Fort Lauderdale Friday February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine’s Day.  I am awoken by those words this morning.  Even though I am not a huge fan of these highly marketed holidays I truly believe show your love every day to those around you not spend a fortune on a certain day to show your love.  Okay I have said my peace.

We are up early but we are okay because we crashed so early.  I should note I woke up around midnight and could not get back to sleep, ended up reading for three hours. 

We head to the nearest Starbucks – see nothing changes I still have my priorities.  Traffic is very light at 6:30 am.  I know you are wondering why are you up so darn early.  Well we are meeting Barb and Craig for breakfast at Joe’s Diner for 7 am and then heading to the Everglades for a tour for 9 am.  We walk into the diner and we are so happy to see them both.  It has been a while but since we chat often with them on Skype it feels like no time has passed.  But good friends like them are hard to come by and I feel like I am seeing family again.  Love you both if you are reading this.

The Everglades Safari Park is about an hour away.  We prebooked a private hour airboat ride.  We wanted to get there early before all the crowds arrive and so we could see lots of wildlife and they didn’t disappoint. Lisa our guide for the tour took us out and would stop and explain things and then carry on then stop and point out more things.  She explained how the Everglades formed and how large they are and how they have been used and abused in the years that Florida has been settled.  How they are now working at rehabilitating the Everglades and how it affects the wildlife that call the Everglades home.  This tour was amazing.  We have done Everglades tours before but it was a huge group in the boat and certainly not as informative as this was.

I will state even though the day would get warm and I wore shorts, make sure you wear long pants cause I was freezing while out on the boat and when we stopped I warmed up.  Kind of like the alligators we saw.  And we saw many alligators as they rose to the surface waiting for the air to warm up to come out and sun themselves. 

After the tour we headed to the Target store to stock up on some supplies.  We knew that this was a smarter idea to just buy most of those toiletries we would need for the 7 weeks on board, like toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, mousse, detergent, bars of soap and other items. 

We had a lunch at BJs and then went to Total Wines just off 17^th Street near the pier to get our supply of wine.  We ended up purchasing 8 bottles to bring on, and of course Bernie got some of his Champagne.  The staff at Total Wine are so helpful, we couldn’t turn a corner without someone there to help us fine what we were looking for and they even recommended quite a few bottles too.

We dropped Barb and Craig off at their hotel and we went back to ours.  We knew we need a nap before dinner tonight because of such a busy day.   And nap is what I had, I swear I walked in the hotel room, dropped the bags and put in my ear plugs, put on my eye mask and I was OUT.  After an hour and a half I was rested and ready to begin the Valentine’s Day Dinner.

Craig had made reservations at Bimini’s Boatyard on 17^th street and we met them there.  Barb and Craig had little Valentine’s Day gifts for us.  Now aren’t they sweet.  Barb embroiders items and she embroidered a beautiful apron with Napa Valley Wine on it.  A cherished gift from cherished friends.  We also both got little care packages to enjoy on the cruise.  We gave them a big chocolate heart from Purdy’s Chocolatiers in Vancouver. 

Dinner was very good, our server Craig was hilarious and so helpful and accommodating.  I had scallops with a pearl barley salad that was very good.  For dessert Bernie had the key lime pie (one of his favorites and he raved about it), I had a Black Forest type cake that was very very good. 

What a great day!

Flying out February 13

I am cautious cause so many people encountered issues with their flights getting to Fort Lauderdale that I don’t want to say it but…. Ours could not have been better.  It started out looking a little worrisome but the airlines came thru.

We flew out early and we landed in Houston early.  A short turn around gave us just enough time to get a coffee and use the washroom and get on the next flight. 

This flight was oversold and they were offering deals to move over to a later flight but we had no interest in that this time, maybe for flights home but not to get there.  Once again our flight touched down in Fort Lauderdale a few minutes early and we breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I should say now that we succumbed to having to bring another roller carry on bag.  Our initial goal was three suitcases and one roller carry on with our two knapsacks and my camera bag.  This would have been manageable but while packing and trying to get everything in the bags we knew we need just a bit more space.  So we succumbed and pulled out the small roller bag and threw my camera bag in and the lap top and it gave us just enough extra room that we required but managing all these bags is tough and we did encounter some amazing feats moving those bags to the car rental agency.  Hmmm maybe Princess should hire us as an entertainment act.

We prebooked a rental car thru Priceline with Alamo.  We got a car for $20 a day and then we upgraded it to full size for $7 more per day.  We drove away and that feeling you have when you know you are here, you are in warmth, the adventure begins.  Oh darn wish this GPS would pick up a signal!!!   But we do know the area and we know we are heading in the right direction, then woooo TRAFFIC. 

I don’t ever recall Fort Lauderdale with so much traffic.  It is bumper to bumper along Federal Way.  I know this is Thursday around 7 pm and it is a long weekend, and there are a lot of ships in this weekend and tomorrow is Valentines day, okay have I come up with enough excuses as to why there is so much traffic! 

Our hotel is North of the City near the Executive Airport, not that we could of flown into it but we were near it, does that count.  The hotel was relatively easy to find.  Again we had booked this hotel via Priceline for $90 a night.  We have stayed at numerous Sheratons before and like that they have a suite like atmosphere (in room size only) and we would need the extra space this time to manage the bags.

Check in was easy, oh and I should say parking is free and it is patrolled and well lit.  We waste no time grabbing a luggage cart this time.  Best to save our talents in case Princess needs us to perform. 

Our initial room was on the fifth floor and we right away noticed that they are renovating all the rooms on two, three and four and with being just above four and them working there we asked to be moved to a higher floor.  With no issues they gave us a large room on the seventh floor. 

The room was very large with a sitting area and a separate bedroom.  The bed was extremely comfortable and we crashed for the night we were exhausted, we even skipped dinner. 

Comments about the hotel:  we like the hotel, the location is further away and you will need a hotel but there are a few restaurants nearby.  We loved that the parking was free, the room was huge, there were two tvs, staff was very friendly.  Downsides:  toiletries, yup hard to get them.  Gave us only one small bar of soap, had to ask for another one the next day.  Only two towels had to ask for extra.  Room was nice but it is an older hotel and it is due for renovation.  Signs of water damage and bangs in the walls are apparent.  But in the end I would stay here again, especially for that price when the hotels near the pier are going for twice this or more because of the numerous ships in port.