APDMOM

Yikes! Thank you for catching that. Wish I could go back and edit. I totally counted thr wrong side of the ship, forward. Read the deckplan wrong on my favorite site. CORRECTION of balconies in Ocean Cay: Balcony marked 10033 is actually 10238. I will update in new post.

I think so - I will look and post some tomorrow. We are en route to our next adventure for 2 days. Will close out this trip report in tge next 3 days. 🙂

@publicpersona Hope you are all packed and ready to board tomorrow! 🙂 I was told the best place for wine tasting is by the specialty restaurants. It sounds like they don’t have an elaborate wine selection or cellar like on Seascape, but your best bet is the bar by the specialty restaurants.

Daily Program: Day 10 (3 of 4): Ocean Cay

My View: End of Day 10 (3 of 4) - Ocean Cay:

I don't know why the photos are starting to look fuzzy. They look very clear on the computer... Too bad I can't use this as an excuse to buy a new camera. 😉

Ocean Cay Excursions: TIP: If you don't want to risk renting and umbrella or booking a kayak, etc. on Ocean Cay, you can do it the day of the visit on the island. This is the one place where you don't need to book in advance. There is a 10% island fee upcharge, but with the unpredictable weather on this island, it may be beneficial to wait and pay the extra 10% to ensure there is good weather. Case in point: When the rain storm was approaching, we saw two kayakers hightailing it back to the north beach area to avoid getting caught in the storm. It did not look like a fun way to end your kayaking trip. I don't know if they were able to get a refund. A few more views of the island closer to sunset: The Spa Area: Helipad: The Wedding Pavilion: Favorite View of the Lighthouse:

Balcony Location for the Lighthouse Show: TIP: If you spefically choose a starboard balcony, look at these pictures to see if your balcony will have a view of the lighthouse. Count the balconies from aft to make sure you are not in one of the aft balconies that do not have a view of the lighthouse. For Example: If I am counting correctly on deck 10, cabin number 10033 will be the last one with a view of the lighthouse. The rest before the hump will only have a partial or no view of the lighthouse. This means cabins between 10035 and 10071 will not be able to get a view of the lighthouse show. Closer up View for deck 9, which is a little more difficult to count:

After dinner family pictures: I skipped dinner in the MDR and forgot to take a picture of the menu. I do know they had shrimp and grits. We went back to the island for a sunset stroll and to get our family pictures with our 'glow shirts'.

Marketplace Best Kept Secret - 4 PM snack TIP: We have seen day after day how people miss this secret spot. The 4 PM snacks are hidden in the back of the buffet, portside. It was never busy, with very short lines, which shows it was not well known. There are hotdogs, hamburgers, and pizza at the entrance, but most people missed this spot.

Beach Stop #6: Bimini Beach This is my usual favorite spot. It was much busier than usual. I guess the word got out about what a nice beach it is. It is the ocean side of the island, so the waves can be a bit more rough. I went for a quick swim, just for the sake of comparison, but did not bring my camera. These pictures are therefore borrowed from my March Cruise on Seascape. The tide was stronger this time, so not a good swimming place for kids who are not confident swimmers. The food truck is closeby.

Beach Stop #5: North Beach We took the shuttle for my mom's sake to North Beach. This area is usually very quiet. Today was no exception. We were able to drag a few empty loungers into the shade under the palm trees and enjoy the cool water for a few hours. You can also see some small fish, even if you don't snorkel. There is a food truck with hotdogs and hamburgers in this area, which is shared with Bimini Beach. Crossing the bridge to reach North Beach:

Beach Stop #4: South Beach This is the busiest beach of the island. I know it does not look busy in these pictures, but that is only due to the early hour and the inclement weather moving in. There are plenty of loungers and it is the closest to the buffet area. We were able to take a quick swim here too, but soon were called out by the whistle of the lifeguard for a thunderstorm coming through. This one lasted about 2 hours, so not your typical quickly passing storm. The afternoon was beautiful though. I swam out to one of th platforms, just to find that the steps to get onto the platform were broken.

IMG_6896.mov Beach Stop #3: Sunset Beach This is another beautiful space for sunset pictures. It has too many rocks and pebbles to swing without swimming shoes. It was the most quiet beach of the bunch we visited. I ventured out with no swim shoes and it was a bit painful to step on the rocks. Especially trying to exit against the tide 😳

Beach Stop #2: Lighthouse Rocks This is beautiful space for sunset pictures. It is rocky and a 'no swim' area. It is a good spot to look at waves crashing against the rocks, although the waves were a bit tame on this day.

A Quick Swim before a Stormy Start to the day: We left the ship just before 9 AM and the island was still very quiet. I took a dip at three of the beaches before the lightning forced us out of the water and back to the ship. TIP: I will post the map and mark the area in the pictures, with a quick review of the beach/area. The Pink Arrow indicates where the pictures were taken. Beach Stop #1: Lighthouse Bay This is a favorite spot. The water is calm, there are not too many rocks, and we saw stingrays swimming around. It gets a bit crowded later in the day. It has the best views of the ship.

My View: Day 10 (3 of 4) - Ocean Cay

Daily Program: Day 9 (2 of 4) - Nassau

My View: End of day 9 (2 of 4) - Nassau:

White Party: I did spend a little time at the White Party to see how it compared with the one on Seascape. Fewer people attended this one, but everyone seemed to have fun. There was a wide range of ages attending. 1 of the first 3 songs was familiar to me, so I left after the third song. They were all Spanish. Many in the crowd did seem to know the songs, so I am probably just too 'old' for this kind of party. 😄 IMG_6812.MOV

Dinner Menu: Day 9 (2 of 4) - Nassau: We did not eat in the MDR, but here is the menu for anyone who may be interested: TIP: It is notable that the menu is quite different from the 7-day sailing. I thought they would repeat some days, but one are exactly the same as last week. Also, the dinner menu is often not uploaded into the app until around noon. The physical menus in the MDR are single-page printed paper, so it seems like there may not be 'set menus', except for the daily classics.

A few more Views from the Ship:

The New Port Area: The new area looks beautiful and clean. Local goods are sold but quite expensive. Ice cream was $8, while you can get it on the ship for $ 4 or $6, depending on what you prefer. Junkanoo Museum:

Arrival in Nassau: We shared the port with Carnival Elation, Carnival Mardi Gras, and Oasis of the Seas (arrived later): Atlantis and Paradise Island - It will be interesting to see how this area changes if the Royal Caribbean plans go through:

Thermal Area: Since we had a late arrival time at Nassau, we decided to use the thermal area early in the morning - as soon as it opened at 9 AM. It was the busiest I had seen the thermal area during our first 9 days on the cruise. 7 people sandwiched into the steam room 😳