Emerald Princess - Embarkation

Today, there were 8 ships in port.  Three of them were Princess ships:  Emerald, Caribbean, and Grand.  A very busy and crowded day!

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, I had to make a quick walk to Publix to look for a beach bag.  Another item I forgot to pack for this trip.  I walked into Publix right after they opened and found a pretty decent bag for under $20.  It felt funny to be running around in the early morning before our embarkation.  It’s so not like me to be this disorganized.  I had a funny feeling this has to do with that age-thing. 

We checked out of our room a little before 11am and joined a large crowd waiting in the lobby and atrium.  There were at least three groups representing three different Princess ships that were leaving the hotel today.  Once I identified the Emerald Princess rep, I signed us in and received a numbered ticket that designated the Emerald Princess group.  I walked over to one of the conference rooms and located and acknowledged that our luggage was there.  Around 12:30pm, we were gathered and loaded onto a Cabana bus.  Thirty minutes later, we were off to the Port Everglades.  The Caribbean Princess was at berth/terminal #2 the closest terminal to the main gate.  Our ship, Emerald Princess, was at berth/terminal #21.  Another 10 minutes and we were dropped off at terminal #21.  We waited for the bus driver to remove our luggage from under the bus.   He then gave us the signal to leave the bus and identify our luggage once more (to make sure it will get onto the ship).  It was easy to identify ours as I wrapped bright orange shoe laces on the handles.   

We acknowledged our luggage and proceeded into the terminal.  There were two long lines.  I pulled Hubby into the Priority Express Line as we are Platinum members.  At first it was a bit confusing as both lines didn’t seem to move at all.  Then both lines started to move.  Once we got beyond a long wall, that’s when we noticed the other line had several zig-zags before getting to security.  There was a lot of people in that line!  I was so glad to be standing in ours, as it was a straight line.  They had to shut down security as there was a large backup (people) upstairs in the Princess check-in area.  We waited 10 minutes before the line started to move again.  Once we passed through security, we headed upstairs.   

The left check-in area was packed with people waiting again in several lines.  I looked to my right and saw the Elite/Platinum check-in area.  There was hardly anyone on this side.  I grabbed Hubby who was heading to the left side and pulled him over to the right side where another Princess rep was standing.  She checked to see if we were Elite or Platinum members and pointed to the empty check-in area.  This was the first time where being Platinum members really worked for us.  The check-in took less than 5 minutes and we were heading to our ship!

We had our embarkation portrait taken and then proceeded to get our security picture taken for our cruise card.

Our mini-suite cabin was D622 and located towards the back of the ship on Deck #7 called Dolphin deck.  Our cabin was located a few doors before the back stairs of the ship.   This cabin location was the furthest back of the ship we been since cruising with Princess.  It was also located across the main crew entrance way where the most of the luggage for Dolphin deck port side came through to be delivered to the cabins.  The entrance way was also where most the port-side room stewards use to get their carts in and out.  Later, during our cruise we could hear the carts in the early morning hours coming out of that doorway.  I could hear the glassware clink together.  It was an issue with us, just noticeable.  We were also close to the Launderette which came in handy over the next few days.  

It was close to 2pm and we headed up to the Horizon Court buffet for some lunch.  Wow!  It was crowded.  

We walked around the ship, so I could take some pictures.  

The aft  pool area

Port side of the ship

Our hallway on Dolphin Deck 7

I knew we had to be back in our room after 3pm to get ready for our mandatory muster drill.  When we got back, our luggage was already in our room.  I checked our Princess Patter and muster was set for 3:30pm.  When we heard the 7 short and one long blast of the horn, we grabbed our life vests and headed down two decks below to our muster station.  We were fortunate to find seats in the Crown Grill restaurant.  Yes, that is our designated muster station.  They gave us a demo of how to put on the life vests and how to jump off the ship if needed.  All in the comforts of the restaurant.  If this was an actual emergency, the Princess guides would escort us out of the restaurant and into our designated life boats. 

We were back in our cabin in time for sail away at 4pm.  A Holland ship was the first to leave.  They were tucked away in the farthest berth/terminal and had to back out in front our ship and then proceed forward through the port channel.  Then it was our turn.  The captain, Tony Draper, blew the ship’s horn.  The Princess ships have an awesome sounding horn.  It is deep and long!  Not the wimpy horns we have heard from other ships. 

We were on our way!

I don’t remember too much of the unpacking.  I knew our room steward, Robert, was keeping an eye on us.  He was waiting for us to unpack, so he could “refresh” our room for the evening.  The unpacking was a long drawn out process for me.  I was inside our room removing items from the luggage and then I was outside on our balcony taking lots of pictures.  Then I was back inside and then outside.  By now you got the picture.  What should have taken an hour to unpack ended up taking almost 3 hours. 

Oh yeah, I also logged into our Internet accounts and signed up for our free Internet minutes.  We each received 250 minutes for 10 days for free.  Can’t complain about this wonderful deal! 

We left our room to let Robert do his thing.  We ended up back at Horizon’s buffet for a light dinner.  Or so we thought it would be.  They were having their Bon Voyage buffet. 

After dinner, we wandered around the ship.  Visited several shops to see what they offered.  Did some people-watching and then headed back to our cabin around 9pm.  We could feel the ship rocking a bit.  We were at home at sea. 

A Princess Patter with a list of tomorrow’s activities had arrived in our mailbox.