Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Another early alarm day. This time at 3.50 am! Needed to get to Fort Lauderdale by 8.45 am to catch the Discovery Sun cruise ship to Freeport in the Bahamas. We made it with 10 minutes to spare. After clearing customs and checking in, we boarded the ship. Not quite the cruise ship we expected. It was only 50 years behind its time! Thankfully, Catherine booked us a cabin. This was our respite from the crowds. 50 square feet of bliss. Two single beds, a chair and a washroom! Once we had finished laughing, the ship left port and we were quickly in open waters for the four hour cruise to Freeport. We headed to the dining room for breakfast. After being seated next to the garbage container, we successfully relocated to a magnificent window view - too bad the windows hadn’t been cleaned since 1968! The breakfast was entertaining as well as being about four hours old! After breakfast, we explored the ship. Tacky night club lounge? Check. Smokey casino? Check. Miniature sized outdoor pool with no empty sun chairs? Check. Duty free shop with great prices on Citizen watches? Check. Following our exploration expedition, Devon and Logan found some Wii machines and were content for most of the trip to the Bahamas. We arrived at about noon and booked an excursion to Taino Beach with a stop for shopping afterwards. After much hilarity getting the tour group organized, we left the ship and made our way on to the tour bus. Devon and Logan were horrified that the bus had no door. We explained that this type of air conditioning was good for the environment! We arrived at the Taino Beach Resort and were greeted with Bahama Mama rum drinks before we headed to the beach to secure our spot and soak up some sun. After a few swims in the ocean, we signed up for a banana boat ride. This was great fun until Devon fell off and until the banana boat flipped over at the end of the ride! We were all fine and agreed the extra shot of adrenalin made it worthwhile. We left the beach and took a water taxi to the shops. We bought some souvenirs and then headed to a restaurant for some tea and cakes. The carrot cake was surprisingly good. After we finished our snacks, it was time to re-board the ship for the cruise back to Florida. The trip back was five hours instead of the expected four. We visited the casino to spend some time and money, and then went for dinner where our waitress, Ayu, from Bali, Indonesia was particularly engaging. Following dinner, we headed back to our palatial cabin, where we had a nap to get ready for the long drive back to Orlando. The shipped docked at 11.30 pm, we finally cleared US immigration at about 12.30 am and arrived back at Reunion at 4.00 am. We all went straight to bed! This was one of the highlight days of our trip. Devon summed it up best: “It was so much fun insulting the boat!”
Another early alarm day. This time at 3.50 am! Needed to get to Fort Lauderdale by 8.45 am to catch the Discovery Sun cruise ship to Freeport in the Bahamas. We made it with 10 minutes to spare. After clearing customs and checking in, we boarded the ship. Not quite the cruise ship we expected. It was only 50 years behind its time! Thankfully, Catherine booked us a cabin. This was our respite from the crowds. 50 square feet of bliss. Two single beds, a chair and a washroom! Once we had finished laughing, the ship left port and we were quickly in open waters for the four hour cruise to Freeport. We headed to the dining room for breakfast. After being seated next to the garbage container, we successfully relocated to a magnificent window view - too bad the windows hadn’t been cleaned since 1968! The breakfast was entertaining as well as being about four hours old! After breakfast, we explored the ship. Tacky night club lounge? Check. Smokey casino? Check. Miniature sized outdoor pool with no empty sun chairs? Check. Duty free shop with great prices on Citizen watches? Check. Following our exploration expedition, Devon and Logan found some Wii machines and were content for most of the trip to the Bahamas. We arrived at about noon and booked an excursion to Taino Beach with a stop for shopping afterwards. After much hilarity getting the tour group organized, we left the ship and made our way on to the tour bus. Devon and Logan were horrified that the bus had no door. We explained that this type of air conditioning was good for the environment! We arrived at the Taino Beach Resort and were greeted with Bahama Mama rum drinks before we headed to the beach to secure our spot and soak up some sun. After a few swims in the ocean, we signed up for a banana boat ride. This was great fun until Devon fell off and until the banana boat flipped over at the end of the ride! We were all fine and agreed the extra shot of adrenalin made it worthwhile. We left the beach and took a water taxi to the shops. We bought some souvenirs and then headed to a restaurant for some tea and cakes. The carrot cake was surprisingly good. After we finished our snacks, it was time to re-board the ship for the cruise back to Florida. The trip back was five hours instead of the expected four. We visited the casino to spend some time and money, and then went for dinner where our waitress, Ayu, from Bali, Indonesia was particularly engaging. Following dinner, we headed back to our palatial cabin, where we had a nap to get ready for the long drive back to Orlando. The shipped docked at 11.30 pm, we finally cleared US immigration at about 12.30 am and arrived back at Reunion at 4.00 am. We all went straight to bed! This was one of the highlight days of our trip. Devon summed it up best: “It was so much fun insulting the boat!”