2013 Christmas Eastern Caribbean Cruise

---

Sunday, December 22, 2013 (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida)

What a fun day and upcoming week it will be. I was up at 3:15 am this morning to finish some last minute things I was not able to finish the last few days. Everyone else was up at 3:45 am. By 4:45 am we were out of the house and on our way to Houston Bush airport for our 7:15 am United flight to Ft. Lauderdale. Cindy’s parents were meeting us at the airport.

Since our flight was last minute, we did not have the best seats on the plane, however at least we were able to secure a flight. After we boarded the flight and settled in, a gate agent came up to me at moved me to first class. This is hilarious because even though I am only Silver status on United and I have not flown them this year, I got moved to first class. It is good to be Todd. By the way, the food was awesome (egg/bacon croissant, fresh fruit, yogurt, and a roll).

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale about 10 minutes late, 11:10 am (we had a small maintenance delay in Houston). We quickly moved to the baggage claim area, retrieved our luggage, and then hired two taxis to transport us to the cruise ship (Princess Cruises). Since there was six of us, two cabs were needed.

We arrived at the Port Everglades cruise terminal around 12:00 pm. After dropping off our luggage we moved to the check-in area and filled out all the necessary paperwork. By 1:00 pm we were on the ship and ready for some fun.

Our room is on the Emerald deck and Cindy Mom and Dad and I were had balcony rooms and the kids were across the hall. The balcony rooms are awesome. Awesome view and just super nice just sitting and relaxing

We ate lunch in the Horizon, 16^th floor. The buffet food here is always great. There is always a huge selection of foods and desserts (my favorite part of the meal). I don’t recall what everyone ate, but most of us were satisfied.

Following lunch, Cindy’s dad and I went to one of the dining rooms to meet with the Maître de to see if we could schedule a dinning time. Since the cruise was booked last minute, we were waitlisted. After 1.5 hours, we were able to secure a 7:45 pm dining time for the entire cruise. Michael took a nap and Cindy and Jenny explored some of the ship.

Our ship departed the port at 4:00 pm. All of us went out on our balcony to watch the ship and several other ships depart. What an awesome experience this was. We went through a canal area where there were beaches, homes, and high rise condos. There were a ton of people out there waving at us as we departed. There were a couple of things that happened that made the departure a lot of fun. First the cruise ships were blowing their horns at the same time. The sound of the horns bouncing off the buildings was really fun. The other fun thing that happened was the coast guard boat that was following us out of the canal kept using his siren and then trying to encourage all the people on the deck to scream. The coast guard certainly did get everyone yelling.

After exploring some more of the ship, we made our way to a bar called Bellini’s to meet Cindy’s parents for cocktails. This was very entertaining in the Atrium area and listening to a band that was in the atrium area.

Our dinner was a 7:45 pm in the Concerto Dining Room. As always, the staff in the dining areas is super nice. The menu this evening covered multiple types of foods. Most of us had an appetizer, salad and or soup, main course, and then dessert. I personal ate for my appetizer a Snapper Mojito (first time I have eaten raw fish), Pina Coloda soup, Prime Rib, and a flourless chocolate cake. Our meal this evening was excellent.

Our intentions this evening was to go to a show, however most of us were really tired so all ended up going back to the room to go to sleep. There were be other opportunities in the next seven days to see a show.

Tomorrow we are stopping at Princess Cruise own island, Princess Cays. We have a lot of fun activities planned for the day including beach time, and other water sports.



I posted a few photos from around the ship, the Royal Princess. Enjoy and stay tuned for my next blog entry about our day at Princess Cays.

---