Mitsugirly takes great PRIDE in bringing her Spring Break extreme review
Day 7: Freeport Grand Bahama Bahamas
Day 6-FREEPORT-GRAND BAHAMAS
So we didn't communicate our decision with Kendra last night. Oops. The phone was ringing at 6am that morning. When I finally decided to get out of bed after several calls it was 6:45. I let her know that we were just going to relax and not do anything in port. She said it looked like it might rain and be cloudy today so she was fine with that. So much for me sleeping in....
I headed out to the balcony after we hung up and we were pulling into the port. It was still dark out. I can't even imagine heading off the ship at that time to head to the beach. It just felt wrong. We did that once before (another Carnival ship of course) in Costa Maya and headed to the beach. Once we arrived at the AI, they were already trying to feed us and stuff alcohol down our throats. Um, I know I'm on vacation, but I'm not going to start drinking at 7am in the morning. Yea, I think I made a good decision of not going anywhere....or did I?
I laid back down, but couldn't sleep on the uncomfortable hard bed. I tossed and turned. Once I'm up, I just can't ever get back to sleep.
At 8:30am, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to just get up and stay up. The family woke up and we decided to head up to the Blue Iguana and check out their breakfast burritos.
I ended up with the wheat wrap (once again, not much to chose from) and added the Mexican eggs, um...some type of meat I think but can't remember, hashbrowns and cheese and that was good enough for me.
It was actually pretty yummy or at least better than the lunch burritos I had from there.
Once we were done eating, we decided to go ahead and get off the ship for awhile and do some shopping. Like I said, we had already been here a little over 4 months prior and we knew what the port was like.
But first I would take some pictures of the port from the ship. Not that I didn't already have these pictures already, but we were actually "parked" in a different spot than the last time we were here, so what the heck. Why not.
It was a beautiful sunny day. Absolutely no sign of rain or anything as Kendra had thought.
We headed off the ship and had our "Freeport" pictures taken. Now I'm not a photographer, only a photographer at heart. I do dabble around in it and do family photo's (with backdrops and props) for my family. So I know a thing or two about it. However, any person with half a brain knows that it's never a good thing to have your subjects FACING the direct sun. You get squinty eyes or closed eyes and it's just not an attractive picture. I know in 1 port, one of the photographers actually gave Brayden a pair of sunglasses to wear so that you couldn't tell that his eyes were closed in the pictures. LOL. How about you just turn around the other direction???
So with this picture (and it was the first time we have ever had a photographer say this), they told Sakari to "close your eyes and I'm going to count to 3 and when I say 3, you open your eyes....1, 2, 3!!" Snap! She tried it several times and this was the end result. Still not impressive if you ask me.
We headed into port and explored while taking pictures...OF COURSE. hehe
I actually discovered shops this time around that I hadn't seen last time and a fountain too I must have missed the last time.
The place that you wait if you are taking a ship excursion and also to catch any other "outside" excursions or taxi's as well.
Sakari is proudly holding up her new toy iguana. Last time we were here, she got a wooden fish that wiggles and this time she got the iguana that matches. "Friends for my fish at home" she stated.
Now these were new since we were here a few months ago. It looks like they had just added them on to the row of other shops, poured the sidewalk and are waiting on "new owners" to come.
I had to laugh at the way they did this sidewalk.
There really isn't much to do here other than buy a few tee's and trinkets...unless you are a drinker and like to head to Senior Frogs.
The hubby decided to buy us a throw away bottle of pop and I knew that when you get back on the ship, they do not allow you to bring open bottles.
We headed back to the area that had seats where you wait for the buses to take you on excursions to drown ourselves in pop as quick as we could. Yea, you know when you drink so much too quick that when you move around you can hear it sloshing around in your stomach? That was us.
As we sat there, it was seriously really hot. I just kept thinking and regretting that I hadn't actually went to the beach after all. Sigh. I will know next time not to waste any port day. It was just boring. I kept looking at the middle of the port area and thinking, "I wonder why they haven't put in a pool at this port like they have so many other ports"? I mean at least it would give people that didn't want to adventure off something to do and get them off the ship which usually brings in more revenue. They certainly have enough room for it.
Yes, Sakari really has taken on our personalities...
She seen something green go by and ask to chase it...and chase it she did.
Now this is something I hadn't noticed:
Any ideas? Did they put this up for just this day or did I totally miss it on other port days?
Is it maybe the blinds up there? Someone enlighten me.
So here we sat, still trying to down our pop in record time.
I finally gave up on my pop, as much as I love pop, I just couldn't do it. It was hot outside and I just wanted to get back on the ship and go swimming or do something fun.
We never did run into Kendra and Brayden, but learned later that night that she must have gotten off the ship within a few minutes after we did (according to the time she gave us) because when we looked for our pictures taken from the port in the photo area on the ship, they were only a few down from each other.
We headed back toward the line (small line) to get on the ship and we see 2 girls go up to the lady checking the ship cards and ask her if they were aloud to take their drinks back to the ship. THE LADY SAID YES!!! Seriously? They didn't even have drinks like a normal drink in a container, they had the coconut drinks with the top sliced off of them and a straw hanging out. Um ok. I wish I would have known this before I wasted time sitting there trying to drown myself in pop.
We got up to the lady and she looks at our ship cards and says "Are you all 3 together?" Then says "Ok, you 2 stay here" (pointing at my husband and daughter) "and you (pointing at me) go back to the ship and get your ID's". Um what?? We weren't told we needed our ID's for this port and we have never needed them before. She was mean.
The hubby and Sakari stepped aside and I sprinted for the ship, scanned in and basically ran to our room, which OF COURSE was at the opposite end of the ship in the aft. Opened the door, threw down my bags, got our ID's out of the safe, and sprinted back.
As I made it around the corner to hand the person my card to scan me out I looked up and there was my hubby and Sakari scanning in. Wait, what??? I grabbed my card back and said "Wait, maybe I'm not going back out". The employee looked at me with a weird look.
Once the hubby got in, he told me that people were complaining about having no ID and were getting rude with her saying "I can guarantee that you have let people by today with no ID". Then he said a big group of people came up together and none of them had ID's and only the ship card and they started raising h3ll. Well, I guess it worked because she said "Just go in!" and off they all went, including my husband and child! Geesh.
We headed to the room and by then I was exhausted from all that. We changed into our bathing suits and I snapped a few last pictures of the port from our balcony.
We headed back to the room to get our bathing suits on and that's when I discovered, once again, that we had no beach towels. Sigh. I was able to locate the room steward out in the hallway and stopped and told him that we didn't have any towels. He explained that they did not have enough clean ones when he cleaned the room last night and then he immediately went and got us some.
Up to the deck we went toward the pools and decided it would be a great day to hang out at the waterpark.
The water was ice cold, but like always, that didn't matter to Sakari. She is a polar bear when it comes to water.
I had sat out in the sun for so long that I was roasting. I had gathered up enough courage to go on the Green Thunder drop slide...not because I was scared (I love these things), but because I knew the cold water was going to be a shock to my system.
I headed that way, started climbing the steps, then I see several people come back down. It was closed even though I seen several employees up there. I headed back down to tell my husband and he informs me that someone was stuck in the slide. I guess a kid was getting ready to go down it and the bottom dropped out but not all the way and there they were stuck in the slide at the top with half their body in the tube and the other half at the top where you start??? I was told they were stuck in there for an hour before they got them out and they were now working on the slide to get it running again. Um ok...I think I'll pass but thanks for the offer.
After that disappointment, I decided I WAS going to get in the water and we headed to the pool instead.
Thank goodness the water in the pool was not too cold and I was able to get in with no problems and got use to the water fairly quickly on this nice hot day.
I did forget to mention that daddy taught Sakari how to doggy paddle and keep her head above the water on this cruise. He worked with her and worked with her one day at the beach and she was finally able to do it. She is a great swimmer under water as long as her head is under, she's fine. If she stops, she knows to go back down and then swim. But she was so excited to learn to stay above water (even though mommy was still nervous).
(video below)
Sakari and I decided we wanted to get in the hot tub and daddy decided he was hungry. I told him to grab us some Guys Burgers and when he returned, we'd get out and off he went.
We headed for the hot tub and Sakari slowly eased her way in since she had a little bit of redness from a few days ago.
We just kinda relaxed in the pool and she made it all the way in up to her shoulders but still held her arms out of the water. I tried to tell her when she begged to get in there that it was going to feel extra hot when you are red but she insisted.
Daddy came back with 3 plates of Guys Burgers and back to the table we went for lunch. As always, they were YUMMY!
When we were done, Sakari wanted to go in the hot tub one last time and swore she would make it all the way in and she did.
Selfies (can someone tell me why I ended up with a black spot on my face in this picture??? What the heck. I really didn't have a spot on my face, but just in the picture and it was the only picture I told that had this on there).
We were done swimming for the day and headed back to the room to get dressed. I knew they were having a magic show and I didn't want to miss it.
Off we went. The guy was good, but not the greatest I've seen. The kids were entertained for sure and Sakari loves magic.
He was from India, so sometimes it was a little hard to understand him.
At one point he did a magic trick were he started eating paper napkins...like over and over again. The audience was laughing and the kids were giving the "ewwww" to him. Then he came up to my husband and put a paper napkin in his mouth. My husbands a jokester so of course he played along and started eating it.
When he was done eating TONS of napkins, he started pulling it out..
Pretty funny and the kids were amazed.
After the show Sakari decided that she wanted to visit with her friends, so we dropped her off at the kids club. According to the schedule, they were to be in Beauties. When we arrived, they were not there and there was a sign saying they were at Camp C. Sigh. Once again, on a wild goose chase.
We were going to try to make it to the MDR for dinner, so she only had about 45 minutes before we would have to pick her up again. We gave her the choice of either eating with us or with her friends at the kids club. She decided we would be better company I suppose.
We picked her back up 45 minutes later, back to the room to get dressed and off the the MDR for "dinner" (lol, because it's at 5:30pm and I'm normally finishing lunch about now). We got in line and were pretty close to the front of the line this time. Great.
We checked in and as we were being seated, one of the ladies told my husband "you are not allowed to have shorts on in here." He ask why and they said it was dress up night. We had no idea. However, he did have a very nice outfit on, dress shorts and a matching button down collared shirt, but they said no. As they are standing there talking, the staff let's another 3-4 people in WITH shorts. Um, ok. He points them out to the staff. They show us our table and he says he will go back to the room to change, but if they are going to say something to him, they need to say it to everyone else...as they continued to let in more guys with shorts including several that passed us. They even seated a guys at the table next to us and he was in plain site. They also let a teenager in with SWIMMING TRUNKS and this kid was taller than my hubby...not a word said.
The hubby went back to the room to change while I sat and watched the same people continue to allow more people in, not a word was said to them about their shorts and they were seated and eating.
At one point, I think my face started getting red and I said something to him. He said "We have sent about 4-5 people out to change". "Yes, yes you have, but what about the other 20 you have let in and they are eating?"
We did watch him go over to the table next to us and they ask the guy to change and he flat out said "NO, I paid good money for this cruise and I will wear whatever the hell I want to eat in"...and he did just that. The guy tried to come over and tell me that the guy "said he was leaving to change" and that's when I got pissed for him flat out lying to me. I'm right across from him and can hear everything said. How are you going to lie to me like that? Then the story changed to "We have called security to have him removed"...lie again. The guy sat down, he was waited on and he was served and eating. Sigh
I understand rules. We play by the rules. We did not know it was dress up night. However, if you are going to send 1 back to change, you need to do all of them! Plain and simple. There was an entire line of guys in shorts. Then to let teens in with swimming trunks is ok? Oh, and I'm sorry, the girls who have the shortest shorts on that look like they fit Sakari, and a halter top and throw on a pair of heels that are 8" tall..no, that is NOT my definition of "dressing up". Sorry.
Sakari and I kept ourselves busy with taking selfies.
She also stayed busy in between the "where's daddy and why did he have to leave" questions by doing more seek and finds.
Daddy returned and we were able to now order after half the guys with shorts on had ordered, been served and finished their meal and was walking out the door.
The guy came over to thank my husband when he returned for obeying the rules and going back and changing and said he would like to send some wine over for our troubles. Honestly, it wasn't about that. He had no problem changing or obeying the rules, the problem was not making others do the same.
We told him we didn't drink wine, but thank you for the offer. He kept asking and we declined.
Our waitress came over to take our order and we ordered. She kept asking about the wine as we continued to say no. Then she said "beer?" The hubby said "sure" and well...if that's the case, how about a frozen drink for me then?
I ended up with the absolute best darn pina colada I think I have ever had. Seriously! Then for starters I had the salad.
The hubby and Sakari had the broccoli soup and boy did it look good...so yep, I ordered one too.
The ship photographer came around and took our pictures. They ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS will show up right at the exact same time as my hubby is putting food into his mouth and tell him to "smile". His final picture was quite hilarious actually because we knew why he wasn't smiling and the look he had on his face trying to smile with no teeth showing and food obviously in his mouth.
Sakari wanted the chicken nuggets. She also wanted a pb&j
I had the shrimp and it was awesome.
Hubbys food
When we were done, we were ready for desert (I specifically came tonight to the MDR because I knew it was cheesecake night and I was not about to miss it).
Sakari kept herself busy by more coloring and activities.
I had noticed that the menu said that the cheesecake was something like "no fat" or "no sugar" or no something I can't remember. All I was reading was "no good". Sigh. Oh well I'm trying it anyhow.
Then the slice of heaven arrived.
Yes, to die for!!!
I had the hubby order the baked Alaskan because to be honest with you, I had not had this desert since our very first cruise in 1989!!! Remember when the wait staff would walk around the dining room singing and dancing and they would have the baked Alaskan lit on fire during the show then serve it to you? (Can you imagine these days??? Lighting it on fire in the MDR and dancing? lol Man we were brave back then).
Now honestly, since it had been so long since I had one, I had no clue what was even in it. I just remember the outside of it. I really didn't like it after trying it, but at least I can say I tried it.
I can say that our dinner this night, the service was very slow. It was one of the longest waits for service, food, drinks and desert that we had during the entire cruise. But the food was excellent and we walked away with our bellies full and happy.
Sakari was ready to head back to the kids club since she had only got to stay 45 minutes last time and it was "alien" night. Obviously you can figure it out...they are not at Camp Carnival, but this time they would be up at Club o2.
We headed to the Butterfly Lounge to watch a comedy show, which was a guy named Don Grey I believe. From what I remember he was "ok". Nothing too funny, not too boring I guess since we sat there the entire time.
After that we headed to the theater to catch the Getaway show. We were picking up 3D glasses and that kinda excited me. I love 3D movies, shows and rides!!! (Another reason I can't wait to go on the Breeze).
We found our spot and they explained that during the show they would tell us WHEN to put our 3D glasses on. They also told us that they had bubbles in the show and when they popped, we would SMELL certain things.
The show was good and yes, the bubbles popping were a really neat addition to the show incorporating smells into the show that went along with what they were doing. Pretty cool. But the entire 3D thing was pretty lame. They would just play a 3D short movie clip for you to watch as they set up the new props for the next part of the show. Ehh
The props and the show was decent, once again, I really didn't care for the singers or their voices. THEN....the girl that has the 10 year old voice from the atrium joins them...oh em gee! Sigh
I can honestly say that Carnival will never compare to the entertainment and shows that NCL have. They don't even begin to come close at all.
After the show we picked up Sakari and she said she had a blast during alien night. This would be the first time that she had her face painted the entire cruise. She used to having face painting almost every night on the cruise with NCL. No biggie, but just an observation.
We headed up to Mermaids buffet to see if we'd get lucky and find some different food. Oh course not. Only the deli and pizza open like always.
When we were done eating, we headed back to the room, but not before stopping at the pool deck to grab some popcorn to eat and watch tv back at the room.
When we arrived at the room, this was our towel animal for the night.
I swear there has not been 1 cruise that we have been on that we didn't get this towel monkey during the week. Not one.
As we got ready to relax and head to bed, I noticed how I did not see Kendra or Brayden not once the entire day. We were so close but yet too far away to find each other. I know the few times I had called her phone from various phones around the ship, there was no answer and I assumed she was out doing things. I really thought she would be either up at the water park or at the pool during the day since it was so hot, but she never showed. I thought she would have Brayden at the magician show...nope. She was incognito the entire day. I hope she had fun.