Fort Lauderdale, Florida....

What an amazing day…  Today wasn’t your normal turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale.  I had friends coming onboard and it was my birthday.  Once we got the Immigration process behind us, it was off to the Retreat.  Then the most interesting thing started to happen.  The ship’s officers and crew started stopping by to wish me a happy birthday and giving me a yellow flower because I’m know for my affinity for the color yellow in my beach attire.  I decided to treat myself and went in a 1:00 for a 75-minute hot stone massage….  It was wonderful.  I returned to the Retreat and the yellow flowers kept coming.  At 3:30, we all went in, Ann & Cathy told me to be ready at 5:30 and they would pick me up.  Once the ship started to depart, I went out for some sail away photos and ran into some old friends, Steve Dutton and Rod Presswich and their group.   It was a nice, albeit quick, reunion.  Went in showered and dressed and was ready to go at 5:30.   They took me to the Retreat where I was taken to a surprise gathering of the Captain Werner Timmers, Hotel General Manager, Wessel van Oorschot and his senior staff for a birthday celebration…  It was great! We had wonderful hors d’oeuvres and of course a diet coke for me…  They had created a wonderful video that began with the BB King’s All Stars band singing happy birthday, followed by birthday greetings for team members around the various departments onboard.   Just loved the cake that looked like my Nikon Camera…  The ship’s photographer was their so I may post some better photos later…  It really blew me away…  It was very kind of them to go to all this effort for my birthday…  After the party, it was off to the Pinnacle Grill with a birthday dinner with friends…  Ann & Cathy, Laura & Bobbi, Jane & Bill and Becky & Tyler were there….  It was a wonderful dinner which started off with another yellow flower…  It was just a magnificent day!!!!