The Cruise - a post in pictures

Let me start off by saying that while a cruise is still not my ideal vacation, it wasn't that bad and the anxiety wasn't that bad once we finally got on the boat and settled.

So where to begin...

How about with those who joined us?

Uncle Dale & Aunt Deborah

Kris & Teresa

Derek & Christy

Patti & Stan

us

The boat was pretty big. I never knew where I was, how I got there, or how to get back. It was decked out in late 70's to early 80's decor, from mauve and purple carpet to bright and shiny gold stair rails. The rooms, or cabins shall I say, were updated much better and despite the lack of space were really nice.

Our ports included Nassau and Freeport.
We did much more in Nassau because we had 12 hours and at Freeport we only had 6 1/2, which started at 7 a.m., so really we only had about 2 hours.

In Nassau we decided to rent scooters. They didn't have 3 ready for us when we arrived so we walked around for about 10 minutes before going back to scooter headquarters to pick up our "bikes."

During our walk I was approached by this little fella and he said, "May I sing you a song?"

I told him we were on our way back to pick up the scooters and that I didn't have time but he quickly informed me that he could sing and walk at the same time, so he came along. He had a really beautiful voice and sang a nice version of Jesus Loves Me, although I had never heard it before.
When he was finished I told him how well he could sing and he of course only asked for a "small donation." He looks so pissy because El Cheapo Hubo's small donation consisted of a dollar.

So we get back to scooter central and our rides still weren't there so we decided to wait. They finally they get there and of the 3, ours of course had blown a fuse and we again had to wait. But these guys didn't...have to wait for their scoots that is, they did wait on us.

Safety is first and foremost in Nassau. Please make note of the helmets. These things were the equivalent of a pee wee baseball helmet. You couldn't even properly secure the dang thing because the buckle was rusty. So you just had to jimmy rig them up and hope that you didn't fall off or get hit by another car.

Anyway, so our scoot finally arrives and we were assured the everything worked because it was the bosses bike. So that made us feel a little better.

And so we're off. We decide to head towards the Atlantis Resort because they have beaches and pools and were closer than our other options on the map. To get there we had to cross this huge bridge. This thing was so big that the barges and cruisers could pass under it.

Right after taking this picture my ever so secure helmet, flew off. So we pull over, still on the bridge mind you, and I hop over the wall and start trekking back over the bridge to find the helmet and it's no where to be found. So I trek back to where the the hubs and the scoot are waiting and we encounter our next big adventure...how to crank a scooter. I of course lend my 2 sense and a helping hand and crank it and give it gas before the hubs was ready so that of course warranted a few choice words. We finally make it to the toll bridge and Kris is there waiting with my helmet. Some nice Bahamian driver dropped it off with the toll lady. I assume they have become acustomed to that. We finally make it to Atlantis where we are quickly advised that we can't have access to the pools or beaches because we are not legit guest. So we settle for checking out their aquarium, which contained a huge manaray (sp) or whatever.

My favorite quote of the entire trip was, "let's hop on our scooters and ride." (Thanks Kris!) And that is just what we did. We rode to the opposite end of the island, which was a ways, and found a beach and a coconut.

Despite the idea of a nice Bahamian vacation in November, it was to cold for laying out or frolicking in the water so we just took pictures and left. We heading back down town towards Senior Frogs. On the way the hubs helmet flew off but luckily my face caught it.

Some how Derek, Christy, the hubs and myself became separated from Kris and Teresa while trying to find our way back and we ran into Patti and Deb (not literally although it was completely possible on those things) who were generous enough to take this picture.

After enjoying nachos, drinks and a little Ole Miss Football we returned our scooters and started back towards the boat.

On the way back we took these to evidence how gargantious some of the boats where. Ours wasn't that big in comparison to some at the port.

On the boat there were 2 night club type places. The below is all of us at an Indian style joint that didn't serve any indian food or food in general, only drinks, and had 2 elephant replicas at the entrance. The band played country and Today's Top 40 songs. Not your typical Indian place, but whatev.

That's pretty much it for the pictures. We all know how great I am when traveling with a camera so I suppose you didn't expect much.