Rob, Chris and Doug had arranged a driver to take us all to the port this morning. They arrived in two Suburbans. One was used totally for luggage and the other for the rest of the luggage and the six of us. The check in at the ship at 11:30 was fairly quick and we all met up at the the buffet on the tenth floor for lunch and to wait on the rooms which were not available until 1:00.
I found out my dive trip scheduled for 12:30 in Cayman has been switched to 8:30. I hate to get up early on vacation. Oh well.
Our luggage
was delivered to the room quickly and we unpacked everything and stowed the luggage. Now we are officially ready to cruise.
The boat drill was held at 3:45. After the drill we all went to the 11th floor deck for the sail away party. It always strikes me that when these ships leave you never feel it. You only know it by looking out at the pier or can see the wakes made by the thrusters. There is no sense of any movement.
Leaving Port Everglades is really lovely. The ship turns around then heads out through the straight and passes some high rise condos then a beautiful stretch of beach running as far as you can see. By then the ship is beginning to pick up speed as it 
heads out through the channel markers. The Coast Guard boat constantly patrols around the ship as it is leaving making sure no other boats approach it. From the 11th floor it looks like a little toy boat that you could control with a remote. However, there is a sailor standing behind a machine gun on the stern of the little boat. I have to wonder if it ever really came to it, would they even have bullets in the gun? Probably. I am going to keep that thought.
At 7:30 the Pied Piper group with which we are traveling had a welcome cocktail party in the disco. We ran into several cruisers that we had met on previous cruises.
Our evening sail was extremely nice. The weather has begun to warm up and as we sail through the evening, the lights of the Keys are on the horizon. We will be sailing along the keys until we clear Cuba. Then the ship will head south until it reaches Cayman on Wednesday morning. As I write this we are ready for bed. An early evening tonight. Tomorrow is a full day at sea. Rob and I love these since you can do as little or as much as you want. The ship’s schedule is always packed with activities, but tomorrow will be an easy day to relax. We will be meeting up with Chris, Mark, Doug and Tom for lunch. That is all we have planned. Tomorrow evening will be our first formal night so the men will get spiffed all up in their tuxes and the ladies in their gowns. It really is a nice tradition on these ships even if it does require another suitcase for the formal wear.
A nice first day at sea.
Monday, February 19, 2007
