. Just Imagine the Good Neighbor: The ship and Miami

Every night when our cabin stewards turn down our bed and give us a newsletter for the next day, they make up a different animal out of towels. This elephant was one of the cutest. They even have a class to teach this skill which I have never attended.

Here is one of the elevator areas located on each floor. Our last day aboard the ship was a sea day. I decided to post some photos of the ship. Below is the main atrium. Two of the chefs are demonstrating how to cut fancy fruit and vegetable decorations.

We were sitting in the upper balcony area during the demonstration. It is a restaurant named O'Sheehans. It is open 24 hours a day.

We enjoy the reuben sandwiches they serve and this time we tried the fish and chips. Of course, we shared our lunches so we could sample both items.

This is the seating area of a small buffet restaurant outdoors on the stern of the ship. This is where they usually serve English scones at 3 o'clock each afternoon. We love the scones.

This is the jogging track on one of the upper decks of the ship. There is also a large sport court and a climbing wall.

Here is the beautiful blue wake behind the ship.

Here is the main dining room on the Pearl. It is called the Summer Palace. We ate our dinner here every night. There is another main dining area but it seemed noisier to us. We snagged a lovely table by the window which the hostess held for us every night.

Here is the fancy curtain in the auditorium where we waited for the show each night. We enjoy the evening entertainment--especially the singing and dancing. They also have aerialists, magicians, comedians, hypnotists, etc.

Another regular feature is a question and answer session with some of the officers on board the ships. This one included those individuals in charge of the dining, hotels and service employees on the ship.

This is the pool deck with several hot tubs and a small pavilion in the middle for the musical groups to entertain. There is a grill for hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. and of course, always a bar for drinks.

This was one of our beautiful and delicious dinners we enjoyed in the evening.

Here I am standing in front of one of the buffet areas. We usually ate our breakfast and lunch at the buffet because it was faster and there were always lots of interesting options and specialties.

Every floor has a set of stairs plus about four elevators. When Dad's knees aren't bothering him, we often take the stairs.

We enjoyed a lot of beautiful sunsets on our cruise. Because we ate our dinner early, we were often out walking during the setting of the sun.

On sea days, I would attend an exercise dance class. It was pretty easy and very enjoyable until the very last day. Then the instructor pulled out the stops and added some real challenging items to our workout. I am in the turquoise shirt and blue pants.

Here was the Question and Answer session with the captian, chief engineer and the head hotel person. They are very interesting and Steve especially enjoys these.

This is the long hallway where our room is located. There are several entrances along it, so we don't have to walk all that way.

Here is the casino which we try our hardest to avoid. It is near the theatre so often we have to walk through it after a show to get to other parts of the ship.

They always have little sales on board. This particular one was the $10 junk sale. I didn't buy a single thing at this sale. I was so proud of myself.

Every time you enter the buffet area, you have to sanitize your hands. A "washy washy" helper is always there to assist you. They also have a myriad of dispensers placed all around the ship.

We took this photo as we were passing Cuba on our way back to Miami. This may be the closest we ever come to it about 20 miles away.

This is a photo of deck 7 where we did most of our walking. There are several wider areas with deck chairs, etc. It is usually a little busier than this picture indicates.

Here we are in harbor of Miami. It is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world.

Here is a picture of people assembling to disembark from the ship. We decided to take a tour of Miami which would then drop us off at the airport. Since our flight didn't leave until afternoon and the cost was only about $10 more dollars than a taxi, we were happy with our choice to do that. It disembarking went smoother and there was a bus right there to pick us and our luggage up.

Our tour guide was very informative and we were pleasantly surprised at the beautiful areas of Miami she showed us. We have not previously had a very good impression of Miami.

There is our ship the Norwegian Pearl in the harbor, getting ready for another cruise leaving that afternoon.

We saw a lot of famous hotels and the areas where many films were made. We saw the very pricey area that was famous in the 1950's and l960's which they are maintaining for the tourists. We saw the famous Miami Beach area, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables.

This beautiful Biltmore hotel in Coral Gables was used as hospital in WW II. Many airlines were originally based out of this area also.

This is a famous pool in Coral Gables where many weddings take place. Coral Gables was a lovely area and one of the first planned unit developments constructed. They still have a lot of their rules and regulations. It makes a nice community but we wouldn't like living there.