Nov 16th
To begin this escape we had to get to Miami so our journey eastward began with a 6 am flight via Houston which went quite smoothly including a nice upgrade on the second leg, to get the party started. We picked up a rental car and successfully avoided the many toll roads to find our hotel. We ventured out for dinner and found a beautiful spot along a canal where we enjoyed some tasty seafood.
Nov 17th
We drove around Miami, trying to get a good look at Dexter’s place, and sightseeing along the A1A (A1, eh?). We then took a nice walk in Amelia Earhart Park, around a small lake. The weather was a comfortable 80F/23C and the sun was shining – unlike home. We returned our car in the early afternoon and took a shuttle to the Port of Miami to board our ship, the Carnival Glory. After long lines and security checks, we found our room and were quite pleased. Our bags arrived shortly after and we got into out bathing suits and headed for a hot tub while we left Miami over an hour later than scheduled. No worries, we were enjoying some drinks, and losing track of the time.
Nov 18th.
We were up early as we docked in the Bahamas at 7am and wanted to make the most of our time on shore. We were the first off and walked the short distance into Nassau. We had been here before so we opted to not do an excursion. We wandered the streets taking in the sites of some historic buildings and made our way to Fort Fincastle atop the hill by climbing the 66 steps of the Queen’s Staircase. There is long opening before you get to them which was built by 600 slaves back in the 1700’s and it took 6 years; amazing and sad. We had hoped to go snorkeling at a beach while here but apparently it’s not like Hawaii and you need to take a boat out to the reefs. So instead we went to the famed Cable Beach via local minibus and enjoyed a couple of wonderful hours on the white sand. We settled on a couple of lounge chairs outside the Sheraton (it was early – about 10 and not many guests out yet) under a straw umbrella and soaked up the view. We played in the water which was fairly warm.
After taking a bus back to town we bought a couple of local beers at a store and enjoyed the view dockside taking in the sun and water. It was a nice day on shore.
We left the Bahamas mid afternoon. That night we enjoyed the comedy club and met several different people between the three shows we took in.
Nov 19th
This was our first of two days at sea. Today we slept in, went for a jog on the track and had a relaxing day. Doug is enjoying the many trivia challenges on board and has already won a “24 carat gold ship on a stick trophy”.
The ship is quite nice and we are on Deck 10 – the Panorama Deck. The Main or Lido deck is 9 so we are not far and our room is situated towards the front and under the Spa so we don’t get much noise. We have a set dinner time in the dining room but there are plenty of food options on the Lido Deck behind the pool area with plenty of variety. This is our first cruise of this nature so we were not completely sure what to expect. The food has been quite good and there is staff everywhere to do anything for you. There are a lot of activities on the Lido Deck but many are not our cup of tea other than to watch. There is a casino, games rooms, kid things, about 6 hot tubs, two pools, a water slide, basketball/volleyball courts, mini golf, lots of bars and a lounge area. A few areas are adult only.
