Day 1 / Day 2

We flew into Fort Lauderdale on Saturday and checked into a Hotel.  We took a walk and snapped a few photos, mostly of Cruise Ships in port.

 We saw heard the horn blow and watched the ship back out of port and leave for the exotic destinations.  We woke up Sunday morning excited to go.  It was a little earlier than we were used to, but we had plenty of time.  After breakfast and another walk, we packed up and took a shuttle to the Cruise Port.  We were pleasently surprised by the lack of people in line.  We checked in, showed our passport, got our sail pass, and were directed upstairs to wait until we could board.

 We only waited about 10 minutes before we were called.  We boarded the ship, and went up to the Windjammer Cafe for a bite to eat.  By noon we were on board eating lunch.  It was amazing.  The buffet variety was extensive and the quality was awesome.  We had our muster drill, which proved comforting later in the drill.  At 5:50 we heard the horn blow, and promptly at 6:00 PM, the shipped backed out and off we went, for our own exotic destinations.

We had a dinner reservation at 6:00 PM, and shared the table with a couple from Wichata, Kansas and a couple from Tampa. Good food, good conversation, and exciting times.  I went for my first ever massage that night, while Kayleen had her hair cut and styled. 

The next morning, we woke as we were docking in Nassau, Bahamas.  Our snorkeling outing was canceled due to high winds and high surf. 

We got off the ship and hooked up with a taxi driver just off the pier.  His name was Quincy.  He took us around the island, showed us the the good, the bad, and the ugly. We visited an old English fort - Fort Fincastle.

 We walked down the Queen's staircase, which was built as an escape route from the fort down to the ships in the harbor. 

We drove over to Paradise Island to the Atlantis Resort.  It is a huge place with its own beaches, pools, acquariums and water-sports parks. 

The resort would not let us down to the beach, but we did get in the back door to see the sharks, stingrays and swordfish in the aquariums. 

  We got back to the ship about 1:00 PM, ate lunch, cleaned up, and spent some time relaxing at the pool.  We went to see the Broadway production "Chicago" in the late afternoon.  It was a little different than we had expected, but very well done and very enjoyable.

At dinner, we shared a table with a couple from British Columbia and another couple from Orlando.  The conversation was not nearly so stimulating, but we had a good time.  That night we went to see the Aqua Show, which was a combination of acrobatics, diving, gymnastics and comedy.  We got to bed late, but it was a great day.