Anniversary Cruise

Eric and I just returned from a wonderful cruise to the Bahamas! We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and decided to do something "special". Since vacation time was at a premium and we didn't decide to do this until the last minute, we opted for a short weekend cruise. Our ship departed on Friday and we returned home on Monday.

We began our "adventure" (and I do mean adventure) on Thursday. We were flying out to Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday night at 7:30 pm. Before we even left for the airport, we knew there were delays. The airline kept encouraging us to get there as they may switch the aircraft around and getting us out sooner than expected. So... off to the airport we went. Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw. The terminal was wall to wall people, every seat taken, a line of about 200 people waiting to speak with the agent at the desk and not a single plane coming or going from the airport! Our plane was coming from Florida and that airport was "grounded" as well. After many, many phone calls to an agent, we were faced with the possibility that if we did not get on a flight that night we were not going to make our cruise on Friday. All flights going out on Friday in time for us to make the ship were in a sold out status. Around 10:30 pm out of desperation, and thanks to an extremely helpful and sympathetic agent, we put put a hold on a ticket from Baltimore to Ft. Lauderdale at 6 am on Friday. Not the best scenario but better than missing our ship! Around 11:00 we got word that our plane had indeed left Florida and was on it's way. We boarded our flight and took off at 2 am on Friday, landed at 4:30 am. Got to our hotel at 6 am in Miami and slept until for a few hours and we were on our ship by 1pm! Whew! Never a dull moment. Friday was a complete blur for both of us as we were so exhausted and completely over whelmed! Despite everything, we were thrilled to be there and taking in the sights.

Saturday we spent the day on the cruiseline's private island in the Bahamas, Coco Cay. We did absolutely nothing all day but either lay on our lounge chairs or lay on our rafts in the water! A perfect day. We did have some rain that day but it didn't interfere with our activities. When it was time to board the ship we headed right to the pool deck and laid around soaking in the sun some more! It was wonderful!

Sunday was a bit more activity in Nassau. We had booked an excusion to go visit the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. After a bit of walking, a boat ride, and some more walking, we were taking in the sights at Atlantis! Wow! What a place! We decided that it was the "Magic Kingdom" of hotels! We had access to the entire hotel w/ the exception of the pool areas. They had several aquariums on site that were just amazing as well as beautiful gardens and magnificent beaches! After taking in the sites around the hotel, we found our spot on the beach and relaxed. On our way back to the ship we visited the Straw Market. This is a place were the locals sell a variety of things to the tourists. This was definately an experience unlike any other!

And of course what would the end of our vacation be w/o more airline troubles. After a itinerary changes, cancellations and delays, we made it home! Now back to reality! This was our first cruise and we decided that we would do it again whenever we had the opportunity! It is definately the way to visit places! That said, we also decided that it would be nice to not have to rely on the airlines to get us to and from the ship!