On Tuesday we proceeded to our next port of call, Nassau Bahamas were many James Bond film scenes were shot. I had breakfast alone again in the Wheelhouse Bar. Everyone else must have slept late. Then I sat in a deck chair on the Lido deck to watch Nassau come into view. We did not arrive there until 11:00 AM in the morning. I got my camcorder and filmed the ship docking at Nassau. There were two other cruise ships already in port; the other Carnival ship Sensation and the Royal Caribbean International Majesty Of The Seas. I saw Max Smith on the aft Lido deck taking photos of Nassau. I also ran into Onemon22 and his wife and had a picture taken with them. The Majesty Of The Seas cruise ship had a rock climbing thing high up on its deck for the truly adventurous. It was absolutely frightful to imagine climbing up there and then falling down into the sea from such a height. You would not get me to try that, not even on a dare!
I went to the Wheelhouse Bar for lunch where I ran into our Maitre D’ Joseph, who was a colorful character. He should do YouTube. He kept saying "It’s showtime!" in a funny accent during dinner shows. But I think he was Canadian so his accent must have been fake. He also reminded me of the main vampire in the 30 Days Of Night movie. I think I was the only person at our table to hand him a gratuity in the envelope provided. It was kind of rude of the others to neglect to do that. I thought I was being cheap to only slip him $5.00!
After that I disembarked to go on my excursion, the Discover Atlantis on Paradise Island tour which included the aquarium. I shot some video of the cruise ships from the dock where they really towered above us. I ran into VioletKitty with LittlePandaExpress but they were going on a different excursion. I took a glass bottomed boat to Paradise Island after a long walk around the pier. The boat was more like a ferry and the glass bottom was just deep wells that were not visible from my seat. Once on Paradise Island I followed the tour guide though a lovely alley of attractive shopping cottages. I did not stop at any of them on the way back because they all looked expensive. We passed some large yachts that looked like something out of a James Bond movie. One was gold and black like some kind of high tech toy.
At the hotel we walked through the casino and saw massive sculptures that the guide claimed were valued at a million dollars each. I should have some video of that. Then we walked though an underground aquarium where I saw sharks, Monterrey eels, giant sting rays and huge fish that looked really prehistoric. It was pretty amazing! The Atlantis Hotel is where the rich and famous stay so it was like getting a tour through the world of the super wealthy. I’m glad I was with a group or I would have felt out of place. This tour required a lot of walking. Atlantis is a mythical island in the ancient world so the exhibits of Atlantis technology were all fantasy. After the tour was over I had to find my way back to the ferry, Captain Hardings. I was over dressed in a long sleeve shirt and dress slacks but at least this kept me from getting sunburned. My face did get very sunburned on this excursion.
When I got back to Nassau I found a Starbucks and bought a Frappuccino. I needed something to cool me off. Then I went shopping. I bought a pirate teddy bear at the Hard Rock Cafe. I also bought a large t-shirt but did not notice that it was a woman’s t-shirt so it did not fit me. I ran into Onemon22 and his wife there. Then I bought a leather belt because my airport security belt had no holes and was difficult to cinch up tight. I paid a lot of money for that belt and it made me very uncomfortable. Then I found a bookstore and bought "A History Of The Bahamas" by Michael Craton and a hardcover book "The Paradise Island Story" by Paul Albury. This book was very expensive at $35.95 for 136 pages. It does have some nice photos of the Atlantis Resort including all the sculptures I saw. Prior to this trip I don’t recall ever hearing about this resort’s existence. It simply never made it on my radar. When I returned to the ship I had dinner with just the Canadians because everyone else remained ashore. I was tempted to go back to Nassau but Onemon22 told me everything was shut down anyway so I did not bother. That night I saw the guest talent show in the Astoria Lounge. I recognized one guest by the name of Blanche because she is a spry elderly lady who plays the harmonica and dances a jig. She was very entertaining at karaoke.
Nassau is a foreign country so this represents my first trip outside the United States! It reminded me of James Bond movies because some of those films have scenes shot there. Too bad I did not have enough time to do some espionage!
