Just Jessica

I made a New Years(ish) resolution to keep in better contact with all of my friends. I have decided that his includes blogging more. So here we go.

January flew by. It may have been because I spent 7 days on a cruise with my friend Lacey. For the most part we had an enjoyable time. The boat was a little too rocky for Lacey's taste but I was glad that it just rocked and didn't end up on any rocks. The cruise line took extra precautions to make sure that we were safe the entire time.

We flew into Orlando a few days before to spend some extra time relaxing and going to Harry Potter World. The ride in the castle was the best. Like always, the line is substantially longer then the actual ride but the designers of the ride made the line wind and weave throughout the castle. Memorabilia (replicas of memorabilia) were placed through the line and it seemed as if you were actually in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. We saw the sorting hat and the moving pictures, the Goblet of Fire and Ron, Hermione and Harry. It took about an hour to get through the line but the line itself was an attraction so it went by quickly.

The boat left on Monday so we boarded, got lunch and then found our stateroom. We had an ocean view state room which was cozy but certainly enough room for just the 2 of us.

We sailed through the night on Monday and then all Tuesday. I would have rather had our day at sea as the last day but it worked out fine.

Wednesday we stopped at Half Moon Cay which was my absolute favorite port. It was the cruise's private island so there were no other people, the beach was well kept with soft sand and gorgeous water. We sat our on the beach for a few hours and then went jet skiing. At first I had a little bit of trouble. I'm not sure why but when I finally realized that you ride it like a motorcycle I was good to go. We went in this lagoon on one side of the island and then out into the ocean. It was a bit choppy but we had a blast. After jet skiing we went back to the boat ordered room service for an afternoon snack, took showers and settled in for a nap. This you will see became a trend throughout the vacation.

That night for dinner both Lacey and I tried the escargot. I would say that it wasn't bad but it had the texture that you would imagine a snail would have. I think it was a one time try for me.

Thursday we docked at Nassau Bahamas. I can honestly say that I would never go back here. It was dirty and the people were scary. We didn't have an excursion planned so we went to Guest Information desk on the boat and asked if there was a beach nearby that we could walk to. We were informed that it was a 15 minute walk to the beach so we went with it. 45 minutes later we end up at Junkaroo Beach. This beach is aptly named because it was a piece of junk. I didn't take a picture of it because I honestly didn't feel safe at all. I found a picture of the beach online and the picture is very deceiving. When we went there were no other cruise people and there were pieces of glass all over the sand. It was the water from the shipping yard so it wasn't even the ocean...just dirty ship water and then there were men sitting in their cars just watching the beach. I turned to Lacey and told her that I was not taking my clothes off. I made the executive decision to walk the 45 minutes back to the ship where we picked up a taxi and went to Atlantis.

Atlantis was ok but it certainly wasn't everything I had hoped it would be. The beach was infested with people peddling cheap jewelry and rum drinks. Even if I did drink I wouldn't purchase a drink from a strange Bahamian man on the beach. Maybe its just me but that just doesn't seem too smart. We toured the aquariums a bit and had lunch but it was soon time to return to the ship. We left the resort about an hour and a half before the ship was scheduled to leave just to make sure we could get back. The taxi ride to Atlantis was only about 7 minutes but we sat in traffic for a good 50 minutes. I was getting worried because I had to idea where we were. I couldn't see the ship or the port and didn't know how far away we were. A few silent prayers were said in my head and I told myself and Lacey that if we didn't start moving in 5 minutes that we would get out and just walk to the boat. As always our prayers (or just my prayers...I'm not sure that Lacey was too worried) were answered and we started moving just in time to blow a tire. We drove the rest of the way back to the port with 3 tires and a rim. I'm sure by the time we got back to the port it was no longer resembling a wheel though. It sure didn't feel like it. I was just glad to be back. We made our way through the port terminal and through Bahamian security when they asked us for our IDs. I pulled out my ship card and my drivers license but Lacey didn't have her ID with her. Luckily they let us through anyway. It would have been a real hassle to walk all the way back to the boat get Lacey's ID walk all the way back to the terminal and then all the way back to the boat. When we did get to our room we immediately ordered room service, took showers and settled in for our nap.

For dinner our unusual food was Alligator. I've had Alligator before so it wasn't super unusual but I enjoyed it. Our dinner group consisted of me and Lacey, 2 sisters and their husbands in their late 50s early 60s and a mother and adult daughter. We were the youngest by far but the group as a whole was quite entertaining. We heard lots of good stories and funny things from our dinner table. I provided the dancing entertainment. Each night during the crew performance I would get up and dance for everyone. They enjoyed it, I enjoyed it and the crew (including the waiter at the table next to us the Jimmer Fredette look alike aka the Jimposter) did too. We took a picture of him but looking at the picture now, he seems to look a lot less like Jimmer than we originally thought.

The last day we were in Freeport which was much cleaner and friendlier. We also learned our lesson in Nassau and booked a shore excursion. Right inside the port there was a little market with shops and food stands so before our snorkeling excursion we toured the market where you could buy ugly beach cover ups for $50 and cheap trinkets that you regret purchasing as soon as you get back on the boat. I was not persuaded into buying anything so we got on the bus for our excursion and headed to Port Lucaya and Treasure Reef to snorkel. Both Lacey and I had our own snorkel gear so we suited up for an enjoyable afternoon in the ocean. We saw hundreds of fish. The water was much more choppy than it had been when I snorkeled in Key West a few years ago but Freeport had many more fish. I also think that it didn't hurt that the guides were throwing out fish food into the water but I literally left like I was a part of a school of fish. I loved it. My favorite fish were a dark neon blue school of fish and then a few all black fish with the white ribbon at the base of their fin. Both Lacey and I were exhausted after the hour of snorkeling so when we got back to the boat we ordered room service, took showers and settled in for a nap.

Our last night we felt like we really had to take advantage of all the food. I ordered 3 appetizers and Lacey ordered 3 desserts. Above are the before and after shots of her desserts. It was more of a tasting than a full eating of the desserts.

All in all we had an enjoyable time and lots of adventures. Now I just have to start planning my next vacation. Anyone have any ideas?