Ahhhh...A Good Day

After all that anxiety yesterday, today turned out to be a good day.  Got up early, finished packing, out the door by 9:20 to pick up the rental car in Leesburg.  Lucked out and got an upgrade...a full size Kia Optima with more than enough room to fit our luggage.

We were on the road by 10:45 and it was smooth sailing all the way to Ft. Lauderdale with several potty and snack stops along the way.  Arrived at 3:15 at the Hampton Inn on 12th Street and were welcomed with a smile and a confirmation of our late checkout...yeah!!   The weather was absolutely beautiful down here and couldn't wait to head to the pool to relax.  Obviously, that's what Bill needed too!!

Once we had chilled, we headed to Slackers for dinner, a nice little sports bar in the adjacent strip mall that had gotten good reviews on TripAdvisor.  (The owners are obviously from Wisconsin!)  And the reviews were spot on...the food and the service were great.  Plus a bonus...on Tuesday nights, they offer free bingo with prizes for the winners.

I won some Slackers bucks, which helped to pay for dinner, and Bill won $25 toward another meal.  Guess where we're going for lunch tomorrow??!!!!  What a great way to spend 3 hours and to start off our vacation!

So, it all worked out well today.  The drive was easy, the hotel is nice, dinner was great, bingo was fun.  Can't ask for a better day!  Tomorrow we're planning on hanging out at the hotel until 2 tomorrow, then off to eat a light lunch (with our winnings!), return the rental car and head to the pier.
Can't wait to be on that ship tomorrow :)

Anxiety Producing Day

Tough day today.  The Caribbean Princess was scheduled to leave the Port of Houston yesterday at 4 PM and head southeast to pick the rest of us up in Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday.  Well...I'm sure many of you saw the news today and how horrible the weather was in the Houston area yesterday and today.  They received 16 inches of rain in 12 hours and the winds were blowing intensely.

When we went to bed last night, the ship was scheduled to leave at midnight.  I awoke at 2 AM and checked the port webcam and the ship was still there. And at 8:30 this morning when I got up, it hadn't moved!  Still at the pier, surrounded by fog and torrential rains and winds at 45 knots.  The Houston port had closed the channel.  In fact, all morning we sat and wondered what effect this was going to have on our boarding the ship in Ft. Lauderdale.  And our stay at the Hampton Inn in Ft. Lauderdale the night before.  Would the ship be able to leave Houston at all today?  Should we book another night at the hotel?  And what to do about the car we were renting to get us to Ft. Lauderdale...book another day too?  

Around noon we got an email from Princess informing us that due to bad weather, the ship was stuck in Houston and our embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale would be delayed.  No, they couldn't tell us how delayed.  Thanks :(    We still didn't know what to do about our plans.  Keep them, change them.... AGGGGHHHHHH!!!

Finally, around 3 PM we got word from the fellow passengers on board that we were following on Cruise Critic that the weather had cleared and the Captain was "Going to make a run for it!"  That followed with an announcement that the ship would leave momentarily and would be docking in Ft. Lauderdale at approximately 2 PM on Wednesday.  Now at least we had something to work with.  

I've now made arrangements with the Hampton Inn in Ft. Lauderdale to get a late checkout of 2 PM on Wednesday and have added additional time to our car rental.  And we just heard from Princess that embarkation will begin at 4 PM, so that works out great for us!    We'll check out of the hotel, drop off the rental car and then catch their shuttle to the pier.  That should put us at the pier around 3-3:30. Yes!!

Now...what's that old axiom about "best laid plans"??!!  

A New Adventure Begins

A New Adventure Begins:

We'll soon be starting another wonderful adventure that we've been awaiting for about the past year.  We decided last year that since both Bill and I would be hitting major milestone birthdays (Bill turned 70 at the end of 2015 and I turned 60 yesterday) we should celebrate by taking another great cruise.  After searching, we came across this British Isles 18-day Transatlantic Passage.  It fit the bill completely, especially since we decided to add in Paris at the end!Everyone knows Bill is a history nut, especially when it comes to WWII.  And this cruise provided the opportunity to stop in Germany and go into Berlin, as well as visit Normandy during our port stop in France.  He's in his glory.

For me, the cruise provides a chance to tour Liverpool and see all the spots that those mop-top Beatles grew up and became famous and to see more of Europe.  But when we added on four nights in Paris at the end of the cruise, I was in my glory!  A true bucket list item and the best birthday present ever!!

This will be our 2nd transatlantic cruise...the first heading Eastward.   We leave from Ft. Lauderdale on April 20 and won't return home until mid-May!!   Our home for 18 nights is the beautiful Caribbean Princess, a ship that we have had the pleasure of sailing on three other times.  We're looking forward to lovely breakfasts on the balcony, fun playing games during the day with new friends we have made on Cruise Critic over the past few months, delicious dinners in the dining room and great entertainment.  And lots of time to spend reading, coloring and enjoying the ocean views, as we'll have a total of 10 days at sea.

The weather on this cruise looks like it is going to range from the low 80s in Ft. Lauderdale, to the 70s in Bermuda and then the 40s and 50s in Liverpool and Wales with a good chance of rain there.  More temperate temperatures in the 60s should await us in Germany and France, but it has made packing a challenge.  We've packed much the same way we did last year for Alaska...shorts, capris, short-sleeve shirts, long-sleeve shirts, jeans, hoodies and fleeces.  And, of course, waterproof jackets and pants, because we're not going to let rain stop us!  Add to that dressier clothes for dinner and all the shoes that go with our outfits and it's a lot.  We've managed to get it all in two medium suitcases and two carry-ons.   Add a backpack and tote bag and we're all set!!