Day 8 - Turn-Around Day, Fort Lauderdale

Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013

It was a long night.  Neither of us slept too well.  It was like working when we knew we had to get up, and we kept worrying that that alarm wouldn't go off.  We arrived in Fort Lauderdale around 6:00 am, and the ship was tied up by 7:30.  We had to be up because we had a tour booked, and we had to be ready to get off the ship by 8:20.  Didn't want to miss this, as there were no refunds.

Anyhow, we made it to the bar where we were to wait to get off the ship and board our bus.  Dawn and I had gone down there without Karen and Lloyd, and they didn't show up until almost too late.  It seems they were trying to get in touch with us at the room, and couldn't find us, either.  I guess there was a communication problem, but it all worked out in the end.

Air Boat Tour

Then, we boarded the bus, and drove off to the Air Boat Ride tour.  Our tour guide was a little Swiss fellow, who talked a lot, and kept repeating himself.  He was very happy to have us there, and to see that we were speaking English.  He knows five languages, but he doesn't often get to guide English speaking guests around.  We must have heard this ten times over the tour.  It was quite funny.

Air Boat

Our Air Boat ride was 30 minutes long, but they didn't crowd us onto the seats too tightly.  There were four of us along one seat, so both sets of us were fairly close to the edge to see and to take photos.  It was an interesting tour and we learned some interesting facts.  The Sawgrass everglades depth of water is usually about a foot, but right now it was about 3 feet due to another area being drained into this one.  The everglades are fresh water, and they are where Fort Lauderdale gets their water.  The water is actually a very slow moving river, not a swamp.  The sawgrass that grows in the everglades is three sided, so as our tour guide on the boat said, "three chances to cut yourself".

Big Alligator Right at the Boat

The guide boasted about knowing where there was an alligator, and he promised that when we got there, he would call, and the alligator would come right to our boat.  Well, he called, and she came over.  Got some really good photos, and one that we will likely enlarge and frame - it is great.

Alligator Presentation

Could Get His Face Eaten Off

Once back on shore, we went to the alligator show they had there.  The fellow who was running the show, pulled a large alligator out of their pond, sat on his back, pulled its head back, and did a number of things.  It must have been dangerous, but he didn't make it seem too bad.  He did talk about not saying goodbye if something happened, so he said goodbye at that time.

It was a Big Alligator

Then it was on our way back to the ship.  We had to stop at the airport to let off passengers who were leaving the ship and flying out.  Then we returned to Port Everglades.  It was busy once again, and there were about 7 cruise ships in port.  We were parked in the same spot we got on last week, with teh Oasis of the Sea right across from us, another Celebrity ship at right angles between us, and a couple ships across the pier from us.

We did go up to the buffet for something to eat.  We thought it wouldn't be too busy at that time, because the new people hadn't boarded yet.  We were wrong.  Lots of them had already boarded, and everyone wanted to get in their first lunch (I guess).

Dawn and I went back to our cabin, and basically spent the rest of the afternoon there.  We were tired, and lay around, waiting for the football game to begin, and for the ship to sail.

Beach Toward Miami

We sailed shortly after 4:00 pm.  It is amazing how they can move this big ship around in such tight quarters.  We got underway, moved away from the pier, got turned into the channel to open water, and generally enjoyed ourselves.  There were people fishing on the breakwater, and waving at the ship as we went by.  We could see the beaches really well towards Miami, and they sure looked inviting.  The skies were pretty clear, and there were lots of boats out on the water.  A really pretty sight.

Hotels on Ft. Lauderdale Beach

Once out of the channel, we turned southeast, sailing towards Miami, this time.  By now, the football game was beginning, so inside we went to watch Baltimore and Denver duke it out.  The score was tied at the end of each quarter, and into overtime, Baltimore finally won on a Peyton Manning mistake.  A tough one for the Denver fans who were on the ship - some looked really unhappy.

By this time is was almost 9:00, so we thought we should get something light to eat.  We went up to the buffet to see what was on the menu, and decided to stay there.  After eating, it was back to our room to watch the next game, Green Bay at San Francisco.  It was another of those games that was back and forth, for a while.  However, Green Bay couldn't stop San Fancisco's quarterback, and in the end, we were asleep before the game was over.

Another day complete on this great adventure.  Tomorrow, a day at sea ...