Tag: Ft. Lauderdale

Sailing Away

Sunday, February 2, 2025

So Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning. If you believe in the groundhog weather prognosticator, we have six more weeks of Winter. I really don’t think South Floridians care what the rodent predicted – it’s 80 degrees this morning in Ft Lauderdale.

Didn’t sleep great last night but I usually don’t in hotels. The free hotel breakfast was decent – serving both hot and cold food choices. I was very pleased with the taste of the all-important coffee. There were a number of guests taking advantage of the meal and seemed happy with it (except the one toddler who showed his distaste for the fruit loops by dumping his bowl on the floor). There’s always a food critic in every crowd.

At 10:45 we went to the lobby to get an Uber to the port. There were six cruise ships in port today. It took about 15 minutes for our Uber to arrive. I knew the traffic to the port would be heavy. It was. Once we got within a mile of the port, we crawled along at a snail’s pace.

However, by the time we reached the gate, we were ready with our passports to show and to answer “No” to their inevitable question “Are you carrying any firearms?”

There are several gated entrances into the port and the informational signage is good, but it never ceases to amaze me to look over at cars at the gates where people are obviously searching for their passports and holding up the queue. Read the signs people, Read.

I also wondered what would happen if someone in the car answered “Yes, I am fully armed.” Nothing good I imagine.

As soon as the Uber driver let us out at our terminal, porters were out in force ready to take our luggage and the tips. Once they had our luggage loaded on the carts, I looked in dismay at the embarkation line that stretched down the sidewalk and around the corner. Started walking toward it when I finally spotted the priority line. It was much shorter. Yay for being a long-time HAL cruiser!

Everything was going smoothly until I reached the point where they scan your passport and match it with your photo in their file. Chuck’s scanner immediately dinged success! My scanner stayed silent and flashed red. My passport and file photo didn’t match. ??? It matched in October but not now? What? – I have a few more wrinkles and I’m now unrecognizable? Rude. They took another photo of me and the passport scanner gave its ding of approval.

Finally on the ship but people were crowding the middle set of elevators that you see when you step onto the ship from the gangway. We walked down the hallway to the back of the ship and took those elevators. No waiting. There is also a bank of elevators in the front of the ship. I bet there wasn’t waiting for those elevators either.

We were assigned cabin 6158. It was not the one we chose. This one had a connecting door to the cabin next door. I’m not a fan of this type of cabin unless I know the person in the other cabin.

If you have a very noisy person in the cabin next door, the conversations, music, TV, etc. will seep through the door area as you lose that part of an insulated wall.

On one Carnival cruise, we heard a guy fight with his girlfriend back home every night over the phone. Each night, he would end the conversation with “It’s over! Go to Hell!” Next night – same thing. Always wondered what happened to them when he got back home.

The cabin that we chose could sleep 3 and the fine print in the ship contract does say that HAL has the right to move you to a comparable or better cabin if you don’t have the maximum number of people in the cabin and they need it for some family that does. We were moved to the same category cabin just down the hall from the one we chose. I could argue until I was blue in the face that getting a connecting room is not comparable, but I would just end up blue in the face and still be in the connecting cabin. I’m just hoping for the best.

We are primarily on this cruise because Chuck got invited to be a participant in this “Ultimate Gaming Cruise.” Since the cruise also coincided with my birthday, we decided to go for it. We were greeted in our room with a bottle of champagne, special lanyards, an invitation to the opening party, and a list of the special activities the casino would be hosting for the 12 days. We were also happy to note that two people we met on an earlier cruise would also be on this cruise.

I was very glad to hear that we were not going to have the traditional muster drill of standing shoulder to shoulder at the lifeboats – especially in the heat and humidity. Every ship has to do one of those types of drills periodically but today was not the day.

After we had our key cards scanned at our muster station and watched the safety video, we decided to avoid the Lido for lunch and just go to the NY Deli and Pizza area one deck above the Lido deck. Good choice. Neither the bar nor the deli area was busy, and we had our sandwiches and beverages quickly. Chuck was even recognized by one of the bar staff who remembered him from an earlier cruise.

After we ate, I went to the dining kiosk and made our specialty restaurant reservations. We then went back to the cabin to see if the luggage had arrived. Nope. No worries – we unpacked the carry-on and the backpacks.

At 3:00, we went to the sailaway party. It was fun with music, food, and beverages. Afterwards, we went back to the cabin to see if the luggage had arrived. Nope. Hmmm. We’ve usually gotten our luggage by sailaway. But I know the ship is sailing full so trying not to worry.

At 4:00, we went to the Casino party with our friends from the previous cruise. It was fun with food, beverages, introductions to the casino staff, and giveaways (our name was not called). Afterwards, we trekked back to the cabin to see if the luggage had arrived. Yay! – my piece of luggage had arrived. Boo! Chuck’s luggage was still missing in action. We got my bag unpacked and stored under the bed.

We played some slots before the Casino became very crowded. Once it did become packed with players (I did mention that this was an Ultimate Gaming Cruise – we weren’t the only ones invited. 😊), we went to the Lido for their “Welcome Aboard” steak dinner.

We typically choose the Lido on the first night as the main dining room always seems disorganized on the first night. I was happy to see the Lido was offering mussels along with the steaks. Chuck also got a steak but did a “hard pass” on the mussels. Just more for me.

We then went to the first set of the band in the Rolling Stone Rock Lounge. They are very good musicians but are more of a show band than a dance band. Maybe we will have better luck with the BB King band.

Once the set was over, Chuck was eager to play cards. I stopped by the Grand Dutch Cafe and got a piece of Dutch apple pie for me and a Bossche Bol (giant chocolate creme puff) for Chuck. I took them both back to the cabin. Yay! His suitcase had arrived. Whew! Once I got it unpacked, I was ready to listen to the waves from the balcony, eat my dessert, and call it a night.

Tomorrow – Half Moon Cay.

Disembarkation and Traveling Home

Sunday, October 22, 2023

We had our bags out of the room by 10:00 last night.

I woke up at 6:00 and we were already docked at Port Everglades. We ate breakfast in the Lido.

Everything was going smoothly until we tried to open our safe to remove all our stuff. Chuck tried the combo a couple of times, and then the safe started beeping and would not open. Heart stopped.

We found our room stewards cleaning some rooms that had already been vacated. They said that only Guest Services could deal with the safes. I headed for Guest Services but, on the way, found a couple of officers in one of the halls. They came to look at it and said that it was counting down and once it was finished, we could try again or they would be back and use their code. Once the time elapsed, the officers were back and the safe opened with their code. We got our stuff and went to the Lounge on Deck 2 to wait for our number to be called.

The self-assist people were already leaving the ship with their luggage. We also saw many of the crew leaving too for their well-earned vacations. It looked like the entire BB King Lounge band was departing. A whole new band would be embarking that day and probably performing by that night.

Our number was supposed to be called at 7:45 but the Cruise Director said that the luggage was not yet in the port luggage holding area, so we had to wait. Last time we were in Ft. Lauderdale, I had booked a 2:00 flight and we got off the ship so quick, I decided to book a noon flight today. Wouldn’t you know today we would have issues. Finally, at 8:15, our number was called.

We found all of our pieces quickly and then lined up for Customs. Since this trip began in Europe, we had to meet with the Custom agents face-to-face. The last time, our cruise started and ended in Ft. Lauderdale, so we were able to use the facial recognition system they have in place. Luckily, the line moved fairly quickly. With a quick look at the passport and a “Welcome Back,” we were out the door to the taxi stand line.

Quick taxi ride to the airport and we were able to drop our luggage at the outside Delta check-in. The attendant said we could check all of our luggage for free if we wanted to do so. Chuck checked both of his but I had to hold on to my bag because my carry-on had my camera with its batteries.

Once inside we found the CLEAR line so we were able to get to the front of the Security line. In Ft. Lauderdale, you can keep all your electronics in your bag but you still have to remove your shoes, etc. (non-TSA pre-check). Our gate was just right around the corner from Security so no long walk.

We could have made the 10:40 a.m. flight if we had done self-assist this morning. We need to consider it for next time.

The flight was uneventful and we were picked up on time by the shuttle company. I was glad that I remembered where I had parked the car and that it started after all those days just sitting in the lot.

Once we got home, Pumpkin usually greets us like long lost loved ones. This time, he just glanced at us on his way out the door. The difference – he had live-in staff, instead of drop-in, this entire time so our presence didn’t really matter. Oh well, we were glad to be home. Time to think about getting ready for the upcoming holidays.

Wait! What about Copenhagen, Latvia, Ponta Delgado, and Half Moon Cay? Why didn’t I talk about those ports? As I mentioned, Ponta Delgado was missed because of high winds and waves.

At Copenhagen, I had researched what dock we were going to berth, and it was going to be very near the city center. Because of that research, we booked a private tour. Then, I discovered that we were not going to go there but at a dock much farther away from the city center and our tour operator. Because our day there was very short, I just was not comfortable being so far away from the ship and having to rely on taxis or the shuttle service. We just ended up cancelling and staying on the ship. I should have just booked a ship’s tour on such a short day with the possibility of so many different docks. Lesson learned.

At Latvia, we also had a private tour planned. We docked at the correct dock. Unfortunately, I had started feeling bad the night before a sea day. I went to the ship’s doctor hoping for a steroid shot and some prescription-strength cough medicine. Instead, I got a COVID test (negative) and a flu test (positive – even though I had gotten a flu shot 2 weeks before the cruise). I was given a Tamiflu prescription and a small bottle of knock-off Robitussin. I was also quarantined to my room for 48 hours. The quarantine would have been longer if I had been running a fever but since I was fever free, I was released after 48 hours. So, I missed the sea day and the day in Latvia. Chuck could have gone on the tour but he chose to stay on the ship with me. He had a flu test and it was negative, so he was not quarantined.

Half Moon Cay, the private island owned by the Carnival Corporation (HAL’s parent corporation), was the last port before we arrived in Fort Lauderdale. We have been to the island several times on both Holland America ships and Carnival ships. We just decided to stay on the ship, pack up, and enjoy the balcony one last day.

All in all, we did enjoy this cruise despite the rough weather at times, difficult walks, and my illness. I appreciated all the beauty and history that each city or town had to offer. I especially liked only having one long over-night flight to endure and the relaxing sea days back. Looking forward to the next one.

Until next time –

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

Sunny Embarkation!

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

There was no doubt I was exhausted. As soon as my head hit that pillow, I was asleep.

We woke up to a day that Florida uses on all its advertisements – bright blue skies, white fluffy clouds, and a slight, pleasant breeze. Storms? What storms? This is south Florida – nothing but sunshine, baby!

The shower had great water pressure and an abundance of hot water. The in-room coffee was abysmal. However, the free breakfast items and hot coffee available in the lobby area were very good. The attendant kept the area clean and the items well stocked.

Once we finished breakfast, we walked across the street to the shopping center to Dollar Tree. We needed to purchase a couple of forgotten items. Another reason to like this hotel location.

We passed on the hotel shuttle to the cruise port and called for an UberXL. Unlike last time, UberXL was very quick this morning, so we ended up at the port 30 minutes prior to our check-in time. Wasn’t sure if we would be allowed into the building but the port officials ushered us right on in. We moved through security and the HAL facial recognition section quickly. We were seated by 10:40 to wait for boarding.

We were allowed to board at 11:35 a.m. Once we dropped off our carry-on luggage to our room, we headed to the main dining room at noon. I chose the Pannekoek – a Dutch pancake- a thin pancake topped with bacon and apple slices. Chuck had a spicy spring roll and a quinoa bowl. I really liked mine. Chuck liked his spring roll – the quinoa bowl – not so much. We sat with two other couples. Pleasant conversation.

Once we finished lunch, we were too early for the safety drill, so we went back to the room. We had chosen the same veranda room that we had when we were on this ship for the Voyage of the Vikings in 2022. We liked its location on the ship. We discovered that since that cruise, HAL had installed the new interactive TV’s and I thought some of the furniture looked new too.

We found that both suitcases had been delivered so we started unpacking while listening to the safety information on the television. You have to watch the information to unlock the rest of the channels and features of the TV.

We paused our unpacking to go to our lifeboat location and had them scan our room cards. Safety information watched – cards scanned. We were officially ready for the cruise.

I went back to the room to complete the Canadian declaration form as it had to be turned in by that evening to Guest Services. I found that we had received a nice HAL canvas bag instead of the usual plastic one. Not sure why the upgrade – maybe because HAL is celebrating its 150th birthday or maybe because this room is considered a Vista Suite on this ship (although it just looks like a veranda room on other ships). Either way, I liked the bag.

I also discovered someone left a large piece of clothing in back in one of the drawers. I assume the person disembarked today. If not, how long has the clothing been traveling? Although I am a fan of the book The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – I wasn’t trying it on for size. Needed to go.

It was fortuitous that almost as soon as I made this discovery, Raka, one of our room stewards knocked on the door to introduce himself and see if we needed anything at that moment. Yes, thank you, as I matter of fact I do. Here is a piece of clothing that someone may be missing. He gave it the same look that I did but then smiled and said he would deliver it to Guest Services. (Yep, let it be their problem).

I also thought the room was warm even though the temperature was set low. I didn’t report it as I wanted to be sure that it wasn’t just because I was hot from unpacking and/or that we weren’t moving yet so maybe the system wasn’t working at capacity. If the room stays hot, I’ll have to report it. Hard to sleep in a too warm room even with the portable fan I brought.

While Chuck went out and about making new friends, I went to a presentation- Tech for Travelers – I found out that it is a new presentation series that is being tested on a few ships to see if it will be offered fleet-wide on HAL.

Our Cruise Director was the presenter. I used to attend all the Microsoft presentations that HAL offered in the past, so I was glad that this presentation was informative and useful. I hope to attend the rest of the ones he has planned.

At 4:00, I dropped off the declaration form and then met up with Chuck at sail-away on the Sea View deck. Time for our traditional sail-away selfie.

Travel Trivia

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Known as the Venice of America due to its extensive canal system.

Fort Lauderdale was originally not one, but three forts during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838. He was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. Development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict.

After the war, the Stranahan House, Fort Lauderdale’s oldest building, was built in the 1890s. The house served as a trading post for the area and quickly developed into the city center along the New River.

Fort Lauderdale was featured in a popular 1960s movie, “Where the Boys Are,” about a college spring break. Soon college students flocked to the area en masse for a sun and sand filled getaway and still do today.

Just offshore, following the 24 miles of beach, is a coral reef tract. These coral reefs are a part of the Florida Reef Tract that run from Dry Tortugas to St Lucie Inlet (360 miles), the third longest barrier reef system in the world. Fort Lauderdale is a major manufacturing and maintenance center for yachts. The boating industry is responsible for over 109,000 jobs in the county. With its many canals, and proximity to the Bahamas and Caribbean, it is also a popular yachting vacation stop, and home port for 42,000 boats, and approximately 100 marinas and boatyards. Additionally, the annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the world’s largest boat show, brings over 125,000 people to the city each year.

Trivia provided by Wikipedia

Better Late Than Never

Monday, April 17, 2023

We were finally allowed to board at 6:25 p.m. and took off a little after 7:00. The ride was smooth, and I mostly read my book as anything I wanted to watch was over 2 hours long. The landing was a little bumpy but at least we were in Ft. Lauderdale, and it was not raining.

We retrieved our luggage and called the hotel for a pickup. We typically stay here pre-cruise because of its location, and it is comfortable. The hotel shuttle driver got to our pick-up point within 10 minutes. I was happy. Sometimes, it can take much longer depending on traffic.

When we got to the hotel, they gave us a room on the 5th floor instead of the one on the 2nd that I had picked. They said they had to do some shuffling around because of some water issues. Okay. It’s now 10:00 p.m. and I want a room. 5th it is. Looked just like the room we had last time.

They also said, if we were hungry, the restaurants across the street in the shopping center stay open until 2 a.m. No thank you. McDonalds was weighing heavy on my stomach, and I was getting more exhausted by the minute.

Once we got to our room, I tagged our bags with ship information. Know tomorrow will be a better day.

Travel Trivia

Florida – The Sunshine State

Various Native American groups have inhabited Florida for at least 14,000 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first known European to make landfall, calling the region La Florida ([la floˈɾiða] for its lush greenery and the Easter season (Pascua Florida in Spanish).

Florida became the first area in the continental U.S. to be permanently settled by Europeans, with the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, founded in 1565, being the oldest continuously inhabited city.

On March 3, 1845, only one day before the end of President John Tyler’s term in office, Florida became the 27th state.

About two-thirds of Florida occupies a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States, spanning approximately 1,350 miles (2,170 km), not including its many barrier islands.

Florida’s is the only state besides Hawaii to have a tropical climate and is the only continental state with both a tropical climate (at the lower tip of the peninsula) and a coral reef.

Florida has several unique ecosystems, most notably Everglades National Park, the largest tropical wilderness in the U.S. and among the largest in the Americas. Unique wildlife includes the American alligator, American crocodile, American flamingo, Roseate spoonbill, Florida panther, bottlenose dolphin, and manatee.

Central Florida is the lightning capital of the USA.

Florida’s Venice Beach is the shark tooth capital of the world.

If you’re ever in Tampa Bay, you should take a walk alongside downtown Tampa. The Bayshore Boulevard is the world’s longest continuous sidewalk being a stretch of 4.5 miles.

The Walt Disney World Resort is in Florida. It is the planet’s most visited and biggest recreational resort. It was established in 1971 and is about the same size as San Francisco, California.

The U.S. state of Florida is also home to the world’s most dangerous tree – the Manchineel tree. All parts of the tree contain strong toxins. Mere contact with the sap from this tree can cause blisters on the skin. The tree is also known as “the beach apple” and “little apple of death.

Lake Okeechobee is the largest freshwater lake in Florida. It is also the third largest freshwater lake (after Lake Michigan and Alaska’s Iliamna Lake) located completely within the United States.

On the Road, I mean Sea, Again

Monday, April 17, 2023

When we booked this 11-Day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Montreal on the Holland America (HAL) Zaandam, we did not really consider that it was going to start only three weeks after our previous one ended. Seemed like I had just gotten all the clothes washed and put away when I had to start packing again. Of course, this time I had to pack some cold weather clothes along with my shorts and t-shirts.

This trip began just like the last one. We left the house at 9:00 a.m. for our 40-minute ride to the shuttle company. Our shuttle service to the airport left promptly at 10:00 a.m. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day.

We had one stop along the route and made it to the airport at 12:15. There was a long line for CLEAR access. This time Chuck had to show ID and I sailed through without an issue. There never seems to be rhyme or reason on whether or not we have to show ID.

No issues through the security screening and we arrived at our gate at 1:15. My weather app said Ft. Lauderdale had rain, but our flight app said we were still on time. I was concerned because a fellow traveler on the shuttle had said her flight to Florida on a different airline had gotten cancelled because of the poor weather. She was going to the airport to get a different flight as she had to fly out that day. She was stressed. I would have been too.

We ate a McDonald’s lunch while we waited for boarding to start.

Nope!

The gate officials had just started letting the first people down the gangway when they announced our flight would be delayed for 30 minutes as it was still raining hard in Ft. Lauderdale. Everyone came back from the gangway. Not a great beginning.

Thirty-minutes later, we boarded, and I started watching a TV show. The 30-minute show ended, and the plane was still at the gate. Hmm.

A few minutes later, the Captain announced that he had been informed that it might be as late as 7:00 pm before we could leave and that was too long for us to sit on the plane. We had to gather our carry-ons and get off and go back to the gate waiting area. Damn.

The flight crew told us to stay near the gate area in case there were more updates. As the time passed, we ate more McDonalds as it seemed pretty certain we would be getting to Ft. Lauderdale well after dinner time, if at all.

I called the hotel to let them know we might be very late. No problem – your room is ready but our hotel shuttle only runs until midnight. Okay – just don’t give the room away. And we waited and hoped for the best.

Ft. Lauderdale

Saturday, March 18, 2023

We decided to eat in the Lido tonight and we each had the strip loin. Very good meal. After the meal, we played blackjack for a long time before calling it a night.

The piece of fruit is called Dragon Fruit

When we got back to the cabin there was a note letting us know that the ship balconies would be washed while in port and they may have to have access to our room. No problem. We’ll be on a tour.

We were up at 6:00 and ate breakfast in the Lido at 6:30. It wasn’t as busy as I expected. From the Lido, I counted 4 other ships in dock with us including the HAL Volendam that had arrived today from its 2 month roundtrip from Ft. Lauderdale – Grand South America and Antarctica cruise. If we ever get to go back to Antarctica, this cruise is the one I want to do.

We disembarked the ship at 7:30. We had our passport, ship card, and in-transit card that was supposed to allow us to bypass some lines when we come back.

We had to go through Customs. We were able to use the facial recognition system so were approved to bypass the officials. We came out of the terminal at the taxi area. We had to go around the corner to find our tour operator.

Our HAL tour today was called “Everglades Airboat Ride” and the tour description: “The Florida Everglades is an expanse of swampland known for natural beauty and abundant wildlife. Your tour includes a half-hour airboat ride into this vast wilderness. Birds, fish and other animals inhabit this curious corner of the country.

After the airboat ride, take a tour of the reptile exhibit. You will see the notorious Everglades alligator and other creatures that call Florida home. At the endangered-species exhibit — you may even be lucky enough to see the rare Florida panther.

Notes: This tour is available only to guests who are returning to the ship.”

I’ve been confused about this tour because the Navigator app said that we would be going to the Ft. Lauderdale and Miami airport after the tour. I told Chuck that we had to be sure that the tour was coming back to the port.

In reality, the tour operator had three different busses for the tours – one bus for people on the tour and then going to the Miami airport; one bus for people going on the tour and then going to the Ft. Lauderdale airport; and then one bus for people coming back to the port (us). I was happy that we would not have to do any airport runs before coming back.

We were supposed to leave at 8:30 but we didn’t leave until 8:45.

The bus was air conditioned and comfortable. However, the mic didn’t work so it was a little hard to hear the guide. She did her best to talk loud enough about the Ft. Lauderdale area, but we could only catch a few words every now and then.

It didn’t take very long to reach the Everglades Holiday Park. Unfortunately, all the HAL busses seemed to arrive together plus busses from other tour companies and independent travelers. Restroom lines were very long and the park was crowded.

We got in line for the airboat ride. There were a lot of airboats, and we were quickly ushered into one. I wasn’t sure if anyone else from our group was even on the same airboat, but I finally recognized another person. The captain was knowledgeable about the area and was good about spotting the alligators. The ride was very loud when he went fast. I was glad I had brought us some ear plugs. The ride was about an hour.

Once we exited the airboat, we found our tour operator and she directed us to the Gator demonstration. It was a demonstration by an original “Gator Boy” of the same series. He gave us a lot of good jokes and information. I didn’t remember the series, but Chuck said he did. The guy has a You Tube channel now.

Once we exited the demonstration, we were in line for a photo of us holding a baby gator. The cost of the photo was included in the tour package. We saw some rescued tortoises, raccoons, snakes, and foxes – no panthers.

We arrived back to the ship at noon. There was no dedicated security line for in-transit people. We were in line with all the new embarking guests which was moving very slowly – frustrating. Once we cleared security, the only direction we were given was “go around.” We took that direction to mean don’t stop at the check-in desks. When we finally made it to the escalator up to the ship, it wasn’t working. Our choices were to either take the elevator or walk up the steps. Since we weren’t carrying luggage, we chose the steps.

The Lido was crowded so we went to the Dive-In to order a hamburger. They are very good burgers, hot dogs, bratwurst, and chicken sandwiches. They have “Beyond Meat” available also.

We were supposed to leave the port at 3:00. However, three of the other ships set said before us and we didn’t leave until after 5:00.

Time for the first evening of the second leg of this 21-day cruise.