The first thing I did after I showered is walk down to the laundry room to start a load of delicates. There was already one other washer in use which wasn't surprising; I'd heard there were somewhere between 300 and 400 "in transits"- those passengers staying on for another cruise (like us). Turnaround morning is a good time to do laundry. Next I made the beds (myself! Really!) and swapped our wet towels for dry ones from Raymond. That's all we require on turnaround morning, and it saves him a few minutes on his busiest morning.
We kept it simple today...G got some "good" coffee and a breakfast sandwich heated in a panini press from the IC; I had cottage cheese and fruit from the Cafe Caribe for breakfast. It was warm enough (it fact, it was a beautiful day) on the Terrace Deck to eat there and plan our attack for today in Fort Lauderdale. I hung undies from one wall of our cabin to the other to dry (another reason for giving Raymond a pass), but forgot that our new minibar setup was going to be delivered by someone later in the morning. Oh well...can't be shy about these things!
About 9am we walked off the ship and passed through immigration. Our first stop was Walgreens, to see what they had from our shopping list and what the prices were (we were undecided about whether we needed to go down to CVS). Things looked good there, but we didn't buy anything (yet) because we still had to go down to the Harbour Shops shopping center. I was about 10 days overdue for a haircut, and in a departure from our normal cruise M.O. decided to not ask G to do it for me. Instead I'd set up an appointment earlier this morning using the Great Clips app (thank you, Suzan!) and so had no wait once I arrived there. 10 minutes later I was good to go, and should be all set for three or four cruises. We walked into Publix (their vitamin prices are always better than Walgreens') and replenished a few things we've used up, including saline packs for my neti pot. I will never understand how I can be so dry when I'm living on the water, but I think the AC is the culprit. Whatever the cause, I should be all set for a month or two. Then it was back to Walgreens where we picked up two bottles of Asti Spumante (the Martini and Rossi was only $11!), a 12-pack of Mountain Dew for G (we had a coupon expiring 12/31 to get it free), and a few more things (honestly, sitting here in Skywalkers typing this I've forgotten what they all were, but it was $70 worth of stuff). Oh, and guafinasin which is some pricey stuff, even store brand and even on sale ($30 for 80 tablets? Yikes! But the doctor thinks it keeps bronchitis at bay, so...). We were so loaded down walking home (I mean, walking to the Emerald Princess. So, yes, I guess "home" would be the right term), that I couldn't even stand up straight. G was carrying the Mountain Dew and I had the two bottles of wine and everything else in my backpack. I'm gonna enjoy that Asti Spumante!
Unfortunately, we were caught right in the first influx of Elite passengers getting on the ship, so it took a few minutes to get up the gangway (I hate standing in a hot, enclosed gangway with a line of people, but that's exactly what we had to do with me hunched over from the weight of the backpack and G's Mountain Dew box slowly tearing, tearing, tearing, and I was imagining that at any moment it would totally rip apart and send 12 Mountain Dew cans rolling back down the gangway, taking out 20 senior cruisers in the process). It was a welcome relief (as it always is) to step back into the cool comfort of the Emerald Princess, and we went first to wash our hands and then right into the DaVinci Dining Room for lunch.
As always, embarkation day lunch is our favorite, and we seldomly miss it. You know, the menu was different, and not nearly as nice on the Royal Princess, and that is another thing that we are going to sorely miss next year on the Royal Princess. I had been smart to pack an iPhone charging cord in my backpack, and so was happy when Antonio seated us right next to an outlet. ABC (Always Be Charging), and, for the first time on a turnaround day, I'm not running out of battery. Yay me! G stuck around the Michelangelo Dining Room until 1:30pm to meet with maître d' Generoso, who just returned to the Emerald Princess today. G wanted to make sure we weren't going to encounter a table snafu when we arrived for dinner tonight, but they were all over it so we're now set for the remainder of the winter (however long that may be).
Life on back to back cruises is sweet in many ways, not least of all because we get to skip muster drill. (But you can't escape the audio part, which is broadcast loudly all over the ship). We spent this cruise's muster drill in Skywalkers, watching the boat traffic on the intercoastal and enjoying the gorgeous views. Captain Nick announced that we were waiting for several passengers from a late-arriving plane and would be leaving just a little after our scheduled departure time of 4pm. At 4:45pm we were waving at the Port Everglades webcam as we sailed out of the entrance channel.
Life is good.
