CRUSIN' PART II

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

We sailed into Nassau just at sunrise. I was so excited; I sat up looking out my porthole. I snapped pictures of the horizon, another cruise ship following us, and even the Mail Boat as it passed us going in to the dock. It was beautiful watching the sun come up over the bright pastel buildings as the shops and markets slowly came to life. Vendors set up tents with jewelry, straw goods, clothing and more. A man in a huge straw hat lined the sea wall with colorful conch shells and starfish. I couldn’t wait to disembark!

After another breakfast buffet, we decided to take a water taxi over to Atlantis. We passed the homes of  the rich and famous (Nicholas Cage, Oprah, and others who channel American made money into Bahamian accounts and real estate to save on taxes). One of the Atlantis resorts boasts a suite that was often booked by Michael Jackson. It cost $100,000 a night with a three night minimum stay. Sorry if you wanted to run right out and book it for yourself, it’s booked up for the next 5 years!

Atlantis was truly amazing. The theme was carried through in architecture, art and furnishings. Even the light fixtures were works of Marine inspired art! Fountains, shops, aquariums, a dolphin area where of course, you can swim and interact, a sting ray pool, paddle boats and every form of entertainment you could wish for were available. The casino was huge, but I was disappointed when I found it ran totally on vouchers – no cling , cling, cling, of quarters if you win in the slots!(Yes, I’m like a 5 year old! I need the bells and whistles.)

Crusin' - Wickedly Good Fun!

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

There’s only one word to describe a cruise to the Bahamas – luxurious, sumptuous, opulent! Oops! That was three words! Well, it can’t be helped because it truly was all those things!

We started out from Port Canaveral on a Monday at noon. When I drove up A1A and rounded the bend right before the Port, the ship suddenly came into view. Amazing! The Monarch of the Seas is the smallest ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet but it looked tremendous to me! What an awesome sight to behold!  It seemed to glisten in the sun and my tummy had that excited flutter as we drove closer.

Checking in was a breeze and we went right up to the “Windjammer” to meet two other friends for the fabulous lunch buffet. There was so much food: hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, cold cuts, hot entrees, a festival of fruits and an exquisite exhibit of desserts! I gained a pound just looking at it!

After enjoying the buffet, we went in search of our cabins. I had booked both rooms and explained to the travel agent that we wanted to be together both in location and in the dining room. Well, we had a problem! (Not Royal Caribbean’s fault at all!) My friend and I were on the 6^th floor in the absolute bow of the ship. Our other friends were on the 4^th floor center ship. I’m handicapped and since all 4 handicapped rooms were booked before I booked ours, I hoped to be at least near the elevator. The travel agent assured me that the room would be set up to accommodate me and my scooter and that all would be well. We wound up in the ONLY room whose doorway stuck out halfway into the hall because it was so far up in the bow. Needless to say, the scooter couldn’t get at an angle to get in the room. When we opened the door, there was one double bed made up and the room, while very nice, was miniscule to say the least! We also found that the 6^th floor is the most inaccessible deck on the ship. To get to certain places we had to go down or up a deck, across the ship to another elevator and down or up even further.