It’s been years since I’ve had a family trip and we were finally able to take one. This was a part of my brother’s birthday and Christmas gifts, since they’ve never ever flown on a plane or been out of Texas and they are 22 years old. We had plans to take them to Florida before my mom passed away, but plans changed. The itinerary was to leave Houston via Southwest Airlines to Ft. Lauderdale, catch a shuttle to the Port of Miami then cruise out to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Sky. The flight out was a bit turbulent, where my brother almost had to use the provided puke bag. Granted, they had a pretty full Subway sandwich minutes before boarding the plane. Once at the Port, we were ready to check-in. We went through another round of security checks and a small form to fill out to make sure we haven’t been sick. Check-in was a breeze, very quick and easy with plenty of attendants to check you in. After check-in, we were allowed to board the ship, which was already filled with plenty of passengers. Both indoor and outdoor buffet lines were open and seating was sparse. I was surprised to see just how many people were already swimming in the pools and enjoying the hot tubs. Luckily we brought 2-way radios, because we lost each other as soon as we boarded the ship. Our first night on the ship, we took it easy. The hubby and I were super tired from lack of sleep the night before. We were in bed by 8:30 pm.
Our first port city was Grand Bahamas. We took a taxi from the port to Port Lucaya to shop and enjoy the beach. The skies were blue with puffy white clouds and the beach was beautiful. It was quite windy and the water was a bit cold, but still beautiful. The hubby and I enjoyed the water on a jet ski, so we were able to stay dry. When we returned to the ship, we feasted at the main dining room. What’s great about the Norwegian is their freestyle cruising, which means eat at any time and dress as casual as you like. We weren’t yet really full so we headed to the buffet to fill up before checking out the casino. My brother won about $400, lucky little kid. Then off to bed we went.
Our second port city was Nassau, Bahamas. On this day, it was overcast with high winds. We booked an offshore excursion to feed and swim with stingrays. Little did we know it would be freezing cold the day we had the excursion. It was about a 30 minute boat ride out to Blackbeard’s Cay, a private island owned by Sandal’s. We were equipped with life vests and snorkel gear and were one with the stingrays. They were friendly creatures that wanted to be petted. After getting acclimated to the temperature and movement of the water, the guides taught us how to feed the stingrays. Since they are bottom feeders, we had to put the fish low towards the bottom of the sea floor for them to suck it out of our hands. After the hubby and I were able to feed them all the fish we had, out we went because it was just too cold. We headed back to do some shopping and made our way back onto the ship. We dined in the main dining room and caught the Off Broadway show at the theater afterward. The show had snippets of six different Broadway shows and the singers/dancers were very good.
The original plan was to visit the private island, The Great Stirrup Cay, however, bad weather prohibited us from visiting, so the boat was at sea all day. Though the captain was able to find sun, we were limited to activities on the boat. All and all, it wasn’t a bad time on the boat because the Cruise Director and staff quickly came up with lots of activities for us to enjoy at sea. What was most enjoyable was the adult only Quest game show. It started off pretty mild, but ended up pretty risque. I won’t mention it here, just ask and I’ll tell. Keep in mind, the boat was full of college aged kids off for Spring Break.
Flew back home from Fort Lauderdale and had a 12 hour “nap”. Missed my baby Sadie so much and she missed us too. Thank you to our great neighbors who took care of her for us, they are great people! It took me about three days to rid my body of my sea legs. It was just odd when I would sit still and the house kept “moving” back and forth. After all is said and done, I would go on another Norwegian cruise, though I heard other passengers complain about the service and food. We thought it was pretty good.
Check out our many pictures on flickr. Enjoy!
