Day 84: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

Yes, yes, I know that I said that we had recently looked at the January 3 Pacific Princess itinerary through the Panama Canal and dismissed it.  We had originally thought that we might possibly stay on the Pacific Princess to Los Angeles and went so far as to book a fully refundable flight home from LAX on the 20th, just in case. But when we finally looked at the itinerary we decided it had too many sea days, ports that didn't hold too much appeal, and we've already done two full transits and several partial transits of the canal.

But four days ago we looked at the weather at home for this week, and we immediately forecasted another cruise. Sure it's ten sea days but they are, for the most part, ten warm sea days. All of the ports except Aruba and La Paz, Mexico are new to us, and I've always said there is no place I don't want to visit at least once. We are always fascinated by the Panama Canal. This cruise is the first of five segments of the 2017 World Cruise and we were curious about what it would be like. And it's going to be cold at home and we have no food in the house and the car batteries are disconnected and we don't fly to Hawaii until the end of the month...

We booked the cruise on Virgin Gorda day and couldn't have pulled it all together without the help of friend Steve. We had emailed our CCL stock ownership documentation to him a couple of weeks ago just in case. And once we had a booking number, he faxed the information to Princess for us and followed up with a phone call and we had our CCL on board credit within a few hours; on a Friday before a three-day holiday weekend. Thank you Steve!!

So here we are, in a cabin just two doors down from our previous cabin, with cabin steward Maria who was our steward on the November 21 cruise. We were up very early this morning and watched from the Panorama Terrace as the Pacific Princess entered the Port Everglades channel. We ate breakfast and when we were done watched the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean from the Promenade Deck. Our new cabin was ready for us shortly after 8:45am (go Maria!) and by 9:20am we had moved in. We didn't pack and we didn't unpack; we simply moved things a few at a time in our Princess tote bags. Easy Peasy. 

 

In the channel entrance to Port Everglades

 

The 17th Street drawbridge with Pier 66 on the right

 

 

 

 

 

We left the ship with my empty carry on suitcase and my backpack and a couple of Princess tote bags and walked through a few brief showers interrupted by periods of sun and high humidity over to Walgreens. Our shopping list was detailed and long; we had packed so efficiently that we started running out of things just this past week. Toothpaste, mouthwash, hair spray, some makeup and more spray sunscreen, gum...and then we needed some heavy liquids. We put our Walgreens purchases in the backpack and rolled the empty suitcase down to Publix where we added 12 half liter bottles of fuzzy water and Mentos and G bought two cans of his favorite instant flavored coffee. And then back to Walgreens where we added two 12-packs of Mountain Dew into the two tote bags and G carried them and we added a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly to the suitcase and we were loaded down like pack mules as we walked through another shower on our return to the ship. This is the not-fun part of turnaround day. 

We dumped our purchases in our new cabin and I put our iDevices and charming cords and an extension cord into my backpack and we went to lunch in the Club Restaurant. When we were finished, we immediately walked into the terminal (Terminal 2) and it was nearly empty. We settled in next to a power port and I simultaneously downloaded two more seasons of TV shows from iTunes on my iPhone and updated 67 apps on my iPad and downloaded three more books and several more magazines and we have enough entertainment content to last 50 sea days, let alone 10. Bills were paid, appointments cancelled or rescheduled, neighbors notified, our flights home from Fort Lauderdale today cancelled, the heat at home turned up a little during this cold spell and we generally prepared to spend another 17 days away from high speed WiFi. 

We reboarded the ship exactly at the on board time of 3pm, and attended the muster drill at 3:15pm. No one told us we had to attend again, but buried in our turnaround day letter for the first time was a statement that passengers needed to attend a muster drill at least once every 31 days (I think this was for the benefit of the World Cruisers). We hadn't attended since we reboarded the Pacific Princess on October 28 so we simply decided we needed to go. 

This left just enough time for very short showers before we went up to the Panorama Terrace with the Barefoot Bubbly for sailaway. There were some late arriving passengers, and we were a bit delayed in sailing but by 4:45pm we were exiting Port Everglades into the Atlantic Ocean. Mom phoned, quite happy that she could see our little ship sail on the Port Everglades webcam for the first time this season. The day had turned sunny by then and it was a beautiful sailaway. Bye, Port Everglades, until at least next winter!

We always go to dinner about 15 minutes late on the first night of a cruise while people are lined up to be escorted to their new tables. Early dining was changed from 5:30pm to 5:15pm for this cruise, which, with all these sea days is fine with us.  We were so fortunate (in fact, it sealed the deal on our decision to stay on) that Maitre d' Oscar allowed us to keep our table for two by a window for this cruise too. This time it really was the last flourless chocolate cake of the season, a very sad thought. We went to the Welcome Aboard show at 7:30pm and when we were introducing ourselves to the people sitting around us at Cruise Director Frank's urging, I turned to my left and met Deb who said she was from Wyoming and I said, "You're Lindsay's mom!", and she was. Dancer Lindsay told me just last night that her mom had surprised her on Christmas by telling her she had just booked this cruise. Lindsay wanted us to meet her mom, and when the curtain opened and Lindsay came out in stage, she looked surprised that we had already met. 

Comedian Troy Thirdgill did a short routine and he was a scream. Actually, some audience members were a scream, so serious in their heckling of him that the rest of us were dissolved in laughter. Troy's long show is tomorrow night and this could be interesting...and harious. G observed that some of these World Cruisers are very serious people when something as innocuous as a joke about playing a tuba has a grandmother interrupting the comedian to point out her granddaughter makes good money as a professional tuba player. Honestly, I can't make this stuff up. 

It is after 10pm on a day that started for us at 4:30am. I have a few things I've forgotten to say about the Christmas cruise. But they will have to wait until tomorrow (except for the fact that the Christmas decorations were taken down today); I am nearly asleep already. 

Day 70: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

Wucy, we're home!!

It is 10pm on a day that started at 4:30am. Something- a change in the sound the ship was making, or the fact that we moved clocks back another hour last night, or maybe because we were just so darn excited to be arriving back in the US- had us awake very early. In fact, the Pacific Princess entered Port Everglades shortly after 5am, and by 5:30am we were docked. Also by 5:30am, I had placed a big order from Lands End (40% off everything today only) and Zappos ($30 discount code, expiring December 24) and had the packages shipped to a friend's home to store for me until I return home. I'm not a huge shopper, but it's hard to pass up savings like that (besides, I needed three new swimsuits for Hawaii). 

We were in the Panorama Terrace well before sunrise and watched the Royal Princess arrive and dock perpendicular to the Pacific Princess at Pier 2, and, then, as the sun rose, the Island Princess arrived and docked at Pier 21. Also in Port Everglades today:  the Holland America Veendam and a Seabourn ship, both small ships. By Port Everglades standards, it was not a busy day. I was texting with Suzan as soon as the Royal arrived, and stayed in touch when they were off their ship and at Starbucks long before we had been cleared by the local authorities. That was not a surprise; the Royal Princess left Port Everglades just 10 days ago, but it had been seven months since the Pacific Princess was in the US. Every crew member had to line up to go through US immigration, and at 8am an announcement was made that the first of the luggage would soon be available in the terminal but that passengers taking their own luggage off, and in transit passengers (those staying on for the next cruise) could begin to disembark. Our Global Entry got us to the front of the immigration line but it was still a bit slow, because some agents were busy checking the crew's paperwork. 

Finally, by 8:30am or so we were meeting up with Suzan and Greg in Starbucks. It was so good (!!!) to see them (for the first time since they disembarked the Emerald Princess in January). When we are at home, Suzan and I are in constant touch, but, obviously, first I and then both of us have been out of the country. Still, we picked up where we left off, not missing a beat. They really liked their 20 nights on the Royal Princess, and though they missed a few things from the Emerald Princess, overall they were very impressed. 

While we got caught up, I was simultaneously downloading videos on both my iPad and my iPhone and G was checking everything at home using Starbucks' fast WiFi. The Amazon Prime videos we had left home with on October 24 had long expired, and we had watched my iTunes videos ad nauseum (maybe that's not the best choice of words...) during our recent sea days. It was time for some new material. The humidity had been about 133% when we walked off the Pacific Princess, hot and muggy, but while we were at Starbucks, the skies opened up and it rained quite hard. We needed to go to Chase to get cash (desperately) and Publix and decided that I would stay at Starbucks to keep our electronics dry while G would brave the rain. By the time he returned, Suzan and Greg had had to move on (it was hard to say goodbye) and the rain had abated, dropping both the temperature and the humidity. The day was much more pleasant from that point on. 

G and I stopped by Walgreens on our way back to the ship. He suffered greatly in Europe, missing his favorite Mountain Dew, and purchased two 12-packs at Walgreens. I added some spray sunscreen and gum and mints and, of course, we needed a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly (it's a tradition!) and we returned to the ship very laden with heavy liquids, including G's favorite flavored coffee creamer. We will be very comfortable for the next two weeks. 

Embarkation day lunch on the Pacific Princess offers beef that is essentially a filet mignon, so, of course, G couldn't miss that. We were in the Club Restaurant at 1pm enjoying lunch (salmon for me) and then back in terminal 4 by 2pm using the really good WiFi there to download a few more videos. On board time was 3pm and that's exactly when we reboarded the ship. I did my usual shower routine during muster drill and we were on the Panorama Terrace at 4pm, the time of our scheduled sailaway. Captain D made an announcement that our departure would be pushed back until 5pm due to delays resulting from the ship's USPH and CDC inspections, crew immigration and loading stores, but, in reality, it was closer to 6pm when we sailed. 

We listened (it sounded like a Carnival ship) to the Royal Princess' sailaway party and every one of us standing on the Panorama Terrace said "We are so glad we're on the Pacific Princess!"  We had heard that there were 500 kids on the current Regal Princess Christmas cruise; in comparison, the Pacific Princess has 5 this cruise. Still, it was immediately obvious that our new passengers are not burdened by the memory of those recent rough sea days. Everyone is excited and upbeat and active. It's one of our favorite parts of B2B cruises; as much as we sorely miss our friends who disembarked today, the energy level on the ship tonight is high and there is a feeling of anticipation in the air.. It will be a very fun cruise!

 

Sailaway from Port Everglades as viewed by the Port Everglades webcam

 

 

We finally went to dinner in the Club Restaurant just before 6pm. We had had the bottle of Barefoot Bubbly ready for nearly two hours waiting for the Pacific Princess to sail but decided in the end to save it for an island sailaway. Dinner was pasta with chicken strips...and flourless chocolate cake, of course. The Welcome Aboard show featured comedian impressionist Scott Smith and he was quite good. We have some great entertainment to look forward to on this cruise (including the return of Mark Preston). We listened to piano entertainer Jere Ring in the Casino Lounge for an hour until the day finally caught up with us. G was asleep the minute he returned to the cabin, and I will be, too, as soon as I publish this post. 

As much as we enjoyed the Mediterranean, we are so ready for some beaches. And sun. Smooth seas and warm temps. Azure water. Rum drinks. We are ready for Caribbean cruising!

Day 142: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

There is little notable news of the day today, other than the number of in transit passengers (those staying on from last cruise to this cruise) and the weather (cool but brilliant), but most significant is that this is our final turnaround day of our Winter 2015-16 cruising season, and that always makes me hopelessly sentimental. The same things that tend to start driving me nuts after four months at sea (the same.old.elevator jokes, the people who stop in the middle of everything and block traffic, the formal night and MTP and Captains Circle party obligations cruise after cruise after cruise) suddenly stop driving me nuts and instead everything is viewed through rose-colored glasses. It's kind of like the first cruise of the season all over again. I like it. 

We had planned to be on an open deck when the Emerald Princess arrived in Port Everglades today, but didn't make it. Oh well, there will be others. No wait...there won't. ;-) We had a quick and simple breakfast in the Botticelli Dining Room and returned to our cabin to do the normal sorting of paperwork and setting up of a calendar for the cruise starting today. We had heard that there would be between 700 and 800 in transit passengers today, scheduled to meet in the Princess Theater at 10:15am to go through immigration, and we knew we didn't want to get involved with that. Instead, we walked off the ship about 9am, and bypassed the immigration line in the terminal by using our Global Entry cards. 

We later heard that the in transit immigration was held up for 45 minutes by someone who ignored the letter about meeting in the Princess Theater at 10:15am and was using a treadmill with ear buds, causing her to miss the announcements being made for her, too. Oy vey. That's why we left the ship early. 

We first walked up and over the 17th Street drawbridge, and though the Harbor Isles neighborhood (I think that's what it's called) on the other side of the bridge; just for exercise, then stopped at the top for awhile to enjoy the cool sunshine and the Saturday morning boat traffic on the intercoastal. We didn't want to get back to the terminal until 11:30am, when we would be allowed to re-board the ship. 

A slow Saturday at Port Everglades: (from left) RCCL Independence OTS, HAL Westerdam, RCCL Oasis OTS, Emerald Princess 

Loved watching these little sailboats being towed out for a sailing lesson at sea

We stopped into Walgreens for just a few more things- Wet Ones hand wipes, hair spray and another bottle of Barefoot Bubbly and protein bars that will be our lunch and dinner next Saturday when we fly home- and walked back to and through the Pier 2 terminal and right onto the Emerald Princess. We dropped our purchases in our cabin and went down to the DaVinci Dining Room for our last embarkation day lunch of the season. This was no time to hold back; we had salads and entrees AND orange soufflés for dessert. They don't serve those on Southwest!

I had thought about taking my iPad off the ship and sitting in the terminal to use the Port Everglades WiFi, but...shoot. We'll be home in a week. Things can wait. Instead I went up to the Adagio Lounge and phoned Mom (she is doing so well!) and texted friends and downloaded another audiobook to see me through the next seven days. My calendar is already starting to fill up with appointments and commitments, including hanging with the twins for a long weekend in March while the rest of their family is out of town. Such a chore! ;-)

Muster drill at 3:15pm marked shower time, and I returned the cabin to see that G had had the same idea and was just finishing up. By sailaway, we were out on the Terrace Deck for our last sailaway of the season (weep) accompanied by a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly. It had been such a gorgeous day, cool and clear and dry, and was probably the prettiest sailaway from Fort Lauderdale we've had all season. 

The drawbridge opens to allow a relatively small sailboat to pass through.

One final look back through the Port Everglades entrance channel

Two more cruise ships leave Port Everglades after the Emerald Princess.

It was so pretty on the Terrace Deck that we stayed there talking to Dee and Bill from England, who we'd met last cruise, until it was time to go to dinner. The last Caribbean shrimp!  The last pasta conchiglie with chicken strips!  The last flourless chocolate cake!  Every course was especially savored.

We went to the early Welcome Aboard show (good grief...not even Cruise Director Neil's same old same old jokes grated tonight) and stayed for comedian Eric Lyden (Neil's were the better jokes). I dropped a final bottle of Merlot off at the International Cafe only to discover that dear Cherry returned home today, then stopped by the International Cafe for a cup of coffee and to check out the new faces among the crew there. With only a week left, things there will never feel quite the same again. 

But what great memories I have of being spoiled for the the past almost two months!  :-)

Day 135: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

I talked with two blog readers tonight after dinner who told me that they read my prior night's post over coffee every morning. I've heard that from others, too, and I love it. It's so kind of people to say so. But I'll warn you...pour just half a cup today. This post is going to be short.

We had a largely sleepless night last night. It became dire about 3:30am. Both of us were fitful. If I hadn't soaked my contacts in Clear Care overnight (it needs 7 hours to neutralize, and that's a whole other story), I would have simply put them in and dressed and gone to the International Cafe to pass the night. 

Simply stated, this sheet situation is doing us both in. It's not as simple as untucking; we wake up with sheets everywhere, pooled on the floor creating a trip hazard in the night. We have not yet woke up with the duvet still tucked in the bed cover pocket as it's supposed to be. Never. I'm not saying that everyone will have an issue with this, but, over the years, Princess trained us well to sleep under just a covered duvet. We liked it so much that we adopted the same practice at home.  Now the rules have changed. We're like 2-year olds giving up their binks. It's rough going. Last night it was rough going for both of us. 

I was so out of it that I skipped breakfast and lunch and didn't eat until dinner. We had to go through immigration, of course, but that was easy today. The agent came right on the ship. By 11am I was back in the cabin, still trying to sleep. By 3pm I gave up. Muster drill was starting, so I just showered and dressed for dinner and went up to the Horizon Court Buffet for a cup of tea. We had Barefoot Bubbly on the Terrace Deck for our 15th sailaway of the season, but we were fairly subdued. 

The only fun spot of the day occurred over dinner. We looked out our window at an HAL ship that had left Port Everglades just ahead of us. It was in front of us when we sat down at our table but by the time we started our entree, it was behind us, going the same direction we were. We supposed it was going to be at the HAL private beach resort at Half Moon Cay, just 20-ish miles away from Princess Cays, where the Emerald Princess will be tomorrow. "Why do you suppose it's going so much slower than us?", I asked G. "It's Holland America. Everything moves slower there."  Then he added, "Has their left turn signal been on this whole time?", and, finally, for the first time in a few days, we laughed and laughed. Delirium?  Perhaps. 

We were too tired to eat dessert (!!!!!!!!!) and went to the 7pm Welcome Aboard show simply to see a new comedian for us, Tom Briscoe. He was actually pretty good. He didn't pick on audience members (I never like that) and even his travel humor was original. We'll look forward to his longer show later in the cruise. 

I swung into the perfume /makeup store (give me a minute to look up that name...it's called Essence. That makes sense), Essence, to buy my Smashbox items at 10% plus 10% off. This was the biggest thrill of my day, and I felt so cruise-y, walking back to the cabin carrying my little blue Princess gift bag. I couldn't wait to show my purchases to G, but he was already asleep when I got to the cabin, on top of all the sheets, with the heat turned up to BAKE. 

Okay, we'll try it that way tonight. 

Two more things before I end...

First, there was more contact drama last night after I returned from S h a r e. G was still out listening to Ryszard Sulek play piano. Ryszard left today, and we will miss him. I pulled the lever to close the plug in the bathroom sink, as I always do, before I took out my first contact, and didn't realize it didn't close completely. The contact dropped into the sink and right down the fraction of an inch opening in the drain. Damn. Thankfully, I was not running the water; I knew the lens was there, just out of reach. 

I phoned the Passenger Services Desk, not an easy thing to do on the last night of the cruise. After being on hold for awhile, I was able to report the issue. In less than 5 minutes, a plumber was knocking on the door. I showed him the other lens so he knew what he was looking for, and in 2 minutes it was all over and he was gone. I have decided that plumbers are the most important people on this ship. The doctor is second most important. No, wait. The tailor is second most important. The doctor third and I'll give the captain fourth place. But plumbers...these guys are gold. 

So that's why I used peroxide based Clear Care to soak my lenses in overnight, and why I couldn't take myself down to the International Cafe at 4am. It was a rough night all around. 

But, there was a final bright spot tonight. I took out my Fuji XP80 camera that crapped out on me a couple of weeks ago to see if it was still not working...and it is!  It's taking multiple pictures and zooming out and in and all the things it refused to do the day we climbed Dunns River Falls. I was hoping to be able to use it a couple of times this week. I think water got in it somehow.  I hope it keeps working. 

I hope the weather allows us to get into Princess Cays tomorrow. 

I hope we get some quality sleep tonight. 

I hope I can get this posted before I fall asleep and get hit in the nose by my falling iPad. 

Day 130: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

Today was a truly cautionary tale for all those people who ask how early they can book flights home after a cruise. Though this wasn't the worst disembarkation I'd ever seen (the worst was the time weather shut down tendering at Princess Cays and we arrived back in Fort Lauderdale the next day after 10am), it was the second worst. Too many ships in Port Everglades, too few immigration personnel, and being limited to just a single gangway (on a turnaround day?!?) all conspired to make it a very rough day. I felt for passengers who were surely missing flights, but felt even more for the Passenger Services Department and ship's officers caught in this perfect storm. 

In the end, it kind of saved me. Months ago, when we first discovered that the Royal Princess and the Emerald Princess would be in Port Everglades together today, G mentioned wanting to visit the Royal on a Bon Voyage Experience package. He asked me to book it, but, at the time, it was too early to do so. And then...I forgot. In my defense, we did have some other trip planning keeping me occupied. But it didn't occur to me again until the last few days when I learned the Emerald Princess would be at Pier 4 today because the Royal Princess would be at Pier 2. 

Gosh darn it. How did I miss that? Well, in the end, I'm not certain we would have been able to easily get off the Emerald Princess in time to board the Royal Princess. With just one gangway, I think we would not have wanted to add to the chaos. And who knows how backed up we would have been getting on the Royal Princess? They may have been having the same issues. 

So, in the end, I have to believe that there was a reason for my forgetfulness. Even our simple plans for the day had to be changed; a missed Bon Voyage Experience would have been a real disappointment.   

Backing up...

We were up very early after a fantastic night's sleep.  We were already dressed and down on the Promenade Deck as we entered the channel to the port. 

Sailing through the Port Everglades entrance channel. You can see how windy it was. 

Tug ready to help the Emerald Princess stay away from the Royal Princess; docked stern to bow. This tug seemed to have two azipods for propulsion and could spin in circles.

Already here when we arrived:  Coral Princess, Costa Deliziosa and Serenade OTS. The HAL Zuiderdam arrived after us.

The Royal Princess was already docked perpendicular to the Emerald Princess. It was at Pier 2; the Emerald Princess was at Pier 4.

These next pics are of a series of events I didn't even know took place when we dock. 

Crew member standing on the Promenade Deck with lightweight ropes and monkey fists at his feet.

At the word from someone on a lower deck, he lowered one end of the ropes down to where the lines come from; where it was attached to th heavy lines...

...and then threw the monkey's fist on the other end to the line handlers on land. 

These are caught and used to pull ropes connected to the larger lines that secure the ship to its berth.

I had never known that process starts on the Promenade Deck. I thought it all happened from lower decks.

The cast of forklifts ready to begin their choreographed dance. 

We finally walked down one deck to the Botticelli Dining Room for breakfast. We once again had orange segments followed by blueberry pancakes; we knew we'd be having lunch today, so it wouldn't matter if the pancakes didn't have much staying power. 

There was no immediate indication that things were not going well in the terminal, but shortly after 8am we started hearing announcements that disembarkation was being delayed. For some reason (we think due to fueling activities), only one gangway could be set up, instead of the usual two, making everything more difficult. Then immigration in the terminal was ridiculously understaffed (we heard two agents for over 3000 passengers). 

We had planned to disembark about 10am, walk over to Publix and be back in time for lunch, but disembarkation kept being temporarily halted because the immigration lines in the terminal were too backed up. The final disembarking passengers left the ship at 11:45am (compared to the usual 10:15am), and it was almost 12:30pm before those in transit passengers staying on for the next cruise had been cleared through immigration (fortunately, two agents came on the ship for that). 

I immediately went up to the Calypso Bar by the MUTS pool and bought a half bottle of Robert Mondavi Chardonnay to have with lunch, then returned to the DaVinci Dining Room to have embarkation day salmon. G had the beef tenderloins and an orange soufflé for dessert and things got back to normal. 

Meanwhile, Awesome Ambrish was also running late, due to the challenges of making up the beds with the new Princess Luxury Bed sheets. He said they were just so different to work with than the older linens; I hope it gets easier for him. The boarding delay today certainly helped him get his cabins ready for newly embarking passengers. 

We don't have our new linens yet (since we were in transit, Ambrish doesn't change our linens on turnaround days), but we will get them tomorrow. Meanwhile, we peeked into the cabin next door for our first glimpse of what lies ahead. They're very simple and contemporary looking. The decorative pillows and throws that used to be on the beds are no longer used, and won't be replaced. We never used them anyway; we like the clean look better. 

Our first look at the completed new Princess Luxury Beds:  mattress, pillows and sheets are now on the Emerald Princess. They're pretty!! (Let's hope they're as comfortable as the mattresses and more comfortable than the pillows). 

The line to board the ship stretched hundreds of people long all afternoon, and we decided to just stay on the ship after lunch. Muster drill, originally scheduled for 3:15pm, was delayed and delayed again to allow passengers to get on board. Somehow, it all got done and we sailed at 5pm. I think everyone was happy to see this turnaround day come to an end. 

We watched sailaway from Skywalkers. It had been grey and windy all afternoon and the wind took on a chill as soon as we entered the open ocean. Captain Forteeze warned us that we'd be experiencing 10 foot swells overnight and that some of the public decks would be closed off. What is happening with our weather lately?  We haven't had really nice weather since Roatan several cruises ago. 

Dinner was short and sweet. How much appetite could we have after a day of doing nothing?  I had a small serving of the pasta topped with chicken breast and the flourless chocolate cake, and we made it to the 7pm Welcome Aboard show with comedian Steve Caouette. That's 30 minutes I'll never get back. Cruise Director Neil, in his introduction of Steve, said that he had been a finalist in Princess' Entertainer of the Year contest. Okay.... Oh, I know I'm a tough audience for most comedians, but did find Tory Thirdgill to be harious last night. 

As predicted, we are rocking and rolling up here tonight. Our minibar items are on the vanity waiting to be traded tomorrow for two coffee cards. We have a bet going about whether they'll stay upright though the night (me), or whether we'll be picking rolling beer bottles up off the floor at 2am (G). 

I'll let you know tomorrow who won. ;-)

Day 126: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

I don't have much to report after an unremarkable turnaround day today in Fort Lauderdale. Maybe that's not quite right; we were the only ship in port today, and turnaround day when we're the only ship in port is a remarkable thing, like a whole different sport. It was funny...while we were walking down 17th Street, most of the other people also walking down 17th Street were crew members from the Emerald Princess, so there were a lot of familiar faces. 

Also noteworthy:  the Emerald Princess turned and docked at Pier 2 in Port Everglades without waking us up this morning. I can count on two fingers the number of times that's happened in the past, out of nearly 50 cruises. It was the door slamming around us about 7am that finally woke us up, and we immediately went down to breakfast in the Botticelli Dining Room. We both splurged today, and had blueberry pancakes after our orange segments. We usually stay away from pancakes (they're not the most nutritious breakfast) but knew we'd be having a high-protein lunch. And they were very splurge-worthy. 

About 10am we walked off the ship, once again being escorted to the front of the immigration line with our Global Entry cards. But today it only saved us about 5 minutes; there was no line at all when we disembarked. We first walked down to Office Depot, where we faxed our ETrade statements to Princess in California to secure the CCL OBC for our last cruise. We split up then, and G went to Chase and I went to Walgreens and bought just some hand soap and another bottle of Barefoot Bubbly. We met up and were back on the ship right at noon. 

The day was sunny (finally!) and dry but very cool. It was only 48F when the Emerald Princess had arrived early in the morning, and I think the high for the day was 70-ish. But it had been a perfect day for a walk. We went to the DaVinci Dining Room for lunch and discovered a very different menu for this 4-day cruise. 

G was thrilled to see chateaubriand- the 'old' embarkation day lunch beef- back on the menu. I had the salmon and  he ordered the beef...and then he ordered another serving of it. We split a 375ml bottle of Chardonnay and I left him still eating and drinking and walked back off the ship into the terminal to make some phone calls and use the free wifi to download some magazines and books on my iPad. Honestly, after 2pm or so, the terminal is a more quiet and peaceful place to sit than anywhere on the ship. 

One of my calls was to Princess shareholder relations to intervene in an effort to get that OBC applied. We had already electronically submitted the info twice and then faxed it again today; time was running out.  By 3:15pm I had finished everything I needed to do, and a few minutes after I heard the horn sound the muster drill emergency signal, I reboarded the ship. By then, everyone was at drill and it was fast and easy to get back to our cabin. 

Sailaway was celebrated with Barefoot Bubbly on the Terrace Deck. Dinner was necessarily light; I had just a seafood entree....and flourless chocolate cake for dessert, of course. G skipped dessert altogether but later picked up some ice cream from Scoops. We were thrilled to see that the Welcome Aboard show on this short cruise wasn't a Welcome Aboard show at all, but instead production show I Got the Music. We hadn't seen it in a few cruises. In fact, last cruise, 5 nights long, we saw only two shows:  Welcome Aboard with Dan Riley and Farewell show with...Dan Riley. The rest of the nights were taken up with MTP and Captains Circle parties. And watching the Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50, of course. Have I mentioned that lately? ;-) (Today, I did really, really, REALLY enjoyed getting caught up with the media coverage that followed that game). 

And that's all we did tonight. One of the Piazza entertainers whispered to me this evening that this short cruise over Presidents Day weekend is going to be very interesting. It will, but it's not anything we didn't see last year on the short Caribbean Princess cruises. I may need to hide in our closet every so often to decompress, but, if the weather stays nice and people can be on the open decks, we should all survive just fine. 

Fingers crossed. 

Day 121: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

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. 

It's always fun to watch the drawbridge open, and then watch to see which boat necessitated it. In this case, it was a tall masted sailboat.

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. 

The HAL Westerdam sailed first, and those watching the Port Everglades webcam might have seen the camera zoomed in on an officer couple locked in a kiss. I wonder what that was about?

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!

:-)

Day 114: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

I am going to keep this rather short tonight. We were up very early, had a busy day and now are faced with moving clocks ahead an hour overnight. Our current smooth seas are hopefully a good indication that we'll be able to tender into Princess Cays tomorrow, so I don't want to be up too late tonight. Besides, with only a couple of exceptions, it was a fairly standard Fort Lauderdale turnaround day, with the usual shopping to restock items, several phone calls and extensive use of our AT&T Internet to check on things at home, pay bills, text and generally Google ourselves silly. 

We were in the Botticelli Dining Room for breakfast as soon as it opened at 6:30am. By 8:30am, we had received and organized the usual embarkation day paperwork (invitations, schedules and shore excursion packet) and minibar setup for this cruise and were walking off the ship. Even though we were at Pier 21 today, we were thrilled to see that there was a Global Entry line with no one in it, allowing us to bypass a long queue of disembarking passengers going through immigration. Honestly, now that Port Everglades has Global Entry lines for disembarking passengers, there is no better value than the $110 for 5 years that we paid for it. 

We immediately caught a shuttle bus from Pier 21 to Pier 2, returning passengers back to their cars they left at Pier 2's parking garage a week ago. We had left the ship so early this morning that there were only two other couples on the bus, one of them doing the same thing we were:  saving the time of walking and the cost of taking a taxi the 2+ miles to Pier 2.

Once at Pier 2, we walked over to the condo building called The Port, right across the street from Port Everglades, to tour the property. We are definitely not ready to buy, but might be in the market to rent there in the next few years. Following that, we toured the marina behind the condos (see previous post). I was really impressed by the whole development.  

We briefly split up then to divide and conquer the list of things we had to complete. I mailed a couple of things to Mom at the auxiliary post office on the north side of 17th Street and shopped at Publix; G went to Walgreens and Chase Bank. We walked back to Pier 2 and were able to catch the shuttle back to Pier 21. Though it was nearly 11:30am by then, there were still 100 passengers from the Emerald Princess needing to get back to their cars at Pier 2. 

Traffic around Pier 21, with the Westerdam and Independance OTS at nearby piers, was completely gridlocked. I'm sure there must have been some critical reason that the Coral Princess, just returning this morning from a dry dock in Freeport, Bahamas and with no disembarking passengers had to be at Pier 2. I just don't know what it was, but things were surely a mess as a result. After sitting in traffic right across from the Emerald Princess for 15 minutes, G and I asked our shuttle driver if she would be allowed to drop us off right there in the midst of the unmoving congestion. She said she couldn't, but if she opened the doors for some air and we just happened to hop out...  So we did. At noon we were walking back on the oasis that was the Emerald Princess. 

Following lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room,  we grabbed charging cords and an extension cord allowing us to plug into a single outlet in Skywalkers and made phone calls and Interneted until muster drill. The seven short and one long blast on the ship's whistle kicking that off signal shower time for us, but the Emerald Princess sailed right at 4pm today and I didn't make it out onto the Terrace Deck until we'd passed through the channel into the open ocean. Still, we popped the cork on another bottle of Barefoot Bubbly (it landed in the Terrace Pool but we were able to fish it out after it drifted to the side) and toasted our 11th sailaway of the season.

I had the same butterflied shrimp and basa filet I've had before for embarkation day dinner, but changed from my usual flourless chocolate cake in favor of a Norman Love chocolate soufflé. It was...okay. The description was quite appealing but it wasn't too dissimilar from a regular chocolate soufflé. Not that there's anything wrong with that. ;-)

We went to the Welcome Aboard show just to see another new comedian (for us). Jammin Jay Lammont, but were thrilled to see that Deputy Cruise Director Frenchie had come on board today. We sailed with Frenchie most of the winter three (I think) years ago and she is a treasure, truly one of the best. Jay Lammont does mostly musical impressions but with lots of percussive sounds and was very entertaining. 

That was our day, and I'm finishing this up just before 9pm (10pm tomorrow's time). Go me!  But I need to take just another few minutes to point out two occasions in less than a week where ship time and local time have not been the same (because this is a common question among cruisers):  last week in Roatan, where the Emerald Princess stayed on EST though Roatan is on CST, and tomorrow; when the ship will be on AST though the Bahamas are on EST. 

It happens. Occasionally. Just not often. Unless you've been on the Emerald Princess lately, in which case it has happened. Often. Not just occasionally. 

Day 107: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day), in brief

I had an entire post prepared for turnaround day (which was actually yesterday) and it would not format correctly regardless of everything I did to correct it. In my frustration, I simply deleted it and decided to try again today (the next day). I can actually shorten the day down to a few sentences:

We were awakened early due to the shaking and shimmy-ing of the ship as it docked at Pier 2 in Port Everglades. 

We ate breakfast separately, G in the Horizon Court Buffet and me a little later in the Botticelli Dining Room. 

I took the time during breakfast to complete the survey Princess emailed us for the last two cruises (while the minibars arrive fast and furiously, so do the post-cruise surveys). 

Though the day was brightly sunny, it was also very windy and cool. We decided to stay on board as there was nothing we really needed to do in Fort Lauderdale. 

Disembarkation was significantly delayed due to deficient immigration manning. The last passengers walked off at 11:15am. Immigration came on board for the in transit passengers, and it was 11:50am before that process was complete. Minutes later, the flow of embarking passengers began. 

We ate lunch in the DaVinci Dining Room (salmon and a glass of wine for me). 

We spent most of the afternoon making phone calls and interneting in either Adagio or Skywalkers, the two quietest places on turnaround days. 

The Emerald Princess was the third of six ships to sail. It was cold and extremely windy on the Terrace Deck as we sailed, but we popped the cork on a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly and, holding tightly onto our glasses in the wind, toasted our tenth sailaway of the season. 

After dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room, we skipped the Welcome Aboard show with comedian Al Katz and instead sat in the Piazza drinking coffee and listening to Ryszard Sulek playing classical music on the piano and generally missing Suzan and Greg very much. :-(

Visual aids for planning our seating choice around the Calypso Pool for the playoff games on MUTS ;-)

An acrobat from Reflex Duo performed in the Piazza at 7:45pm, and, for once, we had front row seats. He was amazingly entertaining, doing all sorts of balance tricks using a very large hoops (how in the world does he fly with that thing??). 

We went to bed and I fought my blog post, wasting 30 minutes of Internet to no avail. 

I mentally prepared myself for a Broncos loss today. To loosely paraphrase Shakepeare...if we're going to lose, let's lose this week, instead of in two weeks. 

It's going to be an emotional day. 

Day 102: Fort Lauderdale (turnaround day)

The shaking and shimmying of the Emerald Princess as it docked at Pier 2 in Port Everglades did wake us up this morning, but it took a few more minutes for us to actually get moving. I showered quickly and went down to the Botticelli Dining Room for breakfast and G joined me shortly thereafter. The dining hostess, Valeria, and headwaiter Francesco are well used to our separate comings and goings, and helpfully point us in the right direction or tell us if the other hasn't yet arrived. It's one of the best benefits of staying on board for a series of cruises.

I was so anxious to eat healthily today, to make up for the sins for the past two (three, really, with the Crown Grill) nights. I had just fresh fruit and my usual egg white veggie omelet and tried not to drool too much, nor steal a forkful of G's blueberry pancakes. Weep!  I also had decaf tea with honey and lemon. I am hoarse and raspy and have been for a week now, but don't feel sick.  Screaming during the football games doesn't help (I don't do silent spectatorship), but that's not the root cause. Fingers crossed that I stay well. 

We returned to the cabin to get our influx of paperwork straightened out, and move last cruise's paperwork to my 'cordian folder. It will not go home with us, but we do hold on to it all until the end. It's sometimes helpful to jog our memories about which comedians we liked and which we didn't in the event we see them again. We updated our calendar for the Most Traveled Passengers (MTP) cocktail party (Princess Cays night) and the Captains Circle Party (CCP, on Grand Turk night), and formal night (the sea day between Princess Cays and Grand Turk) and the wine tasting (the last sea day). These events come fast and furiously on these cruises. 

Speaking of fast and furious, Room Service delivered the minibar for this cruise while we were in the cabin after breakfast. We are going to have to trade either this minibar or the next for two coffee cards (so I can continue to make my way through the new coffee menu), and we asked that our minibar be left on the tray it's delivered on sealed with the plastic wrap that Room Service puts on it. It isn't like we have an imminent need for any of it (thank you Jackie and Denise!). I'm glad we were in the cabin when it was delivered. There isn't a bit of space on the vanity for anything else, and so we just took it from the waiter and stuck the tray in the closet. 

Disembarkation was ahead of schedule, and the in transit passengers staying on for another cruise were originally supposed to meet in the DaVinci Dining Room at 10:15am to go through immigration. When we heard it was being moved forward to 10am, we instead walked off the ship about 9:50am. We had our completed customs form ready to hand in, but were told by the agent we didn't need it. I wish they'd get straight on that!  We will simply save the form for next turnaround. Who knows, it might be required then, as it was last cruise. Or not. 

We walked down to Chase Bank intending to cash a check that had arrived in our last mail delivery at home, but then realized once we were there that it was closed today for MLK Day. Luckily, I was able to use the ATM to get some cash to tide us over.  We stopped into Publix and I purchased just a couple of items I hadn't picked up last turnaround (mouthwash and makeup remover pads) because we had been carrying the two bottles of Barefoot Bubbly and a 12-pack of Mountain Dew.

We split up then, and I crossed 17th Street to go to Starbucks to try to download Downton Abbey. Three episodes are now available, and I had yet to watch the very first one. I had reasonable success with the first episode, and simultaneously downloaded some magazines onto my iPad, but had promised G that I'd meet him in the DaVinci Dining Room for lunch at noon, and so had to wrap things up early.  We both saw Suzan and Greg running their errands (G at Walgreens and me at Starbucks). Turnaround days in Fort Lauderdale are much the same for many cruisers. 

We cancelled the first of our flights home today, so easy to do with Southwest!

I continued my healthy eating at lunch, having just the salmon (soooooo good. I do miss the everyday salmon on the menu!) and a salad, and no dessert, unless you count the several spoonfuls I had of the citrus cream for G's orange soufflé (so let's don't). Without even stopping in our cabin, I headed back off the ship to try my luck at using the wifi in the terminal. I was able to get on it this time, and moved into the (now empty) Elite waiting area, where I could plug in my iPhone to recharge its battery and attempt to download the remaining two episodes of Downton Abbey. 

It was painfully slow, and I was pushing the 3:30pm all on board time pretty closely. I kept hoping that the wifi would speed up when most of the crew had to reboard the ship, and it did, a little. I would have loved a bathroom break, but didn't dare show my face outside the Elite area, where I was sitting. I knew I would be urged to reboard the ship, and I didn't want to until my episodes were downloaded. Or 3:30pm. Whichever came first. 

3:26...3:27...3:28... I was dying as I sat there and willed that little download dial to finish up. It was a race to the very end; I reboarded the ship at exactly 3:30pm. And lived up to our reputation of being 'seldom early, never late'. It was stressful, but I don't care. I'm gonna watch some Abbey this cruise!! Plus, I was able to take an elevator up to Deck 14 while everyone was still at muster drill. Sweet!

I returned to the cabin for the first time since before 10am. G was in the shower, but I simply changed into dinner clothes. We grabbed our chilled bottle of Barefoot Bubbly and met Suzan and Greg on the Terrace Deck for sailaway. We were thrilled when friend Martha spotted us and our flag on the Port Everglades webcam (and texted us about it), and had a final phone conversation with Mom as we left the Port Everglades entrance channel. Cruise friends Bob and Candy boarded today for four cruises, and knew where to look for us at sailaway. It was great to see them again; we've cruised together at least twice in the past. 

I just spotted this margarita menu in Outriggers today. Either it's new or I'm not very observant...or both. 

Of course, we have to leave in the midst of these fun times, to get to early dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room. On the way. I stopped by Vines wine bar. They've been storing my bottle of merlot for me to enjoy while sitting in there, but I needed it tonight to have with the pasta at dinner. It was wonderful to see Victor and Darko (not that one) again. It seemed like ages since we'd seen them; we had spent three evenings dining elsewhere, or not at all. We told Victor we were back for good, or at least until the football games next weekend. Assuming we even choose to watch them. 

I crack me up sometimes. ;-)

Feeling full and happy after Barefoot Bubbly, a four course dinner and merlot, we are crashing early tonight. G just wants to sleep, and I just want to watch Downton Abbey. A welcome aboard show with comedian Al Katz can't even begin to compete with that. 

And, finally, I want to talk about how much we are enjoying these shorter cruises. We love being in Fort Lauderdale so frequently. The itineraries are, as promised, just one beach day after another. Inevitable repeats, such as entertainment and menus, don't bother us in the least. If we like them, we repeat them. And if not, we do or eat something different. The Emerald Princess crew has not disappointed us at all. Somehow, they seem to handle the frequent turnarounds without letting them impact service levels. Our room steward, Awesome Ambrish, and waiters Victor and Darko, provide flawless service. Interestingly, the only issue we've seen with a fellow passenger was on the first night of the 10-night cruise (too much alcohol, causing Security to intervene). The 4-day cruise passengers were mostly, but not entirely from Florida. Some were from further afield (I heard there were 800 in transit passengers), staying on for this 5-night cruise too. We've enjoyed people watching a great deal; our fellow passengers seem to be a much less homogenous group than on longer cruises, and that's not a bad thing. 

For years we were long cruise snobs. Even 10-night cruises were only done as back to backs; we considered short cruisers to be too intense. We were wrong.

And now we know. :-)