After enjoying a relaxing morning at the hotel we pack up
and leave around 11:30. I once again
requested an Uber and the trip was quick (about 15 min) to the port at a cost
of $14. Again if you are heading to Fort
Lauderdale you don’t need to limit your hotel location to just around the port
or beach. Save a lot of money by staying
further out – we love Plantation and Sawgrass Mall area – price for hotels are
much cheaper, they are many that are like resorts and most offer free parking.
Today there are only two ships in port and the beautiful
Caribbean is at Pier 2. Again the entrance and drop off/pick up area at Pier 2
is mess and we crawl towards the drop off area.
Attendants direct you but the entire area needs to revamped from
scratch. And today is quiet!
There is one entrance door that everyone enters to go thru
security. The first step is boarding
pass and passport check. Then you
quickly go thru a security line where there were, I believe five security
screeners.
We had two bottles of champagne and nothing was said. Although there was a table set up just past
security for Liquor where you would go if you had more than your allotted amount,
but we were not over.
I should say there are a lot of people here with a large age
group. Lots of families and multi
generational families. Lots of couples
of all ages, and many groups of friends travelling. Very diverse group and much different than
the longer ten days or more sailings we are use to.
We are directed to the preferred check in counters where we
wait maybe 2 minutes. So far it has
taken only 10 minutes to get to this point.
Oh and no health form to fill out. I had heard that this had been dropped and I
am actually glad. It seemed to just be a
precaution and anyone who was sick often wrote that they were fine.
We are handed a priority boarding card group 6 but the woman
at the counter notes how many cruises we have been on and takes the priority
boarding card and says I can do better than group 6 for you. Although it appears that they are boarding
already anyways although I do hear from other passengers later that the cabins
were not ready until 1 pm as seems to be the norm on various ships and other
cruise lines. Which really seems
understandable considering how many cabins they need to turn around. She welcomes us back (I feel bad that I can’t
remember her name, but she was excellent) and heads off to get our room keys.
She returns and says they do not have cruise cards for us.
Oh… this has never happened to us before.
We are directed to a waiting area where we meet Jeanne who follows my
page is very helpful there with answers to port related questions. So nice to meet my followers! (I have a picture with Jeanne but it is on my phone so will put up later) Jeanne explains the situation to us and they
are working hard to get cards for us and what looks like a few others
(including some crew who are coming for work – like maintenance, Ocean
Medallion, etc.).
The first issue is the ship was delayed getting a zero count
from the previous cruise. They were
waiting for two people who did not want to go to the in transit meeting
spot. Then when they restarted the system
they had difficulty with the machine that produces the cruise cards. There are about 10 of us waiting for cards.
Some of the people are grumbling around me and getting
rather vocal. I try to calm them by saying that it could always be worse. While checking in the 3 woman beside us from
Quebec flew in from Montreal and two of the three had their bags sent to
Orlando instead of Fort Lauderdale.
Another woman in the group can’t find her passport. She is not even sure if she brought it with
her or she lost it, or it was stolen.
She drove here the day prior from Georgia and has searched everywhere
and can’t find it. I did let her know she
could board with a driver’s license and birth certificate as she is American
and is on a closed loop cruise, but not sure if she got on board. Another reason to always ensure you have all
the proper documents before arriving.
Or I say to many here “I am sure there are many who are going to
work today that would much prefer to be boarding a ship and waiting”. The grumblings ease, but they are impatient.
We waited just over an hour for our new cruise cards and I
have to say the port staff handled it very well. I personally would of loved to have seen someone
from the ship come and inform us as to what was happening instead of port staff
having to relay what the issues were but in all I survived and it was a small
bump in the road. I also always say
things happen for a reason and sometimes we don’t always know the reason off
hand but there is a reason.
Elkie the Customer Services Director comes to greet us in
the port with our cruise cards. Big hugs
for Elkie, it is lovely seeing her again.
We seem to be seeing her on many ships lately, from the Royal to the
Ruby to the Royal and now the Caribbean.
She is excellent at her job and she is a joy to see again.
She takes us on board the ship.
I should state now that the queues to board the ship were
CRAZY, the worst I have ever seen.
Apparently with the new Ocean Medallion system they are requiring a few
things and the first is they currently require two pictures when boarding. One with the old handheld devices that we are
all use to, then you move a few feet over and one with the tablet for the new
system. They need to do it like this for
the next three voyages to ensure no errors before they move forward with the
new system.
I know it is a pain, and it is going to take people a lot longer
to board but it is only temporary and therefore make sure to pack your
patience.
While waiting to board I turn to Bernie and comment “where are
the bottles of champagne” oh no he left them at the seat in the waiting
area! Elkie gets on her walkie talkie
and contacts someone to head down and pick up. We figured they were long gone
and scooped up by someone, but a few hours later they were in our cabin! Thanks again Elkie!
We arrive in our cabin and it feels great to be on board
again. A huge Bouquet of flowers greets me.
Bernie sent an arrangement to me for my birthday. Yes today is my birthday – the cruise was
booked because of my birthday.
Being
retired allows us to travel more easily during the summer so we are taking
advantage of it.
There are no bags yet but we are in no rush. We wander around the ship a bit and we are surprised
to run into a few crew we did not know were on board. Dominique from Peru is serving in Vines! Turn the corner and there is Ina a bar server
from the Ukraine who we got to know on the Royal, then on the Ruby and now she
is here. Upstairs we run into Food and
Beverage Supervisor Juan from Mexico who we first met on his very first contract
as a assistant waiter on the Emerald over ten years ago. What a gift to see so many great people.
 |
of course Bea Damn joined us
this is her first of many cruises |
Love the changes to the Caribbean Princess since dry dock
last year. I will be posting and writing
about the changes we see so stay tuned.
One thing I love is the numerous sinks at the entrances of
the buffet area. Hand washing is much
better than using the sanitizer at killing germs and hope people use the sinks –
I know we do.
We end up getting food from the International Café along with
a bottle of wine. The buffet is crazy
which is the norm on embarkation day and we really enjoy the sandwich and salad
from the International Café.
Muster Drill is at 3:15 and we don’t have far to travel for
our station which is in only a few feet away in Churchill Lounge – however it
is so stinky with smoke smell we are thankful when they say we can stand
outside the lounge.
Love that we don’t
have to bring life jackets anymore.
One thing I noticed at the drill was that there were many on
their cell phones or even sleeping during the demonstration. On board other ships this was a definite no
no and people were told to put down phones/books or wake up and pay attention.
I went up to Calypso Cove to get my card punched (as the
line at the Purser’s desk is way too long – again very common on the first day
of any cruise but there are a lot with issues, mainly lost luggage from the
airlines). But Calypso Cove says they no
longer punch the cards for lanyards that I have to go to the Purser’s
desk. So back down I go and thankfully I
get to queue in the Suite/Elite line and I don’t have to wait long. The purser
staff also says they no longer punch the cards but gives me a handy clear pouch
I can attach to my lanyard. I like it
and I can reuse it on future cruises.
Speaking of people with lost luggage. We chat with a family in Vines who have two
older sons travelling with them who did not get their luggage. I say “hopefully the airline with get it to
the ship before we sail or to St. Thomas” the woman responds she doubts it as
Southwest does not deliver the bags. Oh I am not aware of this maybe someone
can confirm. But I do say to the guys
well at least you don’t have to dress up for Formal Night! They liked that idea.
Just as we are about to leave Dominique and a bunch of the
servers in the area come out with a birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday to
me. Wow I am actually tearing up. Our Princess family means the world to us and
it is nice that they feel the same about us.
 |
| Harmony of the Seas following us |
Back in the cabin we have our bags so we unpack and then we
head up to Skywalkers for the Platinum Elite Lounge. Have to giggle we got the card they deliver
to you for this lounge – the front says Platinum Elite lounge but inside where
it normally says what the drinks and the food items are it is entirely blank –
a small issue with the printing? No big
deal we will survive and we don’t normally go there for the food anyways and you
can get any of the drinks.
I am impressed to see someone at the entrance to Skywalkers
checking cruise cards to ensure you are allowed to be here. We take a seat at a table where we can check
out the wake view. Lots of attentive bar
staff are here and what blows me away is the server knows both our names – and I
did not even show him my card. He repeats
my name every time he comes to deal with us – a nice touch that does not go unnoticed.
The food station is set up on the dance floor where there
are two cooks there to assist. Both are
very friendly and welcome us back. They
ensure we are happy and even serve me when I have difficulty picking up the
cheese with the thongs.
It is now 6 pm and we decide it is time to head back to the
cabin to get ready for our supper.
