Catching Up - November part 2 (Cruise)

On the 8th, we drove down to Miami to board a cruise for the Bahamas.  It was still cold when we got there, so we were wearing our sweatshirts, but were looking forward to the warmer weather down south.

Marcus and Eric on the gangway heading to the ship.

Checking out the model of our ship while waiting to grab some lunch.

Waiting for the ship to leave the dock.

Here we go!!

The first port we stopped at was Grand Bahama Island.  There wasn't much to do right off the ship, just some shops set up specifically for cruise passengers, where we got some cheap souvenirs.  Most people went on shore excursions to the other parts of the Island, but we chose to spend our time on the ship where we could enjoy it all to ourselves.  It was kind of nice being able to hang out by the pool with hardly anybody else on the ship.

Marcus exploring the balcony.

Enjoying sunset from our balcony before dinner.

Posing with our towel bunny after dinner.  No, we didn't add the sunglasses, the room stewards did that.  This was actually the only towel animal we got on the entire trip because the rest of the time we were in the room getting Marcus ready for bed when the room stewards came around for the turn-down service.

The next day found us docking in Nassau, Bahamas.  Again, we just walked around the shops looking for souvenirs and then spent the rest of the day on the ship.  This was a much larger port, so there were more shops to go through.  I spent most of the time on a mission to get the free jewelry set up for the cruise passengers.

The tickle monster attacked first thing in the morning.

The view of Atlantis from our balcony.

Marcus playing in the Under 2 Zoo.  It really was just a bunch of toys in one of the ship's lounges, but they were new to him and it gave me a chance to read and relax while Eric was at the gym.  Marcus loved it.

Our last port of call was Great Stirrup Cay.  This is Norwegian Cruise Line's Private Island in the Bahamas.  There were a ton of games and activities set up on the island, and we brought our snorkel gear with us, but we ended up taking the opportunity to relax on the beach.  They served a barbecue lunch and we all had fun lounging around and playing in the ocean.

Daddy wake up!! I want to play! 

The boys smiling for the camera before we get in the water.

On the tender getting ready to go back to the ship

Our ship from the tender

Part of the beach from the tender

The island from our balcony

The next day we docked back in Miami and made our way back to the Orlando area.  We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of our condo in Kissimmee, but I'll talk about that more in the next post.