Wednesday Fort Lauderdale January 28, 2015

crew heading home

It was a bumpy night, now by bumping I don’t mean like crazy storm with things sliding around but there are a few things banging and I wake a few times.  But I easily fall back asleep.

I don’t even hear us docking.  But a knock at the door just before 7 am does wake me.  Room service is delivered and we enjoy it knowing we are not having to rush around.

we are the only ship in port, things are quiet except for the loading of this ship

After breakfast we gather a bunch of dirty clothes to do a big wash.  While the wash is going on we head down to the Atrium to get some coffee and tea and run into a few people to say good bye and hope to keep in touch with. 

I gather a few “You Make a Difference Cards” and fill them out.  I also need to take some time to fill out the online survey that Princess has sent to us.  It is key to let them know how your cruise went so be sure to fill it out.

It appears that the disembarkation process is going very smoothly, they are ahead of schedule.  As I am ironing some clothes they announce that all passengers still on disembarking today should proceed to the gangway.  Also all in transit passengers are to meet to go thru customs also.  But we decided that we would just gather our stuff and head ashore now too.

Disembarking was very smooth, a very short line for customs and we are off.  Make sure if you are in transit that you don’t bring anything ashore that is stay ashore.  Technically you can’t leave anything here until you get off for good.

 

We leave the port building (we are at pier 2) and head out to 17^th street.  Oh I should say we are the only cruise ship in port today and it is a Wednesday and boy is it every different that the day we got on board. 

see where the white tower is to the right of center that is where we walk out to - 17th Street to get amenities we may need for the next legs. Starbucks is just to the left of it.  

I stop at Starbucks where we run into David Cats the magician and we say hi.  We then head to the Dollar Store to pick up some treats for the crew for Valentine’s Day and a few essentials. 

Bernie heads over to Total Wine to get a bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne while I get a haircut nearby.  We then go to Publix to get a few toiletries we are running low on  like toothpaste, conditioner and soap. 

We are not really in a rush to get back on board so we head for some lunch and then stroll back on board around 2 pm.  

The pier was so quiet and we had no waits at all.  We did identify the two bottles to the crew after security, but since we had only two bottles we had no problem at all.

Back in the cabin we put away our purchases and organize the cabin a bit.  Time to store the items we don’t need (like the water bottles we have won).  The clothes that we washed and ironed are all tucked away now too.  

Muster drill is just about to start and we decide to just relax in the cabin.  One thing if  you are on a back to back you are not required to attend the Muster Drill again (although you can if you wish).  Note if you just got on you are required to attend the drill and since they scan your card they know if you haven’t been and will ensure you attend a secondary drill.

We head up for sail away and to do some dancing.  DJ Shea is rocking it along with the band New Deal and we dance away as we sail away from Fort Lauderdale.

Oh forgot to add that I went to set up our internet minutes and I had no problem getting the free package under my name, but when I went to add to Bernie's account it still showed 48 minutes from the last leg.  And it would not give me the free package for this next leg like it did for me.  So I have to get that cleared up.  Normally if we have any time left it gets dropped and we get a whole new package for each leg (note we booked these trips as three different cruises with different booking numbers).

Events tonight are:  Movie Boyhood in Vista Lounge, Trevor Cole is playing in the Atrium, Name That Tune Trivia Gameshow, Variety Showtime in Princess Theater, Capriccio String Quartet, the Band New Deal is performing in the Atrium, Kory Simon in at Crooners, Movie Poster Trivia, and a lot more.