Our First Cruise

A week ago we took our first cruise.  We left Siena behind at grandma & grandpa's and flew to Miami, Florida. We cruised out of the port in the late afternoon and out to sea we went.

Our first stop was Nassau, Bahamas.  We spent the day going to the Ardastra Gardens and Wildlife Park, eating lunch at 'Arawack Cay' aka The Fish Fry, where the fishermen bring up the conch shells and harvest the meat. We also spent some time walking along the beach and caught a ferry over to Paradise Island - home of the Atlantis Resort. Wow, what a place. It is huge! We wandered around for a while and saw the huge aquarium and other sections of the hotel/casino.  Then caught the last ferry back to make it in time to get back on the ship-- we barely made it - not much time to spare. 

The next morning we arrived at CocoCay - a private island owned by Royal Carribean. It was very remote and was just beautiful. The weather was very windy and the water was a bit colder than we anticipated, so we didn't get to snorkel like we had hoped, but still had a great time.TII It was still a perfect 75 degrees. The water was crystal clear and the sand was white and soft. We walked and walked clear to the other side of the Island, and very few people were around. It was gorgeous. Saw lots of seashells, starfish, conch shells etc.  We were tempted to bring the conch shells home, but they were definitely still alive in there. The day went by too quickly and once again, we caught the last ferry boat back to the cruiseship.

Next stop was Key West. We walked down historic Duval Street with it many shops (and tourists). We also went to the Hemingway House where the author lived for many years, the Southernmost tip in the United States, and finally to the Butterfly Museum (which was the highlight of the day, it was amazing).  Then we realized what time it was and had to walk very fast back to the ship in order to make the time deadline, and catch a beautiful sunset on the ocean horizon.  The next morning, we were back in sunny Miami and had to head home -- back to the pine trees and rainy weather.

I think we both decided that we have mixed feelings about 'cruising'.  For the cost, you can't beat it.  They treat you like royalty and provide your food, lodging, entertainment, and your transportation for an amazing price.  But, heres the downside-- you really don't get alot of time at the ports to really see the place or do anything that takes alot of time because of their time constraints.  But overall, we were definitely glad we went and had a great time together.