Our first Fort Lauderdale turnaround day of the season was a blur of laundry, phone calls, errands, paperwork...and people watching. On this 4-night cruise over a holiday weekend, people watching might just provide the best entertainment we can get (next to football, of course).
I was awake way too early, due in part to the ship's clocks being set back an hour overnight, but mostly because the Emerald Princess had entered the Port Everglades channel and the thrusters were deployed to turn and position the ship against the pier. There is no sleeping through that! I was in the Botticelli Dining Room for breakfast when it opened at 6:30am, and, even in that different environment, headwaiter Francesco found me a table for two. Waiter Allan and Assistant Waiter Paul, both from the Philippines, truly spoiled me rotten with fantastic service. It was a little amusing that, at the same time I was being served the cappuccino and beautiful fruit plate below...
...I took my iPhone off Airplane Mode and the post cruise survey from Princess appeared in my email inbox. I spent several minutes responding to it, saying lots of good things about the Emerald Princess in general and the dining waitstaff in particular. We haven't met a dud among them.
I had just left the dining room and was in the Deck 6 elevator lobby, intending to return to the cabin when the elevator door opened and out stepped G. And that is how I ended up returning to the Botticelli Dining Room instead, and sat with G while he had his breakfast. It was nearly 8am by the time I left the dining room for good.
I had used my ship card to purchase a laundry token last night in preparation for doing a load of laundry this morning. I gathered up swimsuits, rash guard, Tilley hats- all those items that need to be air dried - and started a single load using the Tide detergent I had purchased at Publix before the last cruise. Unlike on the Pacific Princess, these washers don't display the time remaining in the cycle, so I made a guess at when the load would be complete, and went up to my favorite quiet turnaround day venue, the Adagio Lounge, to pay bills and make phone calls.
Once the laundry was hanging in our cabin to dry, we walked off the ship to do some shopping. We were delighted to see that there is now a Global Entry line through immigration that basically bypasses any long lines. However, we were dismayed to learn that we will have to complete a US Customs form on every turnaround day, instead of just at the end of our final cruise. That is definitely not an improvement!
The weather was overcast and cool, and the sky was threatening rain when we walked off the Emerald Princess. In the interest of time, we went only as far as Walgreens to pick up the few things we needed. I tried not to compare the prices we were paying to what I would pay at home; there's no point in doing so. Much like when we were in French Polynesia, the price is the price, and it's part of the decision to cruise as we do.
We returned to the ship ladened with two bottles of Barefoot Bubbly and a 12-pack of Mountain Dew, willing its cardboard carton to withstand the drizzly rain that had started to fall. We love the new (last year) in-transit passengers entrance, which is also the crew entrance into the terminal at Pier 2. It allows us to bypass all the controlled chaos in the newly embarking passenger check in.
We threw our purchases in our cabin and immediately went down to the DaVinci Dining Room for embarkation day lunch. G is sorely disappointed that the beef entree has been significantly changed, but I am still thrilled with the salmon. Our water, Worwut (I know I've spelled that wrong) from Thailand, not only knows Suttipong and the rest of the Thai trio (Nicky and Surasit), he knows Athapol too. Our Thai waiters have always stood out to us, and do make me want to visit their country. Worwut is in contact with Sutti very frequently, and is relaying a message to him from us. Sutti is still one of the very best!
We walked back off the ship after lunch, intending to try to use the free wifi in Terminal 2. I know several crew members were using it; I even saw a Captain Forteeze using it, dressed in shorts and sandals and looking no different than all the crew members sitting there. However, neither of us was able to even get the signal. Well...shoot. I am desperate to start downloading some of the Downton Abbey episodes I've purchased. I'll try doing it at Starbucks next turnaround.
I found Suzan and Greg having coffee in the International Cafe and joined them until it was nearly time for muster drill. During the drill, we escaped to the Terrace Deck and continued to make phone calls until sailaway. Captain Forteeze made an announcement that we are expecting 25 foot waves and generally rough seas until tomorrow night, and urging us to avoid the outside public decks, but so far I've felt nothing out of the ordinary. It certainly isn't like those first couple of days out of Hawaii on the Pacific Princess!
We went to dinner at 5:30pm and I enjoyed flourless chocolate cake for dessert. I hate to say it, but it's possible that flourless chocolate cake has fallen to my second most favorite Princess dessert. That red velvet cheesecake from last night in the buffet simply can't be bested. I've made Suzan promise to send up smoke signals to alert me when it's served again, as she generally dines in the Horizon Court Buffet and will be on the lookout for it.
We went to the 7pm Welcome Aboard show in the Princess Theater featuring comedian Miguel Washington. He wasn't bad, but I swear we've seen him before. It's funny when just one joke jumps out at us and we remember that but nothing else; still, it makes us certain we've seen a comedian before. We again sat with Suzan and Greg in the International Cafe to have tea and people watch, but left then to go to the Explorers Lounge for the Treasure Hunt Drawing (*must be present to win), which is remarkably like the BIG!!!!!! $500 Treasure Hunt Drawing*!!! (*must be present to win) on the Pacific Princess. So much alike, in fact, that we had the same bad luck that we usually do. :-(
By then it was nearly 10pm and I still needed to get this blog post typed. I swung through the Horizon Court Buffet for another cup of tea, and returned to the cabin to get my contacts out and put my feet up. It is 11pm as I finish this up, and I will be asleep just seconds after I hit SEND. I am sooooo happy that tomorrow is a sea day.
Edited the next morning...I actually fell asleep sending this post. My iPad dropped forward and hit me in the face, waking me up, which was a very good thing despite my slightly bruised nose, because I was still logged in to Internet. I really must get these posts done earlier in the evening!!
