It's also so nice to have the ship back to "normal". It's as if the Emerald Princess is a grandparent who just sent the grandkids back home to their parents, and is sitting back and relaxing, sighing in a mixture of contentment and relief. We enjoyed it. It's over. We're happy.
We were awake and out of our cabin fairly early this morning. We know that our Steward Nazi is under the gun on turnaround days, cleaning cabins after departing passengers and setting them up for new ones in less than four hours. By leaving ours early, he can get it out of the way while other passengers are still in their cabins. It was such a beautiful morning in Fort Lauderdale, we decided to again enjoy our breakfast from the Cafe Caribe on the Terrace Deck. No, we weren't enjoying the view of the 17th Street drawbridge, because instead of being at Pier 2 we were way down at Pier 21, but it was nice outside all the same.
We left the ship at 9am and quickly realized that with seven cruise ships in port, things were seriously bogged down in the terminal. Luckily, when G approached a cruise line rep and told him we were in transit and going to a 10am medical appointment, we were ushered to the front of the ICE line, just behind a disabled passenger and his family. We were through immigration in just ten minutes, and waited about another 10 minutes for a taxi.
Our taxi driver, cursing in a North African dialect when he learned where we were going, brought back fond memories of a Fort Lauderdale taxi ride earlier this winter, but somehow I knew that this time the cursing was directed at us and not other drivers. Oh well...
We arrived at the parking lot of a nondescript, low building in a largely residential neighborhood and tried to enter the door under a DENTIST sign, but it was locked. Well, we were 20 minutes early. We moved out of the hot sun into the shade of a tree and waited. And hoped. This seemed a very odd time for a dental appointment. Had we been given bad information?
No, we hadn't. Just ten minutes later, a car pulled up and a young woman in jeans and high heeled sandals got out. She asked if we were there for an appointment and went to unlock the door. I didn't know until we were inside that she was Dr. Giraldo.
I had to fill out the requisite paperwork, and while I did, G was offered the password for the office wifi, and found a socket to plug his iPhone charger into. Fast wifi and power? He was good for the duration. I was taken back, x-rayed, and given the not-unexpected news that I did have an abscess and would need a root canal today.
Oh joy.
I've mentioned before that G and I live by the motto: When was the last time you did something for the first time? It's appropriate not just for bucket list items like climbing the Great Wall of China, the Sydney Harbour Bridge or the Eiffel Tower, but also as a way to put a positive spin on not-so-great things. I shifted that motto into overdrive today as I sat in that chair having that root canal. It wasn't my first root canal but it was the first time for other things:
This is the first time I've had a root canal while looking at a palm tree.
This is the first time I've taken a taxi to a root canal.
This is the first time I've had a root canal on a Sunday.
This is the first time I've had a root canal from a dentist and not an endodontist.
This is the first time I've had a dentist from Columbia.
This is the first time I've had a dental assistant from Cuba.
Root canal. Root canal. Root canal. Root canal.
HAPPY THOUGHTS!!
Palm tree. Palm tree. Palm tree. Palm tree.
And so it went until it was over and done. At least until next turnaround day when I have to return to have it completed.
I added one more "first time" afterwards: This is the first time I've walked home from a root canal. Really. We did. It was only 2 to 3 miles or so.
I asked Dr. Giraldo how she came to be a dentist who was contacted by doctors from Princess ships to do root canals on Sundays and she told me the story: A Princess captain from Italy (who shall remain nameless) needed some dental work done on a turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale. He wanted an Italian male dentist, and thought he had found one when his research revealed a Dr. Andrea Giraldo close to Port Everglades. Imagine his shock when he arrived to find this petite young woman from Columbia. She convinced him to stay for the appointment. She said he was a "character" (which surprised me none at all). He liked her dental style. He returned for other work, and referred her to other officers. When the contact for the dentist who was then under contract with Princess expired (I didn't even know they had dentists under contract), she sent in her credentials and was given the job. She said she worked three days during the week and weekends, because that's when the ships were in port.
I thought that was a great story! I had also also intrigued by how this whole "dental emergency at sea" episode would all work out, and now I know. It worked out rather well.
We stopped by the CVS pharmacy on the way home and bought just a few items. Except for G's Carnation liquid coffee creamer, we should be set now for the next two months. We then caught a Calling Station shuttle for the last bit of the trip down to Pier 21 and the Emerald Princess. It's just too dangerous to walk when there's traffic from seven ships in port.
Once onboard, we went directly to the dining room, where we were seated next to Steve and Peggy whom we've cruised with for many years. In fact, they are the passengers who first inspired us to spend winters at sea, as they come on for 50 days at a time throughout the winter. Before we finished eating, Jim (from Jim and Marsha) came up to say hi. They sat at the table next to us for dinner for 20 nights last year in January, and we had the best time with them. We told him we were at the same table with Sutti and, if they wanted to, to RUN to maitre d' Jean Paul asking for table 293 next to us again this year. They did, and we later had a wonderful dinner side by side tonight, talking non-stop.
I made a call to Mom and to Berkley Insurance, who handles Princess Vacation Protection which we have purchased for all our cruises this winter to report my dental issue. The only upside to having this happen on a cruise is that, after my own insurance and the travel insurance, I shouldn't have to pay a penny. Which led G to deduce that the next time a tooth hurts, he's going to book a cruise.
;-)
We returned to our cabin to find a note in our mailbox from Anita, two cabins down. We've cruised with her for four years now- another "cruise friend" we see only once a year, but love spending time with.
It was too soon 4pm and time for sailaway. With seven ships in port, it was going to be a good one. We went up to Deck 19 on the jogging track for the 360 degree view of it.
The Ruby Princess, followed by the Westerdam, the Celebrity Silhouette, the Nieuw Amsterdam, the Allure of the Seas (the world's largest cruise ship!) and finally the Emerald sailed, and while we were exiting the channel from Port Everglades to the ocean, I could see the Carnival Freedom pushing away from the pier. That left only the Seabourn Quest, on the first day of its World Cruise.
I had just enough time to change for dinner, and I was starved after having had just soup for lunch. While we were eating and talking with Marsha and Jim, another couple, Doug and Marge came over to say hi. They had sat next to us for 20 nights in November 2011.
Honestly, It's been like a reunion.
There was just enough time to get to the 7:15pm Welcome Aboard show. The Emerald Princess singers and dancers kicked it off with a short, new performance we hadn't yet seen, and then impressionist Michael Wilson (whom we have seen, several times this winter) performed. After that, we listened to band Sole Provider for a short time before getting fuzzy water and heading to bed. It's been a long day. A good day but a long day.
This is the first time I've cruised for 60 days, and still have 60 days to go.
Life is good.
:-)
Photo 1: where it all went down
Photo 2: the Ruby Princess sails
Photo 3: double click to enlarge and look closely to see the Ruby in the distance, then the Westerdam, the Silhouette and the Nieuw Amsterdam leaving the channel.
Photo 4: the Emerald Princess sails, with the Allure of the Seas just ahead
Photo 5: sunset over Port Everglades
Photo 6: the Emerald Princess singers and dancers in the Welcome Aboard show