VintageCheap

+ Michaels per the app.

Yes. Pizza starboard aft, pasta port. The pizza is not bad. BBQ Chicken yesterday. On a recent NCL sailing they managed to perfectly replicate low end frozen pizza crust via a machine. How about a water bottle filling station? Abdul gets a few of his headwaiters out of bed early to watch over MDR breakfast. On smaller ships the MDR matters still. On fancier larger ships 92% of the attention is on premium venues. Waffles and jelly. Mmm. Anchored off Grand Cayman. About 2.5 hours to get everybody ashore. Sunrise, Glory and Apex in town today. Perfect weather. Good stay on the ship port for us. I go stir crazy at the dock but we are at anchor. Shade, loungers and no yukky music on 11 port forward.

Here are a few menus. The head waiters stepped on table clearing tonight and kept things moving. I liked the Covina.

There are minimal lines. Plenty of room. The ship is sold out. This is a hidden secret of the old tonnage. The new designs add three more decks of cabins to the basic common areas.

The library / computer room is lovely and music free. This is not a feature on newer vessels.

MDR breakfast was well sorted. Sometimes these are a circus - the staff has never met. Out on our walk we got to watch a case study in maritime rules of the road - when crossing the vessel to starboard is stand on. Lunch was rushed the Loyalty Event was at 1300. Pizza was not ruined. I ran into Abdul again - F&B Director. He said if you want something- ask. I told him his team was doing well. They did employee recognition. The bands are good. The mood is chill. DW was fascinated by the funky salads in the Spa Cafe -Kale etc. It is over 70F again. The rooms are good- the bed was newer. It is a trend on some lines to make new ocean view cabins tiny again. The ship is nicely vibration and rumble free. There is a lot of topside paint being applied. Surface rust has become a passenger obsession. Not sure why.

We are meeting soon with the manager of the newly renovated British Colonial Hotel in Nassau. The soft open is Dec 10. Beach passes again in early 2024. https://www.britishcolonial.com/

The Lucky Band was nice later on four aft. Note to self: Bossa Nova lessons. I did see Jr officers and staff in the buffet and lounges. This would contribute to a happy ship- the "software" of the guest experience. Another line, less well managed, missed a key memo here. https://crew-center.com/ncl-restricts-privileges-staff-members-and-officers-less-2-stripes-its-not-just-benefits-its-our

Yep. MDR Anytime found us a table for two at 5:45 which is unheard of in recent cruise history for us. Dinner was speedy and good. Note to self - Mambo lessons. A five piece party band is inconsistent with all the reported cutbacks.

My memory from the Sunset Bar was trying to find a beer aboard that was not a yukky mass market lager. And how close the ferries and tour boats got to the ship. And they let us up on the helo pad to sightsee. Waiting for the band to start. We did get in recorded Tango. The dance floor four aft is smaller than it looks. But they still have one 🙂

We were on that one.

Got to the port at 10:50 and was onboard by 11:04. DW forgot some steps in online check in which slowed us down. Note they do observe/enforce arrival times. The ship is in good condition. The buffet was lovely. The overall feel is classy vs cattle yard. A big upgrade over NCL from earlier this year. This time of year an older passenger demographic was observed. Lunch was good. Lots of Asian choices. The reported endless cutbacks were not at all evident. I was just pinching myself - the decision to book another Celebrity cruise right after this one on impulse @249 pp - clever. One giggle. The shuttle service owner at the Holiday Inn Express was selling round trip tickets. I said we were picking up at Avis to drive to Miami. He said it was eight blocks. I gave him my best teenage eye roll.

Make a list. Barcelona and Venice to start. The whole place also. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2023/07/31/tourists-go-home-fed-up-with-over-tourism-european-hotspots-impose-bans-fines-taxes-and-traps/

Thanks. One thing we worked on - trying to find a hotel actually on the water in Tampa. You can drive over to St Pete Beach certainly. There are a few hotels on the bay right by the airport on 60. There is a Westin, Holiday Inn Express, and Doubletree. You can walk to three beach theme restaurants. There is a park or two and even a beach, Ben T Davis. The Rusty Pelican was good. Starting vacation early seems sensible.

Most of the time, what the industry calls a "Cruise Vacation" is called for. I did a search for long cruises, 11/23, and then by price. In my experience, the lines are pretty similar. The frequent guest programs are useless, so once you get invited to the basic loyalty party, the rest of the perks are pretty boring. The Constellation is a lovely ship, and we had fond memories of an amazing trip to the Med years ago. This 12 day run goes to some new countries and ports for us- Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica. And requires only a short, cheap nonstop flight. Is the right lunch or tour in a crowded, unwelcoming European port worth 4000 pounds of CO2 from jet fuel burned? No. The recent negative reviews are a big draw for me. And older, smaller ships are a plus. Not a fan of lines, crowds or waiting. Promenade decks, libraries, and some deck space are must haves. Ships that have not been modernized - i.e. take out "useless" public spaces and add more cabins and extra charge features are more interesting to us. I see on Cruise Mapper the ship is docked. We are in town, and have our luggage, passports and a shuttle reservation. What can go wrong?

Is there a "best restaurant for tourists" in/near town for lunch? One called the Red Snapper is apparently closed. What I would like- a modest rain forest tour, see the town, lunch. No gift shops, long bus rides, high pressure sales of rugs/baskets, or rum tastings.

The British Colonial says they should start having day passes in January.

The former British Colonial Hilton now just British Colonial has been updated and is due for soft open 12/12/23. It is right by the cruise dock, and had lovely grounds, food and there were day passes. Oceanfront Nassau Bahamas Hotel near Cruiseport | British Colonial Hotel Atlantis has various passes and good reviews. Next to the British Colonial is a new development with day passes.

Next time we will possibly jump in a taxi and go to "town/right" and walk back. Google maps /satellite view is the best way to get an idea of the layout. Areas with yacht harbors are good candidates for waterfront food and drinks. Kayak Beach is near the dock, Radio Beach is to the right but not close. The cruise dock is near the Hilton at Resorts World Bimini. A guess is the casinio pays the bills for the pier, trolley, etc. https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7467398,-79.2809685,1366m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-US&entry=ttu

You dock at a long pier. The free tram goes left as I recall to the resort, paid beach club and "free" beach. Lots of taxis near the end of the pier to go other places. There is a beach at the end of the pier across the narrow island.

So the commercial cruise port at Grand Bahama is pretty basic. Below average at best. It is fenced- so safe and secure, has a few bars and shops. There is a cab /shuttle stand. Take a cab, shared cab or shuttle van ($6 and up) to Lighthouse Pointe. That is a promising large coastal /beach development about 15 minutes away. You can get day passes to good beaches. We were able to drop in for lunch. We have not tried the excursions.