Abee Normal's Crusie Report - Day 2
Well, the comments from day one couldn't have said it better, I'll never be able to cruise again without the veranda.
Cast:
Me - Abee (AKA Chris
DH - Jeff
DS - Jack 7
DS - Jones 6
My Mom - Lee
MIL & FIL
Day 2 - Nassau - Handbag Capitol of the World
We woke up today just before we came into the port (8ish). We could see the Atlantis Hotel - it was really pretty and hee-yooge (huge). The ship then made a u-turn so to speak and we backed into the dock - we were know looking at the port of Nassau from our private veranda. It was really sweet and tropical, there were the neatest houses everywhere, and little shops and that cute restuarant Senior Frogs. We also saw an amazing yacht called "one o one" it was really beautiful, it was sleek and black and looked like something you would see on the rich & famous.
I only had one rule for today, the boys wake up when they wake up. So this means room service this morning for breakfast. I was a little concerned because they give you this card you can hang out the night before asking what you want for breakfast and when you want it. Well, I knew what we wanted but I had no idea when we wanted it - I can't break my own rule and wake them up.
So I figure room service will take awhile but hey more veranda time - yipee - Boy was I wrong I called for two bowls of fruit loops, 4 cups-o-coffee, a bagel & cream cheese, english muffin & jam & apple juice for the boys orange for us, well in about 15 minutes it arrived and everything was perfect.
After breakfast we decided to take the boys to the Oceaneers Club while we decided when and where we were going to go in Nassau. We only wanted to go on land for a couple of hours ("on land" talk about a fantasy)we hadn't heard such great things about this place so we figured we wouldn't spend to much time there, so we got together for awhile and decided we wanted to eat lunch before we went into Nassau. My in law's decided to go into Nassau on sort of a pre-tour before we all went. My DH decided to get some more pictures of the Atlantis and we were at the aft of the ship when we saw this lovely women eating by herself and she asked us to take her picture. Her family was off on a tour and she decided to stay and enjoy the ship. Her name was Fern and she was 74 years young, she was really beautiful and so friendly. I was really proud of how my husband treated her. At the time my mom and I were alone with her taking her picture with her camera, then my husband came up taking pictures of the scenery and she asked if he was getting some beautiful pictures and he turned to her and took her picture and said " Yes I am" I think it really made Fern's day. She invited us back to England, we told her some day we would take her up on her offer.
After eating a quick lunch at there amazing buffet, which even my MIL loved and she hates buffets, we went to get the boys in the club, the counseler said they were in Parrot Cay having lunch - We asked if we could go get them - they said of course and personally took us there. When we got there we were really amazed - There was a restaurant full of nothing but kids and all the counselors were there asking if they had what they needed and did they want more to eat drink etc. Now you would think this restaurant would be deafening with all these kids but it wasn't even a little and all the kids were just talking at normal levels and eating. It was so neat to see that many kids together enjoying a good meal. We told the kids it was time to go and my older son Jack (7) almost came to tears. The counselors told us the kids were going back to the club to make cookies. They begged us to stay and the counselors confided in us that our kids would be bored to tears, and, in Nassau and there's not much there for them to do other than beach type stuff, which we weren't planning on, so my DH & I talked about it and decided to let them stay.
We got off of the ship and walked down one of the first streets along the dock. At the end of the street was a Bizzare with every designer handbag you could ever imagine - Gucci, Coach, Prada, Louie V. & on & on & on. I spent $60 dollars and I purchased two coach bags and one Gucci bag. The haggling for bags was really fun, but I swear this one gal was going to put a voodoo on me for not buying her bag. It was so much fun. Thinking back I'm really sorry I didn't buy more, but hey there's only so much room in the luggage. We walked in a few more shops and got some really fun t-shirts from Del Sol for the kids, if you haven't seen them they're black and white pictures until you go outside and then there in full color . They're really fun. One of the passangers on the ship said "You got sucked into the 20 dollar t-shirts too!!" and we all started craking up because all four of his kids had them on and I had the free bag they gave me. I told him it's all for the bag isn't it. They were a really fun family.
That was one of the best parts about being on the ship. Everyone seems to be on there best behavior and I think it's a " We're all stuck on the same ship - we better be polite, most likely we'll see them again" attitude.
Just before we got back on the ship my mom saw some sandals she wanted to get my brother and on the way we saw these neat little Rum Cakes - my mom said they were famous so I got some for all of our friends. We never did find the Sandals though - ooohhh, we'll have to go back ;).
Once we got back on the ship we went to get the kids and spend some time with them before we went to Dinner at Palo's. They had there chef hat's on and chef certificates for making chocolate chip cookies, so they're now cookie chef's just so you know.
We took them to eat and all they wanted to do was go back to the club. We went to our room to relax and change and then off to dinner and off to the club for the boys.
Dinner at Palo's was incredible "we were in awe" The service was like none other. The food was american italian and everything was impeccable. Then there was dessert - I ordered the chocolate souffle before we ate, which I learned here. It was so amazing and I'm not that into souffle's. They bring it to you all puffed up and then they poke a hole in it and you think to yourself " Well that was rude it WAS pretty" then they pour in the warm vanilla sauce, then they pour in the warm chocolate sauce. It was by far the best dessert I have ever had. I also learned I really like a wine called Ten Year Tawny, I'm not much of a wine drinker but I thought that was really good after the souffle'.
I learned at dinner that night that my MIL & FIL were so impressed with this cruise & my FIL is not one to like kids much, but he said they made the ship feel alive and upbeat, I was amazed to hear that coming from him. He loved the adult spaces, he loved the service, and they said the stateroom was hee-yooge (huge) compared to other cruise lines and the veranda was spectacular. They are already looking into booking there next cruise with Disney.I have to say once you do this cruise, you just can't imagine another vacation living up to this and we're only on day two. My mom was also feeling this way well before we left the ship.
For anyone out there who was wondering, yes you can feel the ship move, I really enjoyed the feeling but I did see a few folks with patches just behind the ear that they got in the little Dr's office on board. No one in our party ever felt sick but you definitly feel movement when the boat is at a decent speed. Also when we had dinner with our servers they warned us about The Animator's Palate saying that you really feel the movement in that part of the ship because we would be going by the opening of the Gulf of Mexico. We did feel it but again for us it was fun.
When we picked up the kids that evening, Jones (6) was ready to go but Jack(7) just met a new friend so we let him stay a bit longer. I knew Jones was hungry and that's why he wanted to go as he hadn't eaten much that day, I think the time change is still effecting him. So we went back to the stateroom and ordered room service for him. I told the room service people on the phone he was picky, so they said well what does he like, we ended up with steak, fries, corn, cookies, apple juice and the all important A-1 sauce, again they were wonderful. When they brought it in my son was in awe when the man took the top off of the plate. My son said you brought my favorite food THANK YOU. They had his steak already cut up, and the plate looked so inviting. My son must have thanked him 5 or so times before he left, the personal attention was amazing and to top it off he asked if he could bring us our evening coffee before he left. Now keep in mind there's no charge for anything in room service other than alchohol.
My Dh then left to get our big boy out of the club. Chololate chip cookies & milk & off to bed for them. WE'RE ON VACATION. The other thing that was really fun, there are two channels of the TV and they both play top notch Disney movies all day and night. They watched Alladin while falling asleep.
Coffee and veranda under the stars for us another beautiful evening.
Tommorrow - Castaway Cay:thumbsup:
