My Bahamavention
This continues Katie as the blogger (with me keeping her honest)... for an explanation, see the previous post.
Aaaaand now I can finally get to the fun part: June 10-16…our week-long cruise to the Bahamas!
Day 1: The adventure began on a Sunday afternoon when we decided to subway it to our port. Upon arriving at the Norweigian Cruise Line check-in, we filled out some forms and got to cut to the front of the line because of our Latitudes frequent-cruiser membership (thank you, Sarah’s mom!). We got on the ship, dropped off our bags in our cabin, then did the next most logical thing---hit up the burger bar. If you aren’t already aware, NCL promotes “Freestyle Dining,” meaning guests are free to eat as much as they want, whenever they want, wherever they want—and it’s all included in the initial bill. That being said, you never have to pay for food—just alcohol or mixers. The inner fat kids in us were doing somersaults and cartwheels with excitement!
The first night we went to dinner at a fancy restaurant that offered peach soup. That sounds kind of sketchy in and of itself, so I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised when a bowl of cold melted peach ice cream arrived at our table. Gag me. Sarah’s talapia was narstay, and my jerk chicken was completely sub-par. Needless to say, this was not a good start.
To lighten up the mood, we hit up the casino and won $22 on quarter slots then cashed out and went to Maharini’s (the ship’s night club), which would soon become our hangout for most of the trip.
Day 2: Monday morning was spent tanning by the pool. We attended a cocktail party at 1pm for returning cruisers. Free champagne and appetizers. Rough life.
When we returned to our cabin for afternoon naptime, we found that our TV wasn’t working and we were hungry again. We ordered a vegetable crudite and fruit platter. The fruit platter consisted of one slice of kiwi, one slice of cantaloupe, one slice of pineapple, and one slice of honeydew. WTF. The crudite was not much better, consisting of two pieces of celery and maybe two carrots and a radish. The “spinach dip” they claimed to serve turned out to be two tablespoons of ranch dressing. Alas, further complications with room service arose later during the trip when our multiple 2am calls requesting PB & J were blatantly ignored. Jerks.
P.S. If you haven’t already noticed, we’re pretty serious about our food.
So after napping, we got all dressed up and went to dinner at the Italian restaurant—awesome food, great wine, great time—NCL redeemed itself.
That night we went to karaoke at the pub, and I unleashed my inner American Idol wanna-be that’s been hiding for the past year. My repertoire included Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle” and The Righteous Brother’s “Unchained Melody.” Sarah didn’t sing any karaoke..loser. Instead, she decided to revert to her Guatemalan ways at Maharini’s and sing along to EVERY REGGAETON SONG YOU COULD POSSIBLY THINK OF then started reciting rap lyrics to old 90’s hip hop tunes. This really mesmerized the group of 80 Mexicans that were on the dancefloor with us, and we ended up befriending them because we could shake it to “Gasolina” and “Rompe.”
Day 3: Port Canaveral, Florida!
Yay, we made it to Florida! Since I am a native Floridian and live an hour away from our port, my parents were so nice as to pick us up and chauffeur us around for the day! Even better, they brought an entire cooler of water bottles filled with mango rum and other travel “necessities” for us to sneak on the ship…SWEET.
We all went to the Kennedy Space Center and watched IMAX movies about the Int’l Space Station and the moon. They had just opened a new simulated launch experience ride--pretty fun. At the Astronaut Hall of Fame, Sarah insisted we go on the G-FORCE simulation ride. That was hysterical, because we couldn’t move our bodies to save our lives once those machines started spinning us around and around. Oooh good times.
After bidding adieu to the parentals, we returned to our cabin with our liquor stash and I napped while Sarah decided to go for a run and then we had dinner. At this point our ship had left dock and was Bahamas-bound, so a party by the pool was in order. Our entertainment coordinator/motivator/leader/Australian stud, John, started out the party with some other bartenders by giving away free drinks and leading a group dance that was a cross between the hokey pokey, Macarena, and your standard booty dancing. “Coyote Ugly” night was tonight as well, so some electric sliding and boot scootin boogying ensued.
When the dancing stopped, we went up to the bar to get some water and met two guys who we ended up spending most of the rest of the cruise with which was a nice, big step up from our previous cruise ‘friends’ (truckers, Mexicans…)
Day 4: BAHAMAS!
At 9am we awoke to our usual wake-up call: Three low “dongs” over the loud speaker followed by Aussie-John enthusiastically yelling, “GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE! I HAVE SOME EXCITING NEWS FOR YOU. WE’RE IN THE BAHAMASSS!! GET READY FOR A SMASHING TIME—YOU’RE ON VACATION!!!” Heck yea we’re on vacation.
Nassau was beautiful. I have never seen such blue (and crystal clear water) in my life, and the weather was perfect. When walking through town the first thing we encountered was a Starbucks…so much for authentic Bahamian coffee. We decided to go to the straw market and buy souvenirs for everyone and check out some crafts.
Following my mom’s advice to “make deals with them like Sarah does with the gypsy cabs!”, we purchased some presents for our friends and fams then headed back to the ship to tan by the pool. Unfortunately, we only stopped at Nassau for a few hours, so we couldn’t do a lot on shore..oh wells.
Around 2pm, our ship left Nassau and was off to Great Stirrup Cay, NCL’s private island. Once near the island, our ship anchored, and we were transported to Great Stirrup Cay in boats. An island party took place that night, and once again, John led our group through an intense dance routine. So intense that after 15 minutes everyone was covered with sweat, and we began to liken this “dance-party” to more of a jazzercise-kick-your-ass-workout disguised as “fun” to get the fat people moving.
Once the party ended circa midnight the tenders transported everyone back to the ship where the party continued at Maharini’s. More dancing. Obvi.
Day 5: This is probably my favorite day out of the entire cruise, because we got to enjoy the wonderful BEACH on Great Stirrup Cay. For three hours, we relaxed on a giant circular float and just drifted around in the water. Sarah thought it would be cool to play King of the Mountain on our massive float, so she stood up a few times to show off then fell down right on her bum. We then took lots of Sports Illustrated style bikini shots on rocks and stuff, because we are that cool.
Around 2pm we were back on the boat and leaving the beautiful Bahamas. *Tear.* After dinner we went to an adult game show in one of the lounges. The adult game show made us nearly pee our pants. To make a long story short, the host distributed numbered cards to audience members that formed teams. Members from each team were then encouraged to run onstage and flash their numbers when they fulfilled the fashion requirements called out by the host; the team that filled the reqt’s the most won. Before I continue, I just want to say that I really can’t give this scenario the justice that it deserves—you had to be there to see and understand just how absurd this was. So the host would call out “I need to see two guys up here booty dancing in their underwear.” Sure enough, fifty year old men would strip down and grind together on stage in their tighty whities. Our favorite contestant was part of team #34 (her nickname inevitably became #34, because she WAS the team)—an 80 year old grandma who walked up on stage in her bra…then proceeded to dance with the “ship n’ dales” dancers later that night. Way to go, Grandma. You are my idol.
As I mentioned, “Ship N’ Dales” dancers put on a little show for the ladies at the night club. My favorite quote from Sarah that night: “OMG, this is like a bad movie.” OK, so most of the “strippers” were FOBs with bellies whose regular jobs were to serve drinks at the burger bar—but to make up for the not-so-hots, there were a few talented crew members, including our Aussie, who put on a good show.
Day 6: Day 6 we were worthless. Exhausted from the events of the past few days, Sarah and I decided that today was the perfect opportunity to relax and unwind..and eat a lot. Too bad the ship was rocking harder than Grandma on the dancefloor the night before. We went to the library to read our books, and a little kid threw up right next to us. Poor thing. When we went back to our room for naptime, we noticed that the crew had placed barf bags at the end of each staircase—luckily neither of us needed them. So after passing out for 2 hrs in our cabin, we went out for our final dinner on the ship and ordered a bottle of champagne to commemorate the experience.
Day 7: We docked in NYC at 9am, dined at the breakfast buffet one last time, then said goodbye to the Norweigian Spirit.
Sarah started transition week today, so her summer is officially over. If you’re lucky, I’ll update you on her life in the next month..or two☺ Byebye for now!
Aaaaand now I can finally get to the fun part: June 10-16…our week-long cruise to the Bahamas!
Day 1: The adventure began on a Sunday afternoon when we decided to subway it to our port. Upon arriving at the Norweigian Cruise Line check-in, we filled out some forms and got to cut to the front of the line because of our Latitudes frequent-cruiser membership (thank you, Sarah’s mom!). We got on the ship, dropped off our bags in our cabin, then did the next most logical thing---hit up the burger bar. If you aren’t already aware, NCL promotes “Freestyle Dining,” meaning guests are free to eat as much as they want, whenever they want, wherever they want—and it’s all included in the initial bill. That being said, you never have to pay for food—just alcohol or mixers. The inner fat kids in us were doing somersaults and cartwheels with excitement!
The first night we went to dinner at a fancy restaurant that offered peach soup. That sounds kind of sketchy in and of itself, so I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised when a bowl of cold melted peach ice cream arrived at our table. Gag me. Sarah’s talapia was narstay, and my jerk chicken was completely sub-par. Needless to say, this was not a good start.
To lighten up the mood, we hit up the casino and won $22 on quarter slots then cashed out and went to Maharini’s (the ship’s night club), which would soon become our hangout for most of the trip.
Day 2: Monday morning was spent tanning by the pool. We attended a cocktail party at 1pm for returning cruisers. Free champagne and appetizers. Rough life.
When we returned to our cabin for afternoon naptime, we found that our TV wasn’t working and we were hungry again. We ordered a vegetable crudite and fruit platter. The fruit platter consisted of one slice of kiwi, one slice of cantaloupe, one slice of pineapple, and one slice of honeydew. WTF. The crudite was not much better, consisting of two pieces of celery and maybe two carrots and a radish. The “spinach dip” they claimed to serve turned out to be two tablespoons of ranch dressing. Alas, further complications with room service arose later during the trip when our multiple 2am calls requesting PB & J were blatantly ignored. Jerks.
P.S. If you haven’t already noticed, we’re pretty serious about our food.
So after napping, we got all dressed up and went to dinner at the Italian restaurant—awesome food, great wine, great time—NCL redeemed itself.
That night we went to karaoke at the pub, and I unleashed my inner American Idol wanna-be that’s been hiding for the past year. My repertoire included Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle” and The Righteous Brother’s “Unchained Melody.” Sarah didn’t sing any karaoke..loser. Instead, she decided to revert to her Guatemalan ways at Maharini’s and sing along to EVERY REGGAETON SONG YOU COULD POSSIBLY THINK OF then started reciting rap lyrics to old 90’s hip hop tunes. This really mesmerized the group of 80 Mexicans that were on the dancefloor with us, and we ended up befriending them because we could shake it to “Gasolina” and “Rompe.”
Day 3: Port Canaveral, Florida!
Yay, we made it to Florida! Since I am a native Floridian and live an hour away from our port, my parents were so nice as to pick us up and chauffeur us around for the day! Even better, they brought an entire cooler of water bottles filled with mango rum and other travel “necessities” for us to sneak on the ship…SWEET.
We all went to the Kennedy Space Center and watched IMAX movies about the Int’l Space Station and the moon. They had just opened a new simulated launch experience ride--pretty fun. At the Astronaut Hall of Fame, Sarah insisted we go on the G-FORCE simulation ride. That was hysterical, because we couldn’t move our bodies to save our lives once those machines started spinning us around and around. Oooh good times.
After bidding adieu to the parentals, we returned to our cabin with our liquor stash and I napped while Sarah decided to go for a run and then we had dinner. At this point our ship had left dock and was Bahamas-bound, so a party by the pool was in order. Our entertainment coordinator/motivator/leader/Australian stud, John, started out the party with some other bartenders by giving away free drinks and leading a group dance that was a cross between the hokey pokey, Macarena, and your standard booty dancing. “Coyote Ugly” night was tonight as well, so some electric sliding and boot scootin boogying ensued.
When the dancing stopped, we went up to the bar to get some water and met two guys who we ended up spending most of the rest of the cruise with which was a nice, big step up from our previous cruise ‘friends’ (truckers, Mexicans…)
Day 4: BAHAMAS!
At 9am we awoke to our usual wake-up call: Three low “dongs” over the loud speaker followed by Aussie-John enthusiastically yelling, “GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE! I HAVE SOME EXCITING NEWS FOR YOU. WE’RE IN THE BAHAMASSS!! GET READY FOR A SMASHING TIME—YOU’RE ON VACATION!!!” Heck yea we’re on vacation.
Nassau was beautiful. I have never seen such blue (and crystal clear water) in my life, and the weather was perfect. When walking through town the first thing we encountered was a Starbucks…so much for authentic Bahamian coffee. We decided to go to the straw market and buy souvenirs for everyone and check out some crafts.
Following my mom’s advice to “make deals with them like Sarah does with the gypsy cabs!”, we purchased some presents for our friends and fams then headed back to the ship to tan by the pool. Unfortunately, we only stopped at Nassau for a few hours, so we couldn’t do a lot on shore..oh wells.
Around 2pm, our ship left Nassau and was off to Great Stirrup Cay, NCL’s private island. Once near the island, our ship anchored, and we were transported to Great Stirrup Cay in boats. An island party took place that night, and once again, John led our group through an intense dance routine. So intense that after 15 minutes everyone was covered with sweat, and we began to liken this “dance-party” to more of a jazzercise-kick-your-ass-workout disguised as “fun” to get the fat people moving.
Once the party ended circa midnight the tenders transported everyone back to the ship where the party continued at Maharini’s. More dancing. Obvi.
Day 5: This is probably my favorite day out of the entire cruise, because we got to enjoy the wonderful BEACH on Great Stirrup Cay. For three hours, we relaxed on a giant circular float and just drifted around in the water. Sarah thought it would be cool to play King of the Mountain on our massive float, so she stood up a few times to show off then fell down right on her bum. We then took lots of Sports Illustrated style bikini shots on rocks and stuff, because we are that cool.
Around 2pm we were back on the boat and leaving the beautiful Bahamas. *Tear.* After dinner we went to an adult game show in one of the lounges. The adult game show made us nearly pee our pants. To make a long story short, the host distributed numbered cards to audience members that formed teams. Members from each team were then encouraged to run onstage and flash their numbers when they fulfilled the fashion requirements called out by the host; the team that filled the reqt’s the most won. Before I continue, I just want to say that I really can’t give this scenario the justice that it deserves—you had to be there to see and understand just how absurd this was. So the host would call out “I need to see two guys up here booty dancing in their underwear.” Sure enough, fifty year old men would strip down and grind together on stage in their tighty whities. Our favorite contestant was part of team #34 (her nickname inevitably became #34, because she WAS the team)—an 80 year old grandma who walked up on stage in her bra…then proceeded to dance with the “ship n’ dales” dancers later that night. Way to go, Grandma. You are my idol.
As I mentioned, “Ship N’ Dales” dancers put on a little show for the ladies at the night club. My favorite quote from Sarah that night: “OMG, this is like a bad movie.” OK, so most of the “strippers” were FOBs with bellies whose regular jobs were to serve drinks at the burger bar—but to make up for the not-so-hots, there were a few talented crew members, including our Aussie, who put on a good show.
Day 6: Day 6 we were worthless. Exhausted from the events of the past few days, Sarah and I decided that today was the perfect opportunity to relax and unwind..and eat a lot. Too bad the ship was rocking harder than Grandma on the dancefloor the night before. We went to the library to read our books, and a little kid threw up right next to us. Poor thing. When we went back to our room for naptime, we noticed that the crew had placed barf bags at the end of each staircase—luckily neither of us needed them. So after passing out for 2 hrs in our cabin, we went out for our final dinner on the ship and ordered a bottle of champagne to commemorate the experience.
Day 7: We docked in NYC at 9am, dined at the breakfast buffet one last time, then said goodbye to the Norweigian Spirit.
Sarah started transition week today, so her summer is officially over. If you’re lucky, I’ll update you on her life in the next month..or two☺ Byebye for now!
posted by Sarah at 6:46 PM
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