Bright and early on Thursday, October 15th, 2009, my husband Alan and I headed to the San Diego airport. Destination: Miami, Florida. We were headed on a three day cruise to the Bahamas, all expenses paid, courtesy of
BNI. Neither one of us had ever been on a cruise before so we were a little nervous, but mostly excited to be getting out of San Diego for a few days.
We were put up in a hotel for Thursday night during which we had some
conch fritters, a local food that is also quite famous down in the Bahamas.
Conch is also used in salads though we weren't able to find any of those during our time on the Island.
On Friday morning we had a quick breakfast of boxed cereal after heading to the gym - we slept in two hours later than intended - and then headed off to the ship to set sail. The bus that was transporting all of the BNI members to the Port was very punctual and we arrived at the ship by 12:30pm; the boat didn't depart until 4pm so we had plenty of time to orient ourselves on the boat. Around 4:30 we finally left the Miami bay and set sail for
Nassau, Bahamas, on the island of New Providence. We arrived in the Bahamas around 10am on Saturday morning and by 10:30 we were off the boat and exploring the Island.
We scheduled a snorkeling tour for 12:15 that afternoon and had some time to kill before the bus showed up so we wandered the streets a bit just checking out the local attractions. For whatever reason we didn't think to pull out the camera often though we did stop in to a few local shops such as the Bacardi store and a pharmacy for some more
Gravol so I could make it through the boat ride without getting sick.
Here's some of the highlight pictures from our trip:
The boat ride was quite short due to it being a power boat rather than a catamaran as we had originally guessed it would be and in less than five minutes we were diving into the crystal clear waters which were 91F - it felt like crawling into a warm bath. The visibility was incredible and there were fish galore. This was my first time seeing "reef" and I couldn't believe how much life there was. Granted, it's not like the Caribbean reefs, but it was a far cry better than what I've seen in San Diego.
We had two stops along the coral reef at various distances from the Island. After the first stop another snorkeler on the trip suggested that one could simulate food for the fishes by rubbing his or her fingers together. In my infinite wisdom I decided to try this technique. I learned my lesson:
Parrot Fish bite anything that looks like food, evening little Meaghan-fingers.
And despite my love of all things ocean, even little fishy bites, the last stop was the BEST! We went snorkeling with
Caribbean Reef Sharks. My life is now complete. I adore sharks! Don't get me wrong: I have a very healthy respect for them; seeing them in the wild like that was amazing. I kept a close eye on them to make sure they weren't doing anything they shouldn't be (body posture, etc.) and just took in the beauty of the situation. Here's a bit more about the
Caribbean Reef Shark.
Saturday night was the "Elegant Night" on the ship; all the guests dressed up in dresses and suits and sat down to a wonderful feast of lobster and shrimp. Amazing!!!
Sunday was our Day at Sea. We spent a good portion of the day either on the Serenity deck at the back of the boat (a 21-and-up area) or in the Xanadu lounge watching football. Sadly both the Chargers and Colts were not playing that day but it was nice to sit around with some younger folk and enjoy the excitement of some great games. We also went to the on-board stage show that night which featured a wonderful musical revue of rock, pop, country and Motown music. The boat was rocking very hard - I'm still not sure how they managed to pull of their routine without sliding around.
Monday we debarked around 9:30 am and spend four "glorious" hours in the Miami airport where I tried
Nathan's for the first time. Not bad, though it's not nearly as good as
In and Out.
That's about it for the trip. There are plenty of details that I'm missing, to be sure, but I'm sitting here, two days after getting off a boat, and still feeling like I'm rocking. It's a condition called
Mal de deparquement Syndrome (MdDS). Apparently the effects can last up to a year but let me tell you - if I still feel this way come the weekend you can bet I'll be seeking some medical help.
I hope you enjoyed the recap of the trip. We're already planning our next cruise: Caribbean, here we come!!!
