Because of the Norovirus on board the crew were doing an extensive clean after last cruise passengers disembarked and before the next cruise passengers embarked. All passengers like us who were doing back to back cruises were classified as "in transit". These passengers were held in the Michelangelo Dining Room until we were called to disembark to get the ship down to a zero passenger count. We all had to go through immigration on Florida soil. J, JG and P were returned to the ship within half an hour where they were housed in Club Fusion where a few sandwiches and juice and coffee were offered. JG did homework , P played Nintendo DS and J read or visited with other in transit passengers.
I chose to exit the terminal to walk a kilometre or so to some nearby stores to replenish supplies - sunscreen and personal packs of hand wipes for instance! When I returned two and a half hours later I saw the lines the embarking passengers had been enduring while the clean happened. Not a great way for them to start their cruise by waiting in line an extra two hours I was able to bypass most of the lineups by showing my in transit pass.
Once back on board, all afternoon activities were delayed - like the muster lifeboat drill and the first seating of dinner which was pushed back about 15 minutes. I was hungry for the first time in 10 days because I had skipped lunch while shopping!
I was glad to have Internet service in Fort Lauderdale because I had to resolve some matters with the kids "Soda and more" stickers on their Cruise cards. The cruise card acts as your room key and charge card while on the ship. My sister gave the kids a Christmas gift that allowed the kids to order any non-alcoholic drinks they want. Princess charges for pop, milkshakes or blended drinks (in addition to alcohol), so JG & P were given a sticker on their cruise card to give them unlimited soda and more! Our second leg of the cruise required a new cruise card and that card was missing the sticker. Good thing I have such a close relationship with my travel agent (thanks Laurie!) because she emailed me the necessary documentation to straighten it all out.
A word of advice, take paper copies of everything you book and pay for in advance with Princess! My kids were happily slurping Virgin piña coloda's and strawberry daquari's at supper!
I had the mundane chore of doing laundry today. Two loads of laundry for $8 and we have a full clothes selection again!
After supper we saw the Welcome Aboard show in the Princess Theatre that included the comedian magician Gary Carson. He will do a longer show two nights from now and the kids definitely want to see him again.
At movie trivia we scored a reasonable 24 out of 36. Some keeners had a perfect score to win!
Clocks move ahead tonight so already 11:30 pm! A day at sea tomorrow!
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