Ship to Shore - Nov 05

We arrived into Fort Lauderdale in the wee hours of the morning. The ship, with it's 5600 passengers, would be disembarked in an orderly manor based on selected departure times. Our departure time was set for 09:40 so we had lots of opportunity to relax.   Patty & Guy posted that they had already arrived at the airport by 7 am. ! They were well on their way.

We did a final pack then went topside for one last walk around the upper deck. It was very quiet although the crew was busy getting the ship ready for the next cruise.  Great views of the port and surrounding area.

View from the balcony.

Flags are flying!

We texted with Bryan and learned that disembarking was delayed quite a bit. With the ships crew on the dock at 4am to clear immigration and the first groups left the ship at 6:15, things slowly ground to a snails pace when the Coast Guard decided to have the crew do a simulated emergency. Great timing. Anyway things eventually started to move and we got off the ship at 10:30 am.

Bryan was texting updates as they departed with pics showing long lineups. We finally made it into the terminal and started our bag search. The baggage was placed into numbered sections so we immediately looked for #53.... I couldn't find them in the area that was between 52 and 54... nothing! Kelly tried next and found out that there were two #53 sections and our bags were in the second one.

Once we had the bags our Nexus/Global Entry had us bypass huge lines of people and through Immigration & Customs very fast. Bonus!  We exited the building to a huge downpour of rain. What the H E double hockey sticks!!  We grabbed our Arcteryx jackets and away we went!

A cab ride took us to the Hollywood Beach Marriott and we quickly checked in, acquired internet connectivity and then headed down for lunch. We ate in the Latitudes Bar and the Calamari was great! 
 
The weather looked threatening but we strolled down the boardwalk anyway. Lots of shops and bars but the skies started to open up so we ducked into the Landshark's Bar & Grill... perfect timing in my book. Drinks and a short break allowed the weather to pass and we soon returned to our walk south.

Kelly bought a small suitcase to help fit all the stuff we are bring back with us. The skies opened up once again and ... yep you guest it, a bar appeared!  

The Boardwalk with weather starting to threaten.

Great mural in the stage area.

The rain passed through and we headed back to the Latitudes Bar at the Marriott. Kelly dropped off the bag and we had a beverage (happy hour) before walking north. We found a geocache in the area then strolled the beach.  

Not sure if I could hang on?

Kelly dips her toes into the Atlantic.

Beach views.

We enjoyed the beach walk then headed back to the hotel to relax. We had a special "sun screen" cocktail in the room and got caught up on the internet.

Turns out that Cathy and Bryan ended up missing their flight (due to the late disembark) and were still at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale! The folks at Air To Sea rearrange their flight and they now leave FLL at 9:20 PM and arriving at YYZ in the wee hours of the 6th. Ouch! Feel for them. Bryan says they will still make their ferry as they have a "reservation" :-) He is so confident!

Kelly and I relaxed in the room and then decided to head down for dinner. All good. We are dragging pretty good now with yet another time change tonight as we move our clocks back again! Arghh

Oh well life goes on :-)