Dean & Ginny's excellent adventures... Main Adventure Page
Three-day Cruise to the Bahamas -- 11/05
Friday after Thanksgiving we (along with daughter Dori & her fiancé, Aaron, plus 2,400 (!) other people) boarded The Majesty of the Seas in Miami for a three-day cruise to the Bahamas.
Dori at the bow of the 12th deck
overlooking the Port of Miami
This huge cruise ship boasts most anything you'd need in any small town: a climbing wall, a basketball court, two swimming pools, two Jacuzzis, 14 decks, 2 huge formal dining rooms, numerous other dining spots, a movie theater, a stage, numerous bars, a salon, a casino, various shops, and more. There were also hundreds of deck chairs where many people chose to spend their time.
<< The stacks toward the stern look more like a pipe organ than ship smoke stacks.
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The sunrise created a dramatic backdrop as we >> approached Coco Cay, a private island, on Saturday morning. We left on the first tender to the island. With so many people on board, we wanted to enjoy a less crowded snorkeling experience before the masses came. We put on our nylon skins, and got everything ready to go while waiting for the mandatory orientation. The early para-sailors floated in the sky adding to the colorful island scenery. (Below left.) The Yellow-tailed Snappers and Sergeant Majors (with the black stripes) artfully arranged themselves in the dappled light. Two small plane wrecks provide habitat. (Below right.)
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The water was thick with sea walnuts, little globular, clear jellyfish, but there were also a few of the tentacled and more colorful types. We steered clear of these beauties because we assumed they were stinging jellies, but protection was one reason we wore our skins. We made two trips into the water and then partook of the lunch served on the island. After that we headed back to the ship. (We should tell you that food was served at one place or another on the ship all day long and there's even a midnight buffet. You'd never go hungry.) The snorkeler's eye-view of the ship |
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Dramatic! Swimming with sharks.
The first dive was at the edge of the wall that drops off more than 6500' into the trench next to Nassau. The sharks seems to ride the updrafts from the wall like birds near a cliff.
We signed up for the diving excursion on Nassau which included an interesting 45-minute bus ride across the island and down to the south end. The dive operation had numerous boats, so it wasn't too crowded.
On the first dive we were the first into the water to get the maximum time in the water. SHARKS !!, about 20 of them cruised around right under the boat. These Caribbean Reef Sharks ranged in size from six to nine feet long. They are not aggressive, but they also are not shy like others we've seen.
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We were amused by the smokeless ring blown by the divemaster. When we touched it, it to broke into small bubbles.
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This two-headed sponge is so >> The second dive was in the shallows near land. We were saddened to see that much of the coral was dead probably due to effluents from the island. It was gray or white. But some coral on the heads was beautiful and colorful. We hope the island is being more careful of its environment so these reefs have a chance to make it. << The head of this coral is alive and vibrant yellow. A close-up below shows the feathery tentacles extending from individual coral polyps. Don't they look like those little umbrellas served in tropical drinks? |
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And the sunset over Nassau bids us adieu until the next adventure...
