Cruise Ship Departures at Dania Beach + Mail Questions

Dianne here --

Roger and I are playing catch-up
a little bit with our blogs.  We have been pretty busy having a great time, so got a little behind. 

 A few Sundays ago (January 25), we left our camp site at Markham Park near Fort Lauderdale and drove to Dania Beach to watch the cruise ships depart.  We printed out a schedule from the port authority,  and timed our visit so we could see them depart.  After sitting on the beach and enjoying the sun for a couple of hours, all the ships decided to leave at once. 

  We took books to read, but there was so much to see (boat traffic, etc.) that I didn't even open mine.  

We saw ships from Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, and some cargo ships as well.   We have left on cruises from this port in the past, and I remember how exciting it was as the ship left port on the first day.   Also, it was more meaningful this time knowing our daughter, Robyn, is spending the winter on an NCL cruise ship in the Mediterranean.   For our new readers, she performs improv comedy with Second City out of Chicago and is on a four-month tour on the Norwegian Jade.   She has signed up for another cruise after this tour, also with NCL, in the Hawaiian Islands.  

Dania Beach is part of the John U. Lloyd State Park, right next to  the Port Everglades shipping channel.  It is only a half hour from Markham Park, where we were camping. 

 In fact, Dania Beach is the post office we used for our two mail general delivery pickups.  We had to do a little searching to find a post office near Fort Lauderdale that had its own zip code, and Dania Beach was the closest one.  (When you receive mail via general delivery, it's important to be sure it won't get sent to a large multi-zip code post office, or you may not know which branch to go to for pickup.) 

 One of the questions most asked of us is "How do you get your mail?"  A year ago, I began changing over to e-mailed statements.  We already did our banking on line through the Charles Schwab account I opened years ago when I worked there.   There are also various web sites that help eliminate unwanted catalogs (I used catalogchoice.com).   

Just doing those two things cut way back on the amount of mail we received.  In fact, just before we left home, we were barely receiving mail on some days.  We have signed up with a company, Alternative Resources in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who forwards our mail to us wherever we tell them.   It is so simple; we simply fill out an on-line form and let them know where we'll be.  They let us know when it's been mailed, and we can track it to know when it has arrived at our location.   We get our mail twice a month, sent priority mail.  

Instead of mail delivery being a problem, it is just another easy thing in this easy, care-free life!