We were going to leave on Friday and spend two nights with Marlene’s brother in Coral Springs before boarding the Carnival Conquest in Miami on Sunday. But for various reasons we delayed departure until Saturday afternoon and spent only one night at his house. We attended, briefly, a birthday party before we left and also finished the last episode of Downton Abbey – a series which I have seen before but enjoy very much and which Marlene was seeing for the first time. We also stopped en route for dinner at a forgettable Chinese restaurant in Belle Glade. All of which contributed to us arriving late – after 10 pm – at brother Michael’s house. But he was working late so he didn’t miss us.
He was kind enough to drive us to Miami on Sunday – a trip of over an hour under good conditions and a trip of nearly 2 hours when there are 7 ships in port and thousands of people are trying to get to them. But once we got to the ship the embarkation process – unlike that of our previous Carnival Vista cruise – was quick and painless.
We got unpacked, had a drink in the cabin to welcome ourselves aboard (using our smuggled fifth of rum) and had dinner in the buffet. We were then informed that the ship was turning around and heading back to Miami due to a medical emergency. We didn’t get all the way back to port – the passenger was lifted off via helicopter, much as was done the first day out of Seattle on the Carnival Luminosa.
We went to the casino after dinner. I lost $50 and went to bed. Marlene stayed there until dawn and lost much more. Not a good way to start a 14-night cruise.
