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We walked this beach this morning
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Something we noticed about three days while sailing towards here, there was a lot of green matter in the water. We figured it was some kind of algae bloom. Anyway, this same stuff was washing up with the waves all over the beach. Kind of glad we did not plan to swim today, although there were a ton of local sunbathers for as far as we could see. One of us has a hobby of saving small jam jars of sand with seashells from beaches and deserts all over the world. The sands of Ft. Lauderdale Beach added one more to the collection. The funny thing, is that this sand has been imported from China, according to what our guide told us last year. Who knows, perhaps it came from the Gobe Desert or something?
It was getting close to noon, and we had spotted a possible place for lunch...somewhere that we have been wanting to try for awhile. It was PF Chang's, an Asian restaurant. But first, we needed to buy a few things at Publix, which was right across the street. Doubt we will be able to find the kind of crackers we like on the way to San Diego. Finally, we went to lunch, and were pleasantly surprised with the food. It was great. We ordered crispy Vietnamese veggie spring rolls and a plate of BBQ ribs to share. Both starters were finger-licking good. Since we were not at dinner, we could pick up the ribs and eat them, sauce and all. They did supply an ample amount of hand wipes.
By now, it was nearing 2pm, so we went back by taxi to the ship. Even this early in the afternoon, the traffic was heavy. The ride was $25 with a tip this time, but still well worth it.
While reporting our internet problem with Christel, our friendly guest relations manager, several other "world cruise" subjects surfaced. Henk (her spouse), our equally as friendly hotel manager, happened by, and joined us. We discussed our concerns about special treatment of certain demanding individuals (passengers), thus creating the atmosphere of a two-class ship. By the way, we are not alone with our constructive criticism, as many other longtime HAL guests have witnessed what we have. Agreeing with our comments, they will try to remedy this situation in the future. Whether they can or will follow up on it or not, well that is to be seen. And that's all we will say about that for now.
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| Tern |
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Pelican
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tern
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| Bird |
The first request of the day was to attend the mandatory muster drill at 3:15pm. This was our fifth and last drill of our voyage. Guessing by the number of folks surrounding us by lifeboat number 6, we would say they were all from Canada. This is a popular itinerary for our northern friends, since they sail back to where most of them live. So far, we have not seen many kids, but the average age of the guests has dropped significantly. Kind of nice for a change, because this crowd may be the partying and gambling crowd. Good for business so to speak.
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| The sailaway party |
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| Serving appetizers |
The sailaway party was much like the ones on the world cruise, if you are looking for comparisons here. Many drinks of the day. blue coco mojitos ($5.95) were being served, as well as appetizers passed around to guests on the aft pool deck. A new group, Darlene and the HALcats were playing poolside, and the folks were loving it. Now we can watch a much younger group of ladies dancing to the up-to-date tunes. At the same time, a solo guitarist, David, entertained the people in the Crows Nest at sailaway time.
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| Darlene & The Halcats |
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Two dancing ladies
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Watching for the lines to drop
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Finally droping the lines at 5:30pm
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The Amsterdam departed the pier about an hour late, but Captain Fred Eversen, our new commander, announced that we should still be on time at our frst port of call in Half Moon Cay tomorrow. That suits us just fine.
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| Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale |
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| Pier building |
Checking out the entrees in the Lido for dinner, we were happy to be greeted by the kitchen workers who thought we had gone home today. You never think they notice the passengers, especially us, since we never eat dinner in the Lido, but only check out how the food looks. There were not much changes in the entrees, except there was only one fish item. The rest looked the same.
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