The internet has been so slow over the past few days, so apologies that the posts have been rather slow.
Today we were booked on a tour to visit the Sawgrass Recreational Park in the morning and then the famous Sawgrass Mills Outlet Shopping Centre in the afternoon.
We had been warned numerous times by passengers who had transited through American ports that the immigration process can be quite daunting - our group met early and went onto the shore where we showed our passports, Visa waivers and transits cards - however we were very pleasantly surprised with the warm welcome from the officials as we walked to the processing desks - another lane was opened as we approached the queue and we were waved over to the front of the new lane - the passports were stamped and we proceeded through - and off for our tour meeting point - very uncomplicated - luckily we had everything in order.
Every passenger had to be processed off the ship before anyone was allowed to return to the ship - they had to wait in a holding area if they wanted to return before the immigration process was complete. Despite many notices and even a message from the captain in his broadcast, not everyone was prepared with the paperwork. I met up with an elderly couple in the computer room in the evening who had paid for their visa waiver through their travel agent but they didn’t have the printed out hard copy - don’t know how they got on in the morning process - but they asked me if I could help them get one - they were trying to find out how to get their printout but didn’t have the reference number - and the form is needed to get processed into Los Angeles in a few days time. I wasn’t sure what they should do - the Computer Manager changed in Fort Lauderdale, and so one of the first requests for the new guy was trying to help them and he was very patient.
There were a few hiccups initially with the tour company that we had booked with - but we ended up having a great day - doing exactly what we had planned. Apparently, the company she had booked with in February had gone out of business - and Miguel, a poor guy from the company who had taken over the bookings turned up - with a bus that looked like a converted motor home - when he asked for the money so he could buy the tickets for the airboats - Joanne showed him her receipts the we had payed in full - he was expecting to be paid in cash by us - so many phone calls went back and forth between driver and the owner of the original company - we got the impression that Miguel was also being conned - but to his credit - he provided the service that we had paid for - we had originally decided that we wouldn’t be tipping the company - but we all felt so sorry for Miguel so he probably got more in tips than any other driver.
The first stop was at the Sawgrass Recreational Park for an airboat tour over the everglades to see the alligators. Our group was in the first boat of the day - our guide was Captain Bob - is every boat captain in America called ‘Bob”?????? He has been working in this area for more than 30 years and was passionate about the restoration of the ecology of the area.
The water is very shallow, and unlike crocodiles, the alligators lie just below the surface, with their head protruding. The airboats are ideal for this water system - because they don’t have a motor under the surface - they have a very large fan in the back - everything in the boat had to be securely stowed - and hats had to be removed since any flying objects can be sucked into the fan and cause the boat to crash. We headed off at high speed across the water through the oceans of saw grass - ‘Captain Bob’ told us that if we touched the grass it would cut through our fingers - the edges are very sharp - hence the name ‘saw grass’.
When the bus returned we headed to the outlet shopping centre - the women were more excited than the men - don’t really know why the men weren’t so enthusiastic. We drove up to the centre - covering a huge area on one level - we decided to syncronised our watches to be back in three hours - and took a photo of the shops next to the entrance - there are so many entrances spread out over many acres, and it would be very easy to get lost.
We had been looking for new Skechers ‘Shape -up’ sports shoes - they have a more rounded sole which rolls with the foot as you walk - they are supposed to be good for muscle tone - and we need all the help we can get!! Seriously, they had been recommended to Arnold to take the pressure off his Achille’s tendon which is still causing problems. They were half price and then the second pair was half price again - so we were pleased with our bargains. We had to stock up on toiletries we are running out of, so after lunch we found good old Target.
I wanted to get onto the internet so spent about an hour in Starbucks, while Arnold found another massage to relieve his leg pain. I had some banking, emails, etc to do so I was very happy to get them done, without using up my minutes on the ship - we started with 4000 minutes and we are now down to less than 1000 with more than 30 days to go so I will have to be faster - sometimes the internet is so slow, I have to learn to just get out rather than waiting for things to download - maybe it is faster in the middle of the night???
I type my blog in word first, and then connect to upload but it can still take about 20 minutes to cut and paste and then add the photos, so it doesn’t take long to go through the minutes.
Many of the group used the time to get haircuts and colours and nails done - it can be so expensive on the ship - so any opportunity on shore is taken up. We plan to spend more time shopping in LA or Hawaii, so weren’t too worried about getting much - although the Aussie dollar is finally working in our favour - at one time in the past when we were in LA, the exchange rate was around 53 cents per US dollar, so with the rate at about 1.08 to one US dollar, we are doing very well.
There were so many shops with great prices that it was a bit daunting - the three hours went so quickly - and we realised that we had about twenty minutes to get back to the meeting point which was at the furtherest point of the centre - we looked like a couple of ‘crazies’ running back through the crowded centre, pushing a trolley - got back just as the bus pulled up!! Back on the bus it was ‘show and tell’ time as we displayed our purchases - some even had large suitcases on their laps!!
As we returned to the ship, a massive storm with very heavy black clouds was building - we went up to the Riviera deck for the sail away party - and watched the storm come in as we headed out quickly, beating it before it reached Fort Lauderdale - other passengers, who had been further away from the port, said that they went through a very severe storm as they returned. We met up with a group of friends for sail away drinks, and then had a very casual dinner on the deck - no one felt like getting dressed up for dinner.
We knew that this is hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico, and had seen news reports that a storm system was developing in the area. The Captain announced that Tropical Storm Emily was building in the exact route that we were to follow, many ships had already changed course and that we were changing course and itinerary to avoid the area - the call to Cartagena in Columbia has been cancelled and been replaced by Colon in Panama - located just at the start of the Panama Canal, where we will spend the night before our transit of the canal on Saturday morning. I will have to google ‘Colon’ (I think that it is actually spelled with two dots over the second ‘o’ and pronounced Cologne) to see what there is in the town, so we can plan a tour on Friday afternoon.
Cheers
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