{read part 1 here}
picking up the blogging torch to continue the recap from the Caribbean cruise Greta and I took in March! day three of our cruise was spent entirely at sea. after a late night due to the man overboard prank, we slept in luxuriously late and finally made our way to the breakfast buffet a little after 10 AM. eating on the deck of a cruise ship, overlooking the ocean, is one of my absolute favourite things (and I count myself very blessed to have been able to experience it on three cruises to date!).
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| somebody pinch me |
after breakfast we alternated between swimming in the outdoor pool and relaxing on the pool deck, then went back to the room to chill for a bit. Greta was content to hang out on our balcony while I went to go check out the adults-only pool. it was quite crowded and not exactly the serene vibe I was craving to read my book, so after fifteen minutes or so, I came back to the room and joined Greta on the balcony. we both ended up taking a mid-afternoon nap and finally rallied for dinner at the buffet. what a life!
the sunset promised to be absolutely gorgeous. this night was advertised as the White Party on board, and since it didn't start until 10 PM, I had made no plans for us to participate, but so many whole families (including small children) were dressed in all white outfits and posing for photos on deck! even though we weren't in anything close to fashionable attire, I asked a woman to take our picture and she was happy to oblige!
we ended the night with the Movie Under the Stars, which was Fly Me to the Moon. it was good, but watching without subtitles made me realize how much of an old lady I am. I could still hear everything but sometimes had trouble understanding certain words. streaming has spoiled me!
after that low-key day, we were ready for some serious adventure at our second port of call, Nassau. this was our last full day on the cruise and I had pre-booked an excursion to the Blue Lagoon Island, splurging on a dolphin encounter! I'm not sure who was more excited about this and it definitely proved to be a highlight of the cruise for both of us.
we were up early to get breakfast before meeting the rest of our group at 8:15 AM to disembark from the ship and board our ferry to the Blue Lagoon Island. the ferry ride took about 45 minutes and we couldn't stop smiling the whole ride. the water was so beautiful!
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| I had to document this handwashing station at the entrance to the buffet. look ma, no norovirus! |
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| once again, the Italian pastries failed to deliver. thank goodness there was plenty of bacon and sausage. |
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| in line for the ferry, there was some whining and eye rolling about being tired and "how long is this going to take", which prompted some eye rolling on my own part. seriously, you're going to complain about this?! fortunately all angst, tween and parental, was forgotten as soon as the boat got underway! |
after arriving at the island, we had about an hour to explore and relax before checking in for our dolphin encounter. there was a whole area of the beach reserved for an inflatable water park, but most of the kids there seemed much younger than Greta, and I certainly wasn't going to be hauling myself onto the floating obstacle course so she opted to just meander along the island with me. this was one of the times I thought she might have had more fun with a friend along, but oh well!
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| Sabrina gave me the idea to have her recreate this photo |
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| we lasted about five minutes playing beach volleyball. |
at the appointed time, we walked over to the dolphin enclosure. I had the unavoidable mixed feelings about dolphins in captivity, but to my untrained eye, they all seemed to be well cared for and had plenty of room to swim -- obviously not
an entire ocean like wild dolphins would have, but the enclosures were created by a series of nets and gates in the lagoon rather than a separate pool. and they were just so darn cute!!
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| can you even?!? |
we were not permitted to take our own photos during the dolphin encounter. they had a staff photographer on site and offered the whole set of photos for digital download for $100. I thought we might get three or four photos and still was prepared to pay for the album because how could we not have photo documentation of this moment? but the album included over twenty photos and I love them all!!
they had our group of thirty people sit around a square dock with a central opening and we divided into smaller groups to stand on a submerged platform and interact with the dolphins. the water was cool but not uncomfortable. it was so much fun to watch the dolphins up close while we were waiting for our own turn, and then the experience of petting them and dancing with them was unbelievably fun and moving! suffice it to say, this definitely cemented Greta's desire to become a marine biologist.
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| the trainer gave very clear directions of how and where to pet the dolphin (with an open palm, behind the head and in front of the fin, avoiding the eyes). the dolphin's skin was surprisingly smooth and firm! |
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| she flipped over and we were able to pet her stomach, again with directions to avoid her tail area |
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| this was an amazing moment. the dolphin launched herself up out of the water and extended her fins to dance! every single person who did this, even the people who were more reserved in general, laughed out loud. you just couldn't help yourself! |
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| she even posed for a picture with us! |
the only thing that would have made our experience better is if we had sprung for the royal VIP super deluxe dolphin encounter, where you could actually swim with multiple dolphins. one of these encounters was taking place right next to our session and we couldn't help but watch! alas, at $300 per person, this was out of our budget (although I couldn't help but think that technically we could have paid for FIVE royal dolphin encounters if our original flights hadn't been canceled).
after our half hour session, we reluctantly said goodbye to the dolphins and headed back to the beach for the buffet style lunch included with our excursion. I was absolutely starving! the jerk chicken and rice hit the spot. Greta opted for a hot dog and fries ;)
we had another hour or so to spend in the water before boarding the ferry back. the waters of the lagoon were crystal clear! we swam around for a while, I pulled out the snorkeling mask to check out some fish in the sea grass near the far shore of the lagoon, and then Greta gave me an exfoliating sand scrub. ooh la la!
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| sailing out of the lagoon on our way back |
on the ferry ride back, we had a perfect view of the Warwick, the resort where I stayed with Amy, Blair and Amelia in January! we also passed by a familiar-looking yoga retreat. on our Norwegian cruise in 2012, Nick and our friends Jon and Jeremy had taken a little boat to this retreat to lounge on their private beach (Jeremy was working on the ship and knew all these secret spots). we did not participate in any actual yoga!
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| it was fun to compare and contrast the cruise ships! |
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| the yoga retreat |
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| back in Nassau |
we spent our last afternoon on the ship exploring everything we hadn't gotten a chance to experience yet -- namely, the Venchi chocolate shop, the water slides, and the Bridge of Sighs!
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| this towel animal (?) was waiting for us when we got back to our room. neither of us could figure out what it was supposed to be. |
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| another view of the mystery animal. if you have any guesses, I'm all ears. |
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| these gelato shaped tables were so cute! |
Greta still wasn't feeling the slides so I decided to take the plunge on the slower and gentler of the two slides. it was so much fun!
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| no photos of the slides, but this central art installation was pretty cool |
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| the Bridge of Sighs alludes to the famous bridge in Venice. |
for our last dinner of the cruise, we headed back to the main dining room. our server outdid himself making napkin art for Greta. every ten minutes he was back with another creation! it was so sweet to watch her face transform from a polite smile to genuine delight and surprise each time he came over with a new design!
the next morning we were up early to get breakfast before waiting for our group number to be called to disembark the ship. while we happily could have stayed on the ship for another week, it felt like we had been away for longer than four days! it was the perfect getaway with my oldest girl. I would definitely recommend MSC for a budget-friendly pick that still feels luxurious!
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