Day Two, Nassau, Bahamas PICTURES ADDED

I've let way too much time pass since our cruise ended, and sadly I'm sure some of my memories are not as fresh and clear as they would've been had I written these notes much sooner. Regardless, here I am now, retelling our adventure in the Bahamas.

We awoke early to the sound of room service knocking on our door with our breakfast which was devoured on our balcony as the ship pulled into port. It was not the best of breakfasts as Carnival doesn't offer anything hot on their breakfast room service menu, but we made do with some fruit, pastries, and of course the hot tea and coffee. I could've been eating cat food and not cared that much as the novelty of eating on our very own balcony as we neared Nassau was just too remarkable to sour. It was a great moment. If we'd had any doubts about whether the price for a balcony cabin was "worth it" they quickly faded. Having the balcony was definitely the way to go!



Our ship was to dock at 7am and it was my goal to have us off the ship ASAP, and that I did! As we exited there was not one other soul on the street ahead of us. As we left the port area and walked through the gates that opened to the city of Nassau, again, there were no other cruise passengers in front of us. I'm pretty darn sure by all of this that we were the first people off the ship that day. Not sure if that speaks to my compulsive over-planning or not, you be the judge.

Anyway, we arranged a cab to take us across the bridge to Paradise Island, where we'd ferry to Blue Lagoon Island for our dolphin swim. This was a special treat for Morgan, our future dolphin trainer/marine biologist. I thought this might make a strong impression on her and if it helped confirm her career path wishes then all the better. If not, we'd have terrific memories. And that we did!

The ferry ride to the island lasted about half an hour each way, taking us by some gorgeous mansions on the waterfront. The water was as clear and tourquiose as any postcard you'd fine would depict. The only sad point was that we never saw any wild dolphins, try as we might.

When we got to Dolphin Encounters James and I split up with the girls. I took Morgan to the "swim" area while he took Bethany to the "encounter" area. We had chosen not to have Bethany do the swim as she often gets very shy in new enviornments and will not interact with humans, let alone big animals. She did the exact thing here, even with just sitting on the side of the dolphin encounter exhibit. She clung to James and cried, hardly looking at the dolphin, nevermind even touching it. We could've gotten by with only paying $20 for her to be an "observer" had we known she'd react this way. Instead we'd paid over $100 for her to be able to touch and be close to the dolphin and that proved a waste of money.



All the while this drama was going on with James and Bethy, Morgan and I were in our area swimming with the creatures, holding onto them, getting and giving kisses, and finally having a swim moment for each of us where the dolphin pushed us by our feet through the water! It was exhilarating and awesome! We purchased the dvd of our interaction and some photos so we have some footage to help us remember the day.



We were back onboard the ship around noon, had some lunch, then relaxed for a while at the pool. We made it a priority to try out the water slide but it wasn't as much fun as we thought it would be due to the incredibily hot board floor on the Lido Deck. In order to walk up to the entrance to the slide we had to cross the very, very hot boards which burned the bottoms of our feet and discouraged us from doing it more than a couple times. It was fun the two times we did it, though, except for the rush of saltwater up your nose at the finish.



Dinner that night was the first of two formal nights and we all four dressed up nice and spiffy. James looked quite dashing in his uniform and the girls looked like the precious young ladies they are. I was so proud to be walking around with my three most favorite people in the world. I must have been beaming all night long!





We posed for a couple photos which we ended up buying to have as momentos of that great night.



The show that night was filled with dancers and costumes and singing. You know Bethany was lovin' it! She admired the dancers so much and wished that she could dance like that some day. It was a very well done show with top quality entertainment. We loved it all!

Our night ended with us going to sleep again to the sounds of the seas. Delightful!