Have Set Sail

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Day 4 Blog – Ft. Lauderdale – Departure Day



As with most departure days there was a whole lot of rushing around making sure everything was repacked and that we didn’t forget anything. And then we waited – waited for a shuttle van; waited in heavy traffic going in to the Port; waited in line to go through screening; waited in line to have our documents be processed then suddenly we were walking aboard.



It’s interesting how quickly you get back into the rhythm of ship life. We found our cabin, unpacked our hand luggage filled in our shore excursion form, which I took to the Excursion Office while Brooke went off to the Lido for lunch.



After our light lunch we headed off to take part in some of the tours that they were offering that highlighted the services offered by various departments, the spa, the Internet Café, the Library, etc. We also took the opportunity to order one of the wine packages which we will drink at dinner in the main Dinning Room.



Returning to the room we found that one of our two large suitcases had arrived and we proceeded to unpack and store our clothes. This process was interrupted by the mandatory Boat Drill where everyone has to muster at their designated Life Boat station. This mandatory exercise is conduct every time a ship starts a voyage. ON longer voyages such as this one it will be repeated for sure when we depart Rio as guests will be leaving and we will be taking on new passengers. There is a good chance that it will be repeated several other times to keep it fresh in our minds that this cruise company takes our safety and security very seriously.



After that drill was over we returned to our cabin and found that our second bag had arrived and it was quickly unpacked and its contents properly stored and hung up.



Then suddenly it was dinner time. Our friend who had been aboard for the previous 21 days had made arrangements with the Dining Room Maître-de to have us sit at her table and so we did.



If any of you we looking for us on the webcam feed to be on deck when the ship left harbor and you didn’t spot us the reason is quite simple: as you can see from several of the photos there was a great deal of material that had to be loaded before we left and the Captain delayed departure by an hour with the result we were at dinner when we sailed away from Ft. Lauderdale.



Our Internet connection aboard ship is still a bit out of sorts so I might just take this Blog ashore in Key West where we are docked and find an Internet Café to transmit it.

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Comments

[Gill & Roger]

Missed You.
Yes. I blew it. The webcam showed you still on the berth and the chart said you'd already sailed. Damn. Cabin looks great. Enjoy.