Departure Day

Date:  Jan. 9, 2007

 

Location: Fort Lauderdale

 

Next Port:  Princess Cays, Eleuthera, Bahamas, Jan. 10, 2007

 

Quick Summary:  We are on our way!  All of our luggage arrived and it fit easily in the stateroom.  We cast off from Ft. Lauderdale at 7p.m., saying goodbye to the USA for 111-days. 

 

Report:  We enjoyed breakfast at the Four Seasons with Joyce Kliger, our travel agent.  She had flown down from Detroit to see clients off who were traveling on both the Voyager and the Mariner. We were joined by Joan and David form Hilton Head.  We thank Joyce for the beautiful Italian leather journal with our names embossed on it. It’s a beautiful keepsake in which to record our experiences.

 

Then it was just a fairly quick mini-coach ride to the Voyager in Ft. Lauderdale. The embarkation was a breeze. Since we had all been checked in the day before at the hotel, we just had to pass through a magnetometer, take an escalator up to the gangway and be greeted on to our new home with a glass of champagne.

 

Though the staterooms weren’t ready, we took a quick peak – and liked what we saw. It is quite roomy, the marble bath is very nice and the walk-in closet very accommodating.

 

We did a bit of exploring on the way down to reception.  There 20 minutes later we met two friends from Chicago, Sue and Tom, who were able to join us on the Voyager for lunch. They are spending this winter in a high-rise condo that overlooks the port where they watch the comings and goings of all the cruise ships.

We explored the ship with them and then had a delightful lunch from the buffet on teak tables around the pool. It was really nice to be able to share this departure-day experience with them.

 

Then it was off to our stateroom to unpack. We were relieved to find that all six bags from Chicago had already been delivered. As we were unpacking them and stowing things away, the bags that we brought on our flight were delivered from the hotel.

 

The Captain came on the address system to tell us that our departure was being delayed two hours until 7 p.m. It seems after arriving early that morning the ship had been locked down for some time for its annual Coast Guard certification inspection. That delayed the provisioning and luggage delivery for a time. Plus, because of the extended nature of the cruise, there was just a lot of stuff to put on board. In fact, earlier in the afternoon, we saw them putting on a dozen on so large 8-9 ft. crated trees or ficus plants. The live flower arrangements and plants throughout the ship are amazing.

 

After we got everything put away, our stewardess (yes they still use that term), Cecilia, took our three largest suitcases to store them until they will be needed again in April. The others fit under our bed.

 

We enjoyed our last cell phone calls with our daughters and son-in law – Kristin in New York and Heather and Ron in San Diego.

 

Then it was off to the Observation Lounge for a celebratory glass of wine as we pulled away from the dock just a couple of minutes after 7p.m. Finally, after more than 12 months of anticipation and planning, we were underway! It was really good to feel the sea swells once again.

 

We had dinner in Compass Rose with two other couples – Jerry and Nancy from Florida (friends from the day before) and Norm and Shirley, from Philadelphia. We turned in shortly thereafter, with the balcony door open and the bow waves lulling us to sleep. Guess the bottle of champagne that was in our suite will have to wait for another day!

 

Karen and Larry