Cruise are one of the most unique experience while traveling and for that tends to be in many bucket lists. Mine not being the exception I was more than thrill when my husband come one day with a reservation for the cruise name Gem under Norwegian cruise line. Perhaps the destination not bein one in my must visit but one that I fall to like. The destination of this cruise was Nassau, Bahamas that in my mind has been stuck like the pirate capital given the many stories about this island during the golden age of piracy (1500s to 1830s). Our voyage took place on November 2018 my first vacation after moving to Buffalo, NY from Puerto Rico. The route for this crossing through the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea begin at New York, New York stopping at Port Canaveral, Florida, Great Stirrup Cay Private Island and Nassau, Bahamas.
The excited day arrived after an airplane trip of 30 minutes and a Uber drive of 15 minutes we get to the cruise terminal. Once in the cruise terminal we got drive back in memory lane to the long lines at Disney park. After an hour and a half we get to the counter where we handed our passports and reservation papers. After the interaction of 10 minutes in the counter to get our room keys and direction to which bridge go to get on our cruise we made it to our window room. The room being one of the smallest I have ever stay offers all the basics for our week stay. As soon as we get to our room we decided to explore the cruise and see all the amenities that if offers us. Half our touring around the cruise all the passengers got called to the main restaurant of the cruise for a safety meeting in case we get in a emergency that require us to get off the ship. At the end of the meeting you get to see through the window that we were almost out of the port and heading to open waters. After the meeting we continued exploring the cruise to finish identifying where the rest of the amenities were located. It didn't took us long before we get to allocate all the amenities we needed to know. We head to our room once again and decided to get ready for dinner at Grand Pacific.
After a whole day and a half on open waters we arrived at Port Canaveral. For this first stop we didn't choose an activity so we just hop off the cruise we the sole purpose to see what was in the area. Main reason for not choosing an activity was that none of them appeal to our interest and the most acclaimed ones were actually taking a trolley either for Disney or NASA. Taking a cruise to Disney is a waist of money and time because Disney is a trip on itself and it does take a lot of time to enjoy it fully. Port Canaveral we took it as a stop to buy what we forget or didn't plan accordingly for our days under the sun.
After a whole night and morning we finally arrived at Great Stirrup Cay and this private island offer unique experiences that I recommend tagging along. The first activity that we enjoyed was swimming and feeding the stingrays. They got a conservation area were they keep enclosed section for the stingrays to get in for the experience. While we feed them squids, touch and swim with them the team take this time to educate the people in the importance of the stingrays, how to help them, why is so rare stingray attacks, why attacks happen and emphasize in the importance of respecting the nature and its boundaries.
After that 2 hours with the stingray we proceed to eat at the food buffet bungalow before we proceeded to our next adventure. This adventure get very well known after Riri uploaded a picture on her Instagram account. Yes we get to swim with the pigs and feed them apples. This team as well explained the care they gave to the pigs and how they adapted them to the beach life. Of course this activity is in a enclosed small island and here you can only get pictures taken by the crew camera they have (yes you pay for them). But is very important to follow the instructions they gave you so you can have a great safe moment. Be prepared to get your foots stomped by the pigs and to be ready to say firm no's because they would try to eat every apple that you got in your hands. Besides this behavior those pigs are quite charming as well as the sea turtle Flo.
After enjoying the warm weather, white sands, crystal clear waters and the animals surrounding this islands we took the boat back to the cruise and get settled to enjoy a nice dinner and a piano bar show. The very next morning we arrived at Nassau, Bahamas. We get to enjoy the grand entrance to the port and we get to see the whole process to get out of the cruise. In our first attempt to get through the gates of the port we encounter a sea of people waiting to sell or take care of the tourists coming out of the cruise. It was quite impactful to get to see many people paying attention to yourself at once. So we decided to walk through the different stalls that were in our side of the gates of merchants a bit more friendly and less aggressive. The time came to cross the gate to get to the trolley that was taking us to the Atlantic Hotel. We get safely to the trolley and in minutes we where crossing the bridge that connect to the touristic zone of Nassau where the hotel is located. As we stepped down we received a wrist band that allowed us to get access to the water park of the hotel (that was practically the whole hotel with exception of the rooms). As soon we get the basic introduction to the amenities and what to expect we get ourselves to the locker section to put away our belongings to start the adventure. The first ride that we did was the super speed clear tube through the sharks. Then we go to the slow speed clear tube through the sharks. Get to walk around the aquarium tunnel, moved to the lazy ricer to get to an open slide. We get to race against each other in a short high speed slide and get through the tower of terror. After riding all the slides that were available we decided to walk around the hotel. We found hot tubs, pools filled with sting rays other with sharks or turtles or star fish. After going through all of it we found ourselves in the beach we enjoyed a swim when we decided to walk back to the lockers to collect our belongings. After that we walk around the whole "downtown" and even get some Bahamian cash as souvenir as well to buy food. We took the trolley back to the port area but before we crossed the gates we walked through the area and get through all the stores including the flea market. Sadly we fell in the bracelet scam but out of that we get to enjoy our time there. Sadly the cruise started to blow the horn signaling that it was time to return to the ship.
After that day we get to spend 3 to 4 days in open waters and only the cruise amenities where available to entertain us. Justin Golan the piano bar guy was the main person in our nights to delight us with his shows. The other were the magician guy and the acrobatic couple. We get to eat through different restaurants but we mainly stick by the buffet service that was quite diverse and delicious.
Yes the cruise is a money waste trap but if you are smart enough you would be able to save quite the bucks and get to enjoy the majority of the trip. My biggest tips to have a budget friendly trip are:
1. Beware that the window in your room means a daily fee per person extra.
2. Stick to the buffet and forget about the restaurants.
3. Every carbonated drink cost an average of $6.00 per can and you can not bring your own to the boat.
4. Just pick the adventures that you actually would love and would have time to enjoy.
5. Don't go in a rush and have a lot of patience specially when you are in open waters.
6. Explore the boat bit by bit so time goes fast when you are in open water.
7. Do activities in the ship that allows you to relax and enjoy the tech detox.
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