We didn't make it up in time to watch the ship come in to Port Everglades. At least I didn't. It wasn't until we started shaking and rattling that I finally stirred. I met up with G for breakfast in the Botticelli Dining Room, and by 9am were walking off the ship to go through immigration and start our errands. Of course, because we had things to do, the lines were a bit long and a bit slow, but by 9:45am we were finally on our way.
Our first stop was Great Clips for the aforementioned hair cut. I had yet a different stylist today, but was quite happy with the results this time (it helped that she had a visual aid. I pulled out the curls on both sides of my head that looked like wings and said, "See these? They've got to go". And they're gone.). Our next stop was Publix for more foaming hand soap, then Total Wines, where I bought their last two bottles of Franciscan Merlot. Finally, we crossed 17th Street (despite only two ships in port today, traffic was fierce) to go to the post office to mail the box I was sending home. It only weighed 7 pounds, not 10 as I had hoped, but, for $16 postage, I'm hoping it makes a difference on packing night. We then crossed 17th Street again and stopped into Walgreens, to get hair color to complete Part 2 of my hair project for today (Howard, today's choice was lightest golden brown. 'Cause I know you'll want to know). ;-).
Our timing was perfect. We returned to Pier 2 about 11:30am and made our way quickly through security, just as the embarking passengers were starting to board. We dumped our purchases in our cabin and went to the DaVinci Dining Room for our 11th embarkation day lunch on the Emerald Princess this winter. G was very happy about that.
Following lunch, I grabbed a charging cord and went up to my usual spot in the Adagio Lounge to cancel today's homeward bound flights, check accounts, download the news and generally get caught up with the world. When the muster drill started, I returned to our cabin and colored my hair (no disasters) and dressed for the evening. We were on Deck 19 and then in Skywalkers for sailaway. It had not been a particularly pretty day in Fort Lauderdale- 70s, overcast and hazy- so it wasn't a particularly pretty sailaway, but the seas are unbelievably calm right now and the Emerald Princess is as stable as she's been all winter while sailing out of Fort Lauderdale.
We went to Dinner with Darko about 5:45pm, and I had a wonderful dinner of pasta with spicy tomato sauce topped with chicken breast and broccoli and the last of a bottle of Merlot. THAT is a dinner made in heaven, and it was topped with a dessert made in the same place: flourless chocolate cake served with a small bottle of Korbel champagne.
We stopped for a few minutes to watch the Piazza mini-performance of balance act Lubo and Lucy. Lubo balances...everything, on a sword he holds with his teeth.
Lubo told us as we walked to an elevator together later that he's been doing this all his life, and I asked him if he had balanced a baby bottle on a butter knife held between his gums as an infant. He enjoyed that!
We then continued on to the Princess Theater for the last Welcome Aboard show with this production show cast. As we entered the theater, we ran (almost literally) into several dancers from the new cast who came on board today in Fort Lauderdale and who were standing along the side of the theater. And the first dancer we saw was dear Rodney from Rio de Janeiro, who we knew from last winter's cast. Big hugs, and he asked, "Will you stay for the six months I'm here?" Oh please...don't give G any ideas.
And that was our day; full, busy but fairly unexciting as it was filled with errands.
And, on a couple of cruise-related notes:
Look at our new cruise card (below one of our old cruise cards). We had this same color card on the Royal Princess and I didn't like it then and I don't like it now. It looks very platinum to me. Very platinum. Whose idea was this? ;-) (Elites are quite proud of their BLACK cruise cards).
The All-Inclusive Beverage Package has arrived. I'm typing this directly from a small flyer that I picked up today at the table where it was being sold:
$49 per person per day
Package includes any individual beverage up to $10, but does not include the following:
- Beverages above $10
- Cigarettes and Cigars
- Food retail items
- In-room service
- Mini-bar items
- Souvenir items
- Vending machine items
A 15% gratuity will be added. Bottled wines under $100 are available at a 40% discount.
That's the flyer information. I was told by a bartender that all adults in a cabin must purchase the package and that kids in the cabin must purchase the Ultimate Kids Package, but I don't have that in writing.
I cannot imagine drinking enough to make that worthwhile, but I was told that there were a lot of packages sold today.
Drink on!
And, finally, we're entering new territory again (endurance-wise, not geographically, of course). This is the first time we've cruised for more than 120 days in one winter, and it's the first time we've cruised more than 100 days in a row on the Emerald Princess.
Cruise on!
