Day 15 - Fort Lauderdale

Today was a comedy of errors and problems.  It was raining in Fort Lauderdale when we arrived.  We were up in plenty of time to have breakfast, return to our staterooms, and pick up all the rest of our belongings to head to the Princess Theatre for preparations for our tour in Fort Lauderdale.  We were supposed to be there at 8:00, and arrived about 7:45 am.  We sat and waited for a long time, and with the ship in port, the air conditioning didn't seem to be working.

Princess Theatre Where we Waited

More and more people came, filling up the Theatre.  Initially, there were people for 3 tours there, but then more people started showing up for the next set of tours.  Then, one of the excursion staff came on to let everyone know that all the tours had been cancelled.  We assumed that this was because of the rain, but as far as we knew, the tours were booked as going, "rain or shine".

As it was, there were people going on tours because they wanted to be dropped off at the airport, so these people still had to be accommodated.  Those going to Miami were provided with transportation, first.  Then, the rest of us who were going to Hollywood Airport in Fort Lauderdale were called for our bus.  We were going there, because that is where I had made reservations to pick up our rental vehicle.

So, on the bus we went.  It was still raining, but the temperature was in the low 70's.  When we got to the airport, we had to walk quite a way with all of our luggage, until we were able to find the rental place.  We had to go up a couple floors on the elevators, and finally found the Hertz place.   It was pretty busy, and took quite a while.

Finally I got up to the counter, and the girl was very nice.  I explained who I was and that I had a reservation.  She clarified that I had reserved a full-size car.  Then I dropped the $64 observation.  We were 4 people, and we had a lot of luggage.  I pointed to where the rest of the group was waiting, and she said there was no way we could get everyone into a car.  So she looked for a mini-van.  They had one available, but there was an extra daily cost for it.  I took it because all of us were tired of waiting around, and Lloyd was beginning to get a migraine headache.

Once I collected everyone, we walked out into the parkade and found our van.  It was pretty nice, and all of us were able to sit, as well as bring our luggage (once we figured how to lower the back seats).  I hooked up the GPS, and off we went.

Dawn and I needed to find a bank or ATM so we could pick up some more cash.  We were driving around looking for one, and when GPS Jill found us a place, I jumped on the brakes and turned into the place where she said there was one.  There was quite an awful noise from the front wheels, so I figured there was a problem with the brakes.  As well, the ATM building was closed, with a "For Lease" sign on the window.

We figured we should take the van back and get a replacement, so had Jill look for another Hertz location.  There were quite a few, and we went to the nearest one.  Of course, it was on the other side of a major road, so Jill took us on a short tour to allow us to use stop lights to get going the other direction.  Once there, I went in.  Don't you know it that they didn't have any vans for us to exchange.  He didn't think I would find a location close by that had any vans, either, so suggested we go back to the airport and make the exchange there.  So, that is what we did.

I had to take it back to the Rental Returns area, and from there, they told me what to do.  The girl on the computer there, couldn't access the part of their program that indicated the vehicles that were available, so I had to go back into the rental area, to go through the process again.  The line was quite a bit longer than it had been earlier, so there was a considerable wait.  Once I got to the front, the exchange was made pretty quickly.  I was able to drive to where the other van was with all our luggage and the rest of the group, we moved everything over, and left again.  This van was a little fancier, and it took some time to figure out most of the switches and buttons.

By this time, Lloyd was really not feeling well, so we thought we should head for the hotel.  It was about 1:00 pm, and we hoped we could get in.  I found a TD bank on the way, and once I was able to get across the main road, I went in and used their ATM.  Success.  This part worked.

We got to the hotel, and Karen and I went in to register.  We were told that the rooms were not ready yet, and that they wouldn't be available until 3:00.  So, we decided that we should go and get something to eat, and went to a place suggested by the hotel, who had given us a 10% discount coupon.  It was a good restaurant, with a big menu.  We ate pretty well, but Lloyd was looking pretty uncomfortable.  When we had finished eating, it was 3:00, so we headed back to the hotel.  This time we could check in, and got ourselves into our rooms.

We were pretty tired, so Dawn had a nap, while I looked for tickets to the Florida Panthers home opener.  The building was almost full, according to Ticketmaster, with mostly single seats available.  I was finally able to find one section that had a small selection of seats, but we decided that we weren't that interested in going to the game.  There was a game on TV (Pittsburgh in Philadelphia), so we watched that, sometimes through our eyelids.

I guess we will have to speak with Karen and Lloyd to figure our plans for tomorrow.  We were thinking about driving down to the Florida Keys, but if Lloyd isn't feeling better, we may change those plans.  We'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out how it goes.  Until then ...

Jason, our Stateroom Steward