I have only been on one cruise. In 1999 Jamie and I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas and had so much fun! The Bahamas are made up of over 700 islands. We found Nassau to be a very mixed place. By that I mean it was beautiful with lots of expensive hotels but we also saw the poverty side. One thing we absolutely hated was when you get off the ship and go into town you have to fight your way thru all the locals who want to braid your hair for money of course. It was a huge turn off. They thrive on the tourists coming off the cruise ships and it is nothing short of pan-handling. We dreaded leaving the ship each day because of that. Once you got past them it was fine. One day the ship took us to their own "private" island for the day. We each rented a float and thoroughly enjoyed the low key, relaxing day. It was indeed paradise. Another day we went to Atlantis and the aquarium there. It was a fun experience but oh what a storm as we were leaving to head back to the ship. We had to take a smaller boat over to Atlantis and had planned to return the same way except mother nature didn't cooperate. There was a tremendous rainstorm and we tried waiting it out until we gave up and took a shared taxi ride back to where all the cruise ships were docked. That taxi ride was an experience in itself. It was a mini-van and there were about 6 of us in their with the female driver. She took us on some back roads to get us there quickly. There was big money to be made for the taxi drivers that day due to the storm so they wanted to fill the vehicles to capacity then hurry to drop off so they could pick up more tourists. Bahamians try to make a buck any way they can or at least that was my impression. Anyway it was that ride that allowed us to see the other side of the Bahamas, the poor side. It was quite depressing and as tourists we would never have known it existed had it not been for that taxi ride. The part most tourists see is the glamorous side like Atlantis. All in all it was a great trip and I would love to go on another cruise sometime but would like a different destination. Bahamas... been there done that!
These are photos I took of our cruise ship from the private island. We had to take a smaller boat over to the island while the ship stayed anchored for the day. I was glad because it gave me a good opportunity to get a couple of photos of the ship from a distance.
I took this photo of a palm tree while relaxing in a hammock on the private island. This tree was right over me.
Ahhh... Atlantis in all it's glory. It is something to see that's for sure. We spent a day here checking out the aquarium and other things. That's me standing in front of the resort and me sitting in the giant chair.
Some pretty painted houses. We were in a boat on our way to Atlantis when I took this photo.
Our cruise included one day in Key West, Florida before it ended. This photo is of the southernmost point of the continental USA. Key West was such a fun place to visit . David and I had been there before so this was my second visit. Very enjoyable!
