Turn Around Day in Ft. Lauderdale

Saturday, March 1, 2025

The first leg of our cruise was over and we were back in Ft. Lauderdale. The majority of the passengers were disembarking and heading home, but around 300 of us lucky ones were going to continue on the Eurodam for another eleven days.

I didn't sleep well overnight and the insomnia was most likely caused by my concern over how our day was going to play out. Due to the large number of norovirus cases onboard the Eurodam, the ship was going to undergo a deep cleaning and disinfecting while it was docked in Ft. Lauderdale. New passengers had gotten notice that their boarding was being delayed from the original noon time frame to around 2:00 pm.

On a normal turnaround day the "in transit" guests would meet in the theater and be led off the ship, go through customs and come right back onto the ship. For a brief few hours before all of the new passengers embark it would feel like having a empty, private ship.

But because of the cleaning, all returning passengers had to get off the ship by 9 am and not return until 2 pm. How to spend those five hours was our dilemma. We could choose to just sit in the terminal the entire time, but no food or drink would be available and that sounded like a really bad (and boring) idea. There were a couple of Holland America (overpriced) tours that could have filled the time but those quickly sold out. A "complimentary" shuttle was being offered to the Aventura mall on a first come, first served basis but because I struggle to walk for any length of time that didn't sound like a favorable choice either.

Our plan was for Jon to take a shuttle to the nearby offsite parking facility where he had left his car and then he would return and pick the three of us up. It was hard for me to relinquish control over the schedule but I told Jon he was in charge for the day. I really was grateful that he was willing to keep us all from sitting in a terminal for hours on end.

The buffet was totally full when we went up for breakfast around 8:00 am (which is very typical on the last day of a cruise.) After we had eaten, Jon left to catch the shuttle to pick up his car. We hung out with Michelle in their cabin and when Jon texted he was on his way the three of us made our way off the ship. We had to go through customs but with the facial recognition devices it took just a matter of seconds.

Our timing couldn't have been more perfect. We walked out of the terminal door just as Jon had pulled up. Jon suggested we go to a nearby Holocaust museum but when we checked, it was not open on Saturday. Jon frequently works in Ft. Lauderdale and was familiar with the area and he decided instead to go to a park along Haulover Inlet. The inlet connects Biscayne Bay with the Atlantic Ocean and is known for the high volume of yacht and boat traffic as well as the extreme water conditions usually present. With Jon at the wheel, we were able to enjoy the drive through the Ft. Lauderdale area.

We found a picnic table near the inlet and just enjoyed the perfect weather as we watched the large boats and yachts coming and going. The conditions on the inlet were mild compared to what sometimes occurs. There are many YouTube videos that show boats battling some pretty extreme waves!

Enjoying a beautiful day watching boat traffic at Haulover Inlet.

The choppy waters were nothing compared to what conditions are like sometimes!

Off to explore the area.

Being back in the U.S. gave us a chance to get online and also get in touch with our kids. I also discovered that the Eurodam was making national news with the norovirus outbreak. Whenever cases affect at least 3% of the passengers and crew it must be reported to the CDC and the Eurodam had 79 passengers and 9 crew members who had reported having symptoms. I'm convinced that there must have been many more cases that never got reported. With Bob and I, our symptoms had only lasted a short time and were not severe enough that we needed any medical attention so therefore we did not report that we had been sick.

And according to another news report made by a fellow passenger the Eurodam was nearly banned from docking in Curacao because of the norovirus outbreak onboard. Those of us onboard the ship were never aware that our port day in Curacao had been in jeopardy of not happening. 

When we started getting hungry Jon decided he wanted to take us to a seafood restaurant that he knew about, Tiki Tiki. The restaurant was located right on the inland waterway and we were able to get an outdoor table overlooking the water.

All the while I was keeping close track of time. I had told Jon I wanted to be back at the port by 2:00 and it was after 2 when we walked out of the restaurant. But...we could see our ship from our table and it didn't take long to get back to the port. Jon dropped us off at the ship and returned the car to the parking garage.

There were SEVEN ships at Port Everglades. The Eurodam was at Pier 19 and the lines of passengers waiting to board reached out the doors and down the sidewalks when we arrived. We walked into the terminal and showed our "in transit" cards and breezed right past everyone, through security and onto the ship. Having just had lunch we didn't feel the need to go to fight the crowds at the buffet (usually the worst part of embarkation for me.)

Jon needed to do some work while he still had cell service so Bob, Michelle and I went down to the promenade deck to watch as the other ships left port. Unfortunately all of the lounge chairs had been folded up to make room for the muster check-in stations so we moved up to the Sea View Pool area. We grabbed 3 chairs and sat by the railing watching as each of the ships took their turn going down the channel and out to sea. The Eurodam was the very last of the bunch to leave.

We saw MANY of these sailboat groups being pulled past our ship.

Bon voyage to the Nieuw Statendam!

The Celebrity Reflection heads out to sea.

And finally it is the Eurodam's turn!

Good-bye Port Everglades!

We had reservations in the MDR at 5:30 but we were so stuffed from lunch that Bob called and cancelled them. We sat by the pool until the skyline of Ft. Lauderdale was fading in the distance. We came back to the room and as Bob was just finishing his shower, Jon stopped by to return my cell phone charger that he had borrowed. He mentioned that they could see enough of the sky from their cabin (over the lifeboat) to tell that it was going to be a nice sunset. I grabbed my phone and Bob and I went back up to the Sea View Pool. We got there just in time to get some photos!

Jon and Michelle came soon after and we ordered pizza. After eating we played a couple of rounds of Hand & Foot until my brain couldn't concentrate any longer. Plans were made for our second visit to Half Moon Cay and that was it for our day. I went to bed thankful that Jon was able to salvage our day and turn it into a memorable time for all of us!