MIAMI SHORE EXCURSION

After 2 days at sea our first port of call was Miami.   As an early riser, being up at 5:45am is the normal for me and being up at this hour one can enjoy the quietness you experience walking around the ship. 

Blue Lagoon 24-hour Restaurant

Our cabin was just a few steps from a 24-hour restaurant called the Blue Lagoon. Breakfast today would be scrambled eggs with link sausage followed by some small talk reminiscing over our previous 3 days.  Once finished, we headed back to our cabin to assemble our day bag and head to the Stardust Lounge for our 8:00am check-in time.   My day bag always includes, at minimum, a water bottle, sunglasses, sunscreen, umbrella and a sweater.  On this day I also included my laptop in hopes of finding a free wi-fi location to catch up on emails. 

Normally you won’t see me taking a shore excursion offered on a cruise ship but when we booked this cruise we were given an incentive of $25 per person for each shore excursion we booked through the ship. After looking over the options offered we settled on the Hop On Hop Off (“HOHO”) tour.   

Once we left the ship we were greeted dockside by the HOHO bus and driver, given maps and driven to the Bayview Station.  This is the transportation hub for the cruise pier.  You can actually walk to it from the ship but I would not recommend that as you have to cross over the causeway and it is very dangerous. 

HOHO Bus

The Big Bus TourCompany of Miami offers three different routes and can be booked online for an adult price of $45.  The three tours are colored coded – “blue” for the South Beach Loop, “red” for the City Loop and “green” for the Uptown Loop.   

Before we arrived at Bayview Station we had decided that we would take the red loop first, then the blue loop, and if time permitted would do the green loop.   There are color-coded flags at the Bayview Station to help you identify which bus you are to board.  Simply stand next to the flag color that corresponds with the loop color you want to take.  As you board you will be given headsets as they offer the tours in several languages.  

Biltmore Hotel

The “red” City Loop included the Vizcaya Museum, Coconut Grove, Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables Museum, Little Havana and Central Station.   A few minutes into our tour we encountered a slight sprinkle but our tour guide quickly distributed rain ponchos to everyone, which we were allowed to keep.  The sprinkle lasted only a few minutes and was very slight.  Several people didn’t feel the need to even put their ponchos on.  The red tour is 90 minutes in length and if you hop off another bus comes by every 30 minutes. 

After returning to Bayview Station we changed buses to the “blue” South Beach Loop.  This loop took about an hour and if you hop off another bus comes by every 30 minutes.   This tour included American Airlines Arena, Perez Art Museum, South Pointe Park,  South Beach areas 1 and 2, Holocaust Museum,  Shops at 5^th and Alton and Jungle Island. 

Art Deco of South Beach

Wall art of uptown

The third itinerary was the “green” Uptown Loop.  Be careful. This bus only leaves from Bayview Station every 90 minutes so you need to watch time closely to be sure you get back to the ship on time.  We picked up the 1pm departure.  This loop lasts 60 minutes but if you get off anywhere on this loop, the next bus only comes by every 90 minutes.  This loop features the art and architecture of uptown which includes the Lynwood Walls. 

Local art of uptown

After returning to Bayview Station we took time to stroll through some of the shops ending up seated at an outdoor café overlooking the boat docks.  Here we enjoyed some local beer as we took in the sights and sounds of Miami.   The beer cost was only $4 – less than half of what it cost on board the ship.  

At Bayview Station you will also find a Hard Rock Café, along with a food court.  

In addition, The Island Queen boat tours leave from this area, taking 1 hour at a cost of $27.  I didn’t take the boat trip this time but have taken it twice before.  It circles Star Island for views of the multi-million dollar homes which are fun to see up close.  

Finally the time had come for us to head back to the ship.  We walked back to the bus stop and waited a short 5 minutes before our shuttle arrived.  The ride back to the ship takes about 10 minutes.

At 5:00pm we headed up to the Outdoor Café again for another Cruise Critic sail away party as we had picked up several more passengers while docked in Miami.   Dinner this evening was in the Jasmine Asian Restaurant.  My favorite food for the evening turned out to be the pot stickers.   Two more days at sea and then St. Thomas.