Trip Reflections

Hospitality Desk at Miami Airport -- In the Baggage Claim area of the Miami Airport, Celebrity Cruise Lines has a Hospitality Desk. Since Azamara Cruises is affiliated with Celebrity, I decided to stop and chat awhile. I had not received the baggage tags I needed to board, and this desk was most happy to provide me with the necessary baggage tags. This saved my having to request them from the porter at the pier. I could take my time filling them out at the hotel the night before departure.



Hyatt Regency Miami on Second Avenue -- After a pleasant taxi ride, we arrived in downtown Miami at the hotel. I have stayed at this hotel before. It has a walkway to the Miami Convention Center. This hotel is a full-service hotel, and despite it's size, all staff is extraordinarily friendly and helpful. Rooms are fantastic, and the restaurant serves a delicious, creative menu. Extra security is provided by the fact that one needs a room card to access the elevators. When I mentioned to the restaurant waiter that our room clock was one hour slow and we wanted to verify the local time with him, we found that by the time we finished the meal and returned to our room that the housekeeping staff had corrected the clock. When sitting in the spacious atrium next to the restaurant, you might want to keep your camera ready. Quite unexpectedly, a rather large ship may pass through just a few feet from the rear of the hotel. It is quite an unusual sight, seeing such a huge vessel pass between buildings in the downtown area. I have already told the story about Jim's lost hat. There were a lot of valuable attachments on the hat. I really anticipated that the hotel would find it. The maid had gone in to strip the sheets, found it, and was on the way to Lost and Found as we made our way to the ship.