NCL Sky, Day 3 and Going Home

Blogging this vacation took me much longer than expected, and thanks for reading along with me! When I was away, I would journal as much as I could. Once we were back home, and real life kicked in, there was no time to blog. But this is the end, I swear! I want to move on to other things, like whats going on with our house, party planning, and holidays! So without further ado...

Last day waking up in paradise! I can't explain that feeling, waking up in a dark, cramped cabin, and emerging outside, surrounded by turquoise waters, rolling lava rock mountains, warm Caribbean air.  We were anchored, not docked, so we would have to take a tender boat to shore. No problem, done it a million times before. More on that later.

We went and had some breakfast, and heard the announcement that we were cleared to disembark and board the tenders to head to shore.. Unfortunately, everyone had the same plan. So the 4 of us, a baby, and a stroller had to wait in line, for about 4 decks. However, it moved quickly as the tenders held a lot of people.

The waters were the roughest I've ever seen them when tendering. I have heard things about this island, and wasn't all that suprised, but it was definately wild. I find safety in the crew. Much like an airplane, you hit some turbulance. No need to panic unless the crew does. They looked unfazed, and honestly, if it were dangerous, they wouldnt let us board. So we made it, a wavy, sea sick worthy journey, but we made it, and it was worth it.

Great Stirrup Cay is Norwegian's private island, shared with Royal Caribbean's private island. It is pretty basic, cabana's, chairs, bathrooms, not much else. It's not inhabbeted. We were late to the party (thanks to the tender back up) and lost a lot of the shady seats. But, there was the Biccardi Bar, where we found lounge chairs, with umbrellas. We had to walk a tiny bit for water, but really it was kind of private. We had some beers, daqueri's, and relaxed. There was a family feeding the fish in the water with some bread they took off the ship, and while it was cool to see the fish so close up, this is a big no-no and I'm very much against that. Ignorance, its rampant on vacation.

Chris and Melissa went back the ship early to pack and watch kick off. Football Sundays, not even the Bahamas could keep Chris away. Lou and I, and miss Penny the fish, stayed on the island for more swimming and lunch. After lunch, we skipped shopping and decided we'd be better off after a shower and a nap. We finished our night with dinner and packing, as tomorrow its time to go home.

We woke up, and got right off the ship. We had to pack all of us, and our luggage, into a taxi to go pick up our rental car. This is when the reality of going home sinks in. We waited what felt like forever for our rental car. Drove to Ft. Lauderdale Intl Airport, dropped off the car. Then took a shuttle from the car rental drop off to the main terminal. Then checked in our luggage and went through security. Then we waited, waited, and waited. We were 4 hours early. We had lunch at Steak and Shake. And went back to waiting. We finally got on the plane around 2. Penny didn't nap the whole way back, but was still a doll. After the flight, my sister and brother in law picked us up, and we were back at mom and dad's by 6. She made us dinner, but I think it was really just to spend time with Penny.

By the time we made it home, we were exhausted, but I had to get us unpacked, and get that laundry done.

It was a busy trip; their were planes, cars, vans, buses, boats, shuttles, 3 airports, 2 cities, 2 islands, 2 countries, and a million memories. Why did I take such a long, busy vacation with an 8 month old? This will probably be the easiest trip we will ever take with her. She can't walk, or run away from us. She can't beg for junky souveniers when we go into shops. She eats whatever we give her. She naps in a stroller. And most of all, shes only her. One day there will be another baby, so of course, a little more complex. I loved getting to show her new things, and although she can't remember, she will see the pictures. Besides, this vacation was for us, as a family, and these are memories we can cherish forever.

NCL Sky, Day 2

We're cruising now! We woke up in Nassau this morning. We slept a little later than expected, but we take it when we can get it; a teething 8 month old doesn't equal restful sleep. We met up with Chris and Melissa for breakfast in the buffet. We had fruit, eggs, muffins, french toast and bacon. Then we went down to disembark.

We had no set excursion set for this cruise. We could have done Atlantis, but it would have been a bust for me since Penny wouldn't be able to participate in much, Lou doesn't do rides, Melissa had already been there, and Chris was down for anything. Paying over $100 a person to just sit on a beach seemed ridiculous. I did read on Trip Adviser about a little beach, within walking distance, that had a little bar, with little prices. Just what we needed after Disney, fo sho. You do have to walk through merchants and tour guides who harass you a bit, but if you have tough skin, and can say no, you'll be fine.

I would say a mile later, we arrived at the Tiki Bikini Hut. No frills here, but you don't need them, promise. Turqouise water, white sand, a view of Altantis and the ships. It was $45 for 2 chairs, 1 umbrella, and 6 drinks. The sign said "beers" but the six drinks included whatever, a Coconut, a water, a pina colada, whatever! After we stripped down and sunblocked, we jumped right in the warm waters. It was great. It was relaxing. And then the tide picked up suddenly. I though a boat had passed by creating a wake, but not the case. A massive thunderstorm came out of nowhere, with thunder so loud it shook the ground. We huddled under our little umbrella until the lighting became frightening, and decided to make a break for shelter. Luis grabbed Penny, wrapped her up in a towel, and ran, leaving mommy with the stroller and everything else! But Uncle Chris carried the stroller, and I grabbed the clothes and drinks and we hung out in the restroom area waiting for the storm to pass. I think it was about a half an hour, but when it stopped, the heat picked up and we were back in the water.

It was really cool because cruise ships were coming in, and we got to watch them turn around and back into the pier. We saw a Royal Caribbean, and a Carnival. There was a jetty, that you could walk out on, take photos, and although there were signs saying otherwise, jump off of. I did not jump off of anything though.

We decided that we would go back to the ship for lunch. Penny napped on the walk back. After lunch, we went back to the cabin, showered, and napped for hours. It was wonderful.

That night we ate in the dining room with Chris and Melissa. It was nice, but Penny tried pulling off magic tricks by removing the tablecloth a few times. She ate her dinner with us, and her favorite cruise snack, pretzel rolls.

After dinner, we did a little bit of gambling in the casino. Nothing serious, we keep it light on vacation. We closed the night out with some late night snacks aft at the outdoor cafe.