New York is Thatta Way, Man: Just Another SaUD Miracle Review- May, 2010 (Part 10)featured
Hi everyone! Back with another update! Hopefully I’ll be able to get this finished soon. I’m thinking of transitioning this blog into more of a traditional blog with cruise news and my takes on it just to give me a place to write in-between trips. We’ll see.
Last thing- I really appreciate the comments, both here and on Cruise Critic. They’re very much appreciated and I appreciate everyone hanging in there with me while I finish this! Blogger’s giving me a problem responding to comments, so I’m not ignoring you…it’s just not posting my responses. Hopefully I can get that fixed soon, but if you have an immediate question, drop me a line in my Cruise Critic thread and I’ll be able to respond there (here). And with that….
On our last port day, we docked in Nassau bright and early at 7:00 am. Not that I noticed…I slept right through it. And then I kept sleeping. In ten cruises, we’ve been to Nassau at least five times. Everything on this island is kind of “been there, done that” for us.
And then there’s the matter of how I don’t really like Nassau. Stephanie vehemently hates it (though I’ve never really asked her why…I probably should). It’s not a particularly dirty port or dangerous port (though it’s far from the most beautiful or exotic of ports we’ve ever visited). For me, mostly, it’s the fact that nearly every time we go to Nassau, it pours. And I don’t mean a little light tropical shower. I mean the heaviest rain showers I’ve ever seen. And nearly every time, somewhere in the Bahamas, I get stuck outside with no umbrella (and I think we established in the last post that me and rain just don’t mix). The night before at dinner, we were joking with Orlando about how we’re a jinx on the Bahamas and how every time we visit, it rains (except, coincidentally, the ones where Stephanie doesn’t get off the ship. When Stephanie stays on board, the weather is typically glorious. Go figure).
So what is there to do in Nassau? You can go shopping at one of the dozens of shops up and down the main streets or in the straw market. You can get your hair braided (I’d recommend bringing your own comb). You can hop a cab (or do a ship excursion) to the Atlantis resort. You can go to one of the beaches. You can go to Senor Frogs (which is my usual activity of choice). We’ve done all of the above. You can do a glass-bottom boat ride. You can go to the Ardastra Gardens (which I’d love to do sometime if I weren’t convinced it would rain the minute I show up). You can do a historical tour. But it’s not a large island and there’s not a whole lot to do.
Stephanie wasn’t sure if she wanted to get off the ship. I really wanted to hit Senor Frogs because the rain kept us away from it last year but she didn’t know if she really wanted to. But there was one thing I was set on doing: getting me some internet. At this point, I’d been offline for more than five days and I was getting a little twitchy. Internet prices on the boat are exorbitantly high and the service goes down quite a bit (when it’s not crawling at a snail’s pace). Now, at the Starbucks’ in the United States, all the stores have free Wi-Fi…and the previous night, it sparked in my head that there’s a Starbucks right on Woodes Roger’s Walk (which is the main street that’s across the street from the cruise terminal and leads to Senor Frogs). There wasn’t anything anyone else really wanted to do (grandma didn’t want to get off the ship and Mom wasn’t sure she wanted to, either, and Stephanie wouldn’t decide until we docked), so I wanted to get my internet on if they had some Wi-Fi.
We woke up around 9:00 am and the skies were relatively clear (only slightly ominous looking…though that could have been my Bahamas!paranoia). We got dressed and met up with Mom and grandma having breakfast up on the Lido deck. Today, they offered eggs benedict on the buffet line and though they aren’t as good as the ones in the main dining room, they were quite good for buffet line eggs benedict.
After breakfast, Stephanie and I grabbed our things from our room and went off into Nassau. Depending on where you’re docked at the port in Nassau, it can be either a really fast or a really long walk to the cruise terminal. In our case, we were docked pretty far away (again), so we kind of took our time walking over. We weren’t really in a rush to do anything, anyways.
The cruise terminal in Nassau is actually very nice. They have a welcome desk, where you can ask them any questions you have about the island. They have all kinds of tour brochures and local publications (anywhere we go, I grab every brochure and local publication I can…makes for fun souvenirs and good research material for future trips). There’s pay phones and wi-fi (I never did pay attention to the price per minute…I’ll have to make a note of it next time). There’s hair braiding. And there’s also a market with a bunch of different shops. I honestly can’t say I’ve ever spent more than a few minutes perusing around the market since there’s really nothing special to Nassau that you have to buy (not like, for instance, going to Mexico and buying tequila or going to Costa Rica and buying coffee). You do have to walk through this area in order to get out of the facility, but you won’t be hassled or haggled by any vendors- they generally keep to themselves.
Once we exited the facility, we walked over towards Bay Street, which is where most of the major shops are (including most of the ship’s recommended shops). While that was one block further than we needed to go (Starbucks is on Woodes Roger’s Walk, which is the road that goes right along the ocean), we wanted to pop into a few stores to check them out. I’ve noticed that over the past few years, they’ve really put in some high-end shops on Bay Street and tried to build it up a bit. I know there’s a Gucci store out there. There’s a Coach store (not an outlet, but it is duty free). On this trip, we noticed a MAC store but didn’t stop in. We didn’t end up buying anything in Nassau on this trip. At this point, I think we pretty much have it all when it comes to Nassau. But the insurgence of higher-end stores does provide an interesting juxtaposition. You’ll have a Coach store next to a sketchy alley with some random street vendors.
If we hadn’t taken our sweet time stopping in a bunch of different stores, it would have taken less than five minutes to walk from the cruise terminal to the Starbucks. It’s a quick and easy walk…pretty straight off the port area. And it’s your typical US kind of Starbucks. Same drinks. Same pastries. Generally same prices. And an our of wi-fi will only set you back $3.00 (no food or drink purchase necessary), which on board, would either cover your one-time set-up charge OR get you four minutes of internet time. The Starbucks had a cool, lofty feel and it didn’t really attract any locals…or tourists. This seems to be where a lot of the crew come to log on to their laptops and check in with family and friends. Stephanie and I each bought an hour of internet time and some drinks and got onto the internet via our iPhones. INTERNET! Glorious, connected internet! After so many days without my connection to my friends at home, I was like a crack addict, taking in as much time as I could get. The first hour went quickly…and Stephanie left after hers was up. Me? I went up to the counter and bought ANOTHER hour (what can I say? I had friends coming in to visit me the day after we got home and I had so much to catch up on). And I may have extended for another hour after that. Why? BECAUSE IT STARTED RAINING. AGAIN. Oh Nassau. Why do you hate me so? Can’t you let your sun shine on me (or my Starbucks, as the case may be) for one day?
The rain thankfully stopped pretty quickly and I was able to walk back to the ship nice and dry. As I was walking back, a Bahamian man seemed to be following me and singing at me, so I just ducked into a store for a bit and looked around. In most foreign ports, I probably wouldn’t be going off by myself, but in ports like Nassau that we’ve been to so many times (same thing goes for St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Grand Turk for us), I know the area so well that I don’t feel unsafe going off by myself. Practice common sense, keep alert and stay in the visible areas.
It was starting to drizzle a bit, so when I got back into the cruise terminal, I hung around and took pictures for a little bit until it passed and I knew I wouldn’t end up in some random Bahamian downpour (it would be my luck…).
I’ve gotta say…having some time to myself to walk back to the ship…it was kind of nice (well, sans the creepy random serenading man). Stephanie gets insanely annoyed by my constantly stopping to take pictures and it was nice to be able to stop and look at things…take pictures of them at my leisure. She’s worried I’m living behind my lens and I’m only seeing things through the lens of my cameras. I tell her…how many times do I really have to look at the Bahamas with my real eyes? 😉
Back on board, I met up with Stephanie, Mom and grandma back in Mom’s room. They ate so I ran up to the Lido deck, made a salad and brought it back to the room, where Stephanie and I watched Avatar. And then at some point, I fell asleep for a bit. What can I say? The drabby Bahamian weather makes me sleepy.
After nap time, I flat ironed my hair so it wouldn’t take me so long to get ready for dinner later and then Stephanie and I went up to the Lido deck for ice cream and sailaway. I tell you what: watching people stagger back to the ship from Senor Frogs? High entertainment value. Ultimately, we had to leave to get ready for dinner before we even sailed away because the ship was delayed (probably waiting for people to stagger back from Senor Frogs). And Stephanie had a migraine and needed some aspirin (I, again, blame the Bahamas and its crappy weather). Did I mention that as we were getting ready to leave Nassau, the clouds (quite literally) parted and we finally got some sun? Why do you hate me, Nassau Gods?
After another wardrobe change (I’m going for a record here…I’d change clothes twice more after dinner), grandma went to nap and Mom, Stephanie and I headed to dinner. And honestly? Wasn’t that great. This particular menu has a lot of bold flavors and I really just wasn’t in the mood for them, so I started with some of the more blander starters: a fruit cocktail and the Petite Marmite (clear beef broth with beef, chicken and vegetables). The fruit was perfect- fresh and juicy and ripe. The soup was very game-y tasting and I really didn’t enjoy it at all. It had some thin strips of beef and chicken and some larger chunks of root vegetables, but it really just tasted off. Stephanie started with the Mixed Garden and Field Greens salad (tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots with lemon vinaigrette dressing) and the Potage Saint Germain (pea soup with baby tomato salad), and while she gave the salad a thumbs up (especially the tangy vinaigrette), she gave the soup a thumbs down, a rarity for her. While my soup had an unpleasant game meat flavor, Stephanie’s soup had no flavor at all. And Mom? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. She had a shrimp cocktail, a Caesar salad and a fruit cocktail.
Fresh Fruit Cocktail
Petite Marmite
Mixed Garden and Field Greens
Potage Saint Germain
Shrimp Cocktail and Fresh Fruit Cocktail
Caesar Salad
The main course didn’t fare any better than the starters did. Mom had the Lasagna Bolognese (baked casserole with layers of pasta, lean ground beef, tomatoes and spinach, served on a lake of Pomodoro sauce) and was served a huge hunk o’ lasagna. She thought it was good but it wasn’t anything special. Stephanie had the Coq au Vin de Chamberlin (supreme of chicken marinated and cooked in red burgundy wine. Garnished with silver onions, gratin potatoes and wine dough crisps) and while Stephanie usually enjoys this dish (and she said the flavor was still spot on), she found the chicken to be really dried out, and noted it was becoming a trend for her. I had the Grilled New York Strip Steak from Aged American Beef (served with a green peppercorn sauce) and while it was cooked fine, there was an awful lot of gristle on the steak and not much edible steak and left me hungry for probably the first time ever after a MDR meal.
Lasagna Bolognese
Coq au Vin de Chamberlin
Grilled New York Strip Steak from Aged American Beef
In between dinner and dessert, Gedy (who had been filling in for a head waiter upstairs) came by to see how our day was and bid us a good night and we joked around with Orlando about the weather for the day (we warned him it would rain!). Though I’m pretty certain we’ll try anytime dining on our next trip, Orlando and Gedy really kind of encapsulate why we’ve been so hesitant to make the move to anytime dining- there’s something to be said for having a team that knows you and having that kind of consistency. They really were like old family friends by the end of the week.
Dessert was probably the strongest course tonight, but that wasn’t saying much. Stephanie had a cheese plate and a scoop of lime sherbet, which she thought was nice and refreshing (and noted that she enjoyed this cheese plate better than the one she had in the supper club earlier in the week). Mom ordered the Almond and Phyllo Roll (served with a light honey sauce), which is really almost like a baklava roll. It’s surprisingly light and not overwhelmingly sweet. I had the White Chocolate Bread Pudding and a cheese plate, and while the bread pudding is normally one of my favorite dishes (and certainly tasted fine), it was suffering from some textural problems. It was almost gloopy instead of firm.
Lime Sherbet
Almond and Phyllo Roll
White Chocolate Bread Pudding
Cheese plate
After dinner, Mom went upstairs to take grandma to dinner and Stephanie and I went outside to watch the sunset. This was quickly becoming one of the favorite parts of my day- taking a few moments after dinner to watch the sunset out on the promenade. It’s so breathtaking and beautiful and it’s a nice, quiet moment to just listen to the water lap up on the sides of the boat and enjoy the feeling of being at sea. Moments like these? It’s what cruising is all about for me.
When the sun had set, we set out for the sports bar…again…to check the ticker, only to find out it wasn’t running on ESPN. You know what would be really fantastic? If the sports bar had it’s own running ticker. Just an idea 😉
We met up with Mom and grandma on the Lido deck and I was still kind of hungry because I picked at most of my food, so I went to grab a pastrami sandwich. Now, I’m not much of a deli meat sandwich kind of girl. I’m very particular with my meats and sandwiches and I’m just not big on sandwiches in general (much to the rest of the family’s chagrin- they could have a Subway or Potbelly’s every day and never get sick of it) and I really have to give kudos to the Carnival deli. Firstly, they offer like a dozen sandwiches. Secondly, they’re all made to order and made right in front of you. Thirdly, it’s so *fresh*. When I ordered my sandwich, they pulled out a hunk of pastrami and cut the meat fresh right in front of me. They don’t even do that at Subway. So props to Carnival on the delis. On that note, though, I really am not much of a sandwich person and after nearly half of the sandwich, I ditched it for some frozen yogurt.
We split up again after grandma had her dinner (and I had my post-dinner snack)- Mom and grandma went to the shops and Stephanie and I went to the Phantom for Game Show Mania, which is my favorite trivia game. Basically, one of the social hosts chooses three people from the audience, they go up on stage and answer trivia questions that are, like, 30 years old. It’s fantastically fun because there’s always some joke to be had or some spontaneous fun interjected in. And yay for me…I got chosen to play again! And like last time, I led early and then fizzled. One of these days, I’ll win at this. Oh, and if there’s any video of me doing the chicken dance on stage, you can go ahead and delete it. I fear it showing up on my future wedding video if my Mom ever finds it.
After Game Show Mania was a show unlike any other I’d ever seen on any cruise I’ve ever been before. Malcolm, our cruise director, had his own show- Film Within a Film- and what that was, basically, was Malcolm grabbing people from the audience and doing silent film sketches. It was the funniest show I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. Bar none. And it’s the first time we’d ever had a cruise director do his own show, so kudos to Malcolm, really, for putting the effort in to go the extra mile. Dream Team material, for sure. Stephanie has video of this somewhere and I’ll have to find it and upload it. Until then, you get pictures. But if you’re ever cruising with Malcolm and you see Film Within a Film in your Capers, go see it. And if you don’t want to be chosen, don’t look like you don’t want to be chosen 😉
Tonight was also our deck party, so we headed up to the Lido deck when the show was over for some food and fun. They had quite the variety of mexican foods up at Horatios (a taco bar, a nacho bar, the hot food and an impressive array of desserts), but I’ve never found cruise ship mexican food to be anything to write home about. It’s good, not great. So we snacked on some of the offerings and then headed outside to listen to Music Unlimited play on the big stage. We didn’t see any deck games going on, but we didn’t stay too long because the boat was really starting to rock, which was causing Stephanie’s migraine to return.
Speaking of sea sickness, one of my dearest friends is getting married next week and is going on her very first cruise for her honeymoon. Aside from getting attacked and taken hostage by Somali pirates (I legitimately got a phone call last week asking me what the chances of this happening were), her biggest concern is sea sickness. In all honesty, there’s no real way to tell if or how you’ll be affected by the ship’s movement and you can’t really predict when the ship will get rocky (as the ship can move quite a bit even when it isn’t storming out). Some people don’t feel the movement at all (like me…unless I’m thrown around, many times I can’t even tell if the ship is rocking). Some people are hypersensitive to it. Some people get sleepy from the motion (me again). Some people get headaches (Stephanie) and some people get so sick that they’re out of commission as long as the ship is moving. So I’ll share with you the tips I shared with her.
1. There’s OTC meds (like Dramamine), which you can pick up FOR FREE from the Purser’s desk or outside the infirmary.
2. There’s prescription meds you can get from your doctor before you leave for your trip (this would be the transdermal patches you will see people wearing behind their ears. You change them every three days or so and get a constant dose of anti-sea sickness meds).
3. If you get REALLY sick on board (we’re talking debilitating sick that you can’t get out of bed), you can get an injection in the infirmary.
4. You can buy Sea Bands at your local grocery store, drug store or pharmacy, which is a pair of thin sweatbands you wear on your wrists that have a small plastic ball on them. You place the ball part on a certain part of your wrist and the accupressure is supposed to stop mild sea sickness.
5. Ginger is a natural anti-nausea remedy, so you can get something like ginger pills at your local GNC or vitamin store or something like candied ginger (they sell it at Trader Joes and Whole Foods). Ginger ale also works here.
6. If you take a second to notice, you’ll often notice green apples out on the lido deck. This is because those help with sea sickness, as well. I don’t know what it is, but Mom swears it’s worked for her.
Anyways. Boat was rocking. Mom was feeling sick. Stephanie had a migraine. Grandma was already asleep and I was feeling heavy lidded, too. So we went back to the room, popped in the Ugly Truth and I fell into the best sleep I had all week. Re: the above sea sickness? If you sail with me, I’m probably praying for semi-rough seas. I never sleep better than I do in rough waters. Sorry!
Today’s Lido lunch menus
Today’s Lido dinner menu
