Ginny & Dean's Excellent Adventures: Cruise 01/11

Dean & Ginny's excellent adventures... Main Adventure Page

Cruise--01/11: Part 1 Part 2 >> Part 3 >> Part 4 >> Part 5 >>

It was after the holidays--we'd spent Christmas with Dori, Aaron, & Aaron's dad, Joe, down in Lake Worth. Then on New Year's Day (1/1/11), we drove to Cape Canaveral to start a 7-day cruise to Nassau in the Bahamas, St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, and the Isle of St. Maarten.

We arrived early at Port Canaveral where our ship, the Norwegian Sun, awaited. >>

We liked the "freestyle" cruising that we did two years ago around the Hawaiian Islands, so we thought it would be fun to see how it would be nearer to home. For various reasons, it had been a whole year since our last adventure, so it was time!

Arrival at Port Canaveral

We boarded early, and spent the day exploring what was where on the various decks. The next morning we were having breakfast on the back deck at sunrise near Nassau.

nassau breakfast

As we pulled into port, the sunrise became more interesting. The dominant buildings shown in silhouette are part of Atlantis, an all-inclusive resort and a popular daytime destination for cruise people. We'll get there in our tour of the town...

Some lucky sea gulls enjoyed the leftovers from Dean's breakfast.

The back deck on the 11th level has a white circus tent-like canopy covering much of it. We found our Ginny & Dean's "Excellent Adventure" shadow from the 12th deck just after the ship docked in Nassau. >>

As we looked down at a strip of land next to the boat, there were a number of exclusive estates that are accessed only by boat. Great privacy except that thousands of people on cruise ships are looking down on you
every day of the year.

We'd been to Nassau together once before on a 3-day cruise with Dori an Aaron several years ago, but then we had opted to go diving instead of walking around town. This time we did the town.

The Norwegian Sun is an impressive sight from the dock, but of the four cruise ships that were docked here, it was the smallest. Next to us was the Disney Magic, which had at least four more decks, was showing "The Beauty and the Beast" on a large outdoor screen that morning. Then the Carnival Dream followed us in and docked between us and the Disney ship. On the far side was the same ship we were on in 2005, The Majesty of the Seas.

The brightly colored buildings and artfully placed palms make for an attractive terminal area. A limo was waiting to take a small group of "boat people" to some selected attractions--our guess was Atlantis.

It was the day after New Years and all over the ground
Were the leftovers of a parade that had dazzled the town...

Bits of sponsored floats sparkled in the morning light,
Shoes with spangles and sequined costumes were left overnight,
Happy New Year to the town workers who'll pick up this blight...

Here are some of the houses and sights
around town that we liked...

While some houses were well cared for, many others needed a lot of attention.

Our first destination location within the town was the Queen's Staircase. We walked about a mile uphill. The staircase was carved from the limestone by slaves in the mid 1800s so the British would have a protected route from Fort Fincastle. It was named in honor of Queen Victoria. Here's a Link with more info.

The niches carved into the walls probably held candles for light. This large cement frame probably displayed an historic plaque at one time...

We went up the stairs, walked around the fort and then back down. Ferns, palms, and other plants have become established in the porous limestone walls. The walls are more than 100 feet tall and there are 65 steps.

We continued uphill from the top of the stairs where we reached the town's water tower and the fort.

And the view of the cruise ships from the top with a gnarly tree trunk in the foreground.

On to Paradise Island >>

Main Adventure Page

Top of page: