November 23, 2017

   Today is a national holiday in the United States – American Thanksgiving when we start this cruise.  We are finishing this cruise in San Antonio, Chile where it will also be on a national holiday – Immaculate Conception Day.

  We awoke to a partly cloudy sky, a bit of wind and temperature of 77 F.  There had been some rain overnight. We had breakfast in the room making coffee in the little kitchenette. We had bought banana nut muffins and a fruit salad at the grocery store yesterday, since some restaurants are closed for American Thanksgiving and the forecast called for an 80% chance for rain today.

   We went for a walk after breakfast and logging over 10,000 steps in 90 minutes by the time that we returned to the hotel.  Along the route, we saw many small 8 to 10 cm brown lizards scurrying across the sidewalks and some long billed birds march across a road to drink from a puddle.  One of the houses, that we passed, had a large blown up Thanksgiving Turkey on their front lawn.  Most of the homes were modest ranch style houses, but we did notice that on some streets the lawns and exterior of the homes were in better shape than other streets.

  We checked out and waited for the shuttle van to take us to the cruise passenger terminal. The van picked up at another hotel first. Waiting in the van were a couple from Michigan and six Canadians. The journey took less than ten minutes to the passenger cruise terminal. We travelled straight down highway 84 from our hotel, Candlewood Suites. Just as the van was turning into the road into Port Everglades, a few raindrops fell but it turned into a downpour within the 200 meters to the drop-off point, which was covered.  By the time the luggage was unloaded, there were large puddles on the pavement.  The Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas was also in port. The passenger terminals are scattered on the northern edge of the cargo port.

  Larry made sure the luggage was stowed onto a baggage cart before we entered the terminal and got in to the security line. This will be our 8^th cruise on a Celebrity ship and the third time on the Infinity. We have cruised southern South America and the American west coast on Infinity. Within ten minutes we had negotiated security check and were in one of the seven or eight check-in lines. Our line took 65 minutes before we reached an agent and completed the health form, which asked several questions about if you had flu-like symptoms in the last 14 days. We had our photos taken for ID that is connected to our pass key cards. The Passports were not returned. We were advised that the ship will keep our passports for most of the trip and issued a receipt.  This procedure has happened on other cruises when the itinerary visits several countries, but we do not always have a Border Security stamp for each country when the ship handles the paperwork. The last time was in February and March, when we visited Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand. Some passengers did not expect this request and were reluctant to surrender their passports before a thorough explanation.  Besides using the pass key card, known as the Sea Pass, to access your stateroom, it is used to regulate passengers leaving and returning to the ship on port days as well as making charges to your ship account.

   On the way to the gangway, we had our Bon Voyage photo taken against a screen with a picture of the ship. If the ship has onscreen photo browsing, this photo will be used with face recognition software to show all photos taken of us on our TV. Next, escalators or 37 stairs ascended to the second level to take the gangway to board the ship on Deck 4.  First thing, as you stepped onto the ship, was to receive a squirt of hand sanitizer then continue to the doorway where we were greeted and given a flute of white or rosé sparkling wine. Our stateroom was ready so we dropped off our things and climbed the stairs to Deck 11 for lunch from the buffet. By 2 pm we were exploring the ship for the third time.  We went higher to the upper open decks and to view the skyline. The ship seemed to be in a tiny pocket of sunshine.  The sky was covered in clouds of different shades of gray.  We could see in the distance the 17^th Street drawbridge open for a few sailboats and saw a weak rainbow in the north.  Just past the bridge, where close by is the Station #6 for the water taxi, was anchored the largest yacht in the area. Its name is Pacific. The Pacific was anchored in the same place yesterday. It is about 165 feet long and is distinguished from other ships by its gray colour.  We had a good view of the channel leading to the Atlantic Ocean, where the water looked rough with lots of whitecaps. We went down to Deck 4 to make a dinner reservation. The Lifeboat Drill was held at 3 p.m. and took about 30 minutes. After the drill, Captain Yannis Berdos announced that the ocean waves were about two meters high. We had seen a warning banner on TV this morning that the ocean around Miami and Fort Lauderdale and nearby counties could have riptides today. We stopped at Future Cruise Vacations to book a Canada and New England cruise next year. We stopped on Deck 4 to go out on the Promenade Deck to view the stormy sky and the rain.  You could hear the rain hitting the water below and we watched a solitary harbor authority boat floating in place waiting to escort the ship from its berth.  Then we returned to the stateroom and unpacked both suitcases before dinner at 5:30.

   We missed the 4:30 sail away activities, but from talking to others the outdoor activities were cancelled because of the rain. The sun sets here at 5:32 pm. Larry discovered that not only does the Seapass card include your name, Captain’s Club member status and types of prepaid packages - such as the drink or wine packages, but it also has a designation of your Casino status if you have gambled in a Celebrity ship casino.

   The rain had stopped as we reached the Atlantic Ocean at sunset. We sat with Betty and Warren from Utah and Mylene from Alberta and her aunt Cheryl, Ron and Lana all from Vancouver Island.  The menu included appetizers of Caesar Salad and Butternut Squash soup. Some entrées were Roasted Turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and vegetables, Steak Dianne with green beans and roasted potato and Veal Cordon Bleu with potatoes, broccoli and carrots.  Desserts included Maple Pumpkin Pie, Walnut Pie with praline ice cream, and cheesecake.

    Starting at 4:30 on TV screens in staterooms, the Rooftop Terrace on Deck 12, and the casino on Deck 4, the NFL Thanksgiving football games were being shown, as long as the satellite reception is working.

    Tonight’s entertainment in the Celebrity Theatre was the trio “Shades of Bublé”.  They sang very well. The ship’s cruise director, Luigi De La Cruz, reminded the audience about a few things happening later this evening when the trio’s show ended.  After the show, there was a liqueur tasting featuring Irish Whiskey crème and Rum crème liqueurs.  Since the stateroom had not yet been prepared with a chocolate square on the pillow and the next day’s program, we took the laptop to a lounge and completed the blog.  We were joined by Jenna, a retired American soldier, and had a chat before she left to save a seat for her friend for the 9 pm show.

Final steps for the day 16,010.