Nassau or Bust!

Our very last day of the cruise was a day in port. NASSAU, BABY!! We awakened as we were pulling into port. Atlantis greeted us:

 We made our way toward the breakfast buffet and found some rather large towel animals lounging by the pool!

 And an army of towel animals on the chairs by the pool. Unfortunately it was starting to rain...so they were getting wet! :( They didn't get to stay out very long.

 And so began our last fully day of cruisin'!

 We pulled into port {along with a few other ships} in Nassau...my first time to the Bahamas!

 Ryan had been ACHING for a Coke all week but refused to pay the ridiculous prices on the ship. But he found one in Nassau calling his name....

 We wandered around the {crazy busy} downtown area for a while, shopping for some souvenirs, and then we {gulp} boarded a bus headed for the beach. I sure did get my fill of public transportation on this trip!

 One of the ladies at a shop we stopped in suggested we visit Cable Beach. We told the bus driver to take us there...and in the middle of all these resort areas, he stopped the bus and pointed down a rather questionable looking alley between two houses and said "It's there." We tentatively walked toward the beach and found it...completely deserted.

Beautiful sand...and not a soul on it. We weren't quite sure if the driver had been right...perhaps he had dropped us off at private property? A woman walked up behind us and we asked her if we were on private property. She said it was a public beach and the houses there were guest houses that were probably empty!

What an AMAZING way to end a cruise! Our own private beach for the day! All for a $5.00 bus fare {combined}!

 We wasted no time setting up our tripod and having the BEST time with a photo shoot!

And guess what??? WE MADE A VIDEO!!

 The sky started to get dark again, so we packed up our bags and boarded the bus to head back to the ship. We'd only been back about 20 minutes when the sky let LOOSE and absolutely POURED.

We rested for the afternoon and watched from our balcony as we left Nassau....

...by way of this lighthouse. I was a bit mesmerized.

No time to waste taking pictures though...because it was time for the last night of dinner!!

The bracelet on the left was my sole non-Christmas ornament souvenir purchase.

Excuse the hair. It didn't go as planned - for either of us. 

Dinner started out with crab cakes for Ryan {more fruit cocktail for me....}

And frog legs. Those were Ryan's too. They made me shiver.

I went the comfort route this time: bacon, chicken, mac and cheese.

And Ryan had shrimp.

AND Mahi-Mahi. {In my world it's known as Icky Icky.}

Dessert in Ryan's world was this orange cake with a glaze....

...and cappuccino pie. I had more chocolate melting cake. :)

We made some new friends at dinner and then came back to our room to find our last towel gift: a heart.

And then we had to pack to go home.

My thoughts on that.

So that was that, folks! First ever Shafferland cruise. You'd think the stories were over. But I still had to fly home.

Stay tuned.

The Shafferland Shuffle

And a happy Labor Day Sunday to you!! Did you miss me? {Did you know I was gone?}

Well, remember when last Sunday, I told you I spent the day taking naps and reading a book? I may have forgotten to mention that I did those things in Miami. As in Florida. As in vacation week for the Shaffers! Of course I have much to tell you, but here’s a quick synopsis of our week!

* Last Sunday, we boarded the Carnival Breeze in Miami, and set sail for a week of cruising in the Caribbean. This was Ryan’s 8^th cruise and my first, and we have been eagerly counting down the days to sailing for weeks now! We were up on the 11^th deck of the ship – in a nice room with a balcony, and we got to the ship early that day so we could settle in and explore before it left port shortly before dinner.

* We sailed all night and awakened Monday morning in Key West, Florida – and neither of us had ever been there before, so we enjoyed experiencing that first together. We didn’t sign up for any excursions on shore, so armed with a map and a couple of granola bars, we set out on our own to look around. Among other things that day, a highlight was crossing an item off my bucket list: I got to see a lighthouse in real life…and climb to the top of it, too! This was a big deal for the girl who is both afraid of heights AND claustrophobic.

* Tuesday was one of our at-sea days, so we enjoyed spending the day resting and roaming about the ship – and we took advantage of some of the activities the ship offered for entertainment. One of those was Hasbro the game show, where they did a live game show, and guess which one of the Shaffers crossed off another bucket list item?? NOT THIS ONE!! But Ryan was so excited when he got picked to go on stage and be a contestant!

* Wednesday we watched the sun rise {yes, on vacation…isn’t it WRONG?} over Grand Turk as we pulled into port! This was my first time out of the country {Canada excluded} and I really enjoyed being there, though we were there such a short time. In an event worthy of its own blog post, the highlight of that day was a little activity we like to call The Shaffers Play Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Ride Segways.

* We spent Thursday at sea as well…and while we didn’t attend any shows like we did the first day at sea, we did participate in a digital scavenger hunt and watched an ice sculpture demonstration! We got to be on the big jumbotron for that. This is typical of us: Ryan spends his time waving and I spend my time taking pictures. HA!!

* Friday we docked in Nassau, and we had the BEST TIME on our own private little beach we just happened upon! We got back on the boat about 20 minutes before it POURED, and we just took it easy the rest of the day. Great dinner…met some new friends who were on their honeymoon! And then…sob…we had to pack. We don’t talk about it.

*When we woke up yesterday, we were back in Miami. I was excited to be back in the land of phones and internet – until I logged on and saw all the news…and then I thought it was better when all that was turned off. We had the privilege of spending the entire day in the Miami airport – an activity not on either of our bucket lists!! And there may or may not be MUCH more blog fodder from this day alone!! But until then...