FORT LAUDERDALE – APRIL 27TH

More than 400 passengers disembarked the Pacific Princess in Fort Lauderdale, having started the World Cruise from there, whereas we began in Los Angeles and will end in Los Angeles.  

I always find it remarkable, or maybe it’s just human nature, but we see the same people day in and day out, over the course of more than three months, and nothing will be said.  (It’s impossible to have discussions with every single person on the ship even though there are only 600 of us onboard.)  However, on the night before disembarkation, there will always be people who will start talking to us or expressing happiness that we’ll be staying on with them for the next segment even though we’ve never spoken before.  I think a sociologist would have a field day studying the microcosm here onboard which very much becomes a “them” and “us” atmosphere in the last segment. 

Here’s a perfect example.  Almost every evening before dancing, we sat and listened to David Crathorne on the piano in the Casino Lounge.  A most unpleasant looking couple sat in the Lounge at the next table throughout the last three months.  We often remarked to one another how unhappy they seemed and barely acknowledged the music or the performance by David.  Well, the night before they disembarked in Florida, the woman came over and asked Michael if he had a fear of heights.  She was quite gleeful and told us she and her husband had seen us in Singapore (on March 5^th!) and saw that I was on the walkway between the huge trees at the Gardens by the Bay while Michael stayed below. She said they tried to find us after the light show because they wanted to share a taxi back to the ship with us but couldn’t find us.  Now why hadn’t she said something almost two months ago?  After she left our table, Michael was stunned when I told him she and her husband were the couple that had been sitting next to us for three months.  He couldn’t believe it.  He didn’t recognize the person who sat each evening scowling as the person who was quite animated in her memory at the Gardens by the Bay.  Go figure.

Another more unpleasant reality occurs at the start of this segment from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles.  Apparently, Princess has a “fire sale” for this segment and people snatch up this segment for a very cheap price.  As a result, the entire atmosphere on the ship changes “big time” according to our most traveled passenger.  A sense of decorum and manners seem to elude the new passengers. 

People are far less friendly – they’ll pass you in the hallway and say nothing; or they’ll be in the elevator when you enter and won’t greet you;  or pass you on the stairs and barely respond when you say “hello”  --  and they’re much bigger drinkers.  The other night, one surprisingly older couple could barely dance a slow dance and had to actually stop for a couple of seconds to catch their balance.  One of the woman’s flipflops came off her foot and she hadn’t realized she was dancing barefooted until the song finished, looked down, realized her flipflop was missing and stepped over and put it back on.  

While in the Casino Lounge listening again to David, a couple came in, the woman removed her shoes, and barefooted went into the lotus position on the couch and proceeded to pick her teeth with a toothpick.  Michael finally suggested we move before the “root canal” began.  

But, while we were in port, there were a few interesting things.  As we returned from checking in with U.S. Immigration, we saw lots of loading of produce, food, etc. on the pier as well as a Brink’s and another armored car with a guard carrying a sidearm.  I always wondered where does Princess get all those crispy new bills when we ask for change onboard and, sure enough, they obviously get a truckload of money in certain ports, Fort Lauderdale, included.  

As we were leaving Ft. Lauderdale around 5 p.m., we stood on our balcony as the Captain made our way out of the port area and he had already advised over the public address system that he would blow the horn as we passed this huge condominium complex on the port side of the ship, just to annoy the inhabitants.  Apparently, he’s done this a few times.  We had a good laugh as we passed the complex, listening to our horn blowing, absolutely sure that the residents were not all that pleased. 

MICHAEL’S OBSERVATIONS:  The morning we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, I decided to take the shuttle bus Princess had arranged for transport to the Galleria.  Being a late riser, there was only two other people on the bus which took about 20 minutes to arrive at the Galleria.  The Galleria is a high-end mall which includes the likes of Neiman Marcus.  When I arrived there, I saw that there were a number of fellow passengers who had arrived there hours before to do some walking and shopping.  

As I walked to the entrance of the Galleria in the underground garage, I noticed that there was a man polishing the rims on a high-end vehicle.  Apparently, for a “mere” $125.00 you can bring your car and get it detailed while shopping or dining inside the mall.    

Being a notorious window shopper, I came away with only bath gel and proceeded to the garage level to catch the shuttle back to the ship.  The trip back was a little longer than the trip over due to the heavy traffic.  The bus operator finally decided to take a detour away from the congestion and through some of the high-end neighborhoods.  When I say “high-end” I’m talking about homes with a canal waterfront in which the owners moor their yachts like we would park our cars.  Truly amazing.  We also passed many beaches were spotted with lots of umbrellas and a lot of fair-skinned people who were enjoying the sun.

When I ran my pack back through the scanner onboard, the gal asked about the “bottle” I was carrying.  (They’d move a hand grenade in order to locate booze in your luggage here on Princess.)  When I told her it was merely “bubble bath”, she looked at me with a stunned look on her face and I passed through without a problem.  One of the crew members is always assigned at the entrance to the ship to confiscate any booze purchased in port that’s been identified by the scanner.  After all, cruise ships make their money from sales of booze onboard.  Of course, if you keep it, you must pay a corkage fee; otherwise, they’ll hold on to the bottles until you eventually disembark. 

All in all, a very short but fun trip.