Have I told you how much we're enjoying these short cruises? I know I have, but have I told you lately?
It was quite a revelation for us when we first discovered that last winter in the Caribbean Princess, but, on our favorite Emerald Princess, we're loving them even more, and not least because of our frequent days in Fort Lauderdale. It's a bit like having one foot at home...and one on a cruise. It's really the best of both worlds. And we love the energy and excitement each sailaway brings.
So, instead of dreading turnaround days, we're loving them. Today, as we always do in Fort Lauderdale, we set our alarm but were awake long before it sounded, around 6:15am today; as the Emerald Princess docked at Pier 2. Good grief, it was great to back at that pier again. Life is just so much easier when we are. We were in the Botticelli Dining Room shortly after it opened at 6:30am, and, an hour later, we settled ourselves in the Adagio Lounge with one extension cord and two chargers and made phone calls and paid bills and booked an upcoming excursion and had general internet fun and games.
We kept hearing announcements that disembarkation was getting further and further behind because of immigration delays, so, about 9:30am, we gathered up our required documentation (ship cards, in transit cards, completed customs form, passports and Global Entry cards) and walked off the ship into the maze of people in the terminal.
I said to the Drake employee directing people at the bottom of the escalator, "We are in transit, have no luggage, and have Global Entry cards and a completed customs form with us" and those words were like magic. Not only did we bypass the lines, we were personally escorted to the head of the immigration line and were through it in 30 seconds. Our Global Entry cards may have cost $110 for five years, but their value to us is priceless. We eliminate at least 30 minutes of waiting in line every turnaround day.
Our first stop was the top of the 17th Street drawbridge. We wanted to see the six cruise ships in port today and also watch all the non-commercial boat traffic on the intercostal on a Saturday. Just for exercise; we continued down the other side of the bridge and back up and over again. Though it was mostly sunny when we first walked off the ship, we soon felt a very misty rain start to fall, and, with an eye toward that dark cloud in the southwest, didn't dawdle any longer.
There were six ships in Port Everglades today; just five are seen in this photo. From left: the HAL Westerdam, a Carnival ship (the Valor?), the Oasis OTS, the Emerald Princess and the Celebrity Constellation, partially hidden behind the Emerald.
Our next stop was Walgreens, to purchase a few items we needed (Hair color! I could tell without looking at a calendar that we've been here for almost five weeks). The rain picked up on our walk there, and, not knowing if it was going to get worse, we didn't dawdle in Walgreens, either. We walked back to the Emerald Princess through the rain, once again willing the cardboard carton on G's case of Mountain Dew to hold up until we reached the ship. By 11:30am, we were back in our cabin, dropping off our purchases and organizing the minibar and paperwork for this cruise that had arrived in our absence.
I took to lunch one of the 375ml bottles of Chardonnay that we had been gifted in our 'party in a bag' a few cruises ago. It was perfect with the seafood starter and salmon I had, and I enjoyed a cheese plate for dessert while G had an orange soufflé with banana ice cream and citrus cream (it was all fruit, no?). I was feeling quite relaxed when I walked off the ship after lunch to try to download more episodes of Downton Abbey and some magazines using the Port Everglades wifi.
Unfortunately, I could not get on wifi until nearly 3pm, so I spent some time making phone calls and downloading those things I could using AT&T Internet. Finally, I was able to get on the wifi (I think that most of the crew had to be on board at 3pm), and started burning it up trying to download six new episodes of Downton, including the final episode that hasn't yet been shown on US TV. Just as happened before, I was watching episode after episode download, willing them to go faster. At 3:26pm, I was given the word that I was only one who still hadn't boarded, and needed to do so. I wasn't certain until I was back on the ship if the last two episodes had finished downloading. They had!
I did my usual shower routine and dressed for dinner during the muster drill announcement, then joined G on the Terrace Deck to watch sailaway.
Dinner was delicious but quick. I had the pasta shells with spicy tomato sauce topped with chicken breast and finished off the last of a bottle of Bordeaux...and had flourless chocolate cake for dessert, of course. We made it to the 7pm Welcome Aboard show and, sitting in the front row, were thrilled to be spotted by comedian guitarist Dan Riley. He had a great embarkation night show and once again really hit it out of the park. His show very much appeals to us baby boomers, but his musical parodies would appeal to anyone.
We came out of the Princess Theater and stopped in the Piazza to watch another balance performer do a 10 minute show (sorry, I'll have to fill in his name tomorrow). And that marked the end of another fantastic Fort Lauderdale turnaround day. We are skipping the Quest game tonight with DCD Frenchie to go to bed early. My backpack is stuffed with supplies, and the alarm clock is set. We have a long, long day tomorrow awaiting the Super Bowl in a lounger by the MUTS screen. If we're lucky, it will be cloudy. If we're unlucky, it will be hot and sunny. If we're really unlucky, it will rain.
But if that sends our luck to the Broncos in San Francisco, I hope it pours!
:-)