March 25, 2019

Fort Lauderdale to home

I awoke at 4:15 after 2.5 hours of sleep.  I could see the lights of Fort Lauderdale outside my window but I tried to go back to sleep.  I gave up just before 5 and got dressed and went out on my deck to see the sail-in. 

I was then able to go back to sleep and slept until about 7:30 when Linda announced that we had a parting gift as we left the ship.  Many people had been upset that there had not been any shirts, sweatshirts, hats, etc. with the name of this grand voyage and a map of the itinerary.  From what those who had been on many grand voyages said, HAL always had these for sale on previous ones.  People were especially expecting to have them available since this was Prinsendam’s last grand voyage before she is turned over to her buyer, Phoenix-Reisen, on July 1.  I thought Linda said there would be a bag with a T-shirt, hat, and mug in it as we left.  Either I misunderstood her or I got a bag without a mug but I was happy to have the T-shirt.

Processing of the crew by CBP had been delayed by about 45 minutes so the first call for passengers was late.  I was very surprised by my being called (Pink 3) right after those able to self-disembark (carry all their own items off).  The letter I had received said 7:45 to 9:15 but with no specification as to a specific time.  I did not rush but did get my things together in case the stewards wanted to come in and start on the cabin.

One last visit to my deck for a few final pictures before leaving.  When I came back in, Pat and Tom were just leaving their cabin so there was time for a final hug and good-bye.

Once in the terminal I rounded up my luggage and found a porter in a few minutes.  I also stuffed some last-minute things that did not make it in the suitcases last night into my FedEx bags.  I did not have to fill out a form saying where I had been or the value of items being brought back into the country.  Anyone know if the US government is no longer doing this?  

The porter got my cases and box to FedEx and then took me over to the taxis.  In about 20 minutes (lots of traffic) I was at the airport.  I knew I had to pay for my extra suitcase and was thinking about this when I realized I made one of the worst mistakes I have ever made when traveling – I had forgotten the small suitcase that had been one of the pillow gifts in the terminal! My first thought was to call HAL but I had no number for them.  There was nothing to do but to go back to the cruise terminal. 

I was hoping to check-in my large suitcase but it was too early so I had to drag it and my carry-on and my 10-ton handbag downstairs to where I could get a taxi.  There was a miscommunication with the taxi driver.  I had said I needed to go to Pier 26 and he thought I had said Pier 66, a hotel.  Luckily, he was able to switch lanes and get me back where I needed to go although he did go out of the way.

Then I had to find someone who could help me.  I knew I could not go back into the terminal once I had left (just like at an airport) but did not know with whom to talk.  After being sent from one person to another, the fourth one was able to help.  At first, he said I would have to wait until all the suitcases cleared from the hall.  There were lots of people still getting off the ship so I knew it would take some time but it was not yet 9:30 and my plane did not leave until 1:55. The man who was in charge, Lee, got on his walkie-talkie and passed the information about the bag to someone inside.  In about 5 minutes, a lady came out rolling my bag!  I gave her many thanks and a hug.  Another one of the employees helped me get the three bags back to the taxi rank.

By 10 am I was back in the airport.  I had already gotten my boarding pass and luggage tags (a very nice JetBlue employee helped me when the machine I was using refused to work) so I put them on and checked them in.  My large case came in at 48.6 pounds.

Since I have global entry, going through security took no time at all.  I was in a different gate area than last year where I had found a good place to eat and planned to eat there again.  Instead, I ate at a Jack Nicklaus restaurant.  It was the only sit-down restaurant in the gate area so I had to wait about 10-15 minutes for a table.  The food was fairly good but the service was horrible.  I guess the servers felt they were never going to see the customers again so they were not in the least friendly or even pleasant.  There was a lady at the table next to me and she and the waiter got into a shouting match as to whether another table had been there less time but already had their food.

There were still about 2 hours to kill after I finished eating so I finished my book and then deleted some junk e-mails and played some games on my iPad. 

Boarding started at 1:20. We were all on the plane when Adam, the pilot, came out of the cockpit and announced we would be slightly delayed because the pilot’s oxygen mask was not working.  He gave the news in a funny way and the lady next to me and I agreed his part-time job must be as a comic.

The ride had a few bumps (we had been warned about this) but was not bad at all and we arrived only a few minutes late.

My daughter was waiting for me and my two bags (yes, I remembered to get both of them) were among the first to be delivered to the conveyor belt.

Unfortunately, I got home too late to watch Prinsendam make her final sail-away from Fort Lauderdale on the PTZtv webcam.

A couple of last thoughts…

For those who have been reading throughout the voyage, you will have heard me talk a great deal about knitting.  I ended up finishing 3 shawls, 1 stole, 2 baby beanies, 1 pair of adult socks, 1 pair of baby socks, and two pairs of children’s mittens.  I also have another shawl that is a couple days away from being finished.  I will be ordering my swift tomorrow.

Every cruise I come home thinking that I will never have such a great one again.  However, each cruise turns out to be the “best” for one reason or another.  For this one, it was having a group of friends with whom to do things and go places.  We had a lot of fun and often laughed until it hurt.  Luckily, we have booked another cruise together to let the fun times continue next year.

Next up:  I have no cruises booked until January of next year (unless the Publishers’ Clearinghouse van shows up at my house) when I will be on the world cruise.  In December I will post the address of the new blog on here so, if you signed up for e-mail notifications, it will come to you.  I also will be doing a “Live” thread on Cruise Critic again.

Many thanks to all of you who have followed along and I appreciate all the nice comments.

Smooth sailing until next time!

Final views from my deck

Last minute gifts

T-shirt and hat

itinerary on the back