Nassau Bahamas! It is a beautiful sunny warm morning and the town looks very inviting.
We head up to the breakfast buffet and meet up with family to discuss our day.
Mostly it involves leaving the ship and exploring the city.
our boat docked in its home port
Dream boat
Passing through Bahamas Customs
For us cruise passengers they just wave us through (really this entrance isn't for anyone
else, and serves as a route for us to be paraded past tour guides, shopping stalls and
taxi drivers all hawking their services)
we don't even need our passport as long as we have our "Key to the
World" card from the cruise. I am determined to get my passport stamped however,
and have to go to a completely different building and
pass through a more rigorous
screening process, then they wave me in and an official
in an office behind a desk, watching, I kid you not,
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on his little TV, so politely stamps my passport.
(My second stamp this year! After quite a dry spell I now have Australia and Bahamas
in my new passport!)
Actually the people of Bahama are so friendly and polite everywhere we go - I'm sure
it is in their best interest to treat us tourists well, but even when we are looking for something
specific in the drug store or in need of a restroom they are very attentive and helpful.
We hear "Happy Thanksgiving" over and over from the locals
as we walk the streets and shops today.
Some of our first glimpses of the Bahamas,
courtesy of the Bahamian Board of Tourism, undoubtedly.
cool guitars all made from soda cans
taking a snack break before some sightseeing
policeman directing traffic and acting as a crossing guard for us multitudes of tourists
(our giant ship looming in the background)
Pete and dad strolling
the twins head off with CD and Pete and I take the boys souvenir
shopping and on a excursion to find the beach
Jed with "cruise ship alley" in the background
Beach scenes (we didn't stay long)
we buy delicious fruit bars for the walk back
(Jed with the green sunglasses he chose for a souvenir)
some Bahamian snacks
Chillin' on the big chairs and Henry with his souvenir -
a mini metal Bahamian license plate with his name on it
walking back through the open air market
Pete chats up a local merchant -
he always chats up the locals when we travel
starfish and the ubiquitous conch shells of the Caribbean;
yes, we buy one to bring home
we do not buy any of the poo oils that Harriet notices for sale
By mid-afternoon we have returned to the ship, eaten our lunch, and
dropped the kids off at various activities or babysitters
(washing/sanitizing/scrubbing hands is one of the more
favorite pastimes on a cruise ship...)
Then me, Pete and Spence walk back into Nassau to do a bit more
intensive, fast paced type of sightseeing
walk through the downtown - Pirate museum
(there were Pirates in the Caribbean? who knew!)
The Government House with a statue of Christopher Columbus
on its steps - love the pink color so typical of the pastels
many of the buildings are painted in here
Pete chatting up a fruit vendor about nearby sites to see
view of Atlantis resort from the hilltop above Nassau
Fort Fincastle of Nassau
Spence taking a pic of the water tower
Even though we have arrived late in the day as all the souvenir stalls are closing up,
some of the vendors direct us over to the Queen's Staircase
The tourist map we were following gave us limited info on the sites,
here is some info on the Queen's Staircase tourist attraction I googled:
Nassau's most visited attraction is the Queen's Staircase. Climb the 65 steps, recently renovated, carved out of solid limestones by slaves in the late 18th century, between 1793 and 1794. It is reported that slaves were forced to cut through rocks with axes and other sharp hand tools.
This 102 foot staircase was named in honour of the 65 years of Queen's Victoria's reign. Construction of this monument is still regarded as remarkable. For practical purposes, the staircase provides a shorter route to and from Bennet's Hill.
Again, they were in the process of cleaning up for the day,
there were men power washing the stairs (you can see the water running down)
but they were kind and stopped and stood back for us to go down the staircase
the steps lead out to the street below
Still blocks from the docks and you can see the how the
cruise ship (industry?) towers over the town of Nassau
Pete and Spence in "Cruiseship Canyon" returning to our boat
as evening starts to fall - we really enjoyed our quick exploration of Nassau
Grand Atrium lobby - how many family members can you find?
We pick Jed up from the Kid's Oceaneer Club and head
to tonight's restaurant for dinner
Tonight's Thanksgiving dinner is in the Animator's Palette restaurant.
It is themed with the art supplies and creations of the Disney animators
We sit at Clara's table!
There are also giant screens throughout the restaurant with interactive
characters that talk to the diners - such as Crush, seen here
Jed asks Clara how her day has been
Jack at the next table
It's Thanksgiving, remember?! The menu tonight has traditional selections such as turkey
with all of the trimmings and ham, as well as some delicious salads and an amazing
butternut squash soup. Pilgrim Mickey also makes the rounds, with his handler who keeps
him moving right along. Spence manages a quick handshake with him.
a ship's photographer also makes the rounds -
Spence, Clara and Sarah smile for him
CD holding court with the adoring kids, as always.
(I think this picture is actually from our last night on the
ship when we come back to this restaurant to enjoy it's
regular non-Thanksgiving menu)
Dessert is always a production - so many delicious things to choose from.
Jed enjoys a chocolate brownie with fruit jam Mickey Mouse detailing
Animator's Palette dishware
This is Mikhael, our head server for every evening meal. He and his crew follow
us around to each restaurant, always dressed in the theme of the restaurant,
always with impeccable service and manners. Every night following dinner he
takes the kids paper menus and folds them into different origami shapes. Here
he is working on another masterpiece.
Jack with Mikhael's origami Disney Dream ship (I still have it)
Here's a fish he folded for Harriet. Other pieces of art he creates include a rose and a bird.
Due to the holiday there is no Broadway style show in the Broadway style theater tonight.
Instead, the ship movie theater is showing the new Muppets movie which is opening
everywhere in the United States. The kids all attend the movie and love it.
And as a final nod to our lovely American Thanksgiving spent in beautiful Nassau Bahamas
our cabin server folds our fresh towels into a lovely turkey. Goodnight!
(Funny final note: our head cabin server's name was Budi, pronounced
booty, and he told us to call him if we ever needed anything. Trust me,
we made plenty of "Budi Call" jokes after that....)
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