Barbi and I had the awesome opportunity to cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Fl to Los Angeles, Ca, aboard the beautiful Coral Princess, Apr 12 - Apr 26, 2009. For us, this may have been a once in a lifetime! The price was one we could not pass up. Because of when the opportunity came up, Monday Apr 6, we were forced in to a knee jerk reactionary situation. Good Think no one was standing in front of me! OUCH! We had to do some quick re-arranging of work and home schedules, but when determination has set in, it turned out to be a no brainer! Thursday, Apr 9, we finalized all plans.
Saturday, Apr 11, our good friends, Richard and Lori, picked us up at 5:30am, heading for the airport on a rainy and cold morning. Because of the late scheduling, Barbi and I were heading out on Southwest Airlines to Orlando, Fl (Using frequent flier tickets). We had hopes of linking up with Elder Bellon, who is serving in the Orlando Mission, but time was not on our side for that. After a change of planes in Denver, and another 3 hours or so, we arrived in bright and warm Orlando, Fl. We picked up our rental car for the short 3 hour drive to Fort Lauderdale, where we checked into the Days Inn. We quickly found out this place was one we wished we had NOT chosen. I have not been in many areas of the U.S. where I did not feel very safe. This has become high on my list. I guess I get what I pay for. At least we had free shuttle from the airport (where we dropped off the rental car) and free shuttle to the cruise terminal, both very close.
Sunday Apr 12 (Easter Sunday). Barbi and I had pre-planned to go to a singles ward close by the Days Inn. When we arrived, the building was undergoing re-modelling, so there was no services being held there. Lucky for us, another young man from Alaska had the same plans, and was pulling in as we were starting to drive away. He must have been an eagle scout, because he had a plan B, just in case. We followed him and his uncle to another ward house 12 miles away, where we enjoyed Easter Sunday services and the sa
crament. From here, we drove to the airport to drop off the rental car. While waiting for the shuttle back to the Days Inn, we met a family who just got off the cruise ship we were getting on. They had travelled from Acapulco to Fort Lauderdale. Apparently the Mexican families had the same plan, as there was a load of kids from Mexico City on the cruise, because of Spring Break in Mexico. They said it was a little hectic at times. Well, after getting back to the Days Inn and gathering our stuff, we finally made it to the cruise terminal.
Princess is awesome. We did not know our stateroom, but it didn't matter. The guys collecting luggage put tags and our name on and whisked them away saying.."trust us." We got checked in, got our cabin assignment and hustled it on-board. We quickly found our cabin Plaza 517 and went inside. Cool room. Mirrors on opposite walls giving an eternity perspective and making the room seem a little bigger. Since this was an inside cabin, we had no windows. We dropped off our stuff and went to the Horizon Court, located on deck 14 for lunch. MMM! Cruise ship food. Awesome! Roast beef and some good salads to start off the voyage. After lunch, we went back to the cabin. Shortly afterwords, ALL of our luggage was delivered. WOW! There were several other ships at the port with us, so when we left at 4pm, it turned into a cruise ship caravan, led off by the Holland America ship, followed by a Celebrity ship, then us. We were followed by another Princess ship .
The fun has finally begun.
crament. From here, we drove to the airport to drop off the rental car. While waiting for the shuttle back to the Days Inn, we met a family who just got off the cruise ship we were getting on. They had travelled from Acapulco to Fort Lauderdale. Apparently the Mexican families had the same plan, as there was a load of kids from Mexico City on the cruise, because of Spring Break in Mexico. They said it was a little hectic at times. Well, after getting back to the Days Inn and gathering our stuff, we finally made it to the cruise terminal.
Princess is awesome. We did not know our stateroom, but it didn't matter. The guys collecting luggage put tags and our name on and whisked them away saying.."trust us." We got checked in, got our cabin assignment and hustled it on-board. We quickly found our cabin Plaza 517 and went inside. Cool room. Mirrors on opposite walls giving an eternity perspective and making the room seem a little bigger. Since this was an inside cabin, we had no windows. We dropped off our stuff and went to the Horizon Court, located on deck 14 for lunch. MMM! Cruise ship food. Awesome! Roast beef and some good salads to start off the voyage. After lunch, we went back to the cabin. Shortly afterwords, ALL of our luggage was delivered. WOW! There were several other ships at the port with us, so when we left at 4pm, it turned into a cruise ship caravan, led off by the Holland America ship, followed by a Celebrity ship, then us. We were followed by another Princess ship .
The fun has finally begun.
1 comment:
It's about time you update this thing! It's weird that it says you did this in May, though, because it shows on my page that you just put it up. Hmmmm!
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