Day 01 - 10/07/23 - Embarkation Day - Ft. Lauderdale

 The Big Day was finally here except last night we received an email from Holland America that our embarkation time was pushed back 1/2 hour to 2:10pm.  So I decided to move our shuttle pickup to 1pm from 11am even though it would cost us $5/person. So after breakfast I changed the shuttle pickup time and elected to relax in the room and enjoy the air conditioned comfort of the hotel as we didn't want to risk being standing out in the heat at the cruise terminal.

We highly recommend this hotel (Rodeway Inn & Suites) for a pre and post cruise hotel.  It's inexpensive, clean and neat with free airport and cruise port shuttles.  The attached restaurant had very good food.  The only downside is that if you want to get anywhere, it's a 1.3 mile walk to the Winn-Dixie supermarket, Dollar Tree, and fast foot restaurants.  The pool is nice and there are ample chairs and lounges around the pool plus a number of photo opportunities in the courtyard.

There were a number of folks taking a cruise on the Adventure of the Seas and they pretty much filled the 1pm shuttle.  Another couple sailing on the Zaandam went on their shuttle while we went on a small brand new shuttle with 110 miles on it which dropped another passenger off at the train station and then continued on to drop us off at Terminal 26 at the Port Everglades Cruise Terminal.

When we arrived, there was no one waiting and we were on the ship in under 5 minutes which is the fastest we've ever boarded a ship.  The next part was a bit challenging.  We went to our stateroom 1800 and our keys wouldn't work. So we went to Guest Services and waited for 1/2 hour to receive another set of key cards.  Back to the room and those didn't work.  Our stateroom steward, Yusuf volunteered to get working cards and we waited in the room and watched the mandatory safety video.  He returned with working keys and introduced himself and we had a good chat.

We checked in at our muster station and then had a light snack in the Lido to tide us over until dinner. While there, I called a cruising friend from the Pacific NW, and we had a good chat.   From there it was up to the Crow's Nest to sit and watch the outside before attending the Sailaway Party on the aft deck.  There we met our Cruise & Travel Director, Jeremy, who we have sailed with a number of times and Florian Dragovich, who is our favorite hotel General Manager. 

We were supposed to sail at 4pm, so we went up to the Crow's Nest to watch the sail away.  Captain Ane Smit gave his safety briefing and then announced we would be delayed until 5:30pm due to provisions being loaded for this long cruise. We also decided to purchase the internet package for about $635 each for the voyage.  We have shipboard credit to pretty much cover the cost. 

We waited and watched and finally we departed in the dark at 7pm some 3 hours late.  We went to the LIDO for a quick dinner before attending the Origins presentation on the World Stage by Jeremy.  After the presentation, we met a couple from Rathrum who were originally from Seattle, and had a good chat with them.  They're only on for the first 40 days with Travel with Alan who we've also used many times in the past.

Before returning to the room, we toured decks 4 & 5 to refamiliarize ourselves with the ship..  It had been 6 years since we were on the ship which did a portion of this year's cruise to Antarctica.  I should note that the World Stage is so small compared to all of the recent ships we have sailed on.  The main floor is totally level and no sloped seating areas. Also there is no Billboard Onboard, but there are a few music venues which we'll explore.  The evening entertainment looks nice according to the brochure we received and is now affixed to the wall with magnets.

While we like our interior room 1800, we've inquired about the possibility of an upgrade.  We should know something tomorrow.  So in the meantime, we're refraining from unpacking too much.  Our clocks get set back an hour tonight, and tomorrow is a very busy day.