# 2: We Made It!

The uncertainty of not knowing if we were going to make it here is well and truly forgotten by now and 31.5 hours after we left home, we arrived at the Plantation Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, our home for the first 2 nights of our big adventure.

Cat naps along the way don't really give you the sleep you need and neither of us are good at sleeping on planes, as you can imagine we were pretty shattered!

When we went to check in, we were informed that there wasn't a room booked for us at they were full, not the news we needed I can assure you!

Alana and Dan were already at the hotel and because it was so late, they were asleep in their room. Alana had done all the bookings for accommodation, so it was a quick call to wake here up to see if she could shed any light on the booking situation. Down she came and in a very forceful way, (including what the receptionist described as profanities😁) secured our booking! After 6 uninterrupted hours sleep, we are up and about with no time to waste so it was breakfast and then a day's shopping at one of America's largest outlet shopping malls, Sawgrass Mills. This probably wasn't what I needed today but I must admit I did secure some bargains! From there it was back to the Hotel, freshen up and meet in the bar before heading off to another first to watch the Miami Dolphins play the San Diego Padres, my first game of live baseball and I loved it!

We had to try and get a good sleep before heading off early to register and get onto the Celebrity Eclipse at midday.

We were very pleased that Alana and Dan had cruised before as we really had no idea in what to do. There are queues in all directions, and it depends on what class your booking is as to what queue you belong in. It is here where you hand over your Passport for the duration of the cruise. You receive a Celebrity Cruise card that you should wear around your neck, (with a lanyard) or carry with you for the entire trip, even when you disembark at each location you need this, and you don't need your passports at all.

We got some excellent advice before the cruise and that was to make sure you booked a cabin with a balcony and to always get a "drinks package" included in your fare. I've passed this advice onto many since, and it has always well received. The main reason is that you don't pay with cash on board, so everything gets charged to your Celebrity card, I've heard horror stories of people nearly having a heart attack when they get their room account before disembarking at the end of the cruise! No nasty surprises for us though and we were also lucky and somehow, we got upgraded to Aqua Class. This meant that we joined Alana and Dan with some special privileges like access to most of the "Elite" restaurants onboard and also free access to the spa services.

It was all arranged that once onboard we were to find our cabin, (11th floor on the Port side for us) then to meet down by the pool area for a cocktail or two, have a swim and generally relax until the ship sails that evening. I must admit, this was all very exciting and getting into our cabin, opening the ranch slider out to our balcony was a bit of a "pinch me moment" and I had to take a minute to reflect on what our life has been like for the last 3 years and convince myself that we weren't dreaming! Everything was so beautifully appointed, not just in our cabin but overall, throughout the ship.

We finally got down by the pool area and secured a couple of deck chairs by the edge of the pool. We were just lying there waiting for that rest of our touring party to arrive when I looked over and saw my sister Karen and hubby Dave, my suspicions were correct! They hadn't seen us at this stage, and I pointed them out to Mary. Although Mary has been very sick, she never lost her sense of humor and has always been quite a crazy woman at times. On this occasion she sneaked around behind Dave and whispered something in his ear that nearly made him fall in the pool! 😁😁 It was good to have them touring with us and brought our touring party to eight in total, I feel that it is better to have a group of you as not everybody wants to do the same things so you can have some doing one thing and others another, without upsetting anyone!

The rest of the afternoon was spent just relaxing, we probably had more than the two cocktails I suggested earlier but we weren't driving the ship, so it didn't matter😁At about 6pm the ship was getting ready to depart and this was to become one of my favorite parts of cruising. We were all up by the side of the ship and watching with anticipation. Fort Lauderdale is a mecca for cruise ships and the gateway to the Caribbean. Another "pinch me moment" as we're finally on our way!

Next episode in two days!

Mary and I with Karen and Dave, they thought they would surprise us on the cruise!