Embarkation Day

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Delta arrived a full half hour ahead of schedule in Ft. Lauderdale! Since Debbie was due to come in at the next gate I was going to wait for her at the gate but since we got in so early I went to baggage claim. It was a good thing I did
since they were removing the bags from the carousel already and stacking them up in a corner. I gathered mine and found Debbie's flight was on time and she was at baggage claim quickly. We got a cab and were at the port quickly. We met a
nice couple while waiting in line to board. We boarded the ship by a little after 2 to champagne and a porter to take us to our stateroom. We check out our room which is small compared to Carnival's and try to figure out where we are
going to put all of out stuff. In comparing this ship to the Splendor and Valor, this ship is in need of cosmetic refinishing and it is disappointing. The staff is very nice and accommodating but I am missing Freddy. We get our luggage quickly and get unpacked after the lifeboat drill and get ready for sail away and dinner. It is so windy here today that all ships that have gone out the channel have struggled against the waves. For those that have sailed from Ft. Lauderdale, these huge ships do not use tugs to move them but today the wind is so strong that tugs are
used by all of them today. We started to pull away from the dock and the back end of the ship swung out and the bow was still at the dock and we stayed that way until the tugs could get it controlled. We watched the Emerald Princess go out of the channel and struggle and list in the waves. Then it was our turn and before we got very far we were and rolling and we had the first medical emergency of the trip. Debbie and I were on our way to the champagne bar and the paramedics with stretcher ran by us. We haven't heard what happened. We ordered Chandon and met our cute waiters Norman and Jaboc. They were fun. We went to dinner and are seated with a couple from Germany who speak no English!

This is amusing to say the least and we are trying to explain to our waiter Dipak and his assistant that they don't speak any English and they are looking at us to be communicate to them...right! I had fish and Debbie had the vegetable kabob and they were both good. We got a creme brulee to split so we could taste it and it was yummy. We went to the casino and played 3 card poker and our dealer was Rachael who was a fun person but that was not our night to play and we played slots and then got some tea and went back to the cabin. With all the motion, I was asleep while Debbie was reading the paper for the next day's activities. The sea settled down some during the night and doesn't seem as windy now.