Emerald Princess - First Day of Our Adventure

We were so excited when we woke up at 4 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7, to get ready for our 7 a.m. flight out of BWI. It was a good thing we left as early as we did because by the time we got to the gate the flight was almost done boarding! Soon we saw a beautiful sunrise as we settled in for our 2 1/2 hour flight.





The flight was fine and a break in the clouds showed we were just about there!




We had our bags in hand by 9:30 and got a cab to the Marriott Courtyard Ft. Lauderdale Beach
which I had booked thru Priceline at $175. (Regular price was $250!)





We figured there was no chance we could get into our room that early but luckily people were checking out for their cruises that day and we got right in to a 5th floor corner room. Boy were we suprised when we saw we had big L shaped windows and one view was of the beach and the other view was of Port Everglades and there in the harbor sat our sister ship The Ruby!







We relaxed for a bit and then talked to the concierge who directed us where to wait for the Sun Trolley and for $1. each you can ride it as long as you want. We went up and down Las Olas Blvd. and saw lots of cute boutique shops and restaurants and ended up eating at a place recommended by a few people on Cruise Critic message board called, Mango's. It was yummy!
We noticed that if we walked out the back door there was a sign pointing to the canal and a Water Taxi stop. So we strolled up there and decided to take a ride on the water. Now the one thing I wasn't prepared for was it was pretty chilly for FL and the wind was making it feel even colder. Luckily the Water Taxi was prepared and were handing out blankets you could wrap around your legs which I gladly took! We stayed on for the whole 1 1/2 hour loop and had a great guy on the microphone who gave us lots of scoops on the various mansions on the canals and other interesting history and info.








By then we were feeling pretty tired and got back to our room in time for a little rest before meeting up with Bruce and Cindy who lived very close by. (Bruce and we go back to college days!) In our room we watched The Ruby sail away and couldn't believe it would be us doing the sail away tomorrow!



Bruce and Cindy took us for a great dinner to the Hard Rock Casino complex where we caught up as much as we could get in. It turned out to be a great time and we all agreed we couldn't wait so long in between visits!

It had been a long day but it was hard to fall asleep with all the thoughts of what was to come!