It goes without saying that we were awake early today. There is simply no sleeping in on turnaround day. First, the ship doesn't let you, with all the thruster action going on shaking the ship. As if that weren't enough, the other passengers start slamming cabin doors around 6am, and the cabin steward is rattling things in the hallway just as early.
I had some work to do on the laptop with my remaining Internet package minutes, and did just that after G left the cabin to get coffee. When I was finished and took my iPhone off Airplane Mode, I phoned G to see where he had sequestered himself, then joined him in the buffet where we watched the most amazing sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean...a bright orange ball rising up from the water.
Sometimes it pays to be awake early!
We sat there, drinking coffee, making phone calls and internetting (it had been seven long days since St. Thomas) and generally getting caught up with life in the "real world". We never did eat breakfast...we really weren't hungry, but I came to regret that decision while we were waiting to board the Caribbean Princess a few hours later.
Our first mission for today was a trip to Walgreens. I had a prescription that the ship's doctor had written and the port agent had dropped off for me. I had wanted to pick it up at Publix, which takes my insurance, but Publix doesn't accept prescriptions from doctors not on the NPI (National Physician Identification?) list. Walgreens does, and so that's where the prescription was waiting (and also why the prescription wasn't at Publix last turnaround day).
Just our luck, once again today the Emerald Princess was docked at Pier 21, or, as G puts it, near where the banana boats come in. However, in quite an improvement, given there were eight cruise ships in Port Everglades today, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was well staffed and we almost walked right through. Once outside, we boarded a Port Everglades shuttle to the North Port parking garage, returning people back to the parking garage where they might have left their cars (as we left from Pier 2 ten days ago). We made the quick, 5-minute walk to Walgreens, passing two men in handcuffs with their car being searched as we left the Port Everglades security checkpoint.
Now, that's something we don't see everyday!
Inside Walgreens, I encountered another snag. No health insurance is accepted as payment for a prescription that was written by a doctor licensed outside the US. Who knew? So, Walgreens would fill the prescription, but I had to pay for it in full. Oh well...I'll just add it to my growing list of insurance issues- primary medical, secondary medical, primary dental, secondary dental and travel- to be resolved when I return home.
Something to look forward to...
We walked back to Pier 2 and the Caribbean Princess to check in for our Bon Voyage Experience, which brings me to the thing that we did for the first time today.
Princess introduced the Bon Voyage Experience (hearafter known as the BVE) a few years ago, for a price of $39 per person, fully applicable to a future Princess cruise booked within 90 days. The intention was that people not on a cruise could visit the cruise ship while it was doing its turnaround. The BVE is limited to just a few cities, but, of course, Fort Lauderdale is one of them. While I was busy having my root canal last turnaround day, G phoned Princess and signed us up for the BVE on the Caribbean Princess today. We have never been on the Caribbean Princess, and although it's quite similar to the Emerald Princess and other ships we've been on, there are differences.
We were supposed to be able to board the ship at 11:00am, but, in the way of so many things in life, we were delayed until after noon. (Maybe the Emerald Princess had stolen all the Caribbean Princess's ICE agents, delaying their disembarkation while we waltzed off the Emerald). That was fine with me...I spent the extra time on the phone talking with friends and JT and Ky. ("How many more days NeeNee?", and then we got down to talking sports, which, let's face it, is really all that matters when you're a 9-year old boy).
We met up with a third person doing the BVE, as she was dropping her parents off for the Caribbean Princess cruise that starts today. Her parents had booked an obstructed ocean view cabin for their back to back cruises (14 nights total) and had been offered an upgrade to a handicapped window suite for just $140 per person more. None of us had ever seen a window suite, let alone an accessible (handicapped) window suite, and so they invited us to go with them to see their suite before going to lunch in the dining room.
We each received a glass of wine (choices: house white and house red, and it seems this house was in a distressed part of town), which I only half-jokingly referred to as my $39 glass of wine, since we could have had the exact same meal, sans wine, on the Emerald Princess for free.
By the time we were done eating, we had only about 90 minutes to explore the ship, and we used every minute, walking from from to back on all the public decks and taking lots of photos. In general, we prefer the larger deck spaces on the back of the Caribbean Princess, with lots of loungers, and the Captains Circle and Future Cruise Consultant office area. Vines wine bar is also prettier on the Caribbean. But in almost every other area. We prefer our beloved Emerald Princess. And much of the outdoor furniture on this ship has been updated; the Caribbean's pales in comparison.
I will post more photos after we return home, where I can do them from my laptop and label each one.
We needed to be off the ship by 3:00pm, and we just made it. I had been concerned about getting a taxi at that time back to Pier 21 and the Emerald Princess, but one dropped off passengers just as we came out of the building, and we were back on the Emerald at 3;15pm, 15 minutes before our on board time of 3:30pm.
I was hoping for a long, drawn out sailaway this evening, with eight ships in port, but we were the second ship to sail, right after the Eurodam. It had been a beautiful day weather-wise, which made for a perfect sailaway.
We stopped just briefly in Skywalkers and then went to dinner early, at 5:30pm. Dinner on the first night is always a bit busy, as everyone arrives early, and we wanted to get in and then out quickly, freeing up our table for someone else. G is at the 7:15pm Welcome Aboard show, but I just wanted to read a book tonight. Somehow, our turnaround days are so busy, and I'm worn out tonight. I can't find the remote control for our TV set...it managed to disappear from its usual spot on a nightstand on turnaround day today. I think I'll let G deal with the Steward Nazi on that little issue...
Photo 1: sunrise over the Eurodam
Photos 2 and 3: the accessible (handicapped) window suite on the Caribbean Princess. Nice, but not particularly luxurious.
Photo 4: walking on the food of the bridge on the Caribbean Princess (where it is open to passengers). We wish we could do this on the Emerald Princess.
Photo 5: the Caribbean Princess at Pier 2
Photo 6: sail away on the Emerald Princess