Cruise to Bahamas

This was my first experience on a cruise. Everyone, who have been on at least one cruise, have spoken only about the awesome food (in terms of quantity) and about the dingy rooms. So, my expectations were set – Brobdingnag like eating and Lilliput like living. And although that turned out to be true to a degree, I am glad the cruise was so much more.

Day 1: Set Sail.

I shall begin from the point we arrived at the cruise terminal. It is no different than an airport – check-in, security, immigration in short everything that’s boring about an airport, except it’s a bit worse: you have to tip the baggage handler, cause if you don’t, they might delay damage or worse lose your luggage. So without taking any changes we duly tipped them. 

We boarded the ship early, about 3 hours before we set sail, to eat lunch on board. A clever money saving tip I had received but judging by the number of people boarding along with us, it seemed to be common knowledge. First order of business: inspect the room and to my pleasant surprise our ocean facing room wasn’t too shabby. Perhaps I had set my expectations too low. Next: lunch at the buffet. This time to my not-so-pleasant surprise it was huge and full of variety but for someone how eats at Las Vegas buffets three times a year, it didn’t exactly knock my socks off. So perhaps I had set my expectation too high.

With tempered expectation and open mind, we set out to take stock of the rest of the ship. The ship was just bigger than the Titanic which, by today’s standards, is not spectacular but it still dwarfed much of the scenery around us.  At 5pm, as we set sail and the party began on the pool deck. But it being the month of May, rain was always on the cards and duly came to the party uninvited. Thankfully, it didn’t dampen anyone’s spirit and the party continued till the ship reached high sea.

Late in the evening we had sumptuous 5 course dinner and fortunately we got along with the couple at our table. More dancing and partying at the foyer ensued, followed by an entertaining variety and juggling show at the ship’s auditorium and that pretty much summed up our first day on the ship.

Day 2: Private Island and Water activities.

We were woken up the next day as the ship anchored at an island called Koko which was a private island owned the cruise ship company. A ferry shuttled passengers from the ship to the island. We were advised to get on the ferry early to avoid the crowd; one advice I am glad we followed. Once on KoKo, we engaged in our overpriced excursions we had booked on the first day starting with Kayaking.

Two guides took us from the west of island to the north and back. Along the way, crystal blue waters, beautiful fish, turtles, sea urchins and rays - thankfully neither electric nor of the sting variety. The guides stopped to point these out, even getting off their kayaks to pick up a few shells and stuff from the water. While rest of the kayakers navigated effortlessly, Janhavi and I had a horrid time leaving us exhausted and frustrated by the time we reach a secluded beach on the northern part of the island. Here we beached our kayaks and went for a swim but that was cut short as nurse sharks paid us a visit. It is said, ‘Prevention is better than cure’, so I stayed away but the experienced guides were within a few feet of the predators and who circled around their preys. I was content taking mental pictures of the scene. This was my first experience with warm, crystal clear waters; clear visibility upto 5-6 feet and it was just stunning. All expectation exceeded. (We went to Hawaii after this trip, although that blog was written earlier).

Now, although we kayaked a fair distance from a coast at times, the sea was never deeper than 6-8 feet which I found very interesting. The guide explained that during low tides the sea is only knee deep and one can actually walk between islands. Actually, the name Bahamas is derived from the Spanish expression ‘Baja Mar’ which means shallow sea. A name the Spanish probably gave the place when they first came.

Our second excursion was a snorkeling dive in an artificial lagoon. We hadn’t done snorkeling before so both us were a bit nervous. As if that wasn’t enough, a large school of stinging jelly fish had invaded the waters close to the island for breeding. Risking a few stings, I decided to snorkel with my t-shirt on. Initially, the water was sandy and no fish were in sight. I mustered a bit of courage a kept swimming and as if darkness gave way to light, the water just cleared up, corals sprung out of no where and the waters were teeming with fish. The experience of it was amazing. Janhavi on the other hand was too nervous decided to sit it out and waited for me by the beach.

Again a bit of weather stuck and I had to be dragged out of the water. A BBQ lunch was served on the island itself. Soon the weather improved and we went on a relaxing tropical island beach walk, found a quite place and just lay on the may beach chairs soaking up the scenery on offer.

By evening, we were back on the ship and watched from high deck as the anchor was pulled up and we set sail for Nassau. Post dinner, the nightly entertainment was a concert which we didn't care for much. So we spent time on the deck star gazing and witnessing the rhythmic motion of the ship as it cut through the waves into the open dark sea. I was expecting a much better star watching experience as we should have been quite far from any artificial light but it disappointed a bit. Yellowstone still takes the crown for that. Another expectation not met. At any rate it was better than day 1 and 3 when the clouds shrouded the skies.

Day 3: Nassau.

Once again we were woken up when the ship anchored at the Port of Nassau. The port was much like Bus stand, much to my surprise, to say the least. In the distance was the famous hotel - Atlantis.

Our first day activity was snorkeling. Now this was for real – no artificial lagoons. The guides took us from the ship to a small speed boat and we went a few miles into the sea. The boat stopped in the middle of nowhere and fellow snorkeler jumped in. I was aghast with the idea of jumping into the sea where the nearest land was miles away. But I had paid an arm and a leg for this excursion…so I went. Money or losing it can be a big motivation. I jumped in, put on my masks and all and with a pounding heart, stuck my head into the water and BING!! The proverbial light bulb went off….if you are snorkeling, there have to be corals and corals live on Sun light which doesn’t penetrate too deep into the sea. Ergo, the sea floor has to be shallow and it was…only about 8-10 feet deep. Hello…we are in Bahamas!!

That realization in and fear out I even managed to convince Janhavi to join me. We snorkeled for an hour afterwards. The fish and corals were just amazing. As good as it got (touch better than Hawaii). On the return back to the ship the guides did a bit of comedy routines and showed the houses of the rich and famous. Tiger Woods palace stood out.

We could have gone to Atlantis Hotel but decided instead of visit the city. I had imagined Bahamas to be a developed country (don’t know why) but it was just the contrary. In fact, Nassau is a city of contrasts:  The posh houses of the celebrities’, famous hotels on one side vs meager lifestyle on the mainland. Another one: High end diamond, designer accessories and clothing shops share the street with rather mediocre outlets. Of course, true to our nature, we gave a skip to the high end stuff and ventured into the other kind looking for a flag of the Bahamas to add to my collection.

 One thing that did stand out was how crystal clear the blue waters were at a beach near by. We stayed out for a bit, souvenir shopping and all, finally coming back to the ship near sun down. Shortly there after the ship set sail for Miami and out last night on the ship.