Ahoy the shore summer 2010 part

Ahoy the shore Day 1 August 2010 Cruise

I am a passenger aboard the Emerald Princess cruising in the Western Caribbean, accompanied by my son Ryan (age 18) and daughter Claire (15). This is the fifth successive year in a row we have taken a cruise vacation during the "last week of Summer" preceding Labour Day. On prior trips we have visited Alaska (2009), Bermuda (2008), Canada-New England (2007) and the Western Caribbean (2006).  We left our home in Toronto on Saturday the 28th and boarded the ship on Sunday the 29th when it departed from the Ft. Everglades cruise terminal.  

Our trip got off to a bit of a rocky start on Saturday morning.  Our flight South was departing at 7:20 AM.  I had ordered a limo over the Internet to pick us up at home at 5:30.  We were down waiting at the appointed hour but there was no car in sight.  When I checked the reservation confirmation I realized why... I had accidentally selected the month of September instead of August in the pulldown window as the reservation date.  I immediately called the limo service to report my error but they replied that they would be unable to dispatch a car for another 20 minutes.  Figuring that delay would be too late to allow us sufficient time to pass through Customs, I decided to cancel the order and hail a cab.   

Fortunately there was one passing by and we were soon on our way.  25 minutes later, and an approximately $60 metre fare later we were at Pearson Terminal 1.  The self check in process went smoothly  and there was no line- up at the counter to check bags.  We had to pay a $50 surcharge to check two bags, one of which was very close to the 50 lb maximum weight limit. There were very few attendants at the US Customs pre-clearance so that process slowed us down a bit but we made up for the lost time at the security check in which was reasonably tame.  We arrived at the gate a few minutes before 7 for the scheduled 7:10 departure and boarding began about 10 minutes after that.

We were flying Delta on our outbound trip, connecting through their hub in Atlanta with an approximate 1:00 stopover there.  The first leg of our flight was on a CRJ which is a small regional jet with only two seats on either side of the aisle and limited overhead bin storage.  We had four carrying pieces of luggage altogether which we managed to stow in our aisle (7)' two pieces overhead and two (the kids' backpacks) under the seat.   We were late departing but made up for lost time in the air arriving at the gate in Atlanta a bit ahead of time.   Our second flight leg departed from a gate in a terminal two away from the one in which we landed and we caught a train between the two.  The connection time was perfect as we had only a short wait at the gate before loading.  The second plane was a wider bodied Boeing plane with three seats abreast on either side of the aisle and so all three of us had assigned seats side by side. Like the first, this flight segment was also smooth and uneventful and we arrived  on time.  Our checked bags were also among the first to drop at the carousel.  

Thereafter we proceeded out to the taxi shuttle waiting area and were lucky to see an incoming Holiday Inn Express shuttle dropping passengers off without having to call the hotel.  The driver, who spoke only halting English seemed surprised to encounter us since we had not called in our arrival to the hotel.  She asked to check our hotel reservation per work to ensure we were in fact guests at her hotel (apparently there are two Holiday Inn Express locations in Ft. 
Lauderdale).  It was just after 1 PM during our transfer to the hotel when my cell began to buzz indicating a missed call.  I retrieved a message from my friend Dr. John Carbonell, a local Ft Lauderdale medical doctor, who I had pre- arranged for us to rendezvous with that afternoon.  He was seeking to confirm our safe arrival.  I called him back to advise him that we were en route to the hotel and that I would call him back later to arrange his pick up after check- in.

The cruise port Holiday Inn Express at 1500 SE 17th Causeway made a good first impression.  Unfortunately a room was not made up and ready to assign to us at check- in  (official check in time was not until 3 o'clock) so we were advised to check our bags, go for lunch and check back in an hour or so.  We had to self check our bags in a meeting room ( the hotel has no bell hop service) on the lobby floor.  Thereafter we proceeded off on foot to kill some time.  First, We walked up and half across the lift bridge to catch a first glimpse of the cruise port.  There were three ships in port that day including a Carnival funship and the massive Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas, which towered over the other two vessels.  We passed two restaurants on our route but neither was open.  We caused the street on our way back and found a restaurant called Bamimis across the street.  It offered water views from a rear terrace but we opted to sit in the AC instead because the Florida heat and humidity already has us perspiring profusely.  The restaurant offered a fair variety of food and was reasonably priced.  Claire ordered a pasta dish (Rigatoni), Ryan ordered a chicken Caesar salad and I had a chicken sandwich.  We all seemed to enjoy our dishes.  

After our meal we went back across the street to return to our hotel but paused first at a Walgreens to pick up sunscreen.  They had a beach section where we were also surprised to find watershoes in stock.  As one of our upcoming ports of call will be in Ochos Rios Jamaica, where we plan to climb Dunns Rivers Falls, we decided to purchase a pair for Ryan and Claire (I had brought a pair with me.). Thereafter it was back to the hotel where our room key was waiting for us.  We retrieved our baggage and headed up to our assigned room --412-- which we found pleasant and adequately comfortable for the c$99 a night price we had pre-paid on expedia.ca. I immediately checked back in with John who agreed to pick us up in in 20 minutes. As we would be departing on the cruise the following day, we did not bother to unpack.  Instead I had pre-packed towels and swim wear in a separate carryon.

As arranged John met us 20 minutes later outside of the lobby in his new BMW.  The plan was for him to take us back to his condo townhouse to go swimming in their pool that afternoon, followed by dinner later in the evening at the cheesecake factory.  This was Ryan and Claire's first time meeting John and it had been several years since I had last seen him (departing on a prior cruise).  On that earlier visit he was preparing to make the move to his new place so this would be the first time I would be seeing it.  After a brief tour of the two story townhouse, we were soon poolside at the condos fabulous swimming pool and recreation complex.  It was truly stunning featuring two waterfalls and beautiful landscape architecture.  We all enjoyed the swim!

After toweling off and changing, we headed out to dinner but first stopped enroute to ascend to the rooftop of John's old condo ( which he now rents to a tenant) to see the panoramic views of the city, ocean and inter coastal waterway.  Thereafter, we drove along the oceanfront to las olas drive, which is the exclusive shopping district.  Although there was some difficulty obtaining parking near the restaurant, we were soon inside and seated at an outside patio taBle after a 15 minute wait ( short by cheesecake factory standards).  Claire and I shared chicken nachos   ( her choice ) from the appetizer menu, Ryan had a pasta dish and John had lettuce wraps.  John and Ryan passed on dessert but I had a red velvet cheesecake slice (1500 calories ) while Claire went for the fresh strawberry cheesecake.

 Following dinner we stopped by a few area galleries and gift shops (sign of the tough economic times--a lot seemed to be going out if business) before returning to our hotel and retiring around 11.