As usual for me I had pretrip sleep issues and finally got up at 2:30 am as I couldn’t get back to sleep for fear of oversleeping and excitement for our Nieuw Statendam cruise.
I would say we did our normal morning routine except we didn’t have our dog at home there to take out and feed. Charger was dropped at our wonderful dog-sitter’s the afternoon before.
After we got ready and closed up our suitcases with last minute additions, it was time to get call for a ride to the airport. I had saved a $20 Lyft code to use for a personal ride so our ride down to the San Diego airport only cost $14 before tip.
Flights
Unfortunately, our plane to Chicago was leaving from the dreaded San Diego airport gate 1 which meant no TSA precheck line. I hate having to take out toiletries and electronics but was prepared since I looked it up before hand.
I had originally booked us on more direct flights but the first flight was on a 737 Max 8 plane which of course had to be rescheduled due to the grounding. The new schedule had us leaving home about 2 hours later and getting to Fort Lauderdale 2 1/2 hours later than originally booked.
I had eaten eggs/bacon at home but Steve bought a blue berry muffin at the food kiosk; then he discovered a bigger one at the news shop and bought a second one. Breakfast of champions!
I’m A-list so had a good A number and Steve was B1. Boarding was right on time and I found us seats in row 9. Every seat was taken and the flight was uneventful.
In Chicago, we had steps to our connecting gate which was nice due to tight connection time although we did land early. I grabbed a chicken Caesar salad at a coffee kiosk for lunch.
We boarded a bit late and had even better boarding positions and sat in row 4. Steve had packed a lunch at home and ate it on the flight (PB& J and chips). Again every seat was taken or so it seemed and lots of families as it is spring break for some school districts.
Hotel
When we got to Fort Lauderdale, we waited about 20 minutes for luggage to come off and then called for Uber as we didn’t want to wait for a hotel shuttle. As it turns out the shuttle pulled into the hotel right behind us so it would have been fine.
I had booked the Residence Inn Dania using Marriott Bonvoy points. We had a one bedroom suite with lots of room for just one night. We like having the bedroom area separate so if one of us is up earlier the other can continue to sleep.
The kitchen/living room and bathroom were quite roomy but it was extremely tight quarters in the bedroom and my side didn’t even have plugs so I had to use my extension cord for the cpap.
Tropical Acres Steakhouse
After getting settled in the room, we asked the front desk about nearby restaurants and there are three the hotel will drive you too for no charge. We decided on the Tropical. Acres Steakhouse. I called and added our names to the wait list before we left on the shuttle.
The shuttle drove us over and we waited in the comfortable lobby area until our name was called.
I loved the ambiance of this restaurant (in business since 1949 with same family ownership). We shared a shrimp cocktail to start which was free thanks to a coupon given to us at the hotel.
We both had house salads before getting our entrees. Steve had butterflied shrimp with a baked potato.
I enjoyed the cowboy steak (ribeye) with creamed spinach.
We passed on dessert and called the hotel for a shuttle ride back. It took about 25 minutes but the evening was so nice we enjoyed the fresh air and people watching.
Back in the hotel we finally hit the sack at 11 pm. Tomorrow will be our sailing day at last!
Don’t miss previous posts for this trip:
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