Bahama Mammas

Bahamasssssss!

About a week ago I went on a cruise for the first time in my adult life, and it was a week of beautiful madness! I was somewhat skeptical of cruise tourism because I usually like to do things more independently, and really explore a place longer than the 5 or so hours that the ship ports, but I was pleasently surprised with how much I enjoyed my Carnival cruise to the Bahamas. Over 5 months ago three friends and I booked this cruise and the wait proved to be worth it!

All in all the week was filled with laughs, drinks, food, sun, and very little sleep. I became closer with a few friends, and met some now ones. Most of the week can't even be put into words, so unfortunately this blog may seem dry, as some stories are meant to stay with the ship!

After months of anticipation Ashley, Erin, Elise, and I showed up at the San Diego airport for our red eye flight to Miami in order to catch the ship. This is where disaster struck and we soon find out that our flight is cancelled, surprisingly we all stayed calm on the outside, however we were all on the verge of screaming and/or crying. After over an hour of deliberation with the airline and cruise line, in which time we almost resorted to booking a flight to the Bahamas to meet the ship mid cruise, the angels at Delta decided to bend the rules and find us an American Airlines flight out of LAX early the next morning, arriving into Miami just in time to make the ship!

The four of us stumbled into LAX airport at around 1a.m. and found a nice spot to camp until security opened up, and spent the next few hours playing cards, napping, running up the down escalator, and playing a rousing game of freeze tag... only warranting a few stares. After we were past security we all waited longingly until the restaurants opened, still crossing our fingers that nothing would go wrong and we would get to Miami on time. (side note Jimmy Johnson, football coach and Survivor contestant, was behind me in line for Burger King... so cool).

Finally we had made it to Miami and the the cruise terminal! Our first victory for the week and despite our lack of energy we were ecstatic! And to top it off, our stowaways (bottles of alchy) made it onto the ship, the party had began! After taking a self tour around the ship, we took a hot tub, in the coldest tub ever, and had the pleasure of meeting the only other group of boys our age. A group of marines from New Jersey, fitting all of the stereotypes associated, and to this day we have never seen them without a drink in their hand. But don't get me wrong they were great guys and contributed to many laughs that week. Later we dined on the first of the multiple course meals we had every night, all of eating enough to feed multiple families in a third world country (mental note, don't forget to donate to make up for your selfishness!).

The rest of the night we explored the ship, went to the comedy show, then called an early night (compared to the rest). The next morning we awoke in Nassau, Bahamas and after some time exploring the city centre, we rented scooters and explored the island. This is something I have always wanted to do, and the moment was finally here! Driving lessons were a little rough, but once we got going on the road it was really easy to drive. They drive on the left side of the road there so that was a fun little challenge we got to deal with. During the ride we took a nice stop at a beach and found a dock that we hung out on and took some pictures, then we ventured onto "the caves". These were shallow caves off the ocean where natives used to live, then later pirates used to hide out in. We hiked around for a while, avoiding the bat guano, then emerged from the caves greeted by "the best drink on the island", provided by the bartender at the random shack bar outside the caves. There the locals hanging out told us to have lunch from the truck around the corner, and we had some of the best rice, beans, fried chicken, and mac and cheese. Still dreaming about it.

After lunch we ventured back to town and over to paradise island, the location of the Atlantis resort, a place I have dreamed about going ever since seeing the Olsen twins movie "Holiday in the Sun", who hasn't? Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't get to venture inside, but it was fun to see the outside. After getting lost in a maze of one way streets, we eventually made it back to the rental shop then found a bar to have a nice cole Kalik, a Bahemian brewed beer.

Back on the ship, we took a nice nap, something that became very necessary after we began out nights of two to three hours of sleep. Another enormously huge dinner, followed by an evening at the After Point dance club, then a late night (well early morning really) stop at the 24 hour pizza bar, and an encounter with a Hungarian Prince, where I spent time trying to get asked to accompany him to the Prince William wedding (failed) we rolled into bed at around 4 or 5 a.m.

The next day began with a boat ride over to Half Moon Kay, the private island owned by Carnival. Here we perched up on some lounge chairs, and enjoyed an afternoon of cabana boys and pinya coladas. Back on the ship, another nap, and another huge dinner, we found an array of photo stations and decided to be models for the evening, taking hilarious and absurd pictures, making friends with the foreign photographers, and even convincing them to be in some of our pictures. Another night at the point after, running up our room bill with tequila shots for ourselves and our new friends, and room service at 5 a.m. that went uneaten we awoke the next day with some laughs.

This was the day we went to Grand Turk, on Turks and Caicos islands. We decided to venture off to the "downtown" which turned out to be a collection of 4 huts selling food and beer. The island itself was kind of a let down. Most of the island was still in ruin from a hurricane that hit a few years before, and a large fire that devastated the island not long before we were there. We found a beach to hang out for a bit, then headed back to the port and checked out the Margaritaville where had been hyped up. It was pretty cool but swarmed with tourists.

Back on the ship, yet another large meal and night at the Point After. Late night visits to the pizza bar to make new friends, and even later phone calls the night became infamous. Not many people can say they played duck, duck, goose in the lobby of a cruise ship at 5 a.m. but I proudly can. The next day was the day at sea, and unfortunately it was windy and rainy, however Elise and I spent the day on the Lido deck reading and hanging out with some of our new friends. After a good talk about life in the sauna, sweating out everything we had drank from the previous four nights, we were back in action, with another lovely dinner and night at the Point After. By this point the DJ knew exactly what songs were were going to request, and our bartender basically had drinks ready. After a quick trip to the lounge for some karaoke, then back to buy our new friend Dawn some shots for her 40th birthday, at last call we stumbled into bed at our usual 5 or 6 a.m. bedtime it was sad to see the last night slip away.

8a.m. up and ready to pay the bill and leave the ship, we were picked up by a friend who is not living in Miami. She showed us around, introduced us to Cuban coffee and let us nap in her apartment before our evening flight home. Midnight San Diego time we arrived home and could barely believe it was over... it's hard to go back to reality after a week like that. But we were happy to get some sleep, and I'm pretty sure I had as much sleep as I had the entire week in that one night!

Hope to have a new post for you soon! If nothing else we have an Australia post coming this summer!