Wishes 10/8/11 WP/GF-- Love's First Kiss-- Trip Report Complete

[dreamsdidcometrue]

I voted for you!!! Do you get something if you win?

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I may or may not have voted from all the ip addresses I have on hand at the moment (work computer, iPhone, and iPad). Just MAYBE, mind you.

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

Congratulations! I was so happy to see your wedding there when I checked this morning! (I voted for you, of course!)

 

[lilsqueakrr]

I voted! And I so agree about the baby thing. ;D We can brings our together for the first time if all goes according to planned!

 

[Princess_K]

I voted! Your wedding was beautiful

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Many congratulations Michelle!!! - well deserved!!! I have registered my vote for you!!!

 

[belle2211]

Already voted for your beautiful wedding!!!

 

[qtsugarangl]

I voted!!!

 

[One_Song]

How exciting!! I voted.


~Zara

I voted for you!!! Do you get something if you win?

I may or may not have voted from all the ip addresses I have on hand at the moment (work computer, iPhone, and iPad). Just MAYBE, mind you.

Congratulations! I was so happy to see your wedding there when I checked this morning! (I voted for you, of course!)

I voted! And I so agree about the baby thing. ;D We can brings our together for the first time if all goes according to planned!

I voted! Your wedding was beautiful

Many congratulations Michelle!!! - well deserved!!! I have registered my vote for you!!!

Already voted for your beautiful wedding!!!

I voted!!!

Thank you, everyone! I appreciate it so much, I feel very much like part of the Dis family. It would be cool to win, but honestly, it's just exciting to be nominated! I have read Carly's blog religiously since I discovered it about a year ago. Any time I had a question, I first turned to Carly's blog and Lurkyloo's book for an answer. It was so helpful to me, it feels (nicely) bizarre to be a part of it somehow.

Michelle-- the winner of each category gets a $20 Amazon gift card!
Jenifer-- I love this idea just as much as the ladies' cruise. Can you imagine us, the DHs, and some kiddos at a character brunch, or checking out Fantasyland?

 

[One_Song]

Honeymoon, Day 6

The next morning, we awoke as the ship was docking at Nassau. You can see bits of it in our cruise video, posted a few pages back, along with Brandon intermittently wiping the condensation off the lens!

It was not very sunny, but still pretty.

Nassau looked quaintly beautiful from far away (this turns out to be deceptive)

We dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast in the Club Level lounge, and headed downstairs to disembarkation point.

 

[One_Song]

We were some of the first people off the ship. While we were exiting, we walked past the Cake Boss and his entire family. I didn't want to be rude and gawk, so we just kept walking. The were pretty hard to miss; they are just as loud in reality as they are on the show

We stopped for a photo with the ship

It really is enormous!

Then we headed into Nassau. I was excited, I have always loved ports of call on my past cruises. This one, however, turned out to be a huge disappointment. We didn't have specific plans. One of our favorite things to do when we go to a new city is to just walk around, see the neighborhoods, soak up the feeling of the place. Nassau really had nothing to see though. Lots and lots of empty store fronts. We walked through a street market (which I usually love, I always buy really cheap jewelry), but this one was a little scary, frankly. Not only did the vendors yell out at you (not that unusual), but they would walk with you even past their stand. It was creepy. One lady walked up to me and slipped a necklace around my arm (I was holding something, so my arm was at a 90 degree angle to my body). I thought she was going to accuse me of stealing it. Brandon was very firm with her though, so she left.

The only shops we saw were tacky, t-shirt type shops and jewelry stores. We went in two of the latter, but I think many of the stones were fake. The colors were super saturated, and they had a flat, shiny look to them. I had also heard that the Bahamas are great for food carts, but we never saw any food at all. We got frustrated with Nassau pretty quickly, maybe 45 minutes. We finally said, screw it, let's go back to the ship. The sun was finally out and we agreed laying by the pool with some cocktails would be way more fun than desperately searching the city for something, anything, interesting.

When we passed through the security check point, they told us we were the very first people back on the ship. Kind of neat!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I have had The Worst Day, and your post made it a little bit better. Thank you.

 

[One_Song]

I have had The Worst Day, and your post made it a little bit better. Thank you.

I'm sorry to hear that-- everything ok? I would be happy to listen if you need to vent!

 

[One_Song]

Back on the ship, we changed into our swim suits and went straight for the pool. We grabbed some chairs and started to head for the bar, but Brandon noticed the Aqua Duck line-- the wait was only 15 minutes! I know it sounds strange to wait 15 minutes for a water slide, but would you believe the wait was usually closer to an hour?! It was a very popular little slide, and for good reason.

We waited in the short line, which winds up a staircase. At the top, a conveyor belt brings up the inner tubes. The floats are two-seaters so we got to ride together. When it is your turn, little rollers under your float roll you forward, so there is no pushing off or anything like that. The slide is MUCH faster than it appears from down on deck! It goes up and down, makes wide turns, and is generally really exciting! Most of the slide is in a clear tube. It's neat to see the ship and the ocean around you. One part of the slide goes over the side of the ship, and you are just above the ocean. That's probably terrifying if you have acrophobia, but I loved it! The Aqua Duck gets a huge thumbs up!

After the Aqua Duck, we grabbed those drinks (pina colada for me) and returned to our loungers. The ship was mostly empty, so we had our pick of chairs. Ours were right by the edge and had a beautiful view of the ocean. We stayed there for a few hours, just basking in the sun and listening to the tropical background music.

 

[mickin]

ugh..I cant stand Nassau.

I've been there a couple of times and my family insists on going to the straw market and I hate it. People selling the exact smae stuff as the booth next to them, and they yell at you and try and force you to buy things. Its so uncomftable. If I go again I think ill either stay on the ship or maybe go see Atlantis, but I dont even know if thats worth it.

Trace and I once went to Ocho Rios, Jamaica on a cruise and felt the same way about it as nassau. People on the street were just coming up to you with stuff to buy. We even were just sitting on a beach, and watching people climb up rocks and wood beams to try and sell things to people eating at a beach restaraunt...crazy...

Next time we go to those places...we stay on the ship..lol

 

[Jennifer48]

I agree, Nassau is not fun. I understand that this is their livelyhood but some of them are just so pushy and rude. Next time we are at port, we are staying on the ship!

 

[dreamsdidcometrue]

I haven't been to Nassau but I have been to Jamaica and I agree it is exactly like that. I wasn't just there on a cruise, I was there for 7 whole days. It was very sad and I cried a lot. No, I am not one to cry all the time and I don't think I have ever cried on a vaca before but everyone is so poor and it was just really upsetting to see the conditions the children lived in.

I love your description of the slide! It sounds really fun! More please

 

[tric8783]

Congrats on the nomination! I recognized your wedding right away and of course, voted!

The Aqua Duck sounds awesome (is it kind of like Crush-n-Gusher but on a boat?)!! An hour wait, geesh! The perks of staying on ship when everyone gets off! I'll admit I'm not the most adventure-type tourist, so we haven't ever really just gotten off the ship and checked it out, we (I) always plan excursions. I know, I know, I'm no fun. haha I've been to Nassau twice now and did excursions twice which ended up being nice, but we just went to the beach both times. One was to a place called the "Poop Deck" which was actually a cute private beach with no locals hounding us, and then when we sailed on Oasis we went to some private island that I think shares or is owned by Sandals (Blackbeard's Cay I think?). It was also really nice. I have been dying to get to Atlantis, but otherwise have no desire to tour Nassau. It's awesome you guys took it in stride and headed for the pool and a pina colada, my kind of day!

oh Cake Boss. haha Were cameras following them around crazy the whole cruise?

 

[CourtenayB]

We were some of the first people off the ship. While we were exiting, we walked past the Cake Boss and his entire family. I didn't want to be rude and gawk, so we just kept walking. The were pretty hard to miss; they are just as loud in reality as they are on the show

We stopped for a photo with the ship

It really is enormous!

Then we headed into Nassau. I was excited, I have always loved ports of call on my past cruises. This one, however, turned out to be a huge disappointment. We didn't have specific plans. One of our favorite things to do when we go to a new city is to just walk around, see the neighborhoods, soak up the feeling of the place. Nassau really had nothing to see though. Lots and lots of empty store fronts. We walked through a street market (which I usually love, I always buy really cheap jewelry), but this one was a little scary, frankly. Not only did the vendors yell out at you (not that unusual), but they would walk with you even past their stand. It was creepy. One lady walked up to me and slipped a necklace around my arm (I was holding something, so my arm was at a 90 degree angle to my body). I thought she was going to accuse me of stealing it. Brandon was very firm with her though, so she left.

The only shops we saw were tacky, t-shirt type shops and jewelry stores. We went in two of the latter, but I think many of the stones were fake. The colors were super saturated, and they had a flat, shiny look to them. I had also heard that the Bahamas are great for food carts, but we never saw any food at all. We got frustrated with Nassau pretty quickly, maybe 45 minutes. We finally said, screw it, let's go back to the ship. The sun was finally out and we agreed laying by the pool with some cocktails would be way more fun than desperately searching the city for something, anything, interesting.

When we passed through the security check point, they told us we were the very first people back on the ship. Kind of neat!

First, let me say I have really enjoyed your TR and have spent a lot of time at work (uh oh) looking at it. It's is fantastic. Very happy for you two.

I am very disappointed to see your comments about Nassau. I hold Nassau VERY dear to my heart, as I spent 6 years growing up there and my brother still lives there (married with two children). I have to say I disagree with you that it is boring and not beautiful. It is actually a very beautiful place and there are tons of things to do there. With that said, I have taken a few cruises to Nassau since moving and the initial area near where the ship docks is just not that nice, it is basically a tourist area, and does not represent what Nassau is. So please don't let your experience ruin a truly wonderful and fun place. You just have to get away from that area which is hard to do without transportation or someone who knows where to go. I hope if you visit again that you will be surprised and will get to see the beauty that Nassau has to offer. I am surpirsed you guys did not go to Atlantis...even though it's super touristy it is amazing. That in itself would have kept you busy for hours.

Well sorry fo rmy rant, just really sad you didn't get to see what I know about Nassau. Anyway, love reading your posts, so much fun!

 

[CourtenayB]

ugh..I cant stand Nassau.

I've been there a couple of times and my family insists on going to the straw market and I hate it. People selling the exact smae stuff as the booth next to them, and they yell at you and try and force you to buy things. Its so uncomftable. If I go again I think ill either stay on the ship or maybe go see Atlantis, but I dont even know if thats worth it.

Trace and I once went to Ocho Rios, Jamaica on a cruise and felt the same way about it as nassau. People on the street were just coming up to you with stuff to buy. We even were just sitting on a beach, and watching people climb up rocks and wood beams to try and sell things to people eating at a beach restaraunt...crazy...

Next time we go to those places...we stay on the ship..lol

This makes me sad. Nassau is a great place. I grew up there and it's too bad that you have to experience the tourist version of it. Atlantis is worth going to see...unless of course you don't like a good time lol....it's got so many cool things to see and do and restaurants and nice shops. And a casino if you like that sort of thing. Most of the places cruises dock are nothing like what the actual atmosphere of that place is like. I spent 6 years in Nassau and I also cruised there and can tell you that the area you dock is just not the true Nassau. Sorry for your bad experience.