Escape to Fort Lauderdale and Cruising the Caribbean: A Winter Getaway, January 30 & 31, 2026

It was 4:15 AM on Friday, January 30th, 2026, when our alarm woke us. Our ride to the airport was scheduled for 5:45 and we needed every minute to finish packing and get ready to depart. We were escaping to Fort Lauderdale and getting away from the freezing cold of the Philadelphia region. This has been a really cold winter, and just the prior Sunday we had about 9 inches of snow, ice, and freezing rain.

Our flight down was uneventful, and we arrived to find cloudy skies with a threat of rain. We checked into the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Boulevard, one of our favorite places to stay in Fort Lauderdale. After dropping our luggage in the room, we made our way to the Boathouse for lunch. It was about 1 p.m. when we were seated along the intercoastal waterway. The weather was pleasant, but as I said, the skies were threatening and gloomy.

Here are two photos taken as we sat at our table.

After a leisurely lunch, we strolled along Las Olas Boulevard to see what was new and what was old. For the most part, we didn’t notice many changes, although I did find an art gallery that I thought was interesting and new, It was the gallery of Romero Britto. His work, fanciful, lighthearted and interesting, often borrows themes from well-known works of art. Have a look.

Or, how about Stary, Stary Night?

In every direction there were splashes of color and paintings reminiscent of the old, and maybe new, masters.

As we strolled we happened across a second gallery, New River Fine Art, new to us and maybe new to Las Olas. It was exhibiting Hunt Slonem, who is apparently famous for rabbits.

Walking around in 60 degree weather was pleasant; especially in view of the fact that when we left Philadelphia.the temperature was in the single digits. I took a couple of photos of Las Olas just so you can see we were really there. Not much has changed but a lot is going on. Have a look.

A restful nights sleep led to a Saturday and with it the excitement of embarking a new ship, the Star Princess. Boarding, after working through an incredibly long and winding line, was a breeze. What was tedious was trying to get to the pier. It all started when, as we were checking out, I called the front desk and told them we were leaving the room and requested that they call a taxi. How hard was that? Apparently very! When we stopped to pay our bill I asked, “was the taxi called” and I was assured the message had been passed on to the bell station. And, it was. Problem was, the bellman never made the call. He wanted to suggest instead that we take the shuttle to the pier. Not gonna happen. What he neglected to tell us was that taxis were running slowly, really slowly and so, unknown to us, our wait began.

Ubers came and went and came and went and came and went. Boy, were we getting upset. “Please call the company and find out where the taxi is,” I requested. And I was assured the taxi was only a few minutes out. Sure. But then the unexpected happened. A taxi arrived. We couldn’t have been happier but for one thing. It wasn’t ours, it was just dropping someone off. Then the bellman said, “take it, I’ll tell the one that’s on the way what happened.” Finally, fourty minutes later we were Princess bound.

The boarding process went smoothly and before we knew it we were headed to cabin 11606. That’s right, the Star is a really big ship with more than 11,606 cabins and with at least 2 passengers to a room there are more than 23,212 passengers all craving a meal at the same time. Well, I exaggerate, quite a bit. But truth to tell the Star is really big, holding as much as 5,180 passengers and a crew of 1,550 to 1,600.

Our room is quite nice. It’s long and narrow. The closet is in the middle and separates the sleeping area from the sofa and balcony. Have a look-see.

Our seven day cruise was scheduled to sail on Saturday, the 31st, with a stop on Sunday at Princess Cay in the Bahamas. Then a day at sea as we made our way to Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic. From there we were on to Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos Islands then two sailing days back to Ft. Lauderdale.

The weather here is as fickle as it is cold in Philadelphia. So we started with two days at sea under dark and threatening clouds with cool breezes and everyone trapped inside, as sitting out at the pool enjoying the warmth of the sun was not to be. Bars are crowded to overflowing. Seats are as scarce as free tickets to the opera. Help, we need more seats and more bar waiters! Ir’s noisy in here and I feel like a sardine in a tin can, cramped and angry.

We set sail around 3:30 PM. I took a picture, looking north, as we were passing down the channel toward the Atlantic. Open ocean, here we come.

We reserved seats at Makoto, the Japanese restaurant for 7:40 pm. The setting is very casual. If you didn’t see the sign of the chef you could easily pass by. We enjoyed a fixed menu dinner of sushi specialties.

From dinner we were off to the Arena, the large showroom on the ship, for some entertainment. Showtime tonight featured “The Soul of Broadway” with Terran Brooks. He has a great voice.

There is nothing like a sunset at sea. Goodnight and sweat dreams.