Epic cruise - Part 2

Day 2 - at sea 
After spending the early morning in the gym (it has like 20 threadmills, weights, lots of machines for each muscle, lessons, etc - there's water available and cold mint towels to freshen up) we had breakfast &lunch at buffet. Then we attended the auction with champagne. The art gallery on the Epic has 1500 works on board, making it the largest collection at sea (it's a Park West Gallery). They have works from Picasso, Rembrandt, Romero Britto, Peter Max, Thomas Kincade,  etc.

a Peter Max

We were interested in Peter Max's works but at around $15000 for a small oil on canvas piece, they were so out of our budget...

Moderno Churrascaria - from www.ncl.com

The Epic has  many dinner options, if you want to grab a quick bite, nothing formal, you can try the Garden Cafe buffet which has lots of choices. If you prefer something more like a pub menu there's O'Sheenan's, an english pub open 24 hours! Then if you want to have a nice dinner seated you can choose between the contemporary Taste and the classic Manhattan Room (where there's a band playing). These options are all included in the cruise fare.
Otherwise, for a little extra charge, you can choose among other specialty restaurants: the Steakhouse Cagney's ($25/person), the Brazilian Churrascaria Moderno ($20), the Italian Le Cucina ($10), the French Le Bistro ($20) and the Teppanyaki showcooking grill ($25). There's also a circus tent where you can dine and see a show for $35 (not for us) and sushi and chinese restaurants with interesting menus (extra charge), pizza delivery to your cabin, room service, etc.
For our second day at sea we chose dinner at Moderno Churrascaria; they serve you different cuts of meat from swords, and they keep it coming until you say stop. There's also a great salad bar, my advise is not to  eat lots of salad, starters and sides, because the most delicious meats come by the end (lamb chops, sirloin and the juicy costela), we didn't make it to the dessert. Great choice!

Day 3 - at sea 
Still a bit jetlagged, we woke up and went to the gym (after dinner at Moderno, we needed to burn lots of calories!). The day was cloudy so we did not go to the pool area and stayed in the cabin. Personally I prefer balcony cabins for days like these, you can chill out in your balcony with coffee just watching the horizon.

O'Sheenan's pub - from: www.norwegiancruiselineepic.com

We had lunch at O'Sheenans pub (tuna melt and mozzarella sticks, good), it's a nice place to hang out since there are 2 bowling lanes there, draught beer and you can get a nice view of the atrium big screen and the movies they often show. Dinner at Manhattan Room which was delicious, perhaps the nice atmosphere with the band playing helped. We had to wait like 20 minutes to get a table but it was worth it.

Manhattan Room - from: www.ncl.com

After dinner we had a quick round in the casino. Those damn slot machines are so addicting!

Epic cruise - Part 1

Day 1 - Miami

downtown Miami from the port

We left the hotel for the Port at around 12. There was something going on in downtown and the traffic was crazy. Terminals (B and C - Epic is a large ship) were crowded but it took less than an hour to get on the ship. The ship's access is through the casino. Had a quick lunch at the Garden Cafe buffet (corn chowder, sandwich and lemon mousse) then headed to cabin to wait for the muster drill (that's the evacuation plan, pretty important these days). Muster drill was fast and people were all paying attention, not as last year where everybody was chatting.

me checking out the lifeboats :)

 When we got back to the cabin the luggage was already there so we took some time unpacking. Lots of storage in the cabin (12296), suitcases fit perfectly under the bed and sofa. We left Miami at 16.00. Leaving Miami from the ship is always beautiful.

Miami Beach

Some cabin pictures:

Shower

Phone and night lights

bathroom layout

Sink

lots of storage

Coffee machine

Bed

After sailing we went to guest services to check some stuff regarding our account and then got a coffee at the bar next to guest services (where they also have nice cakes) and walked aroud the casino, the theater, the pool, etc. Went to visit the rest of our party in a mini-suite cabin. It's about 2 meters larger than ours, it has a bath tub and more storage but the balcony is pretty much the same.

Peter Max art work

 We pre-registered for the first auction for the following day and got a 50$ coupon for certain spa treatments. Walked around a bit and saw some Peter Max's nice art works, wondering what the price will be.

Piano at Taste

We had dinner at Taste (one of the no-extra-charge restaurants: Salmon tartare with avocado, cuccumber and dill; broiled lobster and red snapper with rice, vegetables and a creamy sauce, both delicious. Wine pairing: Sauvignon blanc from New Zealand for me, Chardonnay from California for G. (OK but nothing to write home about!)

After that we went to sleep cause we were tired. Woke up at 2,30 (btw, we switched the time 1 hour to match Atlantic Time), jetlagged.

To be continued...

Bienvenidos a Miami!

view of the Bay

"Party in the city where the heat is on
All night, on the beach till the break of dawn
Welcome to Miami
Bienvenidos a Miami
Bouncin' in the club where the heat is on
All night, on the beach till the break of dawn
I'm goin to Miami
Welcome to Miami!"




Back in freezing Milan (-11°C!) after 10 days in the Caribbean is really depressing. And right now this Will Smith song is bouncing in my head!
We spent two great days pre-cruise in Miami doing one of my favorite things: shopping! We stayed at the great Four Seasons in Brickell, the Financial District, so no beach or people in rollerblades but tall buildings, banks, suits and luxury. This hotel is beautiful. It's located in Miami's tallest building which hosts a fitness center and HSBC offices.

The lobby is at the 7th floor and in both the ground floor and the lobby you'll find beautiful, huge Botero sculptures.

a Botero in the Lobby

 From the lobby you can access the pools, the restaurant and the elevators to the rooms. Ours was in the 27th floor and had a partial view of the bay and the city. Big room with comfortable bed, big bathroom with separate shower and tub, l'Occitane toiletries and good -perhaps a bit cold- service (this is meant to be a positive comment, I dislike intrusiveness and fake friendliness so the staff 's cold professionalism is great for me!).

the room and the comfortable king bed

view of the city & bay from room

 The pool area is great, I wish we had more time there! There are two pools (a third is for use of the condos' owners) one with comfortable cabanas surrounding it and one with palm trees and hammocks, best pool I've ever seen!

Relaxing hammocks at the pool

We rented a car through the Hotel's Concierge and went to Sawgrass Mills outlet mall in Sunrise, Fl., a 40 min. drive from Downtown Miami. Having been there last year we knew it was going to be a full-day shopping marathon (it's one of the biggest outlet malls in the US), that's why we didn't take the shuttle from Miami. Among the shops in Sawgrass we visited: Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Victoria's Secret, Brooks Brothers, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, etc. And having had breakfast at the Cheesecake Factory and lunch at the Grand Lux Café we reached the maximum amount of sugar our bodies could take!

Accommodation Info:

Four Seasons Hotel Miami (http://www.fourseasons.com/miami/)
1435 Brickell Avenue, Miami, Florida 33131
Rooms from $450 / night

Food in the area:
- Taqueria La Lupita (http://lalupita.mx/): good Mexican street food.
- Deli Lane Cafe (http://delilane.com/): great breakfasts on Brickell.

Guide to pastels

All this cold and snow make me long for spring so much! Can't wait!

Travel Mania

They say that humans are the only species who make the same mistake twice (or many times) but to be fair, we also learn from our mistakes. This also applies to traveling so, after years traveling and experiencing different challenges (logistic, linguistic and other sorts), we can call ourselves experienced travelers and we may have also developed rituals that we follow automatically. Here are some of the mistakes I've made when it comes to traveling and how they changed my ways of traveling, some of them might seem common sense to you but I had to learn my lesson:
1. Get a cab at least 15 minutes ahead schedule - Last time we were in Mexico City (where traffic can be crazy) we ordered a cab for a certain time. After 15 minutes waiting I called the taxi company and they said the cab 'had an accident' and it was not coming (so if I hadn't called we would still be there waiting). Fortunately we had family there and they rode us to the airport on time, or apparently on time (more on that later). But since we don't have family or alternative solutions everywhere in the world, we learned that when we need a cab, we have to get it earlier and have different companies' phone numbers and always an alternate way of getting where we want to go.
2. Checking flight status - So we got to the airport on time, only to find out that our plane time had changed and it had left minutes after we arrived to the airport! Imagine the frustration! In our defense, we had booked through an online agency and they were supposed to inform us of the variation (since it was not last minute). But this taught us to check departure times and if the flight is confirmed at least a day before the travel date. And if we can get mobile flight alerts, the better!
3. Always have a change of clothes in my carry on - It has only happened once (and hopefully it won't happen often) that our luggage arrived a couple of days after we did so that time we weren't prepared and ended up having to buy everything: clothes, toothbrush, etc. But from that time on, we always put a change of clothes, pijamas and important stuff in our carry ons, just in case.
4. Having a copy of IDs in Dropbox - This is something we will do in future travels. After recent events regarding cruise incidents, we thought it might be better to have a copy of our passports and other ID forms in Dropbox (a kind of virtual cloud where you can keep docs and access them from any computer with an internet connection), just in case we need them or in case we lose the originals.
5.Use lots of moisturizer in cabin - Let's finish with a beauty tip :) while air traveling, the air in the cabin can dry your skin very much, so imagine how dry it can get after a 10 hour flight! I always take a rich moisturizer in my carry on and apply it constantly to my face. And of course, drinking lots of water both before and during the flight helps.