I broke up the TR in 4 parts. Here is pt.1
Part 1
Departure was uneventful, ride to the airport, and flight to Memphis and Miami. After arrival at the airport, we collected our luggage and went outside for our transfer to Port Everglades. It was warm and humid as we waited outside for our bus
.a 20 year old Greyhound that looked as if it had been rolled off an interstate overpass somewhere
.. Before we got to Port Everglades, it began to rain....buckets and buckets. It rained and stormed so bad, that the airport in Ft. Lauderdale had to close quite a while. Part of our group flew into Ft. Lauderdale on Southwest
.direct from Nashville
. because Princess ran out of airspace on Northwest
(a small point of aggravation with me). They made it in before the airport closed. Because of the weather, many flights into Ft. Lauderdale had to be re-routed to Miami. Princess then had to get those people back to Port Everglades for the cruise. We were 2.5 hours late leaving the port that day, which I understand isnt that unusual. But thats OK, because everyone got on the ship.
A brief word about the food
Everyone always ask about the food on a cruise. We had anytime dining, but we all ate as a group every night. I will say I didnt eat anything that wasnt good. I will also say that the only thing I ate that stood out from the rest, was a Filet Mignon. For lunch one day, they had a special sushi buffet. It was all very good.
We head south from Port Everglades to the Florida Straits. Once reaching Cuba, we turn east and head for the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti. Then, we turn to the southwest, between Cuba and Haiti, then southeast around the tip of Haiti into the Caribbean Sea toward Aruba. The Windward Passage lives up to its name with 20 to 30 mph winds. In addition to the ship speed of near 20 mph, it created some 50 mph winds across the unprotected decks of the ship. The strong winds continued for 2 days all the way to Aruba. We have only been on 6 cruises, but this was by far the roughest seas we have encountered.