We were up early to watch the Emerald Princess arrive in Port Everglades. The port schedule showed her arriving at 5:45am, but I've come to the conclusion that that's the pilot drop-off time, not the actual docking time. I wish I'd figured that out before today; I could have had an extra 45 minutes of sleep! I was checking on the marine traffic map and looking out our window at the Embassy Suites, and I just couldn't see the ship for quite a while (it might have helped if I had put my contacts in, but I still had hopes of going back to sleep). Finally, there was no mistaking it, and I woke G so he could be as thrilled as I was to see our winter home arrive.
After breakfast at the Embassy Suites (amazingly good for a free hotel breakfast), we walked directly over to Publix to pick up the few remaining things we needed that we hadn't been able to get at CVS. And-shocker- Publix (a grocery store) had Q-Tips that CVS (a drugstore) did not. And Fabreze in more than one scent, and Shout stain remover and G's Coffee Mate French Vanilla coffee creamer (on sale! 2 for $5 so the little refrigerator in our cabin is full and G is set until Christmas). We momentarily worried about our ability to get all these things on to the ship, but quickly dismissed it. We'd figure it out somehow.
I must inject here that we loved our stay at the Embassy Suites. The people there- every one of them- were the best, and we're looking forward to staying there again. Can't recommend it highly enough.
We took a shuttle from the Embassy Suites to the ship for reasons I'm not entirely clear about. G said he was concerned about getting a taxi large enough to carry all our luggage, so I guess that's it. Luckily, the Emerald Princess was the only ship in port today, which makes shuttling to the port and embarkation an entirely different sport than on an 8-ship Sunday. Today there were seats available in the Elite lounge, but still no snacks, so maybe they've been eliminated.
We boarded the ship at 11:50am, went immediately to our cabin ("No, thank you for offering, but we don't need directions to our cabin"). We dumped all the bags hanging off our shoulders (we looked like the Clampetts moving in), put our valuables in the safe and headed directly to the DaVinci Dining Room for lunch. Joy of joys, headwaiter Luis from Portugal who we grew to know so well last winter was at the door, arms outstretched to give us a hug. He said he was looking for us last cruise; I guess we're pretty predictable.
A second joy: the embarkation menu on the Emerald Princess is unchanged, not the (what we consider) less desirable one that is on the Royal Princess. Salmon in lemon butter sauce for me and beef tenderloins for G #1 of the winter.
We next waited in line for 20 minutes to talk with maître d' Jose Florencio about getting a table for two by a window for the season. It was soon a done deal...we thought. We wanted to wait to purchase our soda stickers until the ship arrived in international waters about an hour after sailing to avoid that high Fort Lauderdale tax that was implemented last January 1st (that still burns), so we simply returned to our cabin to unpack.
No cabin photos this year; just look at the ones from 2011. Same cabin once again this year; I book the day the schedule opens for booking almost 18 months in advance to make that happen. At the hotel, we had packed all our toiletries and laundry supplies and our over the door organizer and contents in our carry ons so we could unpack them even before our big luggage arrived. That works really well- we unpack in stages. Soon, three of our four big suitcases arrived, and G unpacked them while I stayed on the bed and out of his way. But the missing suitcase was mine, and when we went to muster drill, it still hadn't been delivered. Nor was it delivered by sailaway. G didn't appear too concerned...until I pointed out to him that all his hang-up clothes, including his tuxedo were in that suitcase too. He left the cabin to go to the Passenger Services Desk (PSD), but on the way encountered several pieces of luggage halfway down the corridor. One of them was mine- relief!
Meanwhile, we had gone to our fourth and final muster drill of the winter. I can't say I'll miss doing that.
G went to Skywalkers for the Elite Lounge while I stayed behind to unpack. Frankly, it is so much easier to do it one person at a time: there's just not a lot of excess space in this cabin.
And speaking of space- this is our fourth cruise ship cabin in three weeks, and it's the smallest of all four, and yet things just flew into place, the suitcases were stored under the bed or on the shelf in the closet and this cabin is neatly organized. Is that because we know exactly how to pack for this cabin to make unpacking easy, or is it because the storage in here really is so much better? We're still not sure...
We went to dinner in the DaVinci Dining Room anxious to meet Suttipong's replacement for this winter (we already knew that Sutti's on the Sun Princess), only to find another couple at our table. The new-to-us headwaiter said he'd seat us in another section; we couldn't even get a table with the same waiter. And seemed inappropriately unconcerned that it had happened at all (just who is this guy?). We were seated in another part of the dining room, and it was fine but I'm still a bit piqued. I mean, we waited in line for 20 minutes!
While we were at dinner, waiter Steven from the Philippines came over to welcome us back. But waiter Marvin from Grenada came over and gave us big bear hugs and again as we left the dining room. It was the first day of his new contract, and he said we had no idea what it meant for him to see two familiar faces. Yes we do; we feel exactly the same way. I always want all the same people we grew to love from last winter to be on the ship again this winter. Not just a few of them...ALL of them. Of course, that will never happen. But the few faces we do recognize mean that much more to us. I just never knew that some crew members feel the same way.
We walked out of the DaVinci Dining Room and into the Piazza only to discover- huge shock- that there was a strings duo playing in there. A strings duo. On a Princess Caribbean itinerary. It's a jazzy strings duo, a cello and violin playing a few classical numbers and several synthesized contemporary ones. They are excellent and I am thrilled to see them on board.
For me, it was fuzzy water, popcorn and blog. G went to the 8:45pm Welcome Aboard show. After three weeks of being joined at the hip because everything was so new to us and we were exploring together, we're now in familiar territory. We're home, we're happy and it all feels just perfect.
Only one photo tonight: strings duo Playthoven performing in the Piazza.