Cruisin' day 3- the Bahamas, a lobster dinner & a bottle of wine

We ported in the Bahamas bright & early Sunday morning. This is from our balcony.When you go on a cruise, you can sign up for 'shore excursions'. Basically these are things to do while you are on a island, continent, country, whatever that is sponsored by the cruise ship so you know you're not getting ripped off. In the Bahamas, B-rad wanted to go to the big ole hotel there. You may have heard of it? It's called...Atlantis.It's not just a hotel. It has an aquarium & water park. Sigh. I hate water parks. I'm not really a water kinda girl. I like the sun. Plus I worry about my contacts with all the water splashing in my face. So I did not wanna go to the Atlantis for the day. The shore excursion to go to Atlantis to tour it, go through the aquarium & hang out in the water park was $150/person. Gasp. Ya'll know I didn't wanan pay that. So after some consideration on B-rad's part - he decided to not go to Atlantis. We didn't have much time in the Bahamas so he wouldn't have had a lotta time to play there. We did a 'tour' of the Bahamas. Some local guy drives you around (quite dangerously, I might add...) the town & shows you interesting points of interest. This is the hospital where Anna Nicole Smith's son died. She is also buried on the other side of the island with him there. We didn't get to see that. Darn... The tour also stopped at a couple of forts. You can really tell when you get close to tourist attractions. They have little booths set up selling their crafts & things.

Another stop on the tour was the Queen's staircase. This area was carved by hand. It was an escape route way back in the day when the island could've been attacked.

There is no way to explain how deep this area was. See the vendors set up down at the bottom of the staircase?

Insert here me telling our tour guide my love for Prince William. Yes, I'm psycho... but there was a method to the madness. They had a gift shop we walked through that had money displayed. And the guide had told us that the Bahamas is its own country. They pay the US to protect them. They have their own type of currency that they use. They like it...but they LOVE the US dollar. So in the gift shop was money that had the Queen of England on it. (No, not me...) So I asked her why their money had the Queen on it when they were indepedent. She told me that England had supported them many years ago & they had to pay homage to the Queen for that. THEN I proceeded to tell her about my sadness over Prince William. And ya know what she said? She said, 'Well, Prince Charles & Diana didn't work out. Maybe you still have a chance?' Ah, how I love that tour guide...she worked hard for that tip I gave her...

After visiting the historical forts, we went to a Pirate Museum. The museum wasn't really a museum at all. It was super cheesy & super boring. And I just wanted to get it over with so we could go shopping! The funnest part of the so-called museum were the signs when we left... And the midevil torture devices...

And the guys out front dressed as pirates were the best part! They were really funny & friendly! I asked this guy if I could take a picture with a pirate? He said, "No, I'm sorry - I'm a lawyer..."

We walked back to the pier where all the shopping places were. Senor Frogs is like a party 24/7. Imagine a bachelor/bachelorette party going on all.the.time. Very loud music. Lots of drinking... we bought B-rad a t-shirt & hat & headed out to the other shopping spots...

Right across from where we were standing was the straw market. It's like our flea markets. It's a huge tent with lots of locals selling their items. T-shirts, jewelry, bags, purses.... oh yes, I said purses...

They are kinda pushy in the straw market. I mean, that's how they make their living - that US dollar they love. So if you look at something specific or touch anything - they pounce! "Can I show you something ma'am? See something you like?" I just tried to be friendly & say, 'no thank you.' I did buy a Bahamas shirt for $10. They all pretty much have the same products. But I found a Coach purse I liked & I got it for $50. I'm sure it's a knock off but what-eva. I have a sickness. I also bought a wicker type bag that has flip flops on it that was handmade for $25. Score... OH YEA, the best part? No sales tax... Double score!

Here it is! (Thanks, JLL for keeping me in-line!)

The night we left the Bahamas was the first elegant night for dinner. Now-you don't HAVE to eat dinner in the dining room if you don't want. (But the meal is included in your cruise price...) It's just a little more upscale than the buffet plus the waiters serve you. While we were hanging out we ran into the cruise director, Butch. He's from Minnesota & instead of saying 'ok' like we do he would say 'ya'. He had a major Minnesota accent too. He was super nice, but he definately needed to be on ridaline. Just sayin'... For the elegant night one of the things on the menu was lobster. B-rad loves him some seafood, but he has never eaten lobster because his wife is too cheap to ever let him buy it when we go out. Wellll, all the dinner food is also included in your cruise price so he could try the lobster to see if he liked it...for free. He did like it... Curses...that means he's gonna want lobster now when we go out...

While we were doing our shopping thang, Carrie's parents stayed at Senor Frogs (the party bar). They did tequila shots & drank & had a grand ole time. The party continued into dinner when Carrie's dad bought us a bottle of wine. Heck, he was drunk & wasn't able to say no, so we pounced. Donna, Carrie & I drank the whole bottle!The cruise ship has lots of different clubs & singers & different things for every taste. After a bottle of wine we were ready to go dancing! We went to club Caliente to get our groove on! Donna was having a ball! She even got B-rad out on the dance floor.Another little treat in your room is that every night they turn the bed down for you. They leave you a 'newspaper' with all the activities going on the next day & mints. PLUS they make the animals out of towels. I tell ya, these guys are super talented & it's a treat to go in your room everynight to see what the next towel animal will be!

And if you're wondering about poor ole B-rad not being able to play in the little water park all day...I made him a deal. I told him since he saved me $300 by not going there, I would let him buy a coke card. (On the ship the only drinks included are tea, water & lemonade. You have to buy cokes...unless you get a coke card...) It was $6/day. Yep that's right...I'm a giver...