Go on a Cruise with a Friend: Bahamas Vacation
December 12, 2016 - Day One
My friend Kristen and I are on a five day to the Bahamas. We spent about 40 minutes waiting in line to check in and have our bags checked before we got on the boat. A blue room because this is my first time on a cruise, Kristen got red because it was her second, and her mother had gold cards because they had been on many cruises. Right now, I'm in the cabin with Kristen. Find me reading a book I bought her and gave her as an early Christmas present, so she had something to read during our off time. I'm writing this at the vanity in our room, my feet are sore from standing in line for registration and the safety presentation. It's an hour before dinner we've been moving for about 30 minutes. I'm going to read while we wait to go to dinner.
5:15 p.m.
Dinner tonight was awesome. Lychee soup, shrimp cocktail, fried calamari an appetizer. The calamari was a bit greasy so I didn't enjoy it. Add sweet and sour fried shrimp as my entree which was good. I had the chocolate melting cake but, wasn't too fond of it. It was good, but I wouldn't get it again. I tried what Kristen got for dessert I think it was a bread pudding of some sort with fig and it was awesome, I had gotten that instead. After dinner, we went back to our cabin and I got dressed in my swimsuit to go to the serenity a hot tub, which is an adult only section the back of the boat. I went with Kristen and her mom. Kristen didn't get in, the hot tub was very hot, and I couldn't stay in for very long but, it felt great after I got out.
8:30 p.m.
Kristen and I went to the ladies night at the Jekyll and Hyde nightclub on the boat. I got two free glasses of champagne because Kristen's mom didn't want hers. We stayed for about an hour and then went and got pizza on the Lido Deck (10th floor). The boat seems to sway more at night or we were in choppy Waters. We were going to the comedy show but, we are tired. Writing this in bed as Christians taking a shower. I also got the bed by the window, I love it!
11:40 p.m.
December 13, 2016 - Day Two
I woke up at 8 in the morning and got a shower. I borrowed a pair of Kristen's shorts because I didn't want to wear a dress again. We waited for our breakfast; we ordered room service off this menu that we put on the handle it was like a do not disturb sign but, for food. We finished our breakfast, I ate a bagel and a croissant with some apple juice. We got apple turnovers as well but, overdone and dry so I didn't eat that. I'm going to go do my hair and makeup that hang out until we arrive in Freeport, Bahamas.
10:30 a.m.
Kristen, her mom, and I went shopping at the mall on the boat. It was mostly to browse but the beach bags were buy-two-get-one-free, and she bought me a bag. Kristen and her mom went back to their cabins after that and I stayed to look at the jewelry and perfumes. I tested some of the perfumes and browse the jewelry store. It was so expensive, so I had no intentions of spending any money in there. We arrived in Freeport and we're getting something to eat then we're getting off the boat to browse the market.
12:56 p.m.
I came back to the ship with presents and souvenirs for almost everyone at home. It's really hot out there and wasn't much to do that wasn't a super expensive tour of something uninteresting. You even have to pay to get to the beach! It was crazy. We shopped in the market and I was able to get a few things. We were the first cruise ship to visit since the hurricane in October. A lot of what they had on display was for adult eyes only, there were a lot of kids walking around with their parents through the market and I remember looking at these items and laughing but quickly became uncomfortable as a few young kids came up to the table and were commenting on the naked men and women on the merchandise as their parents watched. I'm going to lay in bed and read until Kristen and her mom come back to the boat then find out what their plans are for the rest of the day if they have any.
3:00 p.m.
Kristen and I are red and talked until it was time to head upstairs for dinner. I ordered two appetizers and got the shrimp cocktail again and vegetable spring rolls. For my entree tonight, I ordered roasted lamb which had a sauce on it that tasted like split pea soup. I also got stuffed portobello mushrooms which had a lot of spinach in it but, it's hard to taste over the breading and seasoning. I ordered a coconut cake which had no sugar in it and it tasted amazing which surprised me. I also got the passion fruit flan which was also amazing. I had a Bahama Mama with dinner and it was delicious!
7:30 p.m.
After dinner Kristen, her mother, and I went to go hang out in the serenity hot tubs again; the adult only section of the boat. We stayed there until we got too hot and came back to the room to change for the night. Brenda and I went to the movie showing that night, they were playing Central Intelligence, with Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. It was really funny, the part that sucked was we were one of the last people who showed up so we were stuck sitting in these super uncomfortable hard chairs. All the good seats were taken, and I was uncomfortable the entire. Now I'm back in the cabin I'm sharing with Kristen and she went to bed and I will in a few minutes after I brush my teeth and shower.
10:54 p.m.
December 14, 2016 - Day Three
We arrived at Half-Moon Cay about an hour ago. All of us ate breakfast together this morning, Kristen's mom won $200 last night at the casino "hot seat" event after we went to bed. I had eggs benedict, a baked apple, and a bagel with cream cheese. I also had some apple juice again. Now Kristen and I are going to a historical nature tour at 10 a.m. so we're getting ready to go do that and clean up our room a bit. The tour is 2.5 hours long so I'm wearing my sneakers and the shorts Kristen let me borrow. We have to leave early because there isn't a port; take a ferry to the island.
9:00 a.m.
We just got back from Half-Moon Cay, the nature walk was fun but I don't think it was worth the money. The whole tour was literally pointing out different vegetation and explaining what it was, thought chickens a few times that were native to the island, and we also saw some really pretty beaches. It was hot and bright even for a morning tour other than that it was enjoyable. We stopped and saw some stingrays and a group participating in the Stingray Excursion, which looked a lot more fun but was also out of our price range. We saw that they passed around a sea cucumber and a live conch. After the tour, we shopped for more gifts on the island and got back to the ferry to return to the boat. We're in our cabin now and we're each getting a shower then going up to the Lido Deck (10th Floor) to get lunch.
12:20 p.m.
I went to lunch and showered, I just got back to the cabin. The ocean is so beautiful here. I'm going to read for a while and then take a nap, for now, I'm tired from all that walking and the Heat and now I'm full too. There also isn't much to do during the afternoon that I'm interested in. Events I'm interested in are after dark and after dinner.
2:00 p.m.
Kristen and I napped until around 5:30 and then got ready to go to dinner. I ordered scallops as my appetizer which was nice. I got prime rib, rare, and blue crab ravioli for my entrees. For dessert, I got a vanilla creme brulee which was really good but very sweet. My favorite was the ravioli. Then after dinner, I immediately came back to the cabin and changed, then went to the comedy on the Promenade Deck (9th Floor). The comedian was Tim young and I only saw the end of his first show but I saw his whole adult show. The other comedian was Mike Speenberg. I enjoyed both of their shows.
9:04 p.m.
I went to both shows late at night, very funny. Enjoyed myself and I went to Tim Young's adult show with Kristen. I plan on going to the other shows tomorrow night I'm back in my room now and I'm going to bed. I also went and got pizza again before I came back to the cabin.
12:54 a.m.
December 15, 2016 - Day Four
We arrived at Nassau sometime before we woke up. Kristen and I ordered room service again and they're out of bagels. There are zero bagels left on the ship. I'm very disappointed by this because it was the only thing I wanted for breakfast this morning so I just ate a croissant and drink my apple juice. We need to leave for our tour soon I'm going to finish getting dressed and ready to go then we're heading out.
8:00 a.m.
Kristen and I took a tour of Nassau that lasted 4.5 hours. Our first stop was the Rum Cake Factory and we tasted three of their cakes. I bought a cake for my brother and then headed back to the bus. We learned that Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas, that health care for elders and children is free, the general fee to see a doctor as an adult is $10. Then we drove through the fishery, stopped at a beach, fort, and a market. We saw the fisherman catching and cleaning fish and conch, they were selling their fish by bag size and you can get a huge bag like the size of a pillow for 10 bucks of various fish. Then we stopped again and took a tour of the John Watling's Rum Distillery, named because John Watling's was shot in the liver and if you drink too much kill your liver. I thought that was funny. They were giving samples of rum but Kristen and I didn't get one as well as most of our group because they ran out and pretty much said tough shit. We learned that the general population of Nassau is 400k people. We stopped at a local restaurant and got a free sample of conchs and a Bahama Mama, the Bahama Mama they made in the restaurant was a lot stronger than the one that I had on the boat. I drink Kristen's too because she didn't like it. I ordered the Conch for $4 and it's made from the eyes, guts, and miscellaneous parts of the conch blended together and battered then fried. It tasted kind of like a hushpuppy with a crab texture, was really good. During our stop at the restaurant they showed us how to remove conch from the shell and offered it’s penis to the group claiming it was an aphrodisiac and a man in our group actually ate it! After the tour, we went to the Pirate Museum of Nassau. We were told Nassau was founded by Pirates and I took video and pictures of the entire Museum. Now we're back in our cabin and showered. We're probably going to take a nap again until dinner, we leave port in about an hour.
3:39 p.m.
We went to dinner at 6 p.m. And we're seated at a new table. I ordered conch fritters, they tasted much better on the island. I also had fried shrimp but, care for it. I ordered two entrees; the pepper steak was too spicy and I couldn't finish it and I only ate the pineapples from it. I also had the seafood pasta that came with shrimp, scallops, mussels, calamari, and salmon. That was very good and the sauce tasted like the sauce that came with the ravioli when I had the crab ravioli. I ate part of my dessert, the blueberry pie but it wasn't very good at all. Now I'm going to the hot tub again for a while before I go to the comedy show tonight.
7:45 p.m.
I came back and changed then headed to the show, and I had a really good time and laughed a lot although this time I went alone. I came back from the show; I saw Mike Speenberg's adult show on the Promenade Deck (9th Floor) in the Cole Porter Club. He has been my favorite of the two and I would pay to see him. Now I'm going to bed, Kristen is already asleep so I'm trying to be quiet.
10:40 p.m.
December 16, 2016 - Day Five
Kristen and I slept in this morning because today we are at sea all day and night and there isn't really anything we want to do in the morning or afternoon. She got up before me and left a note where she'd be and I went out to meet her. At 10:40 went to brunch after running into her mother while we were waiting to get back into our cabin, they were cleaning our room and restocking our towels. We both had steak and eggs, scrambled eggs and she got sunny side up. I drink apple juice again and Kristen got orange juice. We both got a salted caramel cheesecake too, which I didn't think you could get on the breakfast menu. We're back in the cabin now and Kristen is going out on the deck to read and I'm going to check out the Chocolate Extravaganza on the Lido Deck (10th Floor) in a few minutes.
1:08 p.m.
The Chocolate Extravaganza was awful, the only thing that tasted good was the rum balls and it tasted like regular chocolate cake balls. Everything else had this weird chemical taste or was just plain gross. I went and got pizza from Tiffany's and a salad from room service and watch TV, played games on my Kindle and 3DS until Kristen came back. We talked for a while and decided to take a nap until dinner.
3:45 p.m.
We went to dinner and I had frog legs as an appetizer, tasted like slimy chicken. It wasn't bad, that may not have been the best description for it but I mean you couldn't tell it was frogs legs and less you really looked for the leg shape. Then for my entree, I had prime rib again, rare, which was still yummy. I ate some cherry pie but, the blueberry it wasn't very good at all. It was a weird texture and had chemical flavor. Now I'm back in our cabin and Kristen and I are finishing up packing so we can sleep in as much as possible in the morning. We watch TV until we were too tired to sleep.
11:45 p.m.