2015 Christmas Cruise, Day 16

Monday, January 4th.

We were scheduled to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida at 7am.  We dealt with the chaotic buffet (which was not as bad as other cruises had been) and made our way back to the room to make sure we had everything packed.  We made our way to the disembarkation area.  Because we were on an excursion, we had a special meeting place.  We were escorted off the ship and sailed through customs and made our way to the bus.

Island Princess in Fort Lauderdale

Other cruise ships in port

Our tour guide was a little disorganized but still got us to the places we needed to be.  We did get a chance to see the city as we drove through it and received a narrated tour along the way.  then we made our way to a paddlewheel boat that we took along Millionaires Row.

Paddle-wheel boat for our cruise of the inter-coastal waterways of Fort Lauderdale

We saw massive homes of the rich and famous and even some multi-million dollar yachts. The boat had a small snack bar and two decks (second deck not accessible to wheelchairs).  Still, it was very interesting and probably one of the highlights of the cruise.  Once our tour was complete, we headed back to the bus and then dropped off at the airport.  Our tablemates, Skip and Nancy, were also on the tour and staying at the same hotel as we were, so the four of us contacted the hotel and made our way over there on their shuttle.

Bridge up (not something we see in Utah very often)

Homes of the rich and famous

Homes of the rich and famous

More homes of the rich and famous

Yachts of the rich and famous

Yacht of Steven Spielberg

We later took the shuttle down to a shopping center and had dinner at a TGIF (not an impressive restaurant).  Since we had an ultra early flight the next day, we hit the bed early.

Kent on the paddle-wheel boat, second level

Ships log: At 0400 the ship made her final approach towards Port Everglades on a Westerly heading.  By 0415 we had embarked our local pilot who assisted the bridge team in through the buoyed channel towards our berth.  At 0500 the vessel conducted a slow swing to starboard and commenced moving astern approaching berth at Pier 21 Starboard side alongside.

This completed our 15 day cruise with 2 additional days at LA and Four Lauderdale.  We traveled a total of 4,071 nautical miles or 5406 statute miles.