Dec. 31, 2017 - Boarding the Carnival Conquest

Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017

We were up at a decent time and down for breakfast together, this time. I made better choices this time, and wasn’t overly full. Then back to our room, get our suitcases packed up again, put on our baggage tags so they would know where to deliver them, and then wait for the bus to the ship.

We were supposed to load at 12:00, but one of the buses went to the wrong hotel, so we weren’t ready to leave until 12:45. Our boarding appointment was 12:30-1:00, so we were late and had to wait in the regular line. Still, we were on fairly quickly.

We found our cabin, and then had to wait for the bags to arrive, so we went for a look around. It was a fairly nice day, warm and mostly sunny. There were 4 ships in dock when we arrived. We saw a lot of the sights of the Port, which we had seen before a few times. Things didn’t look a lot different.

Then we thought we would head back to the room to check on our bags. Dawn’s was there, and her backpack, but mine and the CPAC weren’t delivered yet. She began unpacking. My suitcase arrived a little later, but still no CPAC machine, which worried us somewhat. Our room steward (Erwin) arrived and introduce himself. He assured us it would be there before tonight.

Then the evacuation drill, which was somewhat a joke. We stood around for a long time, and then people wouldn’t stop talking when instructions were given. Finally we were released and allowed to carry on with our sailing. We were in our room when we notice that the ship was moving, so stood on our balcony to say farewell to Ft. Lauderdale for about a week.

The tour company had a Welcome Reception for us in one of the bars at 5:00, we got our t-shirts, had our drinks, met some more people (most had been on one or more of the other tours, but a few were just starting out), and basically had a conversation. Then it was down a deck to the restaurant for dinner.

Our whole group had a number of tables (there are 85 of us) in the same area. Our friends from Windsor (Carl and Martha) are with us, another couple from Kamloops (Anna and Al), and three other couples who we know, but aren’t sure of their names. Our server is Waian from Indonesia, and his helper is Ilona from Minsk. He is very slow and not overly organized, so it will be difficult to get through our dinners in time to return to the hockey games, once they start for us on Jan. 2.

The dinner took a couple hours to get completed, and then we went back to our cabin. We decided not to participate in the New Year's Eve celebrations. We were tired, and just wanted to rest and relax. Watched some TV, then off to bed. Tomorrow we will be in Nassau, Bahamas.

Dec. 30, 2017 - Fort Lauderdale

 Saturday, Dec. 30

A fairly quiet day today. We slept in to catch up on some sleep. Finally got up to go down for breakfast which closed at 10:00. Dawn didn’t make it, but I did. Scrambled eggs, waffles, sausages, fruit salad, juice, and coffee pretty much did it. There was far more to select from, but I couldn’t see taking so much that I couldn’t walk.

After we got ready, we went for a walk to see the area around the hotel. We weren’t sure what we were going to see, so didn’t know what direction to go. However, we found some stores and souvenir shops and looked through some of them. Bought a few postcards so Dawn could send a note off to her friends.

Then, back to the hotel to read and write, and generally rest up. We had to be down in the lobby at 5:00 to pick up our tickets to the hockey game, and get boarded on the bus, so we were a bit early. Lots of folks there already.

View From our Seats

Then it was off to the BB&T Arena to watch Montreal play Florida. It is quite a place. Our group was booked into an area called Lord Stanley’s Loft which was located on the 300 level. It took a while to find how to get there because it wasn’t on the regular 300 level, but just above it. Entrance there allowed one to get buffet food and water or pop. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast so were quite hungry.

When Dawn saw how steep the steps were, there was a bit of panic, but we finally found our seats, got out our shoe horn, and squeezed into these narrow, confining seats. There wasn't a lot of leg room and the seats were quite low, so my knee quickly got sore

 We did have a pretty good view of the ice, though. We were sitting higher than the top of the clock and it was like watching the game on TV, but it was easy to follow the play. The game started out well with Florida scoring first. The first period ended 1-0, and the shots were even (13-13).

Famous Names in the Rafters

Florida started playing harder in the second period and really outshot the Canadiens. They pretty much stifled Montreal, not letting them get too many opportunities. They have a good defense, preventing Montreal getting in close to Reimer. They seemed to be able to get in on Price for some good shots, but he pretty much held them off.

Front of the BB&T Arena

Finally, the Panthers scored another goal and then Montreal started to press as we got close to the end of the game. This allowed a number of odd-man rushes, but Price wasn’t letting anything in. He was pulled with about 2 minutes remaining and Montreal put on lots of pressure but nothing. They did stop Florida from scoring a couple times, but that was only going to help if Montreal scored. They didn’t.

Then, back to the bus and off to Ft. Lauderdale and our hotel. We went to our room and got ready for bed. I was able to get the Blazers game in Everett on my iPad, so we listened to the second period. It was 1-0 Everett when we started, and we shut it off at 5-0. Sounds like we weren’t very good luck for any of the teams we were hoping for.

Oh well, we are off to the ship tomorrow and the beginning of our cruise.

Oldest Building in Miami

Dec. 29, 2017 - Flying to Ft. Lauderdale

After getting up at 5:00 in a hotel room in cold Toronto, we had to get back to the airport for the next part of our journey to Florida. The temperature was about -13C and it was chilly again. Our shuttle to the airport left shortly after the breakfast area opened so we didn’t get breakfast at the hotel. The shuttle was quite full with lots of suitcases filling the suitcase area.

The ride to the airport was about 20 minutes, and traffic was pretty heavy for 6:45 in the morning, but who cares; I wasn’t driving and we got there in plenty of time.

When we got to the airport, there were many kiosks to print our boarding passes and luggage tags so we got to one. We were already checked in due to flying yesterday from Kamloops, so it was a fairly simple process. It is far easier after doing it a few times in the past, too. From there, we had to go and unload our baggage, which was also electronic. Put your luggage on the belt and if it was okay for size and weight, scan our boarding pass and away it went.

Then on to security. Of course, we went to the domestic area first, so had to get out of line and then find the security area. Not too far though. The lineup wasn’t bad and within 15 minutes we were through. We thought we should find our boarding gate first, so we did. Once we were in that area, we decided to have something to eat at a crowded little fast food area.

Then, we had about an hour’s wait until we boarded our plane. It was a 737, smaller than the one we flew from Calgary on, but we fit, so all was good. We were late leaving the gate because they were waiting for 2 people who were on a connecting flight. I don’t know if they made it because I don’t recall anyone getting on while waiting. Then, off to get de-iced. That area was busy and it took about 20 minutes to get there and get cleaned off (it was lightly snowing at that time). Finally, we were in the air and on our way to warmer temperatures.

It was a 2-hour 47-minute flight (they said) and we read and watched a video on our tablet (had to have the Westjet Connect app which I had downloaded onto my iPad last night). Again, basically coffee, pop, and/or pretzels for snacks. The coffee was great (it was McDonald’s coffee which I like anyway, but. they only came by the one time so no second cups).

Landing at Ft. Lauderdale

Arrived at Fort Lauderdale at about 2:00, found our luggage, and then off to wait for the shuttle to the hotel. There were two other couples (1 from Kamloops and 1 from Salmon Arm) who we have been on our World Junior trips with before in Toronto, and we all got the same plane to Florida and are at the same hotel. I guess that is the way it works when going to the same place and same cruise.

We got our car to the basketball game in Miami. The driver was 20 minutes late picking us up, but we got there in time. It was fun, of course. Entering an arena, braving the crowds, finding the souvenir shop and buying some things, then finding our seats are all things I look forward to. We were in the 100 level, so fairly close to the floor (but far higher than any place in Kamloops) and behind the net that Miami shot at in the first half.

Warm-up at Miami Heat

The game started well but then fell apart. Miami couldn’t hit any long shots (I think they were just over 3% for the night while Brooklyn was over 47%). They also didn’t appear to be able to defend against Brooklyn, either. All in all, it was quite a thumping. One highlight was the Miami coach having a temper tantrum because the refs didn’t seem to be calling the game equally; lots of fouls for Miami, and few for Brooklyn. After that, it seemed to even out a lot, and calls began going both ways. However, Miami missed quite a few free throws, too.

Some pretty important names

It took a while to locate our driver after the game, but we finally did and were on our way back to Ft. Lauderdale. While on the freeway, we almost got nailed by a car that came across a couple lanes, smacked into the cement guard, then spun around and smacked into it again on the other end of his car. Our driver managed to slow down enough and pull way over so that we didn’t get hit, but it was really close. He was shaken, and so were we.

Then back to the hotel to find out Canada had lost in the shootout to the USA, so all in all, not a great night. Oh well, tomorrow we go to see Montreal and Florida play hockey, and the next day off to the ship. Better things are coming.

Outside of American Airlines Arena 

Oldest Building in Miami across the street from Arena