DandA

Next up was a tour of Paradise Island and Atlantis; it is beautiful and his commentary was interesting. 

Our guide was friendly, polite and knowledgeable and his vehicle was clean.  We had booked the Forts and Queen’s Staircase tour; specifically I wanted to see Fort Montagu, Fort Fincastle, Fort Charlotte and also the Queen’s Staircase.  Our guide assured us we had plenty of time to see the forts and he wanted to show us a few other things also.  First stop was a rum cake bakery where we sampled rum cake and I did purchase one cake; next was “The Cloisters” our guide told us the story behind it and how it was maintained.  Many of the parks and such are sponsored by businesses on the island who maintain them.  

Day 7-Nassau

I love sunrise and sunset at sea, so again I was up on deck to watch us sail into Nassau.  I had signed up for a tour through Cheryl’s Bahamas Taxi and Tours for a 3 hour Forts and Queen Staircase Tour.  She had told us where to meet our tour guide and the time.  Once off the ship we made our way through the port, after wandering around in circles for a few minutes, I finally asked for directions and we made it out of the port area and to our meeting place.  For those who have never been to Nassau the first challenge was finding how to get out of the port area.  I saw a closed man gate that was guarded and finally the second time around it was open and people were going thru.  The meeting spot was the water fountain; it’s to the left when you get out of the port gated area.  This spot is where several people picked up their tours.  Our guide was on time although he did have to make three loops around before he could pull over and stop long enough for us to get in.

Okay, sorry for the delay but it's now on to Nassau

Back on ship, it was dinner and off to see the Headliner Show featuring GOS singers and dancers with “Rhythm and Rhyme”.  I’m not a big Broadway musical guy and didn’t recognize most of the songs, but the singers and dancers are very talented.  Next off to the Schooner bar, I really enjoyed sitting here listening to music and having a cocktail. 

Now here is a job I could love.

The construction of the new enhancements at Coco Cay are coming along with some buildings and such visible over the fence or coming in on the tenders.  It does appear that once the amusement park opens there will still be room for a quiet beach day.  Since I didn’t have any beach time on our visit to Labadee it’s kind of hard to compare the two.  When we boarded the ship it sounded like the weather was going to keep us from tendering, thankfully that didn’t happen and we had an enjoyable beach day in the middle of December.

 Soon it was time to walk back and get on the tenders to head back to the ship.

A day in Coco Cay

Day 6-Coco Cay

We had rented a “Beach Lounger” for the day and had planned to just have a relaxing beach day.  After the short tender ride to shore we strolled toward the beach loungers, by the time we had gotten there all the sore front property had been claimed so we picked one on the back row where we had a lovely view of the backs of several loungers and glimpses of the sea.  It wasn’t bad quite relaxing to not have anything to do but sip on the CoCo Loco we had picked up on our walk.  It was starting to get warm so off we went to wade into the water to the floating bar.  Initially the water was a bit chilly but it quickly warmed up and was very refreshing,

The floating bar was never very crowded; several people came and went as we sat at the bar.  Heeding the sign that you may have to swim back to shore and not wanting to swim with my camera we left and headed to the BBQ area.  Tide was coming in but had only raised the water level a half foot or so.  The BBQ was typical of what you find at any BBQ, no complaints with the food or the service.

With our bellies full it was time to walk back to the loungers, for some more lounging, reading and napping.  I did notice a few more people in the loungers in front of us and heard a beach attendant ask for their tickets.  They quickly gathered their belongings and left.  I had heard the day before on the ship that they had loungers available so I gathered they didn’t rent them all.  Soon it was time to walk back and get on the tenders to head back to the ship.

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

I love this pic! It almost looks like the sky is on fire (in a non-scary, it's not the end of the world as we know it way).

Thanks I Love the sunrises and sunsets at sea.  They can be so dramatic.

Day 5-Freeport, Grand Bahamas

I couldn’t find anything to interest me in Freeport so this was going to be another sea day except maybe get off and walk around the port area.  I was up on deck to watch our sailing into Freeport, so after coffee and breakfast we walked off to peruse the port area.  Not a lot in port but did manage to pick up a few t-shirts for the grandkids and snap a few pictures.  Back on board, went up to enjoy the hot tubs, it seems that a lot of people stayed on the ship.  After dinner in the MDR, we went to the Headliner Show with magician Bill Cook with two of our tablemates from dinner.  Bill Cook was entertaining and amazing; he entertained us with his skills as a magician and his wit.  After the show it was back to the Schooner bar where we drank, chatted and listened to the piano player for the rest of the evening. 

Here are a few pictures of our sailing into Freeport.

3 hours ago, Boston Babe said:

I am loving this blog.  Now I want to get off in Miami!  Wasn't going to!! Pictures are awesome!

The Hop On-Hop Off tour was pretty good, wish we would have had more time so we could have walked around the Art Deco District and Wynwood District.  Check out Group on for deals, think we got tickets for $25 each.  One thing to keep in mind if you get off at a stop it's 1/2 hour for the next one.

Safely back on ship, we watched the production show “All Access”, the ships singers and dancers performed a variety of songs from soul to Motown.  They were entertaining and pretty good.  We ended the evening in the Schooner bar listing to the piano player and enjoying the atmosphere of the ship.

Next up Freeport, Grand Bahamas.

Sadly it was time to head back to the ship, we caught the next to last bus back to Bayside.  Stopped at a CVS to pick up some forgotten suntan lotion and aspirin and called for an Uber ($7.37 + tip) to get back to the ship. On the ship at 5:45 pm, all aboard was 6:30 pm.  We missed our dining time and we weren’t hungry anyway so it was a quick clean up then to the Schooner bar to exercise our drink package.

A few more pics of Miami

I had seen the reviews for a restaurant called “El Cristo Restaurant” so we wanted to eat there.  Remember I said we weren’t foodies, well we split a chicken empanada appetizer that was like tasting heaven.  I had the Cubano “El Christo” sandwich and the wife had the Cuban sandwich.  The sandwiches were large and we couldn’t finish them no matter how good they were.  If I had it to do over again I would have a made a meal of the empanadas, it’s a restaurant I would highly recommend.

Back at Bayside we hopped on the next City Loop bus, this bus took us thru Coconut Grove, Little Havana and downtown Miami.  We got off in Little Havana to walk around, the bus stop was right in front of Domino Park the park was full of domino players.  We walked to the Bay of Pigs memorial taking pictures along the way, by now we were pretty hungry. 

Miami (cont)

After touring Miami Beach area we went through the Wynwood District.  It is distinguished by the wall graffiti/art adorning the walls.  Some were pretty amazing.

37 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

It looks like they're making more progress inside the fence than they are on the pier !

I agree, quite a few buildings in progress.  I did hear some activity behind the fence but not a lot.  I did hear that they limit construction when guests are on the island.

1 minute ago, monctonguy said:

Its a process....was supposed to be open for Oct for the pier originally?!..been pushed back a few times....doesn't look like much was done since I was there in Oct......I say its April at this point for sure....

Yep it's a process, a slow process.  I worked construction for 25 years, it's hard to tell if the slow pace is because of the Bohemian government or the General Contractor.  

Construction of the features is also being done.  You can see the supports for the new water slide as well as a few new buildings.

Was at Coco Cay on December 18, 2018 on the Grandeur of the Seas and wanted to snap some pictures of the construction.  Work was being done on the pier that day, although based on previous pictures it's moving at a snails pace. Here are pictures of the pier.

1 hour ago, mom2mybugs said:

The color of your pictures is incredible!! Really enjoying reading about your adventure!  Jane

Thank you, there's more to come.

Day 4 Miami (cont.)

We joined Allure and Navigator in port today, once we received the all clear we left the ship and grabbed an Uber to Bayside Marketplace.  Uber cost was $6.13 + tip, this was our first time using Uber and it went pretty well and the driver was friendly.  I found the bus stop fairly easily and we hopped on the first bus heading around the Beach Loop.  The tour guide was very knowledgeable, telling us the story behind the settling of the area and how the Art Deco district grew and subtly changed throughout the 1920’s -1960’s.  I decided that if we got off in the Art Deco district, we wouldn’t have time to see Little Havana so all the pics are taken from the bus.

Day 4-Miami

Warning lots of pics are coming.  Miami will be our first shore day, as I had purchased a Hop on-Hop Off bus tour of Miami.  I had gotten a great price on Group On about half the cost of their web site.  The plan was to take the Beach Loop and get off in the Art Deco district and walk around taking pictures of some of the building, and then switch busses to the City Loop get off in Little Havana and have lunch and do some sightseeing.  We were two hours late getting into port so had to make a quick decision to forgo getting off in the Art Deco district.  I was up early and took some pictures of the sunrise and the Florida shore line as we came into Miami.