Begin again

Fort Lauderdale, FL
March 19th
Ft. Lauderdale – again

Today is the midpoint of our vacation and we are so happy to have another 10 days on the Emerald Princess.

After being up so late last night, we really did get up at 6am to watched as we sailed into port. It’s odd to use the term “sailed” because obviously our ship doesn’t have a single sail. I don’t think we are steaming either and I’m definitely not rowing! “Sail” must be the correct term.

Because we are not disembarking in Ft. Lauderdale, we are considered “in transit”. Yesterday we got new cabin cards (keys) and little slips of paper printed “In Transit”. We do want to disembark and we can get off any time and get back on at our leisure. The passengers in transit who don’t want to go into Ft Lauderdale, are all escorted off the ship at 10:30, walked through customs and then get right back on board. The entire ship has to be cleared of passengers.

Jeff and I went to one of the ship’s restaurants for breakfast – this is the first time this trip we’ve had a dining room breakfast because we either don’t get up early enough or don’t want to spend the time. It is also a “temptation” area as the waiters keep coming around with breads and muffins – I don’t need to have that stuff presented to me!

Almost all the cabins are empty now (those with the open doors are being cleaned) and we go exploring. We go look at the suites – bigger than our mini-suite obviously – but neither of us really likes the layout – though if we got upgraded to one we probably wouldn’t turn it down! We check out the interior cabins – definitely not for us! Obstructed view cabins where the lifeboat is the view out of your window. As we walk by one cabin we spot 2 small bottles of champagne sitting on the counter. The owners have clearly left it and it’s still cold. Hey, look, this one fits in my pocket! That one fits in your pocket! Off we scurry with our booty. (I love champagne)

Our plan for Ft Lauderdale is simple – I want to upload my blog entries so far, and we have a little restocking to do. We grab our passports, I-pads, phones, cruise cards, in transit passes and head for the gangway. After a short wait we clear customs.

First things first – where can we find free Internet? Naturally being who we are we think of a library, but at the same time, in unison, we say “Starbucks!” Obviously there are more Starbucks readily available than libraries so we walk there. Jeff made some phones calls while I uploaded text and photos for this blog then I made a few phone calls and we both checked email. After 3 hours and WAY too many cups of coffee, we packed up and went to the grocery store.

Let’s see, we definitely don’t need any food! But I did buy a Reese’s peanut butter cup (feeling virtuous for turning down those lovely muffins at breakfast). Picked up some coke and tonic water, 2 bottles of wine, fresh flowers, and other incidentals. Loaded down we walk back to the pier. It’s about an hour before sail-away and there are NO lines to get on board!! Usually boarding is a huge zoo because everyone shows up at noon – this is much nicer.

Back in our cabin we see that our wine steward has left us two glasses of champagne – what a nice surprise and a great way to start our next cruise.