Day 7, Saturday, December 29, 2012

This day came much too early and we were out of our cabin by 8:30 am and we waited in the Elite Lounge with other members.  When they released us at 9:00, we walked right off the ship, found our luggage and then had to wait in line for about ½ hour to get through customs. 

We took the Celebrity shuttle to the airport and checked in for our flight.

Then we went to a secured baggage place where we left our carry-ons for the rest of the day as our flight did not leave until 7:00 pm.

We bought Miami transportation day passes for everyone and headed via a people mover to the transportation center.  From there Jeff’s family took the train to the Art Museum and the rest of us headed to the beach.

The express bus to the beach took us about ½ hour and we made our first stop the El San Juan hotel where we had stayed in 2000.  When Ed booked the hotel in 2000, the internet was just in its infancy so the only pictures that we had to go on were of the outside.  There was also no TripAdvisior and while the location was perfect, the hotel was not.  But we made the best of it then as it was only one night and then went on a wonderful cruise as a much smaller family.

 We walked down to the ocean and Alex and Barb went into the water.  Alex to swim and Barb to just wade until a big wave hit her and she was soaked.  Cooper gave Barb his shirt to wear and fortunately, her blouse dried fairly quickly in the hot Miami sun.

We took another bus to the Bayside Market in Miami with is a huge shopping and entertainment area, bight on the bay.

 By 4:00 pm, we met everyone at the Market and took the overhead people mover to the train station, took the train to the airport, retrieved our stored bags and were boarding the plane at 7:30 pm as the plane was late getting in.

The pilot made up the time and we transferred at Charlotte to Chicago and arrived in Chicago to a cold shock at 11:30 am.  The Marriott O’Hare van picked us up and took us to the hotel where our cars were parked.  We were on the road quickly and made it to Bloomington by 2:30 am.

 What a fun day and what a wonderful Christmas we all experienced.  We are truly blessed as a family to be able to have this time together on this cruise.

This is my family . . .  and I am soo proud of them!!!

 

Arriving in Miami



The El San Juan



On the beach


Please see the next blog for our family pictures