cloudsail

Anyway, we did eventually make it to the Queen's Staircase, though both Google Maps and the tourist map we got at the pier would've led us astray if a helpful local hadn't seen us hesitating at an intersection and told us where to go.

Both my husband and I were awed by the sight of the Queen's Staircase. It felt like something straight out of a movie set. Definitely worth the short walk.

Walk from ship to port

Walking in the city

Queen's Staircase

So my plan for Nassau was to walk to the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle, then the Straw Market. Doesn't sound too ambitious, right? But I underestimated how much our kids have gotten used to Pacific Northwest weather after only a few years. We only got past the vendors on the pier before they started complaining that it was so HOT. I told my daughter that for someone born in California, she really should appreciate the sunshine more

 😜

7 hours ago, rob111 said:

I am loving your review. Thank you. Just today I booked this ship leaving this coming Saturday the 16th (2 weeks after you). Was on the Sky about 3 years ago so it will be interesting to see it after the refurb.

 

I can almost taste your chicken wings!

Hope you have a great cruise! We are definitely missing the wings! 

We didn't book any excursions for Nassau or Freeport. The latter stop was actually supposed to be a sea day, then about a week before the cruise I noticed that it had changed to a port stop in Freeport. No idea why and it originally made me a little nervous because I thought they were planning to cancel one of the other ports. 

On Day 3 we woke up to Jasper's "Hello hello hello!" arrival announcement at 8 am. Nassau is a beautiful port and there were two other ships docked beside us, the Carnival Sunshine and Grand Classica. Since we didn't have any excursions and weren't in a hurry to get off the ship, we had breakfast in the Crossings. We agreed to share a table and were seated with a lovely couple from Florida who cruised frequently. I had the smoked salmon benedict which was very good.

MDR breakfast menu:

Smoked salmon benedict

Silver dollar pancakes and scrambled eggs in the background

Day 3 Nassau

The Dailies:

We showed up at Stardust Theater for the Rock You Tonight show at 8:50, ten minutes before the show was to start at 9 pm. The second floor was pretty full but there were still plenty of seats on the first floor. The show lasted about 40 minutes and we all enjoyed it. It was very high energy and we thought the two female singers were much better than the male singer. At the end of the show cruise director Jasper came on with some announcements and to remind everyone to return to the ship tomorrow before 4:30 pm. 

Custom crepe with ice cream

We picked up the kids at 8 pm. Since they ate dinner so early, we brought them to the buffet for some snacks and dessert.

Buffet hot dishes

Buffet hot dishes

The Spinnaker Lounge. It was super cold in here for some reason. Like arctic temperatures.

Some pictures from around the ship.

Sunset from the Great Outdoors.

The Atrium

Jewelry counter outside the gift shop

Starbucks

Oh, and they were showing the football game in the Local. On the previous night we saw them showing the hockey game.

We walked around the ship a bit then had dinner at the Local. The portions were bigger than we expected. The desserts especially were huge. We loved the wings and ended up getting them for midnight snack for the rest of the cruise.

Cobb salad

Fish and chips

Wings with sweet Korean chili sauce

Cheesecake

Carrot cake

We dropped the kids off at Splash Academy at 6 pm. They were given wristbands which had to be worn for the duration of the cruise, otherwise you incur a $5 fee if it needs to be replaced. However, they were able to attach our son's wristband with a rubber band so that it can be removed. They also gave us a pager in case the kids needed to be picked up for any reason.

Menu for the Local Bar.

For ours, Rock You was the second night and Showdown was the last night, but not sure if they change it up or not. Both were at 9pm.

After lunch the kids dove straight into the water again. We were very thankful for our clamshell as it allowed us to keep an eye on them and have some shade at the same time. Husband napped for a bit while I read and nibbled on desserts. Around 3 pm we finally managed to drag the children out of the water and back to the ship. At the checkpoint for getting on the tender, we were offered cold towels, flavored water, and smoothies. 

Back on the ship, everyone showered, then the kids said they were hungry again, even though it was only 4:30. We went up to the buffet, but only the Great Outdoors was open. That's fine, we could still sit in the Garden Cafe. The kids got some burgers, chips and fries. They ate then did homework.

At 5pm the ice cream station in Garden Cafe opened and we got them ice cream. We started sailing away from the port. At 5:30 the rest of the buffet opened. We tried the roast pig and some desserts. Kids finished their homework and ate more fruit.

A server came by and told us that Kumon is very popular in his native country, the Philippines 😀 All his nephews did it throughout elementary and middle school. Since we are going there next year I guess we will fit right in, LOL.

Rooms nicely made up on our return

Homework in Garden Cafe

Whole roast pig. My daughter said, "Poor piggy!"

Sail away

A little past noon we had to physically drag the kids out of the water to eat lunch. We were very close to the taco bar so tried that first. They had beef, chicken, and fish tacos, and lots of different fixings to put on them. We each had a taco then headed to the buffet. There were the standard hot dogs, burgers, and pizza, but also various salads, BBQ ribs, and jerk chicken. The jerk chicken was very good, the ribs only so-so. (I can make some pretty good fall-off-the-bone ribs, so these felt rather sub-par.) For dessert, the walnut brownies and banana rum cake (not pictured) were delicious, the coconut bar was too sweet and not to our taste.

Taco bar

Taco fixings

Fish tacos

Walking to the buffet

Food from the buffet

Dessert

We brought our own snorkel masks, but didn't end up swimming far enough to see much fish. On the last day of our cruise, when we came back to GSC, we rented a cabana and found that the snorkeling was much better from the beach there. You only had to walk out a few steps past the rocks to see lots and lots of fish.

Anyway, close to shore there were many of these little silver fish that the seagulls ate, and it was a lot of fun watching the birds dive and catch them. We brought some mini sand toys and the kids loved just being in the water or playing in the sand. 

I just love how blue and clear the water in the Caribbean is.

We got on the island and found where the snorkeling area was supposed to be, past Patron beach bar. This is where we decided to get our clamshell. The Sky was the only ship at GSC that day so the island felt pretty empty. As you can see from the picture, only the first row of clamshells were taken.

Map of GSC

After breakfast we went back to our room to get ready for the beach. We finally made it down to deck 3 at 10:30, then realized that we forgot to bring photo IDs. Doh! Husband ran back and got them. By the time he got back the tender had left so we had to wait for the next one. It was pretty quick though, and we were soon on the boat. Most people sat on the top deck, but it was very hot and sunny. We went down the stairs to the bottom deck which was almost empty.

Looks like there are two ships docked at CocoCay

I could've sworn I took pictures of the drink machines but can't find it now. Anyway, in the buffet there is always water, coffee, and tea. In the mornings there is juice (apple, orange, cranberry) and for lunch and dinner there are flavored waters (strawberry kiwi and tropical mango), lemonade, and iced tea. We brought water bottles but only ever used them on shore. It was always very easy to get water from the bars or buffet (we don't drink soda). We never felt the need for bottled water. 

We had breakfast at the Garden Cafe. The buffet breakfast would be pretty much the same every morning, with maybe some small variations. I liked the muesli and the custom omelettes and eggs. My husband and I both enjoyed the waffles with banana syrup. We did the buffet for breakfast most mornings just because it was quick and easy with the kids. 

Pastries

Pastries

Waffles (there was also french toast on the other side)

Hot dishes

Hot dishes

Custom omelette

Yogurt

Cottage cheese, granola, muesli

I forgot to mention that after the lunch on the first day, we decided to book a clamshell for GSC the next day. At first we tried to use the kiosks, but we couldn't get it to work. Eventually we lined up at the shore excursion desk. It was pretty fast and the lady helping us told us that even though the clamshell only has two loungers, she didn't think we would need more than one as our children would spend zero time in it. She was totally right, of course. Each clamshell was $30, completely covered by our $50 shore excursion credit. It also got us a priority tender ticket.

Day 2: Great Stirrup Cay

First the Dailies:

After dinner the kids really wanted to go in the hot tub, so we got them changed and headed up to the pool deck. It was pretty empty. The kids enjoyed themselves and after their swim we got some pizza from the Great Outdoors for them, then finally off to bed.