Leaving Fort Lauderdale

Apologies for the lack of blogging/internet-based contact over the past 36 hours.  The ship's internet has been either very poor or non-existent (e.g. at least 10 minutes to send an email with 1MB of attachments and web pages that take for ever to load and never actually do!).

I’ve also got a problem with the Surface tablet. Having switched it off to give it a chance to clear itself and start again, I now can’t get it to switch on at all.  Each time I try, I get the word Surface as normal but then the horizontal battery icon showing  what looks like a very small amount of charge – and that despite the fact that I have plugged it in, unplugged it etc a number of times.

The AnyTime dining has proved to be a mixed experience, especially if you want a table for two.  It’s not about being social or anti-social so much as you get through your meal faster if you’re on your own rather than waiting for others to order and be served.

On the first AnyTime evening we ended up on a table for two near the entrance to the restaurant and our meal was punctuated regularly by cries of ha-haaaaaaar and/or aaaaargh from Jack Sparrow and his (Asian!!) moll who were stationed at the door trying to persuade unsuspecting diners to have a ‘fun photo’ taken.  For those they only charge $5 so they are reasonable if you get one you like.

On that first night we were surprised at the start of our meal by our waiter coming up behind us and asking us to change tables. It turned out that, quite by chance, Matteo from Easter 2012 was our waiter for the evening.  We asked him where he had been since 2012 and he has been all over – British Isles, Mediterranean, lots of Caribbean and so on.

Now on our second cruise, we’re on our second ‘Unlimited Soda and More’ package - $7 per day plus service charge of 15% and you can have unlimited Coke, Sprite, sparkling water, root beer and some other fizzy drinks, plus free milk shakes, free hot chocolate and ‘mocktails’.  They offer about six on offer and they are very tasty generally.  Considering how hot it is – and the weather on this cruise is noticeably hotter than last week – mid-80s (late 20s/early 30s Celsius) whereas last week it was mid-70s (mid-20s Celsius) – we drink a lot of liquid all day long, so it’s excellent value.

It’s taken a while for us to cotton on to our old trick of having either breakfast (on excursion days) or a pre-breakfast on others in our room, because we actually have it on the balcony where the temperature never seems to fall below about 21C.

Celebrity Constellation leaves just before us – as it did on our first cruise

Holland America’s Westerdam then follows ….

The Sheriff enjoyed playing with his new toy!