The weather was sunny and warm, but not hot. It was breezy but not windy. Port Everglades was going to be a zoo with all the people passing through it in one day. It was a good day to get away from the ship.
A primary water taxi stop is about a 10 minute walk from pier 2, where the Emerald Princess was berthed. We left the ship about 9:30am, but quickly found ourselves embroiled in the back up at immigration with the passengers still disembarking. We needed to show our passports at immigration, and there was a bit of a line, but by 10am we were through it and walking out of Port Everglades.
All told, we spent almost four hours riding two different water taxis up and down the intercoastal, the New River and the Tarpon River. We started on one taxi and transferred to a different one, two levels high with an open second level. It was a beautiful way to spend the afternoon.
Because it was the Sunday before Christmas, yacht traffic was high, and many of the mega mansions on the waterfront were decorated for the holidays. Talk about excess. After a while we became numb to the fact that we were looking at hundreds of mansions valued between $10 million to over $50 million each, and thousands of yachts valued up to $100 million each. Yes, you read that right. It boggles the mind, especially when you consider that most of the homes are second (or third or tenth) homes, and, despite all the boat traffic, 99% of the boats were not in use.
I could post 50 photos of mansions and yachts, but I'll limit them to just a few.