We left the house at 3 am on the day after Christmas for what would become an amazing trip and also an epic travel day clocking in at over 24 hours. After nearly 8 months of planning we were able to surprise the kids with a Bahama cruise for Christmas break. We were warned of a potential flight impact due to weather and our connecting flight in Dallas. We decided to not change flights (with 6 of us and needing to load the boat on time there wasn't many options anyways.) With the plane half boarded our flight was cancelled...not just delayed, but full out cancelled..do not pass go, do not collect $200 cancelled. We were gob struck, but did rebook a different set of flights into Miami rather than Ft. Lauderdale. We arranged for a 1 am limo shuttle from Miami to our Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. The rebooked flights didn't leave for almost 12 hours...it was a full day of just hanging out in MKE and eating airport food. As the day progressed, the weather was impacted other flights in the areas as people rebooked and delays were racking up....I was losing confidence that we would make our connecting flight in Philly. The gate agent said not to worry..it was the pilots last flight of the night and he would want to get home and make up time in the sky. We did make the connecting an we meet with our placard holding limo shuttle to drive us to the hotel. The girls bunked together and we dropped them off and headed to our room with Merrick. The hotel key didn't work, I went back to the desk, security came along with us and when Amy finally got the door to open she screamed and quickly slammed it shut again thinking somebody was already in the room. It was what we were all thinking an with the lights on and the fan blowing her mind went there immediately. We were all blasted from the day's travel.
We slept until about 10:30 and then caught a quick Uber to the boat. Our check in time was 1 pm...but that didn't matter as we were quickly ushered through security and customs and to the boat (pro-tip: arrive early and ignore the check in times). We dropped off our luggage, walked around in awe at jewelry stores, bars, 14 story glass elevators, art museums, and the just the massive-hulking opulence of where we were....then we headed to the buffet to feast. The kids headed off to explore the boat themselves and we later found out that was essentially working the system to bar hop. We found them about an hour later after then invited us to Craft Social...a nice little niche bar in the mid section. It was great that we got to the boat early because we almost an additional day to explore before we celebrated with everyone else when we left port. Merrick and I chilled by the pool and the girls headed off to a bracelet/charm show.
Each night has its own dress code and we put on our business casual to head to the main dinning room where we were blown away by the service of Vincente and his assistant. The food was 8/10 but the service and experience were amazing. Sophia didn't make this first dinner...having passed out about 5:30 pm in her room..blaming the drink package, and I didn't make to long after dinner, feeling the motion of the ocean and just needing to sleep. Merrick and I headed back to our room while Amy and the girls went to a regrettable comedy show.
Everybody rebounded and was ready early the next morning as we landed in Nassau and loaded on the catamaran for some snorkeling. It was cool, everyone was glad they didn't it but it was tourist snorkeling: no fins, dead reefs with mostly Sargent majors and a few parrot fish. I did see French angelfish and some blue tangs; Amy, Grace and Ella saw a spotted sting ray. The water mid to low 70's and everyone felt it was too cold. The hour long excursion was a long enough duration. We did get rum punch (Sophia was having a water day) on the way back but still we decided to walk back to the ship to change, warm up and eat. Once heavily fortified from the buffet we walked back into town to check out Nassau port area. We only walked about a 7 block radius and no body feels the need to return. It was a dirty combination of tourist trinkets, and carnival level barkers.
Back on the boat to lounge around the pool and hot tubs before everyone getting dressed up for Elegant night and fine dinner in the main restaurant. Merrick had lost track of how many steaks he had eaten by this point. Dinner went late and after a few after dinner drinks at one or two of the bars we turned in for the night.
By our 4th morning we were way more relaxed and didn't meet for breakfast until about 10 oclock before heading into the beach resort in Bimini. The weather was cool and even rainy but everyone was still in good spirits and we racked up a sizable bar bill. I think all the kids made it into the water. Amy and I weren't that interested in getting wet. We all lounged around the white sand beach in the big chaise lounges, chatted, and generally chilled out before heading back to the boat hot tubs and buffets. On the boat I dozed in the indoor pool while Sophia and Amy sat in the hot tub and eventually heading to dinner. At some point in this continuum Ella, Sophia, and Grace got into a fight with an old man in a wheel chair and read shirt. I think think they were trying to order coffee at the Cafe a'Bacio and took 'his' menu and then words were exchanged...I don't have all details other than Ella initially grabbed the menu, and then apologized to him, and then Sophia slammed the menu back on the table and he had on a red shirt...because he came wheeling past us at dinner....oh, those girls
After dinner was pretty fun. Merrick wasnt up for anything and hung back in the room, even as the girls literally tried to pull him from his bed to come out for the last night. Amy and I hit up the Martini bar, with its frost covered bar top, and made our way to the casino. The cruise is such a social place where everyone is looking to be 'camp friends' the whole trip we were meeting new people and then continuing conversations with them hours later when bumping into them again...the casino was no different as we talked to the people we had met on the Bimini beach. The girls found us at the martini bar and invited us back to a Bollywood DJ party they were dancing at....it was pretty cool and we stayed until we were out of place and then headed to the top floor for more dance parting in the SkyLounge. The girls all wanted to quite before Amy...she out lasted all of them. Sophia and Grace ghosted and Ella hung out so Amy had somebody to dance with and I hung out because Amy didn't have a key to the room. Back in the room we chilled on the veranda until nearly mid night before calling it a day.
The disembarkment procedure was a little chaotic but we got it figured out an grabbed a cramped Uber back to the airport and started our trip back home and a few days of sealeg recovery. As if poetically fitting Amy was able to get a picture of 'our ship' heading back out to sea from her seat on the airplane.
