We are at Terminal 4 in Port Everglades, all checked in by 10:30am. Obviously, we'll not be boarding for at least an hour, but, after being awakened early by the Love Boat theme, catching the 10am shuttle made perfect sense.
A quick word about the La Quinta: It's a great overnight hotel, and now, with the remodeling, has a new, fresh feel. We stayed with points, so the price was certainly right. The drawback of this property is that it is in the middle of...not much. That factored into our decision to take the late flight yesterday, as there was really no place to go once we got here. (There is a Sweet Tomatoes, Wendy's and a couple of other restaurants within walking distance, but it's largely a dark walk).
The La Quinta has now contracted out the shuttle to Port Everglades. For $8 pp, it's handled by All Stars Transportation and is handled much more efficiently than in the past.
Once at Terminal 4, we were handed yellow cards (for Elite) and our health forms (we're healthy), and walked by a corral of Platinum passengers (giving us the evil eye) right to the counter for our check in. I looked at G and said, "It's sweet to be Elite!"
I wondered if we might be late boarding today, due to the fact that this is the Emerald's first time in Fort Lauderdale since last April, but so far it doesn't look like this will be the case. Hope not- we've never been here so early before!
We're being told that the remodeling of Terminal 2 will be complete on the 11th, so, if that's the case, we'll be returning in 10 days to more familiar surroundings.
Today is sunny and warm (not hot) and perfectly perfect here in Fort Lauderdale, which should make for a memorable sailaway.
More to come...