Cruise Solo to the Bahamas - Day 2 & 3

It is good to hear from people that they do not like me leaving them hanging. As I go through my photographs, I am adding captions to each photo I keep and I delete others. This takes me time so I usually only spend about an hour on this and the blog. My lawn did not stop growing while I was away. Someone had to fill the refrigerator with food. NO, I do not have staff to do that.

I mentioned that this was a solo cruise for me, my first.  To keep the price down, I choose an inner room for this trip.  Royal Caribbean does not give deals for going by yourself, they expect the double occupancy price regardless of whether there are one or two of you.  You do save on port charges and taxes so it is cheaper than if there were two, but not by much.

I forgot to mention that I meant two young ladies from Ohio named Heather and Christina. I kept running into them throughout the cruise and they always said hi and stopped to chat. I guess they were probably in their 30s, half my age.

During the trip, the sun was setting at 7:40. The first night I did not have my camera since I was heading to dinner.  It was a beautiful ball of fire and I did not get any pictures at all. That was not going to happen on Day 2.  Of course, the sunset was not as beautiful as Day 1 but I did capture a few photos.

Sun starting to set, from Deck 5 toward the bow.

Sunset from the stern; I like the seagulls

Small boat and a cloudy sunset

 After the sunset but before dinner, the Captain was introducing his senior staff.  Before they started, the Captain gave a bottle of champagne to a couple who were celebrating a milestone. Remember, I said I was hitting 23 nights with Royal Caribbean; this couple was hitting 1,330 nights. That is approaching 4 years. Amazing!

Captain giving an award to a couple with 1,330 nights

 I did capture a photo of most of the staff taken in the Centrum...

Captain introducing Senior Staff

At dinner, the Kentucky ladies joined me again and we had a wonderful chat about the day at Coco Cay. For entertainment during dessert and coffee, our server Antonio did a magic trick by hanging forks on toothpicks. It was kind of cool.

Four forks hanging by two toothpicks on a third stuck in the cork of a wine bottle

While sitting at the Pool bar on Deck 9, I met a guy who lived in Port Orange, Florida. He was with his wife, 18 year old son and 15 year old daughter. We were talking about the next day visit to Nassau.  I said I had been there many times and I had done most of the excursions. I told him I was planning to stop at the local Zoo and then go to Senor Frogs. He said his son wanted to have his first legal drink, the age is 18 in the Bahamas.

Now this is where the story turns dark...

Did you know that if you sleep in the internal rooms, you will have no idea what time it is because it stays pitch black regardless of the time of day? I thought I was getting up at seven, but noooo, it was nine. I had slept like a log and miss the boat docking in Nassau. People were already getting off at eight and I was missing it. I bet a roomie would have had me up in time.

I got over it. I went for a late breakfast and then had a Bloody Mary at the Pool Bar.  I took a picture of Senor Frogs, one of my destinations for the day. If you can see the bar from the ship, I bet you can see the ship from the bar.

Senor Frogs as seen from the ship

 Yep, I could see our ship on the right and the other two ships that were in port.

Ships as seen from Senor Frogs

 My bartender, Richard (aka Richey), was great. He did like to brag about his joints so I told him I had the biggest bong on the ship. When is he going to see me again?

Senor Frogs bartender Richey

 I ordered a Kalik, one of the local beers in the Bahamas. Richey told me they could not sell Kalik Gold anymore because it had too much alcohol. I think that was b.s. because they had tequila shots. Kalik Gold is at 7% while Kalik is at 5%.

My Kalik at Senor Frogs

 I spent some time at the Senor Frogs. Long enough that I forgot to go to the zoo. Actually, it was an inebriated decision made with the best excuses.  I did meet a couple from Kentucky.  I said I was having dinner with two ladies from Kentucky but I did not know their last names, could I take your photo to show to my shipmates. These two were staying at Sandals, an all-inclusive resort located 20 minutes away. They showed me pictures and it looked beautiful.

My new Kentucky friends at Senor Frogs 

I met another couple who were interesting. He was from South Africa and he said he moved to the US to be with the most beautiful girl in the world.  I asked where she was and he said shopping, but that she would be there shortly.  She finally arrived and she was very pretty. We talked a little about Otjundu's, the South Africa Restaurant that closed recently in Melbourne. Sorry, I did not get a picture of them.

I stumbled back toward the ship, passed through customs and was back on the boat by six. 

Atlantis Resort as seen from the ship

 When I got back to the ship, I stopped at the Pool Bar to see Garth and Brian. I asked them if they ever watched a James Bond movie, specifically when he was in Nassau. I asked them why no one ever bothered Bond with "Do you need a ride?" "Do you want a scooter?" "Do you want a tee-shirt?" "Are you going to the straw market?"...
Most people cannot make it ten feet without someone approaching. It shows that James Bond movies are not real but just a representation of a world that does not exist...How sad! I have been waiting for the invisible car.

The last two pictures are in the Centrum of the ship. There usually something going on there so I would stop by every once in a while. Music, dance, Captain introductions,...

Looking Up at the Centrum including the Art Gallery

Looking Down in the Centrum at the band with people dancing

It's getting late so I will stop for now. So far, I have had a great time and met lots of people. I should bring a small notebook to remember names. My phone was locked up in the room safe. I was taking a electronic break and plus they wanted $20 a day for WiFi.

For more information about Senor Frogs, check out their web page. I have included a map of the current locations...Yep, there is one in Orlando! Road Trip!