Saturday, November 9, 2024

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale during the night, at Port Everglades. This is the end of one leg of the cruise, and the beginning of the next. We have visited Fort Lauderdale several times, though not for about 20 years now. Mark’s parents owned a condo within walking distance of the port. We always enjoyed our time here, exploring the local restaurants, bars, beaches, and shops, of course. We’re looking forward to doing a little exploring while the ship is in port, dropping off some passengers, and picking up others for the next leg of the cruise.

Fort Lauderdale is another busy port, with eight cruise ships docked here, mostly ending one cruise and starting another. Nearly 4 million passengers pass through this port every year, making it the third busiest cruise port in the US. The first is Miami, and the second is Canaveral (near Disney.)

We spent some time on East Las Olas, for some shopping and lunch, then took one of Fort Lauderdale’s free shuttles to the beach. As part of LauderGO!, Circuit uses small electric vehicles to move people around town, providing rides to over 20,000 riders per month. LauderGO! is a community shuttle service with five routes that provide coverage where the regular buses may not operate.

When we reached the beach, we came upon The MKT at Las Olas Oceanside Park. There were several booths with clothing, jewelry, artwork, and food. We did manage to spend a little money there before heading back to the ship.

We left port at 6pm, next stop San Juan, Puerto Rico after two days at sea.