Enter Norwegian Sky!
Going on a cruise had always been on my bucket list so we started doing our research. We looked around online and talked to lots of friends that had cruised before. We finally landed on a 4 night Bahamian cruise on the Norwegian Sky. Their prices were reasonable, and we got a free balcony upgrade (definitely go for the balcony!), and their freestyle cruising philosophy was appealing to us. Let me tell you, best decision EVER! We got to adventure and relax at our whim, food and drinks were fantastic, service unmatched, world class entertainment, and perfect weather with plenty of time in the sun!
Traveling in style with my Stella & Dot pink elephant weekender bag! Corey liked it so much he wanted to carry it too! :-P
Corey's first plane ride...EVER! He did great!
(cue Will Smith) Welcome to Miami!
Corey had some friends in the area take us to this fun hotspot for dinner!
Salsa and Latin/Cuban flavor everywhere! We had delicious Cuban food for dinner.
Headed to port! Loving my nautical shorts! (It's hard to see but they have anchors on them).
A little shuffleboard?
Definitely go for the balcony upgrade!
Waiting for us inside the room!
There were many Pina Coladas to be had!
I mean...it's the Bahamas...you have to!
Brushing my teeth in the Bahamas!
First stop, Freeport Harbour, Grand Bahama Island!
We had a snorkling excursion booked, but they canceled all snorkling excursions because the waters were too choppy (= safety hazard), so they refunded us for that and instead we grabbed a cab to the resort beach and marketplace area for the day.
Small World Story of the Day: While taking a dip we overheard a gal talking about living in Alexandria. When I asked her about it we got to talking and I discovered her cousin was one of my students this past year! She was vacationing as well and was kind enough to snap some shots for us!
Dude carving in the market.
Meanwhile...our little friend was waiting for us back on board the ship.
The next morning we had this view at breakfast in Nassau!
Atlantis! Pretty spectacular place! We popped over on our tour for about 15 min, but didn't spend much time there...$$$$$
We scheduled a bus tour for the day to take us around to the old forts and sites on the island.
They were preparing for their 40th anniversary as an independent nation so everything was decked out in their national colors! Yup, only 40 years ago did they gain independence from Britain.
The fort. Come to find out...these forts were built for fear of attack...buuuuut nothing ever happened and the forts were never really used....kinda boring actually.
Cool pano Corey took from on top of the fort. You can see the cruise ships off to the left. Gorgeous huh?
He's so cute I can't help it!
During our bus tour we saw signs from the road advertising John Watling's Distillery. As soon as the tour was over Corey had his heart set on venturing to find this place. I whined not wanting to get lost or walk a long way but I wanted him to enjoy himself so off we went in search of this place. Turns out it wasn't very far at all and it was hands down the favorite site on the island for BOTH of us! We were basically the only people there. It was quiet, and gorgeous. Seriously, one of the most beautiful places on the island and no touristy hubbub.
Um HELLO gorgeous building!
I'm in love with this staircase! And I'm in love with my dress on this staircase! And everyone in Nassau was in love with my dress :)
Yup, that is a hand-cut well, and it is a loooooooooooooooooooong way down. You might die.
RUM!
Can I live here?!
YUM! Pina Colada for me and a Rum Dum for Corey. We enjoyed sipping these at the distillery's bar after we purchased some of their signature products.
Oh and did I mention these people were AWESOME! We were pretty much the only people there, and the staff was highly interactive with us. We had a blast chatting and laughing with them, and they let us take pics behind the bar with them. SO FUN! If you're ever in Nassau, GO SEE THEM!
Yup, that's right...we came all the way to the Bahamas and just can't get away from Virginia.
Next we tried some of the local flavors. Those right there are conch fritters.
I was a little nervous, but they're basically just hush puppies with little pieces of conch in them. So delish!
Corey's snapper...yup, the fish has a face.
He loved it!
That there is the ginormous sting ray that popped up to say hello once we got back to our balcony on the ship! It looks small in the picture, but I promise you the thing was bigger than me! It reminded me a little of the narwal scene in Elf, this ray just arose from the depths of the harbor right underneath us and skated near the surface for a moment before diving back below.
OK, OKAY! So possibly one of my favorite parts on the actual ship was karaoke nights. We killed it!
I tried to upload the videos here but Blogger is being a stinker about it so here's the links if you're really interested:
Welcome to Great Stirrup Cay! The final stop on our cruise. Oh and happy Independence Day America! (Yup, we were there July 4th!)
The cay with the manta rays. Yup, and one swam right past my leg...and I freaked out like a little girl.
Settling in to our lounges. LOVE this retro suit from J Crew!
The view from our seats.
Good man! Cheers!
Another friend waiting on our return!
Tonight we ate fancy!
And then we slept like babies...seriously we accidentally slept through the rest of our last night on the cruise!
Here we are, back in good ol' VA!
But I left my toes in the sand and my heart on the beach!
LOVE IT! Also, "Wannabe" was clutch! We just had a karaoke session in the car the other night to that song!
ReplyDeleteOMG, I was totally going to request it myself, and then the cruise gal that was running the shindig called me up with a couple other girls that had been singing during the night...and BOOM!
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