On Sunday, July 15, we woke up at about 3:00am to catch a 6:00am flight at O'Hare Airport. Our flight was wonderful with no problems, and we really enjoyed the MD-80 we flew on. We arrived at Fort Lauderdale right on time, and met with the Princess airport transfer person. While waiting just a short time to get on the bus for Port Everglades, we overheard a couple talking to the Princess transfer person. All 3 of their checked bags were lost by the airlines! We felt so bad for them! Unfortunately, we don't know what happened to them or their bags. That is always a terrible fear for all of us!

We arrived at Port Everglades around noon. Waited in a quick line, and embarked the ship within an hour. We walked passed the first photo opportunity on the gangway. I didn't feel like it because I was hot and had been through it before. (That wouldn't be a pic I would want to purchase. By then, all makeup was worn off anyway.) :blush:

We dropped off our carry-on luggage in our room on the Dolphin Deck. Our room number was D218. It was nice, just as we expected. We had the same room last year. We were greeted by our room steward, Restituto, or Rusty, as he liked to be called. I don't think he ever slept. He was great and welcomed us back on board after checking our cruise card and noticing it was gold. (I felt so special!) He gave us our champagne and we checked out the room. I noticed that our itinerary had COMPLETELY changed. It really was not a big deal, but I was only expecting one port change. Had to make some adjustments to my own schedule that I brought with. Like to write down the ports, places to shop, things to see, etc. I am an organizational freak. Mike, my hubby, has learned to ignore my OCD. After a few changes to the schedule, we went off to eat lunch. We had our lunch at the buffet. Not totally impressive, but I love their soups! Read more