November 9, 2026

Both Day 14 & Day 1

Monday

Miami, FL, USA

Good morning, Miami! The final day of the transatlantic crossing and the first day of our Amazon adventure. Taylor is meeting us at the dock this morning and we are going to brunch together. We arrived in Miami first thing this morning; about 06:00. We finished packing up our things and set our suitcases inside our room and went to breakfast.

After breakfast we went down to the Epicurian Enrichment Studio to check-out of the first segment and check-in to the second segment. Of course, they managed to get our names from the Italian passports; when on the second segment we need to be on our American passports. So, we went to Reception on deck 5, met with the office in charge of customs and registration. She very more than happy to fix it.

Now, we have to see what happens when we go through US Customs  on the dock. The question is: Do they show us as Italians arriving in the US, or as returning American citizens? Somehow it all went very smoothly and we were through customs be 09:00. Taylor was on his way to pick us up and go to brunch.

Taylor had a little trouble finding the pick-up entrance for Pier 2, but eventually found it. We got in the car and headed to breakfast. The traffic in Miami on a Monday morning is really bad. There is a whole lot of construction going on, especially the road to the cruise terminal.

We eventually ended up at a little place called Ancé in mid-town Miami. Mary got a dish called Maranda French Toast Brioche, cinnamon spiced syrup. Raspberries, blueberries with Orange Chantilly cream. Taylor got Trucciona sourdough toast with mashed avocado, two poached eggs, Gouda & Swiss cheese sauce. Trying to continue my nearly weeklong gluten free streak, I went with the Aché omelette, three eggs, cheese & peppers. It is usually served with mezzopopio sourdough toast, but I asked him to leave that out, and give me some bacon instead. He was ok with that.

Lamps made of Moka Pots! Hopefully they were cheap ones.

When he heard that we ere from California and rooted for the 49ers, he made me a cappuccino with the 49er logo on it; it was even in color! Very cute. After brunch we drove across Miami, very depressing area. Many building very run down, fences falling down, and buildings covered in what looks like mold.

We were headed to Padrón Cigars at 1575 SW 1st Street. We thought it was just a store, but it turns out it was their flagship store and wholesale warehouse. We were angling for a tour, but he was entertaining some other customers and took time out to sell me a couple boxes of cigars. His retail price wasn’t that much different from Ronnie’s. He even knew of Ronnie and praised Ronnie for having such a good selection of cigars. At least I left happy with a supply of cigars for, at least, part of the voyage.

Then we headed back to the Mariner to show Taylor our suite and have some lunch. We stopped at a CVS on the way so Mary could pickup a few things. That was also a depressing experience. It didn’t feel unsafe, just not particularly clean and organized.

We got back to the ship and they were processing the next group of new passengers. It was a mess. It was just before 13:00, and 13:00 is the check-in time. We explained to the person directing people that we were returning passangers and didn’t need to check-in. It took a couple people, but we eventually convinced them just to let us through.

We walked up the gangplank and stopped at the check-in station. The woman managing it said no, Taylor had to go down to the dock and enter through the employee entrance. Well, we had just spent a good half-hour getting up here, we were having none of that. We told her no and ask her to call someone in authority. Despite several calls she still wanted to send Taylor down to the employee enterance. We simply said no! He isn’t going through that again and the people in the check-in area sent us up here, so unless someone is going to walk him though that terminal, he is checking in here.

Eventually she saw the logic of request and issued him a temporary badge. We took him up to our suite, showed him around and then headed for a tour of the ship. We ended up in La Veranda for lunch, although none of us were hungry. We sat on the aft tail of the ship and had a drink. Then we walked Taylor back out.

Back in the suite we began the process of unpacking. We were still waiting for the “supply suitcase” we sent on ahead. So, I went for a cigar while we waited. The suitcase did eventually arrive. We unpacked it and went for dinner at the pool grill.

It seems like a long day. We did several different things and moved around a lot, but really it wasn’t much. It was very nice to see Taylor and the Padrón headquarters.

Buonanotte e ciao,

Enrico e Maria