After multiple changes, here is the route that our cruise was scheduled to take...or so we thought. 😉
I was wide awake at 7 am. With Bob's crazy hours as a paramedic and dealing with the tail end of a cold, I knew he would appreciate a little extra sleep. There was a coffee maker in our room, but I didn't want to risk waking Bob so I dressed quietly and went down to the lobby to get a cup of coffee. Big self-serve pots of Starbucks coffee were available and I may have grabbed a small muffin as well. 😉
I had been preoccupied with the snow forecast back in Minnesota for the last couple of days but had quickly checked before we left and saw that Ft. Lauderdale had a 100% chance of rain for our embarkation. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked outside and saw no precipitation. Perhaps our weather woes were behind us! Or at least that was what I imagined until I pulled up the forecast on my phone and saw this...
WHAT?!! A tropical storm was coming and we were on one side of the cone and Nassau (where we were scheduled to be the next day) was on the other side. Not good. The rain was predicted to start around 11 am so I crossed my fingers and said a little prayer that we could get to the ship by then.
By 8:30 I had showered and was starting to get hungry for a real breakfast. I pulled open the room darkening drapes and the daylight was enough to awaken Bob. We made our way to the lobby and there was quite a crowd helping themselves to what I considered an above average hotel breakfast. Hot choices included scrambled eggs (which were good!), bacon, and waffles. Also available were mini muffins, donuts, yogurt, cottage cheese, mixed berries, cereals, and oatmeal with various toppings. And of course...more Starbucks coffee for me and juice for Bob.
At 10:15 we checked out, walked outside and called a Lyft. Others were getting luggage loaded in the hotel shuttle. They were going to wait until the van was full and then pay $7 per person for the short ride to Port Everglades. In 3 minutes our Lyft driver arrived and our total bill was $5.75. There were some delays with traffic on the way to the port, but by 10:45 we had dropped off our luggage and were walking into the terminal. Our carry on bags were scanned, we filled out health forms and never stopped walking until we were at the counter checking in. The gal taking care of us was new but had a supervisor watching over each step of the process.
We received a card for group 4 and went and sat down in a large waiting area. A few days earlier, I had downloaded the Mobile Passport App to my phone and while waiting to board I noticed several signs promoting its use.
The website for the app states: "Breeze through customs. The Mobile Passport App speeds you through U.S. Customs and Border Protection at 1 cruise port (Port Everglades) and 24 airports." So who wouldn't want to get through the long lines faster? Prior to leaving I had scanned our passports, but the final information had to be added within 4 hours of going through customs...which pier, purchases made, etc. That would have to be done once we returned to Ft. Lauderdale and I had cell service. This sounded like a good idea, but stay tuned to read how things actually turned out when we disembarked.
Boarding began promptly at 11:30 and our group was called at 11:55. What a pleasure to be able to go directly to our cabin and drop off our carry on bags.
I mentioned in an earlier post that we had originally booked an inside cabin for this cruise but slowly worked our way up the ranks as the prices dropped until we were upgraded to a guaranteed category VH balcony. A couple of weeks prior to the cruise we were notified that we would be in stateroom #4144...a category VB. A nice upgrade.
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| A first for us...a cabin with a tub! |
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| The cabins on our deck (Upper Promenade) were a little bit deeper than all of the others. It was nice having the extra space. |
The schedule showed that the main dining room was open for lunch from noon until 1:30 pm but when we arrived we were told that it was only for 3 Star Mariners and above. Instead we chose to eat with the other steerage passengers at the buffet on the Lido Deck. We did get lucky and were able to snag a table by the window.
After making a pass through to check out the options, we both decided on salads. The salads were made to order and there were so many yummy choices for toppings and dressings. I liked that the salads were put in large bowls rather than on a plate. Bob also went back and got a plate of hot food from the main serving line but regretted it later when he realized there was an Asian food station...his favorite. Cream puffs were a nice ending to the meal.
The rain had begun once we were on board, but it really came down in earnest while we were eating. A pattern of heavy downpours followed by lighter showers continued throughout the afternoon.
We did a bit of exploring and checked out the panoramic view from the Crow's Nest.
Our luggage was waiting for us when we returned to the cabin and we used the time before the muster drill to get most of it unpacked. Also while I still had cell service I texted our kids and did FaceTime with my sister.
For the emergency drill, passengers had to first check in at their muster station out on deck, but then had the option of returning to a public room where they could hear the instructions AND stay dry. The whole process was a little unorganized but over very quickly.
Before sail away, Bob and I made a quick trip back up to the buffet to get something to drink. While we were there the captain made an announcement that "potential tropical storm #18" was on its way and he had made the decision to cancel our stop in Nassau the next day. Of course. Hurricanes, snow storms and now soon to be named Tropical Storm Phillipe. I wondered if perhaps Jim Cantore was on this cruise.
The Nieuw Amsterdam set sail right on time at 4:00 pm leaving Harmony of the Seas and the Carnival Conquest to follow. With a tropical storm approaching, we both took a dose of motion sickness meds.
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| Such ominous looking clouds! |
Bob tried to watch a movie while I was making notes for the blog but in a very short time we were so sleepy that neither of us could focus. We napped until a little after 5 pm and then got dressed for dinner. There were no tables available for two when we arrived at the dining room (for open seating) so we willingly agreed to share a table with others. All of our recent cruises have been with friends so with just the two of us we were looking forward to meeting new people.
Introductions were made as we were seated with another couple that went something like this..."Hi...my name is Bob and this is my wife, Mary." Reply..."Hi...my name is Bob and this is my wife, Marianne." No problem remembering names! There is always a chance of an awkward situation when sitting with strangers, but not this time. Our conversation was enjoyable and the dinner was fun.
The evening dinner menu...I have indicated what we each ordered by our initials.
Starters * Soups * Salads
Mozzarella and Zucchini
Crab and Scallop Ceviche
Chicken and Date Kebab (M & B)
Green Chile and Corn Chowder
Chicken and Leek Soup
Chilled Guava and Passion Fruit Soup
Heart of Romaine Lettuce Nicoise
Main Dishes
Penne with Crisp Pancetta
The Chef's Salad Bowl
Scallop and Shrimp Brochette (B)
Seared Scarlet Snapper with Island Fruit Salsa (M)
Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Charred Button Onions
Pork Buco
Caribbean Chicken with Rum Butter Sauce
Eggplant and Zucchini Piccata
Desserts
Chocolate Caramel Tart
Key Lime Pie (B)
Dutch Apple Pie (B with ice cream!)
Creme Brulee (M)
Banana Crisp
Sugar Free Lemon Torte
Pineapple Sundae
Only one show was planned in the theater...a preview of the week's entertainment and it wasn't scheduled to start until 9:30 pm. Bob and I walked around a bit but then went back to the cabin and sat on our balcony until it was time to go to the theater. We could see storms and other ships off in the distance. With a zoomed in view, it appeared that the Carnival Conquest had caught up to us.
"The Preview" show was encouraging...it looked like we were in for some nice entertainment throughout the week. As we walked from the theater in the front of the ship on deck 2 to return to our cabin in the back of deck 4 we discovered two things...1) go up and back rather than back and up to avoid walking through the smokey casino and 2) the ship seemed considerably smaller than most we had sailed on.
I will end with the schedule of activities from the When & Where daily newsletter for the day...
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