Cruise 2010 - Bahamas

Our first full day of the cruise began as any good cruise should - with an awesome breakfast buffet.  I lurve breakfast, and this did not disappoint.  This was not some cheapo, yucky, $3 Vegas buffet - this was a gourmet buffet.  (Is there such a thing?  There is now!)

Oh yumminess.

I made it a point to eat rice pudding, muesli, bacon, sausage, papaya and other fresh fruit, and some French toast each morning.  Because it was all so yummy and I couldn't choose just one or two things to eat.

Hey, this was a cruise, not a diet.

I must mention that Lance's breakfasts consisted almost entirely of carbs, sugar, and meat. He made it a point to eat one piece of pineapple, to curb off the scurvy, you know. 

Anywho, our first stop of the cruise was Princess Cays in the Bahamas.  Oh wait - before I forget and because I'm not quite sure where else to put it, here's our cruise itinerary on a map.

Sorry for the quality.  I'm too lazy to scan it in.

As I was saying, the Bahamas.  So Princess Cruises owns a very small and obscure Bahamananian (yes, I just made that word up) island, just off the coast of Eleuthera Island, also a small and obscure island.  Lance and I took the tender (a small boat that gets you from the ship to land) out and started to explore.

Which took all of 36 seconds because Princess Cays is pretty small.  

We found our rented beach clamshell and beach chairs (our fair skin + hours on the beach = nothing good), and then picked up our snorkeling gear.   I had been snorkeling in the Red Sea before and was excited to try it again.  It was... a little disappointing.  I mean, we saw some fish

But not much else.  You could tell that people hadn't listened to the rule about staying off of the coral; it was pretty worn.  But like I said, a little disappointing but not the end of the world.  We snorkeled for a good hour and had fun with our new super-de-duper water-proof carrying case.

Fun, right?

Tre attractive, I know.  Do you like that I actually tried to smile with the snorkel in my mouth?  I'm a dork.

Here's my very favorite:

Haha!  Lance is a good sport.  And a very attractive snorkeler.

It was at this point that I decided to take pictures of my feet at certain points of the cruise.  Why?  Because I think your feet can tell a lot about you and where you are.  For example, these feet say "We're snorkeling in the Bahamas and it is AWESOME."  Also "It's really hard to take a picture of your flippered feet when you have an inflated life vest on." 

Swimming with flippers is fun.  Just in case you didn't know.

We eventually decided that we'd had enough snorkeling and settled into our beach chairs for a good couple hours of ... nothing... absolutely nothing.

It. Was. Great.

We dozed.  We chatted.  We watched our ship.  We wondered at the bathing suit choices of a few of our cruise mates.  (Bikinis are a privilege not to be taken lightly ladies.  And gentlemen?  Speedos are not for everyone.)  We disappointed several waiters when we declined to order any cocktails.  (We're boring like that.)  Then we dozed and chatted some more.

Here's the view we enjoyed.

That's our ship.  I thought it would just be an eye-sore where ever we went, but it was actually pretty cool looking.

These feet are saying "Boy-howdy, I have nowhere to go and nothing to do and it is great!" Also, "Wow!  That's a big boat!"

Lance and I decided that rather than get sunburned and be in pain for the entire cruise, we'd slather on the SPF 50 sunscreen every hour, stay in the shade, and keep our vampirish-healthy glow.

I'm glad we did. I saw several people on the cruise who could barely walk because they were so sunburned.  And the blisters on this one teenage girl's shoulders?  OUCH. Seriously, who wants that?

We eventually got off our duffs because it was time for lunch.  (What else would get us moving?)  Although almost all food on a cruise is free, any type of beverage except water costs extra.  It was here that we discovered the $2 soda.

Pop quiz:

What is the difference between this $.50 can of Diet Coke from the U.S., this $2 can of Diet Coke from Princess Cays, and this $4 can of Diet Coke from Jamaica?

I can't tell either.  I dunno, maybe Caribbean Diet Cokes are lined with gold or something.  At least that's what I told myself to justify my purchase.  (Hey, it was either that or a $2 bottle of water.)

I know - Caribbean Diet Cokes make you extra-attractive.  See?  Totally worth the high price.

We ate lunch and then said good-bye to Princess Cays.  It was time to get back to the ship for some serious napping. 

I think that afternoon we watched "Shutter Island" in the theater on board.  It was... okaaayyy... a little long.  We both decided we were happy it was free.  (Or I guess it was the most expensive movie we've ever seen.  It all depends on how you look at it!)

That evening we decided to see one of the comics on the ship.  He had some pretty good bits and some pretty stupid bits, but that was pretty much expected.  Every evening there were lots of dance parties and shows and such to go to, but we were happy just to see one of the shows, walk around and around the promenade deck and enjoy the breeze and the view, and not spend all (or any, for that matter) of our money on alcohol.  

Okay, it wasn't that bad.  Princess really isn't a drinking cruise, like certain others are known for.  (*cough*cough*Carnival*)  (Do you like that I'm already a cruise snob?)  But it still amazed me that so many people were willing to spend $6-$8 on one drink!  And they wouldn't get just one drink - they'd have two or three! 

Our evening ended with a quick, mandatory trip to the buffet and then an early-for-us 10pm bed time.  

Heaven.