Vacation Fun - Part 3.3. - Nassau, Bahamas

Disclaimer:  I can't give Nassau a fair shake because it rained the whole time we were there.

I had never been to the Bahamas before this trip so I was really looking forward to what it had to offer.  We arrived in port and I was very excited to see Atlantis from our balcony.  We were told it was the place to go while we were in port, so we exited the ship and made our way there via water taxi.  We had a great guide who told us all about the homes we passed along the way.

It was still raining when we reached Atlantis, but we still had high hopes, so we exited the taxi and walked the rest of the way to the resort.  Inside Atlantis was magnificent..you could tell they spent a LOT of money building this resort.  After 15 minutes of walking inside we got to the beach exit - still raining.  We walked outside and were told by some guests of the resort how to get to the beach.  They also warned us of all the peddlers lining the beach. We opted not to go to the beach because of the rain and because of the warning.  We caught a taxi/van back to the pier and got back on our ship...disappointing to say the least!

I got some great pictures, but can't say I loved Nassau - go away rain!  Our last port and the most uneventful!  Oh well, maybe next time...



Vacation Fun - Part 3.2 - St. Thomas

Well, I've been to St. Thomas before and always heard about it being a mecca for discount shopping.  I have to admit that I bought my first camcorder there and thought I got a good deal.

But...I remembered Magen's Bay (the most famous Bay on the island) a little differently than I found it this time.  First off, it cost us $30 (each way) to even get to the bay.  Then, when we arrived, it was WAY different than I remembered.  There was nothing special about it unless you count the over priced food at the one concession/bar area they offered.

We spent the afternoon there and had a great time, but it was because of the company, not the venue.  This beach was a little less pristine than the one in St. Maarten, so we were able to find some shells, but nothing of significance.  We had a good time burying Reese in the sand and T found a few treasures while snorkeling, but it didn't make up for the super expensive french fries, the $7 beer or the cost to get to the bay.

I don't want to sound like we didn't enjoy our time here, but it wasn't anything to write home about.  I got some sun, so that was good!  Next cruise, we may just skip St. Thomas if at all possible...or maybe we shop for our next camcorder :)

Vacation Fun - Part 2

So, we had a couple of days at sea before we reached our first destination.  We spent it eating, napping and laying by the pool.

The ship we were on just began sailing July 2010 - it's Norwegian's newest ship and had lots of things I'd never seen on a ship before. 

Our awesome room...



Looking out to our balcony...

This ship had wavy walls in the rooms, the biggest casino I've ever seen on a ship, 20 different dining options, pools, a jumbo tv at the back of the ship, basketball court (that could be converted to an ice skating rink), bowling alley, water slides and more stuff I can't even think of right now.

The pool under the tv screen turned in to a dance floor at night!

Water slides

There was so much to do on the ship, one could have stayed on all week without any ports.  But ports, they were a comin'.

Tomorrow we visit St. Maarten!

Vacation Fun - Part 3.1 St. Maarten

St. Maarten was our first stop.  I'd been there a few times before, so I knew where I wanted to go - Orient Beach.  Now, I'll admit that the first time I was on St. Maarten, I chose Orient Beach because one end had a nudist resort and I just wanted to see whatever I might see (turns out there there was nothing under 65 to look at).  But, that first time (minus the nudies) sealed the deal.  This is the prettiest beach I've ever been to.  The sand is white and super soft and the water is crystal clear. 

We rented a beach chair for the day and stayed several hours.  I ordered a gourmet pizza that was delivered by our very tan cabana boy named Ghi.  The only annoyance were the ladies walking up and down the beach with items for sale.  I must have been asked 50 times if I wanted my hair braided.   

We built sand castles and buried Reese in the sand.  We had a great day.

I've heard one thing you should experience if visiting St. Maarten is the jet blast at the airport.  Apparently, you can almost get blown away when the jets take off.  I heard someone talking about it on the way back to the ship and she said it was the most incredible experience she'd ever had.

Next time we go to St. Maarten, I might give up Orient Beach to check out the jetblast.  I'm just not sure I'm ready to give up the nudies :)

Vacation Fun - Part 1

We went on vacation last week.  We decided to focus on sand and sun because we took Reese to the beach last summer and she really loved it. 

We left on a big boat last Saturday and spent the next 7 days sailing around the world.  Ok, not really the world, just the Eastern Caribbean.  We went to St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Nassau, Bahamas.  The boat we went on is called the Epic - it's the newest (and biggest) in the Norwegian fleet.  It just started sailing in July, so it was exciting to be on such a new ship.

Big, huh?

We had an awesome balcony room off the back of the ship.  If you look closely, you can see TE and Reese looking down at me with love in their eyes.  Ok, you can't even tell it's them, much less how much love they had in their eyes, but I promise it's true.  See them?  Top balcony, second from the left, she's got on a pink dress, whatever...they are really there.

Anyway, it was a fantastic trip.  I'll post again about each island.  But, since I'm sure you can't stand all the suspense, St. Maarten was my favorite!