Nassau, the Bahamas

 Sunday, March 10, 2024

Oh dear,  it's daylight-savings time and the room service coffee arrives bright and early!  And my herbal tea is camomile - the exact opposite of what I need!!  Still, I manage to do my yoga and we head up to breakfast close to our nine o'clock expectation.  everyone is in the Windjammer because it's a port day and the other restaurants are closed;  but we find a table and even find Tobi and Dean! 

Our excursion meets at 12:15, so we have time to up to the sports deck and see what's happening.  Robin plays pickle ball so she's interested in seeing the level of competition.  I just want to see what's available and there is plenty - miniature golf and the dreaded tubular slide of death and the wave rider, to say nothing of the climbing wall!  Fun pictures but nothing I want to actually DO!!

Cool elevators!

This is why we don't sail on Carnival!

That's not a lot of water to land in!!

And he's no spring chicken!

Everyone had their own caption!  Fun people!

Back to the room to gather our resources and head down to our meeting spot before 12:15.  We meet up with Dan and Diana and the girls go with Ma to the tram stop.  But we all wind up at the bus and all is good with our cool guide, Mike. We learn a lot about Nassau and thhe Bahamas, which is made up of 700 (!) islands, of which Nassau is the largest with three-fourth of the population of 400,000.  Each island has its own specialty, like pink sand, or salt, or bonefish.  We stop at the Rum Cake factory with samples andd shopping and if you buy a cake you get a free shot of rum next door. I think it's a little early for that;  but I might regret it later!

We cross the Sidney Poitier bridge (I didn't know he was Bahamian!) to Paradise Island, which used to be Hog Island but that isn't great for PR!  All the super rich folks live here like Michael Jordan and Johnny Depp!  We stop at the Atlantis (that's Michael Jackson's suite over the arch!) Hotel and learn that there is now a Bahamian Hotel that is giving it a run for its money.  Between them they employ 12,000 people!!

Follow the leader, like good little ducklings!

Wonderful air-conditioned bus with free wifi.

They've only been independent since 1973.

Color, color everywhere!

Yes, please! 

In the Atlantis we see a magnificent Chihuli!!  and lots of high-end shops, as you'd expect. There is a couple that is late to the bus because they went into the casino andd"the machine kept winning!"  They nearly got left!

Our next stop is one of the three ports that were built to stave off the pirates.  It is Fort Montague and it. is shaped like a battle ship (at least at at distance!) and it's the only one that actually got to fire off it's cannons.  There is also a shop selling conch fritters and other island treats.  Dan and I are going to split an order of fritters but we don't know it will take half an hour to get them!  Mike had recommended the fritters, so he pretty much had to wait for us!

(The bus's windows are tinted and I'm not going to edit until I get home.
It's just to complicated on the ship.) But look at all the cruise ships!

The famous (and super-expensive) Atlantis.  The suite that is over the arch was
Michael Jackson's.  Average rooms are $55,000 a night with a four-night minimum.

The panther is Cartier's symbol, for those who are as ignorant as I!

Gorgeous water!

Fresh coconut water

From these very trees

You could certainly find your guide!

We see Junkaroo costumes.  Junkaroo is similar to Mardi Gras but it happens twice a year and "is much better" or so Mike says!

We've seen the exclusive side of the island so now we see the slums - pretty much like low-end living everywhere.  Some homes don't have running water, so the government provides public pumps.

Next stop a Straw Market.  Like so many businesses, many of these shops closed during the pandemic, so we are happy to support the few that have survived.

We skip the chocolate factory in favor of the rum distillery, John Watlings.  Fittingly enough he died of an injury to the liver!  We all taste the frozen pina colada. but the other tastings aren't actually tastings.  You can just buy cocktails!! Pass! The entire production is handled by only six people and they do not export any of their products!  We learn, once again, how much the Bahamians dislike Christopher Columbus, who never "discovered" anything!  During the pandemic, someone took a maul to the statue in front of the government building!

This well was dug by hand, but it's no longer in use.  Too many people
have dropped things into it, like phones!

Other interesting facts - all the schools are yellow, although the uniforms are all different.  The municipal court buildings are all pink and the police stations are all green.  The postal system isn't like ours.  Most people have a box at the post office and go collect their mail.  The country gained it's independence in 1973. The new US embassy, under construction, is four or five times larger than the current building.  The main industry is tourism, with banking coming in second.  Mike says that if we have a few million we want to hide we should talk to him! The local beer is Kalik and it has won four gold medals in world competitions!  Nassau is seven by twenty-one miles and is the biggest cruise port in the Caribbean, welcoming one to six cruise ships every day.  Three fourths of everything is imported, so the cost of living is exorbitant.  The Bahamian dollar is on a par with the US dollar and gas is six or seven dollars a gallon. They drive on the left , so remember that is you're left you're right, and if you're right, you're wrong!

We get back to the ship and I'm surprised that my alcohol isn't confiscated, to be returned at the end of the cruise!!  We go upstairs to change shorts for jeans and head to dinner.  Dean has ben successful at securing a table for all of us.  In fact we have two extra seats!  I have corn cakes, chili-lime crusted salmon (YUM) and tres leches, with that delicious malbec, Trumpeterby Rutini, from Mendoza, Argentina.

Interesting drink selections!

After dinner we go straight to the Lyric Theater for "Invitation to Dance" with the Adventure of the Seas singers, dancers, and orchestra. A lovely performance with lots of Latin influence and some Fosse thrown in.  We move on to the piano bar in the Schooner Bar where Dan and Diana join us and we run into a friend who used to attend Spirit of Life!!  The bartender here knows how to make a rusty nail!  

Tobi and Dean try to join us but there's no way to get her chair where we are so pretty soon we move on to Bolero's for the Latin music and after a bit of that I'm fried!  Tomorrow is the first flash mob rehearsal at 10:30, so breakfast will be around nine again.  Sea days are supposed to be relaxing!!  And there's a line dancing class in the afternoon!  No rest for the wicked.  I'll try to add photos in the morning!! (Done!)

An assortment of beverages

He's all right;  but not as entertaining as Chris, the guitarist in the Dog and Duck Pub!

The girls!

And the guys!

Interesting decor all over the ship!

Awww!  Our little towel buddy!

Remembrance - the best joke that Saturday's comedian told had to do with the showers.  You feel like you're at the bank in one of those tubes that carry the money into the building!  Pretty accurate!

Mike!