Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Was it a sign? Fort Lauderdale didn’t want to see us or what? On my way to the Seminar-at-Sea at a Bahamas Cruise I hardly made my connection at Atlanta airport. In the Netherlands Delta 73 had a major radio problem. Only after repairs we could take off, resulting in a delay of 1,5 hours. My friend and roommate Antonetta experienced troubles as well, though she was flying in from London, UK with a transfer at JFK.

My bag came really late, you are supposed to declare it yourself at Atlanta airport. Finally I was able to check my bag and take the train from international to domestic terminal. Another fair walk from gate 6 to gate 37 where boarding of Delta 2334 had just started. Antonetta and I were very happy to finally meet each other at Fort Lauderdale airport, we made it!

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

The next morning we woke up in a windy and cloudy Fort Lauderdale, the sunsrise was cluttered with dark clouds. The wind was blowing all palm trees in curvy shapes, and the water of the ocean was wild. Mind you Matthew only passed here a week ago, resulting in stormy weather with high humidity and tempertures. The over all feeling of Fort Lauderdale was a bit akward, a kind of desolate, eerie.

Empty, wet streets, water coming up from the sewer (?) at least 10 cm high on both mornings. Low season. Water was what I needed too. I kept drinking water, coffee, water and more water. At the Seminar-at-Sea I was told drinking water before meditating activates the brain but at Fort Lauderdale I couldn't really connect to the local bandwith. Weird hot, with very high humidity!

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

The Solarium area with sunbeds, jacuzzi and restaurant has a partial open roof which was nice, much nicer than the closed indoor pool/solarium area of the Jewel of the Seas during my Alaska cruise. The solarium round seats became my favourite spot during the cruise. I loved going there and watch the sun set or rise, and when it was raining very badly, I was still dry in my corner. This was heaven on earth.

Inside the rest of the ship the a/c was set to frost mode, some of the conference rooms and even the toilets felt like minus 10 C. Whenever I could I went outside to catch a bit of sun and fresh air, even though the temperature was high. It was raining often, first dry day was when we arrived at our last stop St Maarten. What a cruise, Cruise into Spirit with the Oasis of the Seas, at the moment world’s biggest cruise ship.

When we returned to Fort Lauderdale after a week of cruising, the weather and the feeling of the place completely changed. The air was dry, even cool at night. I had a good rest at the beach, and wasn’t sandblasted like the previous time. Also Antonetta experienced the eerie feeling in Fort Lauderdale during the first two days prior to the cruise. But yes, we do love you Fort Lauderdale and one day I hope to be back!

© MelanieRijkers.com

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