Cruise to the Bahamas 2015

This past weekend David and I took a cruise to the Bahamas.  (Yeah, it's still very surreal for me too and I've already gone and come back.)  

In short, it was an amazing trip.  I was trying to pinpoint exactly what it was about it that made it so great.  I mean, obviously the destinations were gorgeous.  The service was excellent.  The food was good.  The shows were funny.  And it goes without saying that the company was superb.  But I think more than any of those things was the simple fact of managed expectations.  We hadn't planned for a year and spent tons of money as we've done for other vacations in the past.  It was "last minute" (to me) and we were on credit card and airline miles, so we didn't feel like we had a ton invested.  We just went into it hoping for a nice weekend and a little relaxation.  

Done and DONE.

The long version: 

David's parents arrived around 7am on Friday for the first grandparent shift.  We gave them last minute information (including that our washing machine had broken the night before.  YUP.) and made sure the "Grandparent Manual" was out and ready to be referenced...or thrown out the window, whichever they wanted.  

We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and had Chick-fil-A for breakfast.  We called the kids to tell them good morning and then I sat down and caught up on some video and picture file stuff on my laptop while we waited for our plane to start boarding.  As we sat there, David got a call from work asking him to go to San Diego later in the week.  If you've followed this vacation storyline closely, you'll recognize that the timing of this call was hilarious.  We had been waiting since early Spring for him to get a call to go to CA so we could turn that into a little getaway trip for ourselves.  He had nothing on the books and it didn't appear that anything was coming, either, so we decided to go ahead and make other trip plans.  Then AS WE'RE WAITING FOR THE FLIGHT he gets a call to go to CA in a few days.  Of course we didn't regret booking the cruise and it was a way better trip, but we still laughed about that pretty hard.

Anyway, we got on the plane and had a nice uneventful flight to Miami.  At the airport there, we grabbed our bags and jumped in a taxi headed for the cruise ship terminal.  It was a decent wait to get through the check-in process on that end, but we boarded the ship around 3pm and were greeted by an excited group of the crew singing, clapping, and welcoming us "home."  We checked out our room (tiny, but clean) and then walked around to explore the ship.  We hadn't eaten lunch, so we snagged a snack at the buffet and then went back to unpack.  We found a quiet spot on one of the upper decks to rest, read, and watch the sun go down.  We ate dinner at the buffet and then got some dessert at the crepe station (delicious!) on the way to see the 9:30 variety show.  It was great and the hospitality/management nerd in me adored the bit where they hilariously introduced the senior management staff.  The comedian gave a little preview of the act he'd be putting on the following night and then they had the on-ship performing dance company do a number or two.  We yawned our way out the door and were in bed with lights out at 11pm.  Yeah, we closed it down.

The next morning we woke up to the feeling of the ship vibrating into place at the Nassau Port.  I reached for my phone in the pitch black room to check the time, certain that it was going to say 5am or some other too-depressingly-early-for-vacation hour.  I was giddy when it said 6:50.  I'd slept nearly 8 straight hours with only a momentary stirring or two.  I do not usually sleep well on vacation, so this was a gift straight from heaven above.  We showered and then ate breakfast at an onboard restaurant that was serving omelets and waffles.  We went back to slather on sunscreen and pack our backpack then disembarked into Nassau around 9am. 

Not being our first time traveling, we kept our heads down, avoided eye contact, and high tailed it through the swarms of people attempting to talk to us or sell us stuff.  We ducked into a couple of little shops to look for a Christmas ornament, but came up empty handed.  I had no desire to go to the market place but beyond it was a much calmer section of local merchants set up in nice tents.  We found a table displaying ornaments and other little straw goodies.  The pretty lady behind the table greeted us with a big grin and proudly showed off her "signature piece"...a straw flip-flop ornament with a Bahamian penny.  Sold.  We finished our walk to Junkanoo Beach, rented some chairs and an umbrella, and alternated between reading, talking, and getting up for a short dip in the gorgeous water right in front of us.  The sun stayed behind the clouds most of the day, which was great for keeping the temperatures low and avoiding getting fried.  All in all, it was as miserable as you're imagining.

Around 2pm, the beach was getting a little busy (there were four cruise ships in port) and the crowd was getting a little drunk.  We gathered our stuff and walked the 3/4 mile or so back to the ship, pausing to take a few pictures.  We took a different route on the return and strolled through a nice clean shopping district.  Side note:  It just amazes me that one would take a trip all the way to the Bahamas and then spend the day indoors shopping at chain stores and drinking a cup of coffee at Starbucks, but to each his own I suppose.

We got back on board, showered, and took a nap.  We were simply exhausted from all that laying around we'd done.  When we woke up, we found a quiet spot to call and check on the kids who frankly hadn't seemed to notice we were gone with all the fun they'd been having!  After we hung up, we laid claim to some deck chairs in a quiet spot and continued our earlier tasks of reading and resting and talking.  When we couldn't stand it anymore, we changed for dinner and went to one of the big dining room restaurants to eat.

The food wasn't phenomenal, but the thing about a cruise ship is you have approximately half a dozen other included choices and you're likely to eat again in about five minutes, so you don't have to stress over a mediocre meal.  A nice maitre d' came over to introduce himself and ask how things were going.  Seeing as how we were the youngest couple in a near-empty restaurant at the early bird hour, I imagine we drew some attention to ourselves.  We chatted a few minutes and after we explained our affinity for peace and quiet, he gave us a tip about where to go when we got to Great Stirrup Cay Island the next day.  We thanked him and finished our meal, laughing about our geriatric tendencies.  

We changed clothes right after dinner and - you guessed it - found a quiet spot with a good view to sit back and relax while we waited for the comedian's 9:30 show to begin.  Making our way through the freezing ship, we stopped for dessert and then by the gift shop to look at sweatshirts.  I ultimately decided that $32 in my pocket would keep me warmer than a $32 sweatshirt on my back and we found seats in the ship's theater.  The hilarious cruise director got the crowd fired up and laughing and then introduced the comedian.  He was clean and pretty funny, with the best bit being about his Type-A ex-girlfriend whom he would often find himself in the middle of the argument with because she'd had the first half of the fight already figured out and done for him.  I couldn't relate at all and from the sound of David's side-splitting laughter beside me, neither could he.  :)  We left with big smiles and were asleep by 11pm.

The next morning we woke up after another great night of rest.  We got ready and ate breakfast at the buffet.  French toast with caramelized banana sauce, bacon, potatoes, biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit, etc.  (I have no idea how I gained four pounds in three days.)  Because we couldn't pull into a port and instead had to do tender/shuttle boats to the cruise line's private island, the process took a little longer than the day before.  After sitting on the top deck of a nauseously rocking boat in the baking sun for twenty minutes, we were getting cranky, but all was forgiven when we stepped off onto Great Stirrup Cay.  It was simply stunning.  I mean, straight out of a traveler's magazine article of the top ten destinations in the world.  The crowd went right and we veered left, heading in the direction of the secluded lagoon the maitre d' had told us about the night before.  After about a ten minute walk, we stumbled on it.  Heaven on earth.

We had it completely to ourselves for the first thirty minutes or so and even after that, there were only a few visitors trickling in.  We swam and watched fish, walked along the rock wall/sand bar and marveled at the view until we sounded like broken records.  ("Isn't this gorgeous?! It's so gorgeous!  I mean this is GORGEOUS.")  We chased the palm tree shade for a long while and then trekked back to the excursion hut to look into snorkeling prices.  Turns out the cheapest option was $30 per person plus tax and we were determined to keep this "free" (airline and cc miles) vacation as close to free as possible, so we skipped it.  We grabbed a bite to eat at the beach buffet they'd set up and then went for a swim in one of the ocean inlets on the way back to our lagoon spot.  They'd just started a round of family olympic games there, so we opted to find another space to set up in.  We walked down to the ocean again and floated, swam, and chilled for a long while before the threat of sunburn sent us back to the shade.  The day was full of sunshine, which was perfect weather, but that meant no cloud cover to protect us (read: David.)  We dried off and laid under the shady palm trees reading and napping for another couple of hours before lining up and boarding the tender boat back to the ship.  I was so sad to see the island grow smaller as we pulled away.  It had been such an amazing day spent in an astoundingly beautiful place.  

We called the kids and checked in, this time hearing a little more longing in their voices.  Luke was especially cranky, as we'd called right in the middle of grandparent shift change when he'd just woken up.  I tried to lighten him up but ultimately had to just get off the phone and let Nana work her magic.  I heard later that he came around in no time.  We got cleaned up, dressed in casual clothes, and found our new quiet spot to chill and watch the ocean pass as we read and chatted.  Around 6:30 (we were becoming regular night owls), we changed and went to dinner in the other main dining room.  The food was much better and afterward we tried to find a place to sit back and listen to some music.  We ended up swinging by the casino and spending a whopping $5 on video poker before relaxing at the back of the ship watching the sunset beside our wake.  It was serene to say the least. 

We strolled around a little more before taking in the 9:30 finale variety show.  It was good, but wasn't knocking our socks off, so we snuck out a little early to find something that would.  Turns out that even after eleven years of marriage, we can still rock the boat.  ;)

After remembering to set an alarm (how nice it had been not to have to for two days!), we fell into a deep sleep.  The next morning was a blur of showering, packing, breakfast, disembarking, and heading through customs.  We tried to be extra kind to each other because we both knew the other was so very, very sad it was ending.  After an exhilarating taxi ride, we got to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  It dawned on both of us after we had already checked our bags that we should've asked about getting on an earlier flight. No matter...sitting around leisurely in an airport wasn't the worst thing in the world since we only had ourselves to entertain.  In fact, we ended up using most of the time to do the dreaded washing machine research that needed to be done.  

(Back story:  I've loathed our front loader since we got it a decade ago.  When it died on us right before we left, I dared anyone to attempt to fix it lest they face my wrath.  My dad ignored me and tried anyway, but with no success.  David agreed I'd paid my dues and we bought one sight unseen over the phone.  It had amazing reviews, including the stamp of approval of Kara and her mother-in-law, which was enough for me.  And, frankly, we'd spent weeks stressing and researching the last time we bought one and that turned out horribly, so we decided to go about it differently this time.)  

Anyway, we researched washers, ordered one from Lowe's, and set up delivery.  After grabbing a bite to eat, we boarded the plane bound for Atlanta.  One and a half uneventful hours later, we landed and walked outside to the sticky hot slap-in-the-face that is summertime in the ATL.  

We got to the house and were greeted with a welcome home "party" that the kids and my mom had put together complete with a couple of signs, blown-up balloons, and cupcakes.  The kids hugged us for a very, very long time and then began the story telling between all of us about what an amazing weekend it had been.  My mom got on the road and we served up leftovers and kept swapping tales until it was time for bed.

I'm not going to lie, Tuesday morning found us in a serious funk.  Coming off of such a great trip coupled with the news that David was going out of town (just a short trip, but still) was tough.  The kids had been spoiled all weekend as had we, so there was definitely a detox period for all of us.  By Wednesday night, however, we'd managed to adjust our attitudes and expectations back to normal.  Mostly.  

The whole thing was just fantastic and I'm so very grateful that we got to go.  The memories we made will last for many years to come (hopefully the slight vertigo feeling of the ship rocking will not...)