Day 107: Embarkation Day on the Caribbean Princess in Fort Lauderdale

This will be very short tonight; it's been a typically long first day of a cruise after only a few hours of sleep. Embarkation was snarled by the huge number of in transit passers staying on from last cruise (we've heard 1500!!!!). Until they were all through immigration and back on the ship, newly embarking passengers were not allowed to even enter the terminal building. We were standing in a line of passengers that stretched much longer than the length of the terminal building. When we were finally allowed to enter the building, check in was a walk through, though the Drake Associates employees seemed entirely overwhelmed by that time. It wasn't pretty, but, shortly after noon, we were sitting in the Coral Dining Room having embarkation day lunch. Life was good.

We spent the afternoon exploring the ship and unpacking our cabin, settling in for the next 28 days. How much do we cruise when a 28-night cruise seems short? Apparently, quite a lot. We are in our favorite cabin location on the back of Riviera Deck, just steps away from the Terrace Deck and Pool and the hot tub and pool on the higher decks. Our cabin is exactly like our cabin on the Emerald Princess with the exception that there are three drawers in the vanity instead of two shelves behind a cabinet door. I much prefer it this way. We stuck the round table in the back corner of the closet; that was all the rearranging we required. 

Following muster drill, I took a minute to phone Mom, but that was all the time I had...the thrusters were pushing us away from the dock. We were the first cruise ship to leave today. We watched sailaway from the Terrace Deck and then showered for dinner. We once again have 5:30pm traditional dining; at the exact same table for two in the Coral Dining Room that we had in the DaVinci Dining Room on the Grand Princess. Same table, different ship, less than one week apart. Welcome to our world. 

We skipped all entertainment tonight to sit out on the Terrace Deck and watch the parade of cruise ships just behind the Caribbean Princess, but didn't last long. It is chilly out there!  We've heard that Princess Cays yesterday was quite cold, and nothing indicates that that will have changed by tomorrow.  While I was strongly interested in a nice long beach day and snorkeling, we're refraining from finalizing our plans until we see what the weather is like tomorrow. We may end up going over just for the BBQ lunch. 

First impressions of the Caribbean Princess are not exceptionally favorable. We did not have washcloths or hand towels in our cabin when we boarded; they didn't have any that were clean. We also didn't have a minibar setup. After being on hold for 30 minutes when I phoned Room Service, I was told they were waiting to restock in Fort Lauderdale and we'd have it by 6pm. We still don't have it, nor do we have any washcloths after our evening service. We did finally get one hand towel to share between us. This is ridiculous. I would never put up with that from a Motel 6 and certainly shouldn't have to on a Princess cruise. How can they run a 1600 room hotel without washcloths and hand towels?? However, for the first time so far this season, I'm enjoying salmon that is not overcooked, so all is not lost. 

Now, correctly cooked salmon and a washcloth to wash my face...to have both simultaneously would be nirvana. 

I'm counting on things looking better tomorrow. 

We had a 50th anniversary beach bag in our cabin tonight. It's the first time I've seen one.