge. The main dining area where we were seated was large but if you walked to the back of restaurant there was an even bigger room that could hold over a hundred people.

 

 

 

The Drinks

 

When in Cuba you must always have a Mohito. No description here you all know what's in it. But for those you have not tried it?

Main alcohol: Rum

Ingredients: 1 1/2 oz White rum, 1 oz Fresh lime juice, 2 teaspoons Sugar, 6 leaves of Mint, Soda Water

Preparation: Mint sprigs muddled with sugar and lime juice. Rum added and topped with soda water. Garnished with sprig of mint leaves. Served with a straw.

Served: On the rocks; poured over ice

Standard garnish: Sprig of mint, Yerba buena

Drinkware: Collins glass

Origination: Havana, Cuba

 

 

Light and delicious.

 

 

The Food

Wow! First we were served in a basket warm Cuban bread that was soft and buttery with a lovely garlic taste.

 

 

 

 

We went with a appetizer of assorted Empanadas of beef, chicken and home. This stuffed bread pastry was hearty and could have been a meal in its self. It was served with a cilantro sauce for dipping. I normally don’t like the taste of cilantro, but this was great. I really did not get that heavy cilantro taste. It reminded me of a tartar sauce but even better.

 

 

I got the Seafood Casserole Au Gratin that had shrimp, squid, mussels, clams and fish cooked in a cream sauce (this sauce was so good) topped off with parmesan cheese au gratin.

 

 

It came with a side of rice and sweet plantains. I am now a huge fan of plantains after trying them first in San Juan. They were sweet and soft and oh so delicious.

 

We did not have room for dessert but next door Versailles has their own bakery which had some amazing pastries and desserts.

 

You you plan on doing a pre cruise stay in Miami I highly recommend this great restaurant. It's famous and now I know why.

 

Time to get an Uber (hopefully a better experience) and have a night cap.

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Sea Dog

[Rubyfisch]

The bakery at Versailles is amazing - we stopped there after a Christmas cruise in 2017.

[Lionesss]

What a great beginning. 
 

Eagerly awaiting more 

 

Ty for taking the time to share.