3/24 Changing Ships in Ft. Lauderdale

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Why? I ask why? Why can't we sleep in today? We have no particular time we need to be off the ship by. We can stay on until 10am. None of that matters. Karen has decided she's ready to get off the ship and she is up at 7:30am. My plan is to leave the ship no earlier than 10am. Why? Because we can't get onto the Westerdam until 12 noon. I see it's sitting across the street from us at pier 26 so we'll be able to walk there with our bags, no problem. Unable to fight all the lights, TV, open shades and barrage of questions, I give up on any further relaxation and get dressed. Our four suitcases were taken from the hallway last night, leaving us with one backpack apiece and it's just after 8 when we say goodbye to stateroom 8148 for the last time, making our way up to the Lido for breakfast and to pass the time.

It's busy up there but we find seats and, as numbers are called, the ship begins to empty and I can't pass up the opportunity to order eggs over medium, English muffin well done and some crispy bacon. We have the whole restaurant to ourselves. But alas, Karen still insists that we leave and, unable to fend off a continuous, "What time is it now?" attack, I again succumb to the incessant pressure and we leave the ship. Once in the port building, we easily find out luggage. Very few pieces still remain and we exit the building with the last few remaining guests. Now we must traverse the maze of people and traffic on the street as we move our belongings from one pier to the other. It's not far, just difficult with our luggage and that of other traveler's. Today there are 6 ships in FLL port. In addition to the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam and the Westerdam, there's the Crown Princess, Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas and Independence of the Seas and the Celebrity Summit.

We make it to the new pier, change our luggage tags over from Nieuw Amsterdam to Westerdam and leave our four bags in the hands of the longshoremen who place it in metal cages. Next we enter the registration area. We present our boarding passes, receive our room keys and find some seats in the waiting room until the ship is ready to be boarded. Good thing we left the comfort of the other ship early.

The ship is ready at noon and we are first to be allowed aboard. We check out our room first, 1103 on Deck 1. It's not a veranda as before, just a window. On this cruise, verandas were an additional $3k and I felt that money could be better spent on something also, perhaps another vacation. After a brief room inspection, we stop by guest services for Karen to get her room key punched for her neck lanyard, then to the Lido to check out the buffet and finally to Deck 10 forward, the Explorations Cafe, for a cafe latte and hot chocolate while we stretch out in lounge chairs with a view of the entire port. I find that I have a charge on my shipboard account for a previously cancelled excursion and get that credited.

It's now that dreaded time for the "Mandatory Passenger Emergency Muster Drill". It's an important exercise but it takes forever. It starts at 3:15 and they make a number of announcements leading up to this drill. We're there a little early and the steward in charge of our station 13 makes a feeble attempt to gather everyone together but the event cannot start until everyone is accounted for and the people are still wandering in at 3:40. Now these passengers had no trouble finding the food and beverage venues on this ship so far but can't seem to ind their assigned lifeboat nor bother to get here promptly. Those that are here on time are forced to wait for these "happy ass" stragglers to arrive, yapping and talking through the Captain's explanation of the importance of this educational presentation required by law. Now I understand better why so many people died when the Concordia ran aground off the coast of Italy. But I digress. Let me say that I would have a second drill for the latecomers after dismissing all the early birds and make it painful; oh so painful. Ok. I feel better now.

Mom wants to make a quick call to Queenie before we lose phone reception. There's an oxymoron for you. She calls from Deck 3, it takes us a half an hour to get up to Deck 9 for the "Sailaway". Then we spend an hour up on Deck 9 before the call ends. It's been at least 10 days since they spoke to one another so that could be it. Now, however, our phone is off until 4/8. We sit waiting for the Sailaway but it never comes. They're still loading stuff from a Sysco truck at 5:30, an hour and a half after our scheduled departure time. It's fun to sit up on the Lido deck with the music and wave to the port webcam as we sail by. I even called Milan (Potato Chip Guy), telling him, "Watch for us at 4pm, no 4:30pm, wait now its 5:30. Forget it." We finally bail, returning to our room where Karen unloads the four suitcases into the closets in our room. We view our non-celebratory departure through the window of our room at 6pm. Yeah!

We rule out all other possibilities for dinner and settle on the buffet in the Lido. It's quick and easy. Karen has the prime rib and I go for the NY steak. It's similar food but without the service or presentation found in the dining room. To allow our room stewards the time needed to ready our room for the night, we wander over to the stores where Mom finds a pair of sunglasses for $10. All right, just this once. After booking our cruises last year, I was able to negotiate free ship gratuities and ample shipboard credit to spend on this ship and the previous cruise as well. Enough even for Karen. Anyway, after the big expenditure, we return to our room to watch a movie and rest up for the action tomorrow. It's a repeat of a previous adventure. Let's just call it, "Son of Half Moon Cay".

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Photos

Westerdam Across the Street
As seen from our balcony on the Nieuw Amsterdam

Still Loading Supplies at 5pm
Ship left 2 hours later than scheduled.