January 21, 2019

Today’s port is Nassau, Bahamas. The Allure of the Seas was making its final approach into Nassau Harbour at 7:30 this morning. The sunny sky had some light scattered clouds, there was a strong wind and the ship’s outside temperature was 20°C. The ship is docked at Prince George Dock along with the Carnival Elation & Carnival Liberty.

We decided to have breakfast in the Diamond Club Lounge which is on Deck 11 at the mid ship elevator and stairs lobby. It overlooks the Boardwalk neighbourhood. You can see the old-fashioned carousel and the Aqua theater at the stern and can enjoy a narrow view of the harbour and its entrance. The Diamond Club membership is for people who have cruised may times with either Royal Caribbean or with Celebrity to accumulate enough point to reach the Diamond level with Royal Caribbean or the Elite level with Celebrity. We can get coffee and expresso-based beverages any time at the Diamond Club Lounge. We will be taking advantage of other Diamond Club perks during the cruise. We watched a cargo ship arrive and saw a 40-foot sailboat under sail.

One thing that we have noticed is the average age is about 20 years younger than the 12-day plus cruises we have taken in the past two years. There are many families with elementary school age children and pre-schoolers.

We met our group tour on the pier at 8:45 a.m. Catherine, Scott and Mia explored nearby Nassau beach and vicinity shops on their own since their reserved tour was cancelled two months ago.

Our bus tour driver/guide’s name was Kermit; he drove one of the many 22 passenger buses that are able to navigate the narrow streets of Nassau. We met Joy and Joe from Savannah, Georgia while we waited and sat near Don and Diane and Jim and his wife on the bus. We chatted with them occasionally at the six different stops of the 3.5-hour tour.

Nassau is located on New Providence Island, one of the 31 inhabited islands of the 700-island archipelago of the Bahamas. The tiny nation’s population is about half a million, two thirds of them live in Nassau. The price of a gallon of gasoline in down to $4.50US. Unsure if the gallon is an Imperial or American measure. Being a former British colony the building of the 19^thcentury reflect the British colonial style. There are some older buildings near the harbour that are over 300 years old. Many of the buildings are painted pastel colours. We passed Parliament Square but the pink buildings were obscured by bleachers, still up from Christmas and New Year’s activities. Most buildings painted pink are either health related or land registry; those painted green are usually housing the police and yellow ones are educational institutions. The first stop was brief when we entered the Bahamas Rum Cake Factory shop and sampled two different kinds of moist bundt rum cakes – Piña Colada flavour and Irish Crème flavour. The 13 cm round rum cakes, marinated in the famous Ole Nassau Rum, were $7US each with discounts on multiple purchases. After a tour of the main road leading to the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge, we crossed the tall 1995 bridge to get to Paradise Island where a large part was developed by a South African in the 1990s. In the 1980s entertainer Merv Griffin’s real estate investment company had started a resort accessible by the old bridge. It was called Hog Island when it was privately owned and undeveloped, but with new owners the name was changed. The Atlantis resort has a large portion of the island and has a private channel to allow mega yachts into the area, where they can dock and venture off the boat to enjoy their colourful resort townhouses. There is a dolphin reserve which offers daily shows at the area known as “The Cove”. The dolphins were relocated to the Bahamas after their former home in Louisiana was destroyed in a devastating hurricane.

Also on Paradise Island is the Royal Towers hotel which was purchased and refurbished by the Atlantis Resort. It is a 141-acre water themed property. The Atlantis resort buildings are built with material resembling salmon-pink sandstone. There is an Atlantis resort with a similar design and colour in Dubai that we saw from a beach 18 months ago.

Next, we returned to New Providence Island and drove through some older residential areas of Nassau and visited Fort Fincastle, which was built in the 1790s to protect Nassau from pirates that had been raiding the town during the 18^thcentury. The front of the fort is shaped like the bow of a ship. The old city Water Tower was built about 100 years ago on the hill beside the old fort. Nearby was the 1742 slave built 66 step “Queen’s Staircase”, hewn from the solid coral rock that covers the island.

As we drove to the next destination we passed the Governor General’s residence and the bus stopped for a photo op to photograph the mansion and the Christopher Columbus statue. We also passed the Graycliff Chocolate Factory and store and nearby National Art Gallery, as we weaved our way to the John Watling’s Distillery. Originally it was the home of the Bahamas first judge before the privateer, John Watling bought the house. We were given a tour of the home and some of its history. There were four chickens wandering the lawn, two reddish brown and two white. One of the red chickens was quite large. In the former front parlour, after a brief explanation, we were served a piña colada flavoured cool sorbet. In the back garden was the original 7.4-foot diameter fresh water well that is 74 feet deep. The well was dug from coral rock by slaves in 1789. The distillery’s rum is produced in five years and has the aged taste of a 12-year old rum due to the heat and humidity of the Bahamian climate. We were shown examples of the two-year old oak barrel aged rum barrels as well as three year and five-year aged barrels. At the end of the tour, we were herded to the bar to buy cocktails of rum and purchase any bottles of rum.

The final stop at noon was Junkanoo Beach area which is full of kiosks, bars and restaurants serving Fish Frys, conch salads and alcoholic drinks. It was a 30-minute stop, but due to slow service people had their choices wrapped as takeout, to eat either on the bus or at the port before entering the ship. Passengers are not allowed to bring cooked food onto the ship. We explored the two lanes of several dozen fish fry places which had a view of Fort Charlotte and beaches bordering the Nassau Harbour.

Steps so far 8,507

We were returned to the port before 1 p.m. The sun was shining but thin clouds were moving in. The temperature was about 23°C. There were craft kiosks set up along the walkways to the ships. We needed to have our Sea Pass card and government issued photo ID for the Customs and Immigration inspection. A driver’s license was fine, but not a photocopy of a passport. People using photocopies had to go to another line in the cruise terminal.

Lunch was at the Café Promenade on Deck 6. We tried the shrimp roll which was much superior to the lobster roll that we had bought in the fall in Bar Harbour, Maine. We used the prepaid coffee card to order cappuccinos.

The afternoon was spent sipping a glass of Glorioso Rioja Crianza red wine, which is made with Tempranillo grapes, that we had purchased in Miami as we sat on our balcony overlooking the Central Park gardens listening to recorded bird calls until the band started on the pool deck four decks above us. The kids returned from their adventures and we caught up with them before getting ready for tonight’s formal evening and our 5 p.m. Ice Games show. We discovered that we can ask our room steward to open the door between our two balconies. That way if Catherine, Scott and Mia all wish to sit on their balcony they can borrow one of our balcony chairs.

At 4 p.m., the ship’s horn was blown as a reminder to passengers still onshore, that they needed to be back onboard by 4:30 p.m. The ship headed back northwest toward Miami, but will change course during the night to cruise across the Gulf of Mexico to Cozumel over the next 36 hours.

At 5 p.m., we attended the Ice Games Show. It was like a top-notch Ice Capades show with the game Monopolyas the theme. There were only about 200 people in the 900-seat theater. The skaters were world class, and could compete to qualify for Olympics. It was a show packed with figure skating’s difficult elements. After the show we went straight to the American Icon dining room to join the kids at the same table as last evening, for the first formal night dinner. Some of the choices were calamari and lobster bisque followed by duck á l’orange, almond crusted cod and beef tenderloin. Desserts chosen were chocolate cake, New York cheesecake with strawberry sauce and vanilla soufflé.

We all went to the 7 p.m. Gin Tasting featuring a shot of Italian lemon gin at the Port Merchants liquor store. Then Larry and I went to the Diamond Club Lounge for a complimentary cocktail, before meeting Catherine at the outdoor Aqua Theatre is located at the back of the ship on the fifth and sixth decks for our 8:30 reservations to watch the Ocean Aria water show showcasing divers and acrobats in a 30-minute show. The show was the quality of a Cirque du Soleil show in water featuring dives from one, five, ten and 17-meter diving boards. Although the temperature was 20°C, there was a wind which made a light jacket a good idea to have for the performance.

Larry and I parted with Catherine and went to the Boleros bar in Central Park where Latin dance were being played by a live band. We danced Cha-cha, rhumba and salsa on a dance floor less than 200 square feet. It was not too crowded with only eight or nine couples dancing and an occasional 3-year-old running amongst the dancers.

Larry used some complimentary casino credits to win $6. It may be the only time he spends in the casino since there is a designated smoking area which gives the whole casino a smoky environment.

With the size of the ship it is not a chore to accumulate steps during the day.

Today’s daily step count was 17,953 steps.