Wednesday - January 05, 2005

Santa's Alive and Well and Living in Ft. Lauderdale

I find our departures to be very exciting events, although I suppose we will become more jaded about that as we go along. Our day in Ft. Lauderdale was very pleasant, with blue skies and 80 degree weather, but one day was all we needed to see most of what there is to see.

It was really quite thrilling to be standing on the bow of the ship with Mike and a number of other hardy souls from various countries, watching the tugs maneuver the ship away from the pier in New York, with the QE2's whistle resounding through my head. We sailed down the Hudson River at about 5:30 pm, with the lights of Manhattan on the left, past the Statue of Liberty in all her glory, and under the Verazano Narrows Bridge. One of the Staten Island ferries came alongside of us and I had this quick vision of Barbra Streisand standing on the bow singing her heart out in "Funny Girl". Now here I was in much the same position, on a somewhat bigger ship feeling equally exuberant, but wisely kept my mouth shut! By the time we went inside, I was freezing cold and ready for the champagne and strawberries that were waiting in our room, courtesy of Cunard Lines.

We spent the next two hours getting ourselves unpacked — and next two days trying to find where we put this, that, and the other thing! This room has more drawers than we know what to do with, which is both a blessing and a curse. Some things we unpacked have disappeared into various drawers, never to be seen again. I told Mike we could call this cabin "The Bermuda Triangle".

Sorry, no celebrity sightings in Ft. Lauderdale, our first port of call, but we did pass by a lot of the homes of the rich and famous on our water bus tour on the canals. One home we passed was so into the Christmas spirit, that the front lawn was decorated with fake snow, Santa and his reindeer, and a huge Christmas stocking! Quite a sight, as you can see from the photo. At first glance, I find it hard to understand why anyone would spend $2 million plus for a home here, but then I suspect it will never be a decision that I'll have to make. There are miles of beautiful beaches and some very fancy restaurants and boutiquey shops in the downtown area, but not much at all if you are looking for something practical, like an extension cord and shoelaces. I think a day was sufficient to see all that there is to see.

We have met a couple of fellows from New York, Daniel the publisher and Michael the retired lawyer, who are great fun and with whom we have had cocktails a couple of times. We were just up on the Sun Deck with them, in Ft. Lauderdale, watching some of the other cruise ships leave as we waited for our turn to go out to sea. As the ships leave the harbor, they have to pass some high-rise condominiums. It was dark by the time we left, and as we floated past, with a Calypso band playing on deck, a number of the occupants were flashing their balcony lights, sounding horns (which the QE2 answered with deafening blasts), and waving flags at us. I don't think the other ships received the same treatment. It was quite a send-off!

And now we have two days at sea before we sail on to Willemstad, Curacao. I am looking forward to that. We enjoyed our day in Ft. Lauderdale, but it's not exactly what I would call exotic. I feel as though the adventure really begins in Curacao. In the meantime, we'll get to know our way around the ship and see how we deal with all this free time and no schedule.