Welcome to South Florida : Gateway to the Caribbean

[scubacruiserx2]

Many of our cruises have originated in cooler ports like London, Copenhagen, Vancouver, Seattle and Santiago, Chile.

When visiting there we eat and dress differently according to the cooler weather. Here in South Florida, our home ports are Port Everglades and the Port of Miami. Port Everglades is the closest to our home at  75 minutes. Miami is where I was born and raised and worked for 28 years for Miami Dade Fire Rescue, transporting passengers from the cruise port to the hospital. Along with years of scuba diving. Scuba divers know the importance of hydration to avoid Decompression Sickness .

 

https://www.dansa.org/blog/2019/07/15/nine-factors-that-play-a-major-role-in-a-scuba-diver-s-dehydration

 

 This weekend represents a return to "normalcy", with 11 cruises from the Port of Miami and 10 from Port Everglades - all south to the Caribbean. In the heat and humidity the rules are different here and we  hope to keep everyone happy, healthy and hydrated. In a hot and humid climate, staying hydrated is key to staying happy and healthy. 

 Signs of dehydration are headaches, swollen feet, dry mouth, dark colored urine, heat exhaustion and possibly heat stroke. According to the American Heart Association, “feeling thirsty indicates that you’re already dehydrated.” They suggest sipping something regularly or drinking a glass of water before and in between meals. 

 

https://nsucurrent.nova.edu/2019/09/24/drink-up-the-importance-of-staying-hydrated-in-the-south-florida-heat/

 

Causes are heat, humidity, dry climate, air conditioning, exercise, sweating, flying and laying in the sun and salty air.

Drinks that cause dehydration are coffee, tea, sodas, hot chocolate (which all contain caffeine) and  alcohol.

 

The ways to prevent dehydration.

1. Don't wait until you are thirsty to drink water.

2. Carry water with you in a reusable bottle.

3. Drink before, during and after exercise which includes shore excursions.

4. Eat more fruits and vegetables like watermelon, grapes and celery.

5. Track your water intake.

 

We hope that you have a nice cruise and visit here and stay healthy .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

If today's ships at Port Everglades were at capacity it would have been over 14,000 passengers .

[rkacruiser]

Florida is a very tourist and cruise guest friendly State.  I enjoy your State when I am there other than when I am there during the Summer.  Turn off the heat/humidity.  🤣  And, I would move there as I once did a few years ago.  

 

7 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

This weekend represents a return to "normalcy", with 11 cruises from the Port of Miami and 10 from Port Everglades -

 

This is exciting!  Watching sailaways with guests aboard the ships and hearing some of the Princess ships playing the initial notes of the Love Boat theme is a sign that normalcy of some type is returning.  

[Cienfuegos]

That's good advice, thank you

[Lois R]

Hi, what a friendly and helpful thread👍.........

 

I am your neighbor to the North.......up in Jacksonville.  Funny, how we do get a couple of cool months a year up here........but our humidity is probably worse than South Florida........😲 walk outside and the sweat just drips.........LOL

 

I will be down in Ft Lauderdale on Dec 1st😀...going on 2 week Caribbean cruise!!!

[scubacruiserx2]

On 11/20/2021 at 7:48 PM, rkacruiser said:

Florida is a very tourist and cruise guest friendly State.  I enjoy your State when I am there other than when I am there during the Summer.  Turn off the heat/humidity.  🤣  And, I would move there as I once did a few years ago.  

 

 

This is exciting!  Watching sailaways with guests aboard the ships and hearing some of the Princess ships playing the initial notes of the Love Boat theme is a sign that normalcy of some type is returning.  

 

In the Summer we swim in the pool or SCUBA to stay cool . We used to visit my wife's family too as she is a Michigander who flew South to roost permanently . The last Summer that we could cruise we took a beat the heat cruise as pictured .

We wrote a photo travelogue at the link below

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

Notification activated .

[scubacruiserx2]

On 11/21/2021 at 11:40 AM, Cienfuegos said:

That's good advice, thank you

 

You're welcome . 

[scubacruiserx2]

On 11/21/2021 at 1:45 PM, Lois R said:

Hi, what a friendly and helpful thread👍.........

 

I am your neighbor to the North.......up in Jacksonville.  Funny, how we do get a couple of cool months a year up here........but our humidity is probably worse than South Florida........😲 walk outside and the sweat just drips.........LOL

 

I will be down in Ft Lauderdale on Dec 1st😀...going on 2 week Caribbean cruise!!!

 

Hey neighbor ! 

Wow , you've been a member of CC since 2002 ! 🏅 We've only been members since 2005 . When I was young our football team from Hialeah got to practice in the old Gator Bowl on the way up to Brunswick , Georgia to play another kids team at Thanksgiving in 1963 . That place seemed huge back then when you were on the field ! 

 My wife and I got married and lived in our first house in Ft. Lauderdale back in the late 70's , so lots of good memories from there . We also have a cruise from there on December 30th on HAL . Who are you going with ?

[Lois R]

Hi😀 I am sailing with Silversea. The ship is called The Whisper.

 

Yes, The Gator Bowl goes waaaay back LOL

[scubacruiserx2]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Hi😀 I am sailing with Silversea. The ship is called The Whisper.

 

Yes, The Gator Bowl goes waaaay back LOL

 

According to Wikipedia the Gator Bowl was the first bowl game to ever be televised nationally coast-to-coast .

https://web.archive.org/web/20111016125701/http://www.gatorbowl.com/?page_id=113

 

Silversea looks really nice . When we went to Antarctica we almost went on the Silversea Silver Cloud . We did wimp out and went on a larger HAL ship with a larger room . We did see them in Antarctica a couple of times when we were there .

 

 

[Lois R]

The Cloud is an Expedition Ship.  Some of the suites on the regular ships are VERY LARGE......like 1200 sq feet.......in that range for the high end suites.  Even the regular ones are over 300 square feet.  (they call all the cabins suites).

[scubacruiserx2]

Good Morning . A quick tip and weather report . Near Port Everglades we had a cool front with a low of 64 F and a high of 76 F and bright sun ! Where we're going next month to Williamstad , Curacao the low will only be 79 F and a high of 88 F with rain . Additionally , they will have 1 more hour of sunburn time than we do . If you're on a beach with water or white sand it will reflect a lot of sunlight . Please stay out of the midday sun ( we nap in the AC when it's hot ) . We would recommend shade , a hat and sunscreen . A burn will cause pain , dehydration and just peel off if you get too much sun  so enjoy yourself and stay safe . 🙂😊

[scubacruiserx2]

22 hours ago, Lois R said:

The Cloud is an Expedition Ship.  Some of the suites on the regular ships are VERY LARGE......like 1200 sq feet.......in that range for the high end suites.  Even the regular ones are over 300 square feet.  (they call all the cabins suites).

 

Wow that is large ! We looked at the smaller ones on the Cloud and an equivalent price cabin on HAL is a Neptune Suite . Here's a video of our last one .

 

We are intrigued by your ship and cruise . Where does it go to ?

 

[Lois R]

Hi, I am sailing to the Caribbean on her for 15 days🙂....she goes to various different ports. 

[scubacruiserx2]

37 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi, I am sailing to the Caribbean on her for 15 days🙂....she goes to various different ports. 

 

We really like Barbados and we recommend the fried flying fish . We are also scheduled to visit Grand Turk on January 6th . The last time that we visited there we dove on an underwater wall that goes down '7000 deep ! Although we didn't go that deep . 

[Lois R]

58 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

We really like Barbados and we recommend the fried flying fish . We are also scheduled to visit Grand Turk on January 6th . The last time that we visited there we dove on an underwater wall that goes down '7000 deep ! Although we didn't go that deep . 

Grand Turk was originally on the itinerary but they are still closed to ships.  We do go to Barbados though.

[scubacruiserx2]

11 hours ago, Lois R said:

Grand Turk was originally on the itinerary but they are still closed to ships.  We do go to Barbados though.

 

So sorry that it is still closed . We had heard that it was supposed to open at the end of this month . Did they substitute another port ?

[scubacruiserx2]

Cool this morning locally at 53 F and a high of 74 . Williamstad , Curacao woke up to 80 F and will peak at 86 . 30 degrees difference between our low and their high .

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

So sorry that it is still closed . We had heard that it was supposed to open at the end of this month . Did they substitute another port ?

Good morning🙂........San Juan......so in reality, we are going there twice in 15 days LOL........once at the beginning and then almost at the end. 

 

Question for you,  I haven't flown into FLL since Jan 2020 (everything was still open).....I fly down next Wednesday  .Would you know if cabs are plentiful? Need one to the Riverside on Las Olas.........(from the airport).

[scubacruiserx2]

27 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Good morning🙂........San Juan......so in reality, we are going there twice in 15 days LOL........once at the beginning and then almost at the end. 

 

Question for you,  I haven't flown into FLL since Jan 2020 (everything was still open).....I fly down next Wednesday  .Would you know if cabs are plentiful? Need one to the Riverside on Las Olas.........(from the airport).

 

Good Morning , 

We haven't been through FLL in many years so we're not sure . We would think of a private driver .

https://fortlauderdale-carservice.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqaKilJOx9AIVR0KGCh3eQQFUEAAYAiAAEgK_0_D_BwE

Or here's the link to the Airport site :

https://www.fort-lauderdale-airport.com/taxi.php

 

Sorry that we can't be more helpful but we usually drive to the Park N Go when we go to the cruise port or our daughters friend is a driver that takes us to MIA for international travel .

[Lois R]

10 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Good Morning , 

We haven't been through FLL in many years so we're not sure . We would think of a private driver .

https://fortlauderdale-carservice.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqaKilJOx9AIVR0KGCh3eQQFUEAAYAiAAEgK_0_D_BwE

Or here's the link to the Airport site :

https://www.fort-lauderdale-airport.com/taxi.php

 

Sorry that we can't be more helpful but we usually drive to the Park N Go when we go to the cruise port or our daughters friend is a driver that takes us to MIA for international travel .

Thanks so much......that car service? I am sure they are good but it is over 100.00 for a car LOL.....it is a 20 minute ride (if that) from the airport to Las Olas........I will just grab a cab. 

[scubacruiserx2]

8 hours ago, Lois R said:

Thanks so much......that car service? I am sure they are good but it is over 100.00 for a car LOL.....it is a 20 minute ride (if that) from the airport to Las Olas........I will just grab a cab. 

 

The cab makes more sense (and cents) . We're sorry that we didn't give you some better information ( we didn't have time to check the car service for prices or quality control) .We had a date with the dentist this morning and we were running a little late .

 We would to wish all the readers a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow .

 

 

 

 

[Lois R]

49 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

The cab makes more sense (and cents) . We're sorry that we didn't give you some better information ( we didn't have time to check the car service for prices or quality control) .We had a date with the dentist this morning and we were running a little late .

 We would to wish all the readers a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow .

 

 

 

 

No need to apologize.  And Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours as well😃

[scubacruiserx2]

The HAL ship Nieuw Amsterdam will be the first scheduled ship to visit Grand Turk when it opens its port after almost 2 years according to the Turks and Caicos Weekly . Something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving day !

 

https://tcweeklynews.com/cruise-industry-stages-comeback-grand-turk-prepares-to-welcome-thousands-i-p12102-127.htm