Current Mode: Vacation

by Melanieupdated on March 10, 2021March 10, 2021

Travel, I think it’s pretty safe to say that we’re all missing it. The sense of adventure and excitement that comes with seeing a place for the very first time, or returning to a place that holds sentimental value to you: experiences like these can truly make you realize who you are and what’s important to you, and while we may not know it in the moment, or even shortly after it has passed, it’s during times like this that we realize just how significant our travel experiences can be.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who loves to reminisce about past vacations, and throughout the past year, I’ve found myself looking through old vacation photos even more. SO…let’s take a walk down memory lane together, because nothing screams warmer weather is coming more than the Florida sun and crystal blue waters of the Bahamas!

July of 2019-the summer of the cruise. Seven days with a stop in Orlando, Florida and two in the Bahamas, at Great Stirrup Cay and Nassau. This was not my first time on a cruise, but it was the first time I was old enough to take advantage of everything the ship had to offer. We’re the type of family that likes to make our travel plans well in advance…This trip, however, was unexpected, to say the least. We had actually planned an entirely different vacation for that summer but ended up having to change everything around last minute, and I mean very last minute. We cancelled our original trip two days before our flight was scheduled to leave, booked the cruise the next day, a Tuesday, and boarded the ship that following Saturday. Talk about a thrill.

This trip was the definition of a true vacation. You don’t realize how relaxed and in the moment you can be until you can’t get good Wi-Fi because you’re in the middle of an ocean—and I honestly think that was my favorite part. This trip allowed us all to fully disconnect from the “outside world” and enjoy what we were doing, when we were doing it. Of course, there were a couple Instagram posts thrown in there (you know what they say, pics or didn’t happen), but other than that, complete living in the moment.

Our first day, as it normally is, was spent exploring our new surroundings, familiarizing ourselves with the ship and everything it had to offer-the pool, the shopping, the casino, the restaurants, and our room (let me tell you, the definition of being lost is trying to find your room on a cruise ship). We got a bite to eat following boarding, settled into our room, watched the ship leave port, walked each deck, and finished off the night with our 8 o’clock dinner reservation at the ship’s Italian restaurant.

The next day, our first full day, was spent at sea, and we really took advantage of the slow pace that came with it. We started our day a little bit on the later side with breakfast and lounged by the pool until our very easily sunburnt skin couldn’t handle the sun anymore. We had a late lunch and went to the gym for a workout. With the amount of food available to us at ALL times, we knew movement was going to be essential throughout this trip. Unfortunately, the food kept coming and the workouts stopped (I guess we made up for it with the amount we walked every day, but hey, we were on vacation). Anyway…after our workout, we did a little shopping and then began to get ready for a later dinner in one of the ship’s main dining rooms.

The pace picked up the next three days, as we made consecutive stops at each of our three ports. We docked in Orlando, Florida in the early afternoon on Monday, day 3 of the cruise, and took a one-hour bus ride to Universal Studios. Rather than going into the actual theme park, we spent our limited amount of time exploring Universal CityWalk, which was full of shops, theme-park related and otherwise, and had an early dinner at Margaritaville, one of, if not our favorite, vacation restaurants. We got back onboard the ship after dark, watched from the main deck as we sailed away from port, and spent the remainder of the night sitting at our favorite table on the ship, where we ate a late-night dessert and listened to some live music.

The pace slowed down again the following day. We dropped anchor offshore at around ten that morning and took a tender to the island of Great Stirrup Cay. We were luckily one of the first groups of passengers to make it onto the island, so we had our pick of chairs in front of the crystal blue ocean water. There wasn’t much on the island, just a couple of beach bars and restaurants, and an area of shops closer to the tender docks, but with the soft white sand and calm and clear blue waters, nothing else was needed. We spent the greater part of our day on the island, laying out on chairs with drinks, getting our feet wet in the ocean, and exploring the assortment of shops. By the time we took a tender back to the ship, we were spent from our hours in the sun and ready to clean up for our dinner reservation at the Mexican restaurant on the ship.

We woke up early the next morning, day 5 of the cruise, already at port in Nassau. However, with an excursion time of 1 P.M., we took our time getting ready that morning. We had a late and long breakfast with views of the Atlantis and Paradise Island, took some pictures, and slowly made our way off the ship a little before noon. We spent our first hour off the ship exploring the town of Nassau, walking up and down the streets, in and out of different shops, and eventually made our way back to the area that our excursion boat would be departing from. This excursion showed us Nassau and Paradise Island “by land and by sea”. We spent the first half viewing landmarks and celebrity homes from a speedboat, and the second hour in a tour bus, viewing historic locations throughout Nassau and, finally, having a chance to take a brief look inside the well-known Atlantis Resort. We made it back to the ship very shortly before it was scheduled to depart, and watched from the balcony off of our room as we sailed away from port. We finished off the night at a late dinner in one of the ship’s main dining rooms.

The next two days were full relaxation back at sea. Disconnected from the world once again, we really soaked up the time that we had with nothing but the ocean surrounding us on all sides. We spent time by the pool, both laying out and playing shuffleboard on the pool deck, in the shops, and even at the casino. To this day, I’m still mad about the $3 that I lost during my first-time playing blackjack. On our last night, we dressed up in the fanciest clothing that we brought and had dinner at the ship’s steakhouse, a perfect way to end one of our most spur-of-the-moment, yet memorable family vacations. The next morning, we had one last breakfast at, what had become, our go-to spot, and disembarked from the ship.

Seven Days. Three places explored. Endless memories. And if you’re wanting to know more, these pictures definitely tell you the entire story.