Nassau, Bahamas - Cruise Day 2

Monday 2/25/08
Good morning! We're in the Bahamas!

I'll mention again... we weren't supposed to have a balcony. But, hello view of the Bahamas port!

We signed up for an excursion in each port. For the Bahamas we were off to "Blackbeard's Delux"... which included a boat trip to Blackbeard's Cay and was "delux" because it had the additional feature of swimming with sting rays.

Zoe loved her snorkel gear. (No, she didn't actually use it... but she liked it just the same.)

Zoe was excited to get into the water... right up until that first sting ray paid her a too close visit.
Zoe seems to take after her mommy. I am really not too fond of ocean swimming. I just get a little anxious about swimming where other creatures live ( and eat, and poop). Don't get me wrong... the caribbean has gorgeous ocean water. Clean, clear, and oh so many shades of blue. But, given the choice... I will choose a nice chlorinated pool overlooking the gorgeous ocean views.

I was excited at the idea of petting and feeding the sting ray. They are such graceful swimmers. They are so smooth and slick (but not slimy). Zoe was cooperative about standing in the knee high water while I kneeled beside her. She was perfectly happy to grab a few squid out of the bucket with the idea of feeding the sting rays. But, those lovely sea creatures are quite agressive and strong about coming for food. Within moments 3 or 4 sting rays were right at us with strength enough to knock me and Zoe right onto our butts. That was the end of trying for Zoe... and she wasn't about to let me make a better balanced attempt.

Nick had a much more successful time with the sting ray feeding though.

"Yep, I'll just stay right here on dry sandy land. No sting rays are gonna be nibbling on me!"

"Cheese!"

We did get Zoe to come with us for a family photo op. (Not that I gave her much choice... I picked her up and carried her over while ignoring her loud attempts to convince me that "NO, I DON'T LIKE STING RAY!". She did end up cautiously petting the sting ray... and whether she was happy or not, she gave the photographer a "CHEESE!" even if it doesn't look like it.

Zoe will tell you now that she did like the sting rays. She's quite happy forgetting the screaming and crying... especially after watching Finding Nemo again and realizing that Nemo's teacher is a sting ray.

After having our picture taken we headed over to the other side of the beach area.


Zoe, once again the social butterfly, quickly met Sam... and played with him the rest of the time we were at Blackbeard's Cay. (We ran into him a few more times on the ship... and he was with Zoe in Camp Carnival too.)

After our excursion we headed back to the ship for a snooze. Wanting to enjoy a few later evenings we hoped Zoe would be agreeable to napping so she'd be a happy camper later on. She may have told us that she wasn't up for a snooze... but she was out cold very quickly. The sea air and salt water is magic stuff.

At some point (before or after that snooze) there was another ice cream cone involved.

The nights dinner was a "formal night"... which mainly means that everyone dresses up and lobster is on the menu. "Cheers!"

This is where it got a little difficult for me. A glass of wine would have been nice with dinner. (Who am I kidding... a pina colada would've been nice at the beach. Or, a complementary umbrella drink would've been nice for the bon voyage.) I did miss the wine with dinner. The only real negative of being pregnant on the cruise.

Zoe drank enough for both of us though!!!
Just kidding... it's apple juice in a "fancy glass". She was quite excited to get to drink out of the wine glass though.

After dinner a delicious chocolate birthday cake was brought to our table (thanks Nick!). I could have skipped our waitress singing, but Zoe enjoyed it. She also enjoyed helping me blow out my candle.

We went from dinner to drop Zoe off at "camp". Camp Carnival was fabulous. You needed to sign the kids in and out. You were also given a ship cell phone so that if you were needed you were called... or if you just wanted to check in you could call them. We signed Zoe in, left a pull up and some wipes, they opened the gate to let her in and she took off running never looking back once. At 10pm we went to pick her up. She came running over wearing bunny ears with a painted bunny face. She had a blast. She was exhausted and ready for bed.

We got back to our room and were greeted by our first "towel creation". We're still not quite sure what it was. A walrus, maybe? Any ideas? Zoe's "friends" seem to like him though and were quick to accept the new friend.
Not a bad way to spend my birthday, huh?