Boarding the Emerald Princess - December 9

How exciting to wake up and see the Emerald Princess docked at Port Everglades! We took our time eating breakfast and then shuffled stuff around and re-packed the luggage. By 10:45 we were ready to go!

A hotel employee stopped us and suggested we take the hotel shuttle…only $8 per person…to the port. From my research I knew a cab would cost around $10 for two so I declined her offer. We had checked earlier to see if any taxi vans were available so the four of us could travel together and were told “no”…only cars, so we were prepared to take two cabs…one for each couple.

As we made our way outside to find a cab, she approached us again and made a new offer... “you can take the shuttle for $5 each…and have the shuttle to yourselves.” This seemed like a pretty good deal so we got our luggage loaded, got into the van, and then waited…and waited…as they proceeded to fill the van to capacity with other cruise passengers. At this point we didn’t feel like complaining about the misleading offer…and kept our mouths shut. We did confirm with the driver that we were being charged $5 and he agreed.

A few of the group were first dropped off at a Celebrity ship, and then the rest of us were taken to the Emerald Princess. From that point we pretty much kept moving…we handed over our luggage to the porters, went through security, filled out health forms, got checked in, and then found a seat to wait. 

We were in boarding group 8 and after about a half hour, our group was called. (Not sure, but it was probably close to noon by that point.) Can you tell by this smile that Bob was happy to be cruising?? 

Once on board, the elevator situation was a bit of a mess. Many of the elevators were “off limits” for use by staff hauling luggage and the few left didn’t seem to be working correctly. To add to the problem, the up/down buttons on each side worked independently of each other. So…everyone pushed both buttons which caused many elevators to stop needlessly. (The elevators continued to be a source of aggravation throughout the week!)

We finally made it to the location of our cabins...the Riviera Deck…deck 14…but technically deck 13. (Deck 13 had been skipped in the numbering.) Our inside cabins R724 and R728 were almost all the way aft and chosen because they were right by the door to the Terrace Pool. I figured since we didn’t want to pay for a balcony cabin, the location near the aft pool would be a good compromise. 

The downside to this plan…we discovered that the port side of the Terrace Pool was a designated smoking spot. That meant as we walked out the door and up the stairs to the pool we were usually met with a cloud of cigarette smoke. This was a convenient route to get to the buffet, but I found myself trying to hold my breath to get through. Eventually we found it was much better to just take the inside stairway by the elevators instead.

A Christmas decoration had been placed on the mailbox of every cabin on the ship. 

Thanks to my research before the cruise, I knew that one of the three main dining rooms would be open for lunch at embarkation and off we went. It took a little bit of hunting, but eventually we found the Michelangelo Dining room. We were seated with others at a large table and by the time we finished eating the dining room was empty. 

After lunch we explored the ship a bit and then gathered our life jackets for the muster drill. Our muster station was in Club Fusion (Deck 7 Aft). Being in the air conditioned lounge was nice. On previous cruises we always had to stand in the hot sun.

After the drill we made the guys run the life jackets back to the room and then we all met up for sail away. Heading out to sea has got to be the best feeling ever! 

Sailing along with us was the pilot boat...

and a Coast Guard boat.

My sister back in St. Louis watched the sail away online from the Port Everglades Webcam and she was able to pick us out of the crowd. Here is a photo that I “clipped” from the webcam video after we returned. That's us waving at the camera on the top deck!

We had a little fun taking some reflection photos in the windows of the ship.

The Carnival Freedom followed us out to sea and brought back many great memories. One of our favorite cruises was on the Freedom to Panama and Costa 

While Laurel and I unpacked and got ready for dinner, the guys went down to the Piazza to see Duo Push...two guys who were described as “an impressive display of strength and balance.” They came back raving about how awesome they were! Bob also enjoyed listening to “Playtoven”, a couple playing violin and cello who entertained in the Piazza most evenings before dinner.

Not only was this our first Princess cruise, but also the first time to NOT have the traditional assigned dining. We have always loved getting to know our wait staff, but chose Anytime Dining on this cruise to give us some flexibility. I was under the assumption that we could get a table for four on any night at any time. WRONG. The first night we showed up around 6:15 and were told it would be about a 30 minute wait unless we were willing to share a table. Not wanting to wait we agreed and were placed at a table for six with another couple. 

Fortunately our dinner companions were friendly and talkative, but getting served seemed to take forever. As we were eating I happened to notice Pescado Amarillo (that I mentioned earlier) and her husband in the dining room. They were spending the winter on the Emerald Princess and I had been following her daily blog about their adventures. Feeling a bit like a stalker, I walked over and introduced myself. She was very gracious in spite of me interrupting their dinner and I was so glad to finally have a chance to meet her! 

Dinner had taken so long that we were getting worried about making it to the Princess Theater for the Welcome Aboard Show so we opted to skip dessert. This gave us a good excuse (like we needed one!) to stop by the International Cafe following the show and sample some of the delicious goodies. The International Cafe was located in the Piazza and was a great place to grab a sandwich, dessert, etc. 

Coming up next...our day at Princess Cays!