A few good websites

I'm re-posting this link that I shared last year because it's for a webcam that we find really enjoyable at any time, but when we watch it just before going on a cruise, it has the same effect on us as sugar in a two-year old. Yes, I will even admit to spinning around in circles a few times in the middle of the family room.

http://www.portevergladeswebcam.com

There are now two cameras providing live feeds: one at the channel entrance of Port Everglades (at the middle bottom of the video feed it will state PEW) and the view from the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 hotel (at the middle bottom of the video feed it will state FLW). You can toggle between the two cameras by clicking on either Port Everglades or Fort Lauderdale at the bottom right corner of the video feed.

The Port Everglades webcam gives great, close-up views of the cruise ships as they sail from Port Everglades.



The Fort Lauderdale webcam gets re-aimed quite often, so sometimes you'll see a view away from Port Everglades to the north, up the intercoastal waterway (that's where it's aimed in the photo below), and after dark it's usually aimed at the 17th Street drawbridge, but when there are cruise ships in port, it's generally pointed south at Port Everglades, and, usually, the closest cruise ship you'll see on turnaround days is the Emerald Princess.




Turn up your audio to hear the marine radio traffic, including when the cruise ships are cleared to sail. It's all quite interesting, guaranteed to suck up as much free time as you allow it to, and, if you look closely when the Emerald Princess sails (if it's on time, it will be just after 4pm EST on our turnaround days), you might just see us (and 3100 of our new BFFs) leaning over the railing waving at the Port Everglades webcam. No matter how many sailaways we've done, it's a breathtaking and exciting moment, one we never tire of (and, frankly, one of the many reasons we enjoy doing back to back cruises as opposed to one long one).

This website shows the views from the front of the Emerald Princess, and is fun to look at when we're in a port:

http://www.princess.com/bridgecams/ep/emerald_bridgecam.html



And this one shows the location of the Emerald Princess on a map:

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=ZCDP8



That's the full content of my toy box of cruise web sites. Hope you enjoy them!