Being on a cruise ship has some advantages that guests do not always realize. One of them is having preference of arrival in Port Everglades. Today was a busy day for the port with container ships going in and going out. They have to be scheduled for non-cruise ship days, which are normally the weekends, as the cruise ships also dock at the container friendly docks.  But these ships have to wait when a cruise ship is arriving. So the captain of a cruise ship sends his ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) to the port agent and the harbor master and if the timing is not too outrageous, then he gets it. If a poor cargo ship captain wants the same time, then he will have to wait or come earlier.

Thus also today. The Captain of the ms Zuiderdam preferred 06.15 in the morning, as it only takes 45 minutes to dock at pier 26 and that is what he got.  Around this arrival time the cargo ships were then scheduled. One at 05.44 hrs. one at 07.23  hrs. one at 08.10 hrs. etc. etc. The same is the case for departure.  The ship always focuses on a 17.00 hrs. departure (earlier never works out with guests and stores still arriving) and that time will simply be available. On days with multiple cruise ships in port, there is some re-scheduling but that is done on the spot. Pilots talk to each other and when two ships are ready at the same time then it is all about who can let go the mooring lines the fastest. The one who loses has to hover off the dock and has to follow 10 minutes after the winner.

Burt and Jacks restaurant at the end of the pier.  Still there just after 2002 but almost being crushed in by the ever larger cruise ships. In the back the ms Zuiderdam at Pier 26, See below how it was 30 years earlier.

The dedicated Holland America terminal is Pier 26 and that is where we were today as we were the only HAL ship in.  If there are more, then there is a pecking order. The biggest HAL ship goes to 26 and the other(s) go to a non dedicated terminal. Thus last cruise we had the Nieuw Statendam at 26, the Nieuw Amsterdam at 19 (normally the Carnival Terminal) and the Zuiderdam at 21.

Burt and Jacks long gone, and the warehouses of Pier 25, 24 and 23 also removed. To make room for one large new terminal 25.

Another dedicated terminal is the new terminal 25. The old warehouse / terminal were scrapped two years ago and a new dedicated terminal for Celebrity was built instead. Because it was built with the new Edge Class ships in mind it stretches all the way to the end of the pier. There where in the old days the Burt and Jacks restaurant was located.  Now instead of the restaurant there is a road which curves around and makes it possible to drive past all the terminals and stop at the right one (hopefully)

Port Everglades has always been a cruise port, although it was over shadowed for a long time by Miami. Understandable as Miami always had passenger traffic going to Cuba, so they had the facilities; but it was also here that in 1968 the Boheme of Wallinius started the first mass market cruises with a dedicated ship. That ship could even take cars with her to Nassau. The Boheme is still around and is now called the Freewinds and we see her every week in Aruba.  Holland America came with cargo ships to Port everglades ever since the 1930’s and followed with the Nieuw Amsterdam II in the 1970’s.

The ss Nieuw Amsterdam II. She sailed for us from 1938 to 1973.  For a lot of ship historians she was the most perfect proportioned Ocean Liner ever built.  Here she is docked at Pier 21 and the whole area is only just being developed.

Then we had a spell of sailing from Miami but that was mainly caused by having a subsidiary sailing from there, Monarch Cruise Lines. When it went defunct and was absorbed back into Holland America, the ships stayed there as we still had the docking schedules.  But by the mid eighties we went full time to Port Everglades, except for the Nieuw Amsterdam (III) which had as her home port Tampa. So we leave Miami to Carnival and the competition and Holland America and Princess focus on Port Everglades.

The ship will now start another 11 day cruise to the South west Caribbean and the Panama Canal and that extra day is used for visiting Cartagena, a port which is omitted on the 10 day cruise.

Although the weather forecast spoke of rain and drizzle it was all delayed and we had a very nice and dry day today. Dark Clouds were only started to gather at sailing time. Our next port of call is our own Island Half Moon Cay where we will be tomorrow.

Weather: Partly cloudy, 80oF / 27oC and a gentle breeze. It should be perfect beach weather and we are scheduled to be the only ship in port.