Me being a mechanical engineer, always used to be awestruck at the enormity of the ships that housed restaurants, Swimming pools, Water sports and at the same time cruising flawlessly in the high seas.An engineering marvel indeed.
These majestic structures have always evoked curiosity in me & I always envisioned to hop on one of these mega structures for an experience of a lifetime :)
The Plan....
Since winter had cast its spell on the east coast, I was desperately looking for a holiday out of its clutches :)The very obvious choice for the vacation was Florida & while doing some research on Florida I stumbled upon the fact that Miami is the cruise capital of the world.
The reason Miami is referred to as the cruise capital is because its port witnessed 4.9 million cruise passengers in 2015.
Source - http://www.miamidade.gov/portmiami/cruise-facts.asp
So this was my chance to realize my dream of experiencing a cruise holiday & without any second thoughts I decided to take one :)
I began some research on the destinations & the cruise to take. There were many cruises like Royal Carribean, NCL etc....
Based on our vacation dates & duration of the cruise the only suitable option was a 4 night cruise to The Bahamas through Norwegian cruise lines(NCL)....
So I quickly made all the bookings and I was ready to have an experience of a lifetime & as a matter of fact the experience just blew me away :)
The itinerary of the curise was as follows
Day 1 Depart Miami & explore activities on-board the ship
Day 2 Freeport, Bahamas
Day 3 Great Stirup cay, Bahamas
Day 4 Nassau Bahamas
Day 5 Return to Miami
D-Day
After spending 2 nights in South Beach Miami we headed off to the Cruise capital of the World, Miami port to board the ship.
En route to the port my jaw dropped looking at the Massive Cruise ships that were anchored at the port.... As a true mechie by heart I just admired & admired these giants or may i say the beauties anchored at the port.Some so massive that i couldn't capture them in a single frame of the camera....
once we were dropped off at the NCL embarkation point by the taxi we cleared the port formalities & received our cruise cards(Boarding pass).
After which we finally got the glimpse of our ride, the Majestic "Norwegian Sky" :)
As we boarded the massive ship I began exploring the interiors of the ship.... It was a whole new world inside.It doesn't feel like you are in a ship.. It feels like you are in an all inclusive 5 star hotel having all amenities like pools, Casinos etc....
Due to its massive size we did not experience pitching & rolling of the ship even while we were sailing at high seas.... It feels so cozy inside as if you are in an all inclusive hotel.....
It was 5:30 PM which meant our journey or may i say our experience of a lifetime was about to kick off....The bars were opened up & the free booze began flowing through.
The anchors were being lifted from the sea bed & as the ship was being prepared to sail into the high seas a sail away party was hosted by the cruise ship staff to mark the beginning of a true fun filled vacation :)
I grabbed few cocktails and chose a quiet spot on the roof of the ship to just gaze away at the sunset with some Pinacolada while the ship sailed into the high seas ;)
The Room...
The Bahamas....
The Bahamas is a Caribbean nation consisting of nearly 700 islands.Back in the 18th century The Bahamas used to be a popular haven for the Pirates of the Caribbean :)The term Bahamas comes from the Spanish words "Baja Mar" which mean shallow water.Nassau is the capital of The Bahamas...
Day 1 : Freeport - Grand Bahamas
Free port is like one of the hidden gems of Bahamas. It has got some beautiful secluded beaches with crystal clear waters.
Free port was our 1st destination in The Bahamas.The ship docked at 8AM & announcements were made over the radio about the same....
Due to excessive booze and some major dancing the previous night we weren't quite the early birds & woke up only by 10AM even after repeated announcements on the Radio ;)
NCL has got some great dining options & as a matter of fact one of their taglines says "No one does dining like NCL"...
Which I felt was true. They had an amazing spread of items at the breakfast Buffet also amazing spread at the lunch & dinner buffets too....
After some lip-smacking breakfast we got off the ship to explore the Island.
We availed the $10 local shuttle to the nearest beach & spent the day at the beach.
Taino beach was very beautiful... Some pics below.... While at the beach i tasted the local beer, Sands :)
Day 2 : Great Stirup Cay
Great Stirup Cay is NCL's 250 acre private paradise :)
NCL had bought this island from an oil company back in 1977 & from then on it is a private paradise for all the cruise enthusiasts..
The white sandy beach, the great Buffet spread, the cocktail counters the beach beds & the awesome landscape makes this place a true paradise & everyone availing a cruise holiday must & should have this place in their itinerary...
The ship docked close to the island bang on time & as usual we slept over AGAIN!!
After a late break fast in the ship we took the NCLs shuttle service boat ride from the cruise to the island.
Since this was a private island NCL had their crew already stationed at the island & the free food & booze flowed through & we had a blast of a time snorkeling in the crystal clear waters,
sipping on some awesome cocktails & relaxing on the beach beds :)
Once on the ship we did not feel like going back to the rooms. We headed straight to the deck of the ship & after grabbing some cocktails from the bar counter we were gazing away at the sunset sipping on the long island tea. Reality was slowly setting in, an amazing cruise vacation was almost coming to an end :(
Day 3 : The final destination - Nassau
Nassau is the capital of Bahamas & was the last destination of our Cruise ship :(
After exploring beaches for 2 days it was time to do some city tour.... We planned to explore the city & hired a taxi locally for a full day tour which cost us $30 per person.
Our driver "Uncle Sam" kept us entertained all through the journey showing us around and giving out some trivia....
We saw the president's building, the man made waterfalls, the famous beaches & had some rum cake...Overall a productive 4 hours.... Few pictures from the city tour....
After buying few souvenirs we were dropped back to the cruise ship by uncle Sam & that completed our tour to Nassau.
We spent the night drinking up & partying on the deck of the ship like there was no tomorrow :)
We were back to Miami at 8AM the next day & that completed our tour to The Bahamas...
My dream of experiencing a cruise was finally fulfilled & I must say this was one of the best trips of my life. As a matter of fact one of the best experiences of my life... Thank you NCL! you made my first cruise the most memorable experience of my life :)
