"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #121 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida April 30, 2016 Saturday Partly cloudy & 83 degrees 78 Pictures Part #1 of 2

Sent: Sunday, May 1, 2016 7:06:57 AM
Subject: Report #121 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida April 30, 2016 Saturday Partly cloudy & 83 degrees 78 Pictures Part #1 of 2

Today ended one long voyage, but began another short one. We are not quite done yet.

Breakfast was in the dining room from 7 to 9am, so the passengers who were leaving still had time to dine in style one more time. We noticed that more of the new plate ware had been introduced. We had new triangular bread plates and new coffee cups and saucers. Those were plain white. At least our food is the same.

We had booked a tour for this morning, which met in the Wajang Theater at 8am. The tour was the Everglades airboat ride for about four hours. We have done this excursion at least twice in the past, but since it was fun, we figured this would be a good way to escape the ship and all of the disembarkation mess. Most all of the 750 guests and 130 or more of the crew were leaving today, however, we did not have to get off with all of them.

Although we were scheduled to leave around 8:30am, circumstances deemed that we would be held up for about an hour. At one point, the line of guests leaving was held up by the customs and immigration officials, we heard. No one has any control over that. What most people did not know was that our little group was being combined with passengers from some of the other ships in port. There were only ten of us from the Amsterdam that were either going to an airport after the tour, or like us, going back to the ship. Turned out, we were the only ones going back to the Amsterdam.

That meant that the other guests with us had to collect their luggage in the terminal, and take it through customs. Many of them had to lug their bags to the bus, storing them underneath. So we waited on the bus for at least another ½ hour for this process. Finally, all had arrived and the bus was full, and we were on our way by 9:30am.

We headed north to the Everglades, a massive swampland, unique to this part of the world. Took almost an hour to arrive to the Sawgrass Park complex where we were escorted five at a time to fill the seats on an airboat. Even though we have done this ride more than a few times, it was really fun. With earplugs installed, we felt the roar of the twin Corvette engines as we skimmed over the top of the shallow waters. On the way to this park, our guide had explained the science behind the everglades as well as the wildlife that exists here.

Birds, fish, various reptiles, and alligators call this home. We instantly saw cormorants, a buzzard, and osprey flying overhead. In a short time, we saw an alligator slithering across the sawgrass-covered water. The ride lasted about ½ hour, where we were escorted into the animal exhibit. There we were led as a group to see an assortment of creatures that live in the Everglades. The most impressive had to be the 12 foot long male alligator who was well over 50 years old. He was housed with a female, half his size. A naturalist gave an excellent talk about these ancient-looking animals. A display of snakes sent shivers down everyone's backs, especially the huge pythons. Most all of these reptiles were active this morning as they need the sun to warm up.

Further into this park were some smaller gators, tortoise, assorted birds, and even some cats. The most impressive were the full-grown panthers, the male pacing continuously, and the female laying on her side, obliviously unaware of our presence. We saw a caracal, a smaller cat with huge ears, a small fox, a skunk, all of whom were former pets that were donated when they became too difficult to keep.

Also on the property were a food trailer and a souvenir stand, of course. People with little kids were the only serious buyers. Although the snacks of gator bites sounded interesting……….maybe another time.

From here, we headed back towards Ft. Lauderdale with a stop at the International Airport on the way. The majority of guests and their luggage were dropped off at their appropriate airlines, while the next stop was for the two of us….back at Pier 26 and the Amsterdam. The bus continued with about five others who were headed for the Miami airport.

We were back onboard by 1pm, ending around the new folks who were lined up to check-in. Our "in transit" cards gave us the opportunity to go directly to the escalator, straight through the photography set-up, and right on the ship. Always wonderful to hear "welcome back" from the security guards. Also looks like the new group are going to be a lot of fun folks.

There was no Mariner lunch or lunch of any kind in La Fontaine Dining Room. Our favorite sandwich bar in the Lido was gone. We knew they would go back to those pre-made wrapped sandwiches with mystery ingredients. The sandwich bar was converted to the pasta station, although headed up with our sandwich maker. He seemed happy to see us, but could only offer us noodles and sauces. He indicated that the pizza was in the middle section now. We did find three trays of pizza, but someone had left them in the oven too long. Sure did not stop one man from getting his fingers under the glass to pull out a few pieces. Guess pizza is out, unless we see it coming directly from the oven. The problem we see here is that the Lido appeared to be under-manned today.

Our only other lunch solution besides room service, was to grab a burger from the Dive In Grill. Wish it were that easy. No matter when we have gone here to order something, we have had to wait for 20 to 30 minutes. Even if there was not a line, you still waited. So that's one reason we only had two burgers from there in four months. Today was no better. Knowing the drill, one of us stayed and quietly waited it out for one plain burger and one hotdog, no fries. While chatting with the waiter, two passengers took turns loudly complaining about the wait. Guess they had a terribly bad day or two getting here. Anyway, didn't want to say that it probably won't get any faster here. It's not "fast food"…….good burgers and hot dogs, but not speedy.

Did we mention there were a few humongous ships in port today? The smallest was us. The next largest was the Carnival Conquest (2202) at 110,239 gross tons with 3700 passengers and 1160 crew. The Navigator of the Seas (2002) was 137,276 gross tons with 3835 guests and 1185 crew. But the biggest was one of the largest in the world……….the Oasis of the Seas (2009) with 222,900 gross tons holding a maximum for 6360 passengers with a crew of 2164. She has 2704 staterooms, and 1956 of those have balconies. Wow….a monster vessel.

We instantly noticed a few differences from the grand world voyage to this re-positioning cruise, which is not a "grand". The alcoholic beverage policy is different, since only one bottle of wine or champagne (no larger than 750 ml) can be brought onboard at the beginning of the cruise. Anything over that number will be charged an $18 corkage fee, and any wine or champagne bottles purchased in port will be subject to that corkage fee. Or they will take it from you, and return it at the end of the cruise. We have seen this enforced.

A few noticeable changes in staff were Barbara H, who went home, and replaced with Location Guide Wallis. Guitarist Brian and Carly and the HALCats will be entertaining in the Crows Nest at night. A new piano man, Don, has replaced Debby Bacon in the Piano Bar.

"Wash your hands and use Purell" is the only message regarding sanitary safety. No more 48 hour full service dining. Hope people read this notice.

The mandatory muster drill took place at 3:15pm. Most all of the faces were new to us, except one couple, Peg and Rich, surprised us after the drill. They have sailed on many of the world cruises we have done, and will be on the 2017 world voyage as well. Nice folks.

We headed up to deck nine, and eventually deck eight for the sail away after 4pm. Running about ½ hour late, Captain Fred Eversen left the port around 4:30pm…..not bad to have such a complete turn-around with a mountain of luggage to off-load in a few hours. Our hats are off to them.

Following in our tracks was the Oasis, who took a long time simply turning that vessel around to sail out of their assigned dock. She is truly a floating hotel. Looks like things are good for our stop tomorrow in Half Moon Cay, HAL's private island.

Dinner for us was on deck five, table 83, on the railing…..a twosy-foursy, we call it. Table for four, but set for two. We are surrounded by friends Aart, Ellen, and Sandra and Allen, who will all be sailing to Seattle. The entrees tonight were excellent……….the best prime rib so far this entire voyage. Glad we tried it for the fourth time to see if it would be better. Even our tomato Florentine soups were served piping hot. Looks like we will have fine dining for the next two weeks. In fact, there was no changes in the dinner menu that we could see.

The only show tonight was at 9:30pm with cruise director Gene showcasing the entertainers of the Amsterdam…a peek at what will be coming soon. It had been a long day for us, so we did not attend.

Bill & Mary Ann

Sawgrass Recreation Park