We sailed on the Norwegian Sun out of Port Canaveral this afternoon on our way to Nassau, 289miles, where we will arrive Sunday morning. Then we’ll have a sea day; I’ll be able to work on my next book, take a Yoga class, Ron and I will take a Spinning class, and we’ll all just relax and enjoy the ship. We’ll arrive in Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas on Tuesday, after sailing 849 miles and then sail another 111miles to Phillipsburg, Saint Maarten arriving on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will be two more sea days sailing 1156 miles arrive back in Port Canaveral on Saturday morning. We always opt for an inside cabin when cruising figuring that most of our on ship time is spent elsewhere and why do we need a view when we’re asleep. This has meant, in the past, a small cabin but this time we were pleasantly surprised to find a roomy cabin with a king sized bed, a futon sofa, and more then needed closet space. The Sun is different from the two other NCL ships we have been on; its public spaces have been built smaller thus providing more variety resulting in a more comfortable feeling, but the Garden Café is smaller; this is the buffet dinning which we seldom use, and always crowded. This appears to be a design flaw.
Nassau, Bahamas:
Nita and I opted to spend our day at Atlantis, a very upscale hotel complex on Paradise Island. We were able to take a taxi to the island for $4 each. Nassau has gone down hill since we were last here and it appears the recession has hit them hard, it seemed that a lot of the city is in disrepair. We found an entirely different scene on Paradise Island. I’ve been to Las Vegas and many grand hotels around the world, but I’ve never seen any thing as grand and opulent as The Atlantis. The lobby looked like a Roman Palace waiting for the King to arrive and the grounds were equal to the interior. We came to see and to use their water park. They have about 15 water slides, many for children and a few for the brave of heart with names like The Challenge, The Leap of Faith, and The Abyss, They involved enclosed tubes with rushing water, twits and turns and in some 30 to 40 foot free-falls into pools surrounded by aquariums full of exotic fish. The fear factor was all in the anticipation because while you were on the slide you didn’t have time or the presents of mind to process what you were experiencing; it was only after the slide and the rush had worn off that you realized “I just fell from the equivalent of a four story building into a shark tank.”
There is also a tube float through the property that has a slide that takes you up 100 ft. on a conveyor belt then propels you through a series of tubes that at one point gets you up to enough speed to propel you and your tube up at 30% grade for over 30 meters. The balance of the float is through rapids, a simulated wave pool and a gentle float. The Atlantis also has numerous aquariums, the Digs (a replication of how the people of Atlantis might have lived) and a Casino. We looked into possibly bring the family for a four day stay and found that “The Bridge Penthouse” would be our best bet. The Penthouse is located as a bridge between the east and west towers on the 10th floor, it’s 5000 sq ft and rents for $25,000 per night with a 4 night minimum. The only problem is it has a 4 year waiting list; but that will work out OK because Nita is scheduled to win the Lotto on her birthday in 2015.
