Trip Report Part II

[Diva70]

OK second day of cruise, we are at Freeport. As we disembark there's a great band right there. We took a shuttle to our shore trip for the Pirates of the Carribbean. Must say, Freeport, not so beautiful. Looks like a lot of poverty there in certain places. We didn't see much of it though, so I'm sure parts are lovely. Beach was really beautiful and the sand - just amazing. Not much sun at first, lots of clouds, but still pretty. Got our free drink (which was a lot stronger than I was expecting at 10:00 a.m. lol) and grabbed our lounge chairs. We had a great umbrella table to share. You can rent all sorts of stuff so we went to check it out. We were going to just rent snorkeling equipment, $10 an hour, but for $25 we could do a snorkeling tour - much better. Met up at about 11:45 with the guys for the tour - and the sun came out! Yeah! We went pretty far out to a spot called "Rainbow Reef". We had to wear the dang life preservers across our stomachs and after a while it really started to bother me. I think between that, no breakfast (just a room service quick bite), the drink, the sun, and the salt water, after about 45 minutes I started to feel really ILL. But by the time we made it back I was okay. In the meantime though, talk about an amazing experience. TONS of fish and the water crystal clear...beautiful! After we got back we had a pretty good bbq lunch and then the weather started to change. LOTS of thunder and BIG clouds. Hmm. We headed back to the shuttle and back onboard - after a little shopping, of course. We got a huge conch and as we got on board the bag broke - smack! Right onto my toe. OW. Broken conch. Sigh...

 

That night was the captain's cocktail party/formal night. I was absolutely exhausted so just hung out in my robe (LOVE those Carnival robes!!!) while Jason went to pick up his tux and do some more exploring. I had to be up at the spa at 6:00 to get my hair done, so just relaxed and got ready, then headed up there. I have a lot of hair, but didn't realize exactly how much - it took 108 (yes we counted them lol) bobby pins to hold the dang hair up. Hysterical. Took her an hour to do it - but it looked fantastic!!! Jason met up with me at the spa - and hey, I've only seen him in a tux twice, but man can the boy clean up. Holy cow. I was wearing a long tight black velvet and white satin number, so we matched. LOL. We got quite a few compliments. Anyway, met the captain, hung out at the cocktail party for a while, it was very nice. We then headed up for dinner - AMAZING, lobster tail, etc., and it was our anniversary so of COURSE they had to sing to us. Talk about embarrassing...remind me not to tell anyone it's an important date EVER AGAIN! LOL. About 10 guys were singing to us...happy anniversaaaaary to youuuuuuuu kissy kissy kissy...making us kiss between each verse...geezuz....

 

After dinner we headed back to change - Jason was tired of the tux and my feet were KILLING me - I had picked up a totally gorgeous pair of D & G's prior to the cruise and they looked great, but holy cow talk about painful. We hit a couple of the bars, the casino again (lol) and bingo (nope, didn't win darn!). We had noted in the Capers that there was going to be a rock n'roll trivia contest that night - Jason plays this rock n'roll trivia game all the time so I thought he'd be great at it. It was SO MUCH FUN. Wesley the art guy and two other employees were the judges. One of the musicians would play a riff from the beginning of a song and the first person to get the judges attention and the right answer was a finalist. A lot of people were there and knew a lot of the answers, but Jason finally got in. Every time a different song was played they announced a different way to get the judges attention - grab them by the tie, by the arm, etc. I managed to get over there myself - Roy Orbison, Pretty Woman, and I was the only person who knew it (??? suprised!). I had to grab the judges leg and I LEAPED across and nailed the poor guy...lol...one time you had to grab the judges by the...ok ok nipples (lol) and this guy GRABS Wesley - who had his nippes pierced - thought the poor guy was going to pass out. BUT we didn't win in the long run - this 14-year-old kid won! We were all amazed how a kid that young knew all that old classic rock. He couldn't have the prize (champagne) so they had to hunt down his dad and give it too him. It was quite a time, lots of fun. On to the next day - Nassau!

 

We woke up the next day at the crack of dawn. By the way, every night I ordered room service for about 6:15 - who needs an alarm clock! LOL. Looked out the window in awe...Nassau, just glorious!!! There was a spectacular pink house for sale right across from my window - took lots of pictures - after the lottery here I come! :) We had to get going fairly quickly to make our trip. I had booked a shore trip with shoretrips.com and was glad I did - there were TONS of people going to the Blue Lagoon trip and only about 75 on ours. We were told to go to the statue past the hair braiding center (no thanks, no thanks, don't want my hair braided now) and wait there. We waited for a while, thinking we were in the right place, til suddenly I realized NO WE'RE AT THE WRONG STATUE ack!!! Got to the right one just in time. Shuttle picked us up, hit several hotels for other guests, and we finally got to the dock and aboard. It was a HUGE catamaran, lots of music, drinks, and great info - this house is owned by so and so, this one by so and so, that island is called etc.,,, you know how it goes. We got to Rose Island, their own private island, in about 45 minutes. It was a great ride and the water was spectacular. Plus, you couldn't ask for a more beautiful summery sunny day. They had all sorts of things to do there - from snorkeling to sea kayaks to just hanging out in the hammocks. We floated in inner tubes for a while. Jason dropped his glasses (twice) into the water and it was so clear he found them again, about 15 feet down. We signed up for snorkeling and went out for about an hour and a half I guess. Saw tons of fish and took tons of pictures. All of a sudden Jason grabs me by the arm, pointing hysterically. I look and OMG it's a barracuda. About 4, 5 feet long. Along with a baby barracuda. He goes over to get pics while I go the OTHER direction. I turn around and am face-to-face with momma barracuda. She's looking me right in the eye. I do another about face and am OUT of there. One of the guys working there was snorkeling nearby and says oh, don't worry about them, they won't hurt you...hmm...I don't know, it does have lots of teeth. I'm not taking any chances! LOL :)

 

We spent the rest of the time just hanging out. We walked around the other side of the island and there is NOBODY there - it's truly like you're on your own private beach, just wonderful. Did see some glorious HUGE yaghts and wondered whose they were. We sadly headed back at about 4:00, did not want to leave. There were a ton of shuttle buses and we were told to take this one that would drop us at the ships. We got on and went to the VERY back. You know how those shuttles have an extra seat that flips down in the center - it's completely packed with all the seats down. Driver climbs on and says OK, is everybody here going to the Wyndham? OOOPS, no, we're on the wrong dang shuttle. So everybody has to move so we can get off...sorry!! Finally get the right one and head back. We did a little bit of shopping on Bay Street before deciding to head back and change and have dinner, then go back out to Nassau for the evening. We of course had to buy our cuban cigars, some souvenirs, a rum cake, etc. Jason got one of the Del Sol necklaces that change color in the sunlight - too cool. I got a gorgeous gold necklace with a gold disk on it. It has an imprint of the island and NASSAU written on it - love it! Also got somewhat revealing backless island outfit. la di da. Headed back to the ship and had dinner, changed, and headed back out. We HAD to go to Atlantis of course! Stopped and got my hair braided first - $2 a braid, and I did 3 on each side in the front. We were almost hysterical during the process though, the lady who was doing my hair got into an argument with two other ladies and just listening to them was so funny. Got a taxi to Atlantis and did some gambling - I did horrible, but Jason did well, making up for my losses at least. We didn't play any blackjack - $25 a hand was the lowest table and that one was packed. Oh well. Wandered around the hotel and managed to get back into the guest only area - checked out the beach and the pool where all the sharks and rays are - too cool. Took tons of pics of the Bridge Suite, hope they turn out (from below, I mean, not inside lol). We took a taxi back and headed to Senor Frogs. It was so loud you could hear the noise coming from there down the street. On the way we got the usual hits - little kids wanting to sing to you for a buck, and about 5 guys asked us "hey mon, hey lady, wanna partaaaay?" "wanna smoke??" Yeah, good idea, let's go into an alley with some Bahamian guys to smoke pot. Uh huh. No thanks. LOL. Well, Senor Frogs is - everything you would imagine it to be. Conga line dancing with stops along the way to have bartenders pour drinks down your throat, fabulous music, tons of people, and of course shopping (had to get a t-shirt you know!). It was a blast. I heard later that our art auction guy Wesley was there, but the place was SO packed I never saw him. On our way back we of course got hit up for everything again. Got back to the ship and hung out in the piano bar for a while, then sat on the deck and watched the Jubilee leaving port - it was interesting, they had to use 2 tugs to push it out and turn it. Time to turn in, "fun day at sea" tomorrow.

[Katlan]

Hi Holly ~

 

Just wanted to let you know that I am enjoying your trip reports. Sounds like you and Jason had a great time!

 

I love reading every trip report I can find to pass the time until my cruise ... Thanks for all the detail that you are putting into your report - makes me feel as if I'm right there with you :rolleyes: