I haven't been on a cruise in almost 15 years and thought it would be fun to take a cruise around the Caribbean with mom and dad after finishing my contract in Ft. Myers. I first started planning this trip before most of the other adventures that I am lucky enough to go on during my two months between contracts. We had to look at several different cruises before settling on this one with dates that fit perfectly into our schedules. We booked our trip on the Royal Princess with Princess Cruise lines and before long were on the ship saying "Bon voyage!" to the main land and on our way to the Bahamas!
Bon voyage to Ft. Lauderdale!
Party on deck to start the cruise
I had been on a cruise to the Bahamas before but part of the appeal on this trip was going to the island of Eleuthra where I had never been before. Princess is the only cruise line that stops at this port as it has a privately owned resort area at the tip of the island. We opted to book an excursion taking us up further onto the island and getting to see a little more of the life and culture that exists here. Bahamians are a laid back, friendly people who seem proud of their heritage and happy to share it with those who are visiting. Our stop here was on a Sunday so we didn't get to do the school visit or see the Market like you normally would but we peeked into a church before services started and stopped at other scenic places to take in the view. We saw the outside of the Parliament building in all of its Bahamian pink splendor and learned about the official flower that makes a popping noise when you pull the petals. Lunch was typical Bahamian food with a view of the multi colored blues and greens of the water and Junkanoo performance by some of the locals. Junkanoo is the Bahamian version of Carnival but is performed at anytime there is a celebration and not just at one time of the year.
Eleuthra, Bahamas
Parliament building
Popper flower
Fish market
Lunch time view
Junkanoo celebration
The next day we arrived in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos. They are known for their beautiful water viewed from both above and below the surface line. I took a boat a short ways out to the "shelf" where there is a significant drop off and the fish gather along the coral for some awesome snorkeling. An hour breezed by quickly in the underwater world and before I knew it, I was back on the boat and heading to the beach to meet up with mom and dad. We had booked a day at the beach at the Bohio Dive Resort through my travel agent (Elizabeth Dominguez of Dream Vacations- seriously- she's awesome!) and it included my favorite meal of the entire trip. An amazing and relaxing view always helps to elevate the meal to the next level but this one would have been incredible if I was sitting in a cardboard box. Rum punch that went down smoothly but had quite the kick, grilled snapper with some kind of coating that tickled the taste buds, local lobster salad that could have been a meal by itself, and one of my Caribbean favorites- conch fritters! All very fresh and served with a smile. We had some time to lie on the beach in our beach chairs until the rain ran us off for a few minutes. Apparently it rarely rains on the island so we were just lucky. The great part of being at the resort was we actually had a place to hide from the rain instead of getting drenched and then after the few minutes of rain we were able to return to our chairs before catching the cab back to port.
Lunch time view
A great place to escape the rain!
Lots of fish at the shelf
Our final day on the cruise was a day at sea. I made my way up to the pool after breakfast to get a good seat for the Movie at Sea program they have with a giant screen showing concerts and movies throughout the cruise. Unfortunately, I had a cold when I first boarded the ship so when I wasn't in port then I spent a significant amount of time taking naps and going to bed early but by the last day I was feeling pretty good. The movie at sea that I was most looking forward to was Finding Dory. No, I'm not 5, but it was super cute and how fun to sit in the middle of the ocean and watch a movie about the fish swimming underneath you. I spent a lot of time on our balcony watching the view between flipping pages of my book in the afternoon.
All in all it was another great trip and a fun time with mom and dad. The food was nothing short of delicious and the ship had a fancy, tasteful elegance throughout the décor. The staff were friendly and attentive and I always find it fascinating to talk to the crew about where they are from.
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