Just returned from our 2.5 day cruise to the Bahamas. I realized that I wasn't completely right when I said you can have breakfast, dinner and supper or breakfast, lunch and dinner, but not breakfast, lunch and supper (Dinner being the big meal of the day). On the cruise we had breakfast, brunch, dinner, afternoon snacks, dinner, 4th meal and more dinner. Nothing but big meals the whole cruise! It was great to just sit in a chair in the sun and read a book for 2 days. We were on the Carnival Sensation. Dad said it was probably the oldest ship in their fleet. The whole thing was decorated in bright purple, bright blues, red and orange. Garrish is the word I'd used to describe it. It certainly assaulted the senses! Also, the food wasn't that good. I remember the meals we had when we all went on the cruise being really yummy and fun....maybe it was just the bulk or people around the table??!! I realized that you get a lot more attention in the dining room if you're at a big table with lots of people. Tom and I were at a table for 2...very quaint and quiet. Nobody paid us much attention. We didn't mind. Except that the waiter wasn't even paying us much attention and several tables that came in after we did were served and out of there way before us!

We flew into Orlando on Thurs. When we bought the tickets the plane was supposed to land around 1 pm. Then they changed the schedule to land at 2:00. The ship was leaving port at 4:00 and we had to rent a car and drive 45 miles to the port! We figured there was a 50/50 chance we'd be spending the weekend in Orland0, but we got off of the plane, got a rental car and were on our way in 20 min. and arrived at the port at 3:10. As we were walking through the parking lot we could see all of the Cruise employees leaving the terminal! It made us wonder if there would be anybody left inside to check us in. As it turns out we were the last people to arrive and second to last to get on the ship! The good news is that we didn't have to stand in any of those long lines of people to get checked in. There are advantages to being the last, I guess.

We found Nassau Bahamas to be a bit of a tourist trap. In order to get onto the island you have to go through their customs which then dumps you into a big convention-type hall with vendors all over that you have to wind your way through before you get outside. Then you're in a walkway that is full of people trying to sell you tours, scooter rentals, carriage rides, beach excursions, etc. After that you find yourself in an outdoor market full of more vendors. It takes a great deal of determination just to get out to the normal city area. We didn't find any of their souveniers to be very enticing. Mostly the trinkets you see in Mexico or flea markets that were made in China anyway. I talked Dad into going on a city tour. The people selling the tour had binders full of pictures of the things you'd see and places you'd go....to the big hotel, to the fort, to the beach etc. And all in the comfort of an air conditioned van. And over 2 hours of tour. Sounded like a good way to see the island and hear the history. The group we agreed to join had been waiting about 15 min. for the tour lady to get enough people to take the tour by the time we joined. She said she was just going to be another 3 min. to get one more couple and then we'd go. 15 minutes later she finally came back and said she had to go get the van which was parked a few blocks away and she'd be back in 5 min. or less. About 15 min. later she arrived with the van. She'd been trying to recruit other people the whole time!! So we piled into this old 15 passenger van and ended up in the very back seat, which didn't have any AC vents. And it was very hot! The tour lady kept saying she'd get the van cooler but she never did. She drove us up through the center of town (about 4 blocks) and pointed out the government buildings, the building where Anna Nichol Smith lived and a purple flower that is a native plant. Then over 2 blocks to an old fort and staircase called the Queen's Stairs. She said we'd be there for about 30 min. for people to look around. It took us about 10 min. to look at everything and then we waited around in the sun for our guide. About 50 min. later Tom said this was bogus and he wasn't interested in going on the rest of the tour and to go find the tour guide and tell her were walking back to the ship. When I finally found her I offered to pay her something for her bringing us up to the fort and she said we owed her a sum that was slightly more than half of the total tour. I asked her how she could expect us to pay her for more than half of the tour when we'd only gone one place and she said "We're over half way through the tour....we only have one more stop". I was incredulous. When I asked her about all of the places we were supposed to see and said that she never said we'd be stopping at them and you could just look out the window as she drove to the next stop to see them. As for going to the beach...she said that was optional and she hadn't planned on stopping there. What a scam! When Tom heard, he told her we were walking back and she could take our $10 or we'd just not pay her anything. She wasn't very happy but we gave her the money and it only took us 10 min. to walk back to the ship anyway! Fortunately she hadn't collected the money at the start or we would have been hosed. I'll bet she collects at the beginning in the future!

We spent most of Sat. out on a lounge chair reading a book and never got sunburned! I got a nice massage and facial which was fun. I found a lovely mustard yellow scarf on the ship that will look nice for family pictures and it was big enough to cut up into 4 scarves! So if anybody wants one...I have 3 extras. We got off of the ship on Sun. morning at 8:00, attended Sac. meeting at a ward in Orlando and checked into a hotel and spend the afternoon laying out in the sun and reading more books. It was a relaxing vacation.