Well, we have arrived to Ft. Lauderdale an hour ahead of schedule, just as Captain Friso had promised. Around 5:30am, the Zuiderdam was pulling alongside Pier 26 in Port Everglades where we started over 4 ½ months ago. None of us can believe how quickly this time has gone by. The trip began as a "mystery" not knowing where we would be going for sure, but even with the changes that had to be made in the itinerary, we feel it turned out just fine. Those folks that decided not to go the Africa route were able to leave the ship in Singapore and receive future cruise credit for their missed days. We feel that was totally fair, but have no idea of how many guests chose to do that.
It looked like it was going to be a nice day with temps in the 90's. There would be passing clouds, but we did not see any rain in the forecast. Good thing because we had already packed the umbrellas and they were gone in the shipped bags.
Breakfast was early for us at 6:30am in the Pinnacle Grill. Not all of our "breakfast club" showed up, since they wanted to be the first to debark. We figured with fewer customers this morning, the service would be perfect. Not really the service, so much as getting our orders right. Starters always are the same with orange juice and Greek yogurt with fresh fruit. Our waiter came along and took our orders, which was done correctly. But we sat and sat, waiting like forever, and no food. Obviously there was a problem since we could see our plates sitting on the end of the counter, but nothing was coming our way. One of the waiters was cutting into the omelette and decided it was not right. Finally he came and said they put the wrong items in it and it would have to be replaced. Fine, but in the meantime, the other entrée sat there getting cold. When they brought our food, most of it was cold. By then, we just wanted to eat and leave. Bottom line is that their method of serving is not working as we were not the only ones with problems. The same thing happened every day to some folks. It sure worked better on the Volendam when we had one or two waiters and everything was done right. Here, we have 6 or more people involved and it doesn't work some days. We have discussed this situation with Henk, our hotel director, but he claims he cannot change the operation. It has to come from Seattle.
We went back to our room to relax because we knew our group was to be called off last by 9:30am. That's one nice thing that we are not kicked out of our cabin like on other cruise lines. The groups began to be called off by 7am, the earliest we can recall. We watched the activity on the dock and spotted the massive amount of shipped luggage ready to be scanned through xray and loaded into a gigantic van. We assume they drive it to a secured location and will attach the shipping labels when they get them. We could see the regular Luggage Forward tags on some of the bags, assuming they were Neptune folks.
Our veranda was just being hosed and cleaned when our group, green #1 tags were called by 9am. Dedi, our room attendant, came running down the hall and gave us both hugs. Both he and Putu made up for the confusion in with the breakfast today with their kindness. We hope to see them again in the future.
There was a line-up of the Captain, Henk, Christel, Chantall, Maja, and Kimberly – all saying good-bye. We got the best hugs from Christel and Maja, very special ladies. Then we were off to pass through the immigrations checkpoint, but we did not have to stop. Remember, we had already cleared customs in San Juan. With no luggage to drag along, we located our shuttle, boarded the bus, and were the only ones going to the Renaissance Hotel in Plantation. We were there within 15 minutes. Getting off on a Saturday worked out well because there was no commute traffic.
When we entered the lobby, we spotted two groups of guests waiting there to be transferred to the Zuiderdam and the Enchanted Princess. We do know that the Zuiderdam will be going Transatlantic, but not sure about the Princess ship. Despite the fact that we were early, there was a room ready for us. Perfect, we were glad to be rid of our hand carrys. The front desk fellow handed us an envelope with directions for our stay and tomorrow's transfer. When we got to the room, we read the paper, and they had the incorrect air information. Back down to the desk, we located the HAL rep who had a table set up for the outgoing guests. She saw the problem and got on the phone and made the correction with the home office we assume. She re-confirmed the flight and gave us a 4:30am pick-up time on Sunday morning. Honestly, we have never had such problems with the air arranged by HAL, and hope nothing else changes in the meantime.
It was already 10:30am, and we figured we may as well start our hike along the canal and head for lunch, which would be at Chili's on University Avenue. It's quite a walk, but we made it there by 11am their opening time. We did see a lot of birds, a few lizards, and no snakes or alligators, which could be sunning themselves on the concrete walkway. We searched the trees for iguanas but saw none. The air-conditioning never felt so good when we entered the restaurant. The combination of the heat and humidity is a killer. We were given our favorite sodas, followed by two more each. Yep, it was that hot. We ordered salads, one of which was the quesadilla explosion with crispy chicken. When it was served, there was no chicken. The manager said they were having internet problems and the kitchen had not gotten that message. Gosh, the snafus were following us all day it seemed. When the manager brought the chicken, he doubled the amount which was shared by both of us. Really good too. We thanked him and were on our way, back onto the heat by noontime.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent in the comfort of our room with a view. It was the perfect time to catch up on news as well as reports and photos.
Since we will need to wake up at 3am, we figured we better get something to eat earlier, and not our usual 7:30pm dinner. When we stay at this hotel, we always take a stroll to nearby Bokampers, a sports grill and bar. Instead of turf and surf or escargots and liver pate, we wanted something totally opposite. That turned out to be chicken and cheese nachos which we shared of course. It went quite well with the 22 ounce draft beers of Kona Big Wave. A slice of Key lime pie was just enough to end our fun meal.
Back at the hotel, we got our stuff back together, so we can meet our driver at 4:30am in the lobby. We know the drive to the Ft. Lauderdale airport is short, but we will be there in plenty of time for a 7am flight – straight through to San Francisco. It will be great re-connecting in person with family and friends. In the meantime, it is early to bed for us to get our beauty sleep.
We will be back with a final report once we are home and settled in. So stay tuned……
Bill & Mary Ann
