The fourth morning of our seven-day cruise to the Bahamas found us in Freeport, ready for another day of fun and exploration.  We hadn’t scheduled any excursion for this day, either – and maybe that was a mistake. The area around the dock at this port was a little sparse. There were a few small makeshift shops set up, selling

tee shirts and cheapie souvenirs, and there was a Señor Frogs bar, which we passed by but didn’t go into. Mostly we just wandered around and bought a couple of shirts, and took advantage of a few photo opps.

We ended up just going back to the ship after a couple of hours, in time to catch the end of the lunch buffet.

 
The food was good, as usual. After eating, I spent some time on the Serenity deck, the “adults only” area of the ship that’s a nice, quiet place to read my ebooks (if you can find some shade). Then I went for a walk around the deck and then back to the gym for half an hour on the bike.

Soon it was time for dinner again. I had a stewed chicken dish that was good, but a little heavy for my tastes. The sugar free lemon cheesecake on the dessert menu, though, was excellent, and we washed it down with a glass of Washington Hills sweet Riesling.

It was another “cruise casual” night but I enjoyed dressing up for dinner so I had just added a black skirt and jacket to my swim suit top and I was all set.

We visited the comedy club again, and had another good time there. Then we turned in relatively early, since tomorrow was going to be a big day in Nassau – where we finally did have an excursion booked.

DAY 5

Thursday morning, bright and early, we grabbed some breakfast at the buffet and, through the fog, identified the familiar outline of the Atlantis resort across the way. It was raining during breakfast, and we got a little wet as we stood on the dock between the Magic and the Fantasy, waiting for our bus to take us to Atlantis. Luckily, the weather had pretty much cleared up by the time we got there, after winding through the streets of Nassau for a bit and admiring how green everything was.

We arrived at the entry to the hotel, and our guide led us through the casino, stopping to point out some of the interesting blown-glass art work that decorated the casino.

 
We made our way through the hotel, which was (as expected) beautiful – on par with the nicest Las Vegas casino hotels.
   
Our destination was the aquarium area, and we saw hundreds of fascinating fish and marine life, along with various antiquities.
 
   


We walked through the “surround” aquarium that you often see on TV, a tunnel with fish swimming above and on both sides of you. Then we were outside, at the back of the hotel, where you could really see the expanse of Atlantis in all its glory.

 
  At this point, the tour was over, but we were free to wander around and see the sights. There was a small fast food type restaurant where the tour ended, but the prices (like everything at Atlantis) were outrageous; we’re talking about $12 for a burger, $8 for a slice of pizza. We decided to wait and eat when we got back to the ship.
  
We checked out some of the resort shops but again, the prices made it impractical to buy anything; tee shirts were $30 and up. We did wander down by the little marina and bought some (overpriced) ice cream, but a little cold creaminess was worth it on a day that had turned very hot and humid.
 

We soon made our ways back to the ship terminal, where we rested and then bought some much more reasonably priced souvenirs in the little waterfront shops.
 
Then it was time to go back to the ship, after a very full and fun day.

I was ready to actually go casual for dinner that evening, exhausted from all the walking and the heat. This time, I had a seafood chowder type dish that absolutely hit the spot, since I was also starving.

That evening we went to the show in the main showroom, but to be honest, I don’t really remember much of it. We also went to the piano bar, where they had a spread of really impressive differently colored martinis. I’m not a martini fan so I didn’t drink any, but I did take photos because they were so pretty.
I also paid extra to indulge in a cup of coffee ice cream from the on board coffee and sweets shop, and it was worth the $3 it cost.

That night, I spent a while sitting out on the balcony before bedtime, catching up with my Facebook friends (Internet had been working well ever since it recovered from that disastrous first day) and just relaxing. A lot of people had told me how relaxing it was to be out on the open sea but you don’t really understand it until you experience it for yourself.

My Caribbean islands adventures were over now, and we had begun the journey back to Galveston. The next two days would be more “fun days at sea” and I wondered whether I would get bored without any ports to visit. I guess by then, I should have known better than that.

DEBRA LITTLEJOHN SHINDER
deb@shinder.net    www.debshinder.com