Brett and Sara Musick: Embarking on Nassau

Brett and I took our first real trip away from home by ourselves about two weeks ago, and we had a great time.

When Sophia was about 6 months old, Brett and I went on a timeshare talk at a ski resort in Massachusetts. Can't say that it was the greatest experience, but we did get a free cruise out of it. And, we finally cashed in and went on a 3-day, 2-night cruise to Nassau, Bahamas. It was the first cruise either of us had ever taken, and for a first cruise experience, it went pretty well.

Thank goodness for free flight because I don't think we would have gone away without it. We had to leave a day early so we could pick up the "passes" to get on board the ship. Little did we know that, in picking up the passes, we were also agreeing to attend another timeshare talk on board the ship. Ugh. Thankfully this one didn't last as long as the first. We did miss the entire welcome and information talk because we were in the timeshare thing, and we were close to missing the required safety check.

Yet another comical thing - the cabin. Oh, I laughed when we went in! Yes, it was a free cruise, and now I know why. We did upgrade to a cabin with a window, but we were still in steerage with a teeny room and bunk beds. Neither of us could sleep on the top bunk because of the weight requirement. Brett took the mattress off the bed and slipped it on to the floor where there was just enough room to lay down. It was actually a good option, since Brett was too tall to fit in the beds anyway. Comical. Very comical.

We did have a good time though, despite the sleeping conditions. It was warm - 86 degrees in Nassau - and sunny. Much better than snow. We got to Nassau and decided against doing any of the shore excursions that the boat offered. Holy cow! Has anyone ever compared the prices of the boat's shore excursions and the actual cost of the activities? You totally get hosed before stepping off the boat. We did get $50 onboard credit for sitting through the timeshare talk, so I went to get a pedicure at the spa before we went out to explore the city.

Nassau was fun. We walked to a local beach. The sand was so soft, and the water was so blue! We ended up taking a ferry over to Paradise Island and walked to the Atlantis resort to see the huge aquarium. WOW! Plus, we got to see several Chihuly glass sculptures at the resort (I'm a HUGE Chihuly fan). We ate lunch at a little deli, where they served pickles as appetizers. Pickles! We also got to see several very large yachts, one in particular, trying to dock and blasting Christmas music at the same time.

We met some nice people on board the ship. There were only about 600 passengers on the ship, so you ran in to the same people all the time. It was a good trip. Brett and I got to have some real conversations without a child crying or crawling on us. That was a treat! And the girls had a good time staying with grandparents while we were gone.