CLAMP Campus Adventures

Here’s part 2. Part 3 will be the last part.

Monday

We decided to spend the day being a bit lazy and enjoying the warmth. We grabbed a cab to Port Lucaya, which we heard had better shopping and a nicer atmosphere than Freeport. Both cities sort of run into each other. We got to the market as the shops were opening and started walking around. I’d finished by noon, and became the proud owner of a pair of .2 carat diamond stud earrings. We saw there was a geocache within a mile of us, but there was a body of water between us and it, so we ended up walking along the beach. We decided to spend the day at the beach in Nassau the next day, so we didn’t dress to do so that day. I took off my sandals and walked in the surf while snapping a few photos. Last Fall, the hurricanes took a toll on the Bahamas and Freeport/Port Lucaya has visible damage still. It was visible on several homes as we drove to and from the city. Buildings were missing walls, and many were still having roofs fixed.

Port Lucaya Beach	Lighthouse
Hurricane Damage	Sunbathers
Diamond Earrings

We went back to the ship around 12:30 pm and had lunch on board (why pay in town?). We then went out on deck and sunned ourselves for a few hours. We headed back to the cabin around 3 pm and napped before dinner. Once again, we collapsed after dinner and slept.

Towel Art Night #2 - Cool Elephant

Tuesday

We woke up in Nassau, Bahamas. We had already purchased an excursion to go to the Blue Lagoon beach for some snorkeling. It was an open-ended excursion. We opted to take the 9:30 am water taxi to the island (rather than 11:30 am) and then we could either take the 2 pm or 4 pm water taxi back to the docks. Our ship was in dock overnight, so there was no hurries or worries. The docks for the Blue Lagoon island had been damaged by the hurricanes so we had to dock at an alternate dock and walk across the island to the beach where we’d be snorkeling. We got our complimentary beverage (rum punch) and picked up our snorkel gear. I took off my sandals because the sand rubbing between my foot and the sole of the sandal bothers me. Besides, it feels good to walk on sand in bare feet. That is until I get 5 feet off the path and walk into a large rock, taking all the skin off the tips off 2 of my toes. Yuck! Owie!

Here fishy fishy	Carl Emerges from the Deep
A very wet Elana	Carl’s sister, Marie
Marie’s boyfriend, Tom

I went snorkeling anyhow. I had a blast. However, we discovered a hamburger with 2 sides (ooooo) was $8, so we hopped the 2 pm shuttle back to the ship. We were back by 3 pm. Plenty of time to nap before getting ready for dinner.

It was formal night. Carl had a headache, so missed out on the Captain’s party (more free booze!). He did join us for dinner, though and we had our pictures taken afterwards.

After dinner… we went to bed. Yes, this is a pattern.

Formal Night Photograph

Towel Art Night #3 - Puppy Dog

Wednesday

This was our “Fun Day at Sea”, meaning we hung around the ship and went to demonstrations and played Bingo. Hey, we each spent $30 on Bingo, and I won $100. Not bad.

We also went to cooking demonstrations and just lounged around. It was rather relaxing and a good way to wind down at the end of the cruise.

We made sure we adjusted our cabin steward’s tip in the negatory for his lack of response regarding a plumbing issue we had on Monday. The toilet kept filling with water, which would splash over onto the bathroom floor. We had to page our steward 3 times before he showed up and then he promised plumbing would look at it. He never acknowledged the problem further and it was never fixed. We had to flush the toilet at regular intervals to keep it from overflowing. We then gave the difference in tip to our waiter Reuben and his assistant, Cesar. They were wonderful throughout the cruise.

After dinner, Carl and I had some casual photos taken. We didn’t go straight to bed, though. We spent an hour with Marie and Tom in the piano bar, where I had a cosmopolitan before we headed to bed.

Elana & Carl at Dinner

Elana’s Casual Photo

To be concluded…