earendel was a mariner - day 3

[earendel]

Once again our ship set sail overnight and on Sunday morning we were in Nassau. After attending morning worship services (typical plain vanilla type, guaranteed to offend no one) we had breakfast, then it was time for a trivia contest before going ashore. The prize this time was a luggage tag.

The dock at Nassau is interesting - to get to shore you have to take a long walk down a pier, then through a set of doors that lead you into a building where you show your ID and are let through. The "receiving area" has several shops rather like the free-standing kiosks in malls. On the other side of the building are the doors leading into the city proper. Our agenda today included a "dolphin encounter" which was scheduled for the afternoon, so elwing went into town alone to do some souvenir shopping while I sat around the ship reading, working crossword puzzles and otherwise entertaining myself.

Come the afternoon I went into the city to meet elwing and we walked to another harbor where we boarded a boat that would take us to the dolphin encounter. I thought it was in the city but it turned out to be on an island several miles away. The boat put on some speed and we cruised to the island, which turned out for the most part to be like the cruise line's private island, only there were lots of souvenir shops, offers for photo albums of visitors with the dolphins, etc. Since elwing had brought several cameras, we figured we could do our own photos and save the money.

We followed a wood-plank path to a roofed pool and heard a "briefing" on dolphins - the usual stuff like "dolphins are mammals, they breathe air, bear live young, suckle their young, have hair," etc. That was followed by a brief explanation of the process of training the dolphins to interact with human beings, and after that the trainer came out and whistled for the dolphin. Ours was a male, three years old. We had the opportunity to touch him (actually rub his skin as he swam past - unlike sharkskin the dolphin is smooth and the skin flakes off continually). Over the next hour everyone in our group (20 people) got to "dance" with the dolphin, be hugged by the dolphin, feed the dolphin, etc. I kept thinking to myself that dolphins may be as intelligent (or even moreso) than humans; I convinced myself that in the dolphin's eyes I could see a certain bemusement, as if he was thinking, "Hey, I've got an easy gig here," and wondered if back in the communal pool they didn't share laughs about the humans they saw.

Then we motored back to Nassau and made our way back to the boat. The last trivia contest of the cruise was just before dinner - I went down and was surprised to see quite a few teams had gathered, including the four ladies I met the first day. Teams were limited to six and I figured someone might invite me to join, but no one did, so I went into the contest alone again. I wish I could remember some of the questions that were asked, but this was a very tough contest and I didn't think I was going to do well. We exchanged papers and the host ran through the answers; I cringed with each wrong answer that I knew I had written. At the end I looked at the sheet I was scoring and that team only had 6 right answers. Each team got its own answer sheet back - I had 9 right answers. The host asked how many teams got all 20 right - no one responded. Then she asked how many teams got at least 15 right. Again, no one responded. To make a long story short, my 9 right answers were enough to claim the first prize, a "pleather" photo album to store 5x7 pictures in.

This was our last night to dine onboard and the dining employees were introduced, sang a song, and paraded through the dining room. The couple with whom we were paired at the table regaled us with tales of the wife's success at the slots, winning around $500. She also won a "winner take all" bingo game that netted her another $1500, so she certainly had a successful cruise.

The final show was a "cast show"; the entertainment staff and others put on a show featuring the music of The Commodores; ABBA; Earth, Wind and Fire; and other groups of the era, complete with period-appropriate costumes. It was quite good. And although there were celebrations that went on until the wee hours, elwing and I went back to the cabin to pack our bags and put them out to be picked up - the ship would be back in Miami the next day and we had an excursion booked that required us to leave the ship at 6:15AM. So we eschewed the frivolity and turned in early in order to be fresh for the next day's activities.

[ulysses5019]

Once again our ship set sail overnight and on Sunday morning we were in Nassau. After attending morning worship services (typical plain vanilla type, guaranteed to offend no one) we had breakfast, then it was time for a trivia contest before going ashore. The prize this time was a luggage tag.

The dock at Nassau is interesting - to get to shore you have to take a long walk down a pier, then through a set of doors that lead you into a building where you show your ID and are let through. The "receiving area" has several shops rather like the free-standing kiosks in malls. On the other side of the building are the doors leading into the city proper. Our agenda today included a "dolphin encounter" which was scheduled for the afternoon, so elwing went into town alone to do some souvenir shopping while I sat around the ship reading, working crossword puzzles and otherwise entertaining myself.

Come the afternoon I went into the city to meet elwing and we walked to another harbor where we boarded a boat that would take us to the dolphin encounter. I thought it was in the city but it turned out to be on an island several miles away. The boat put on some speed and we cruised to the island, which turned out for the most part to be like the cruise line's private island, only there were lots of souvenir shops, offers for photo albums of visitors with the dolphins, etc. Since elwing had brought several cameras, we figured we could do our own photos and save the money.

We followed a wood-plank path to a roofed pool and heard a "briefing" on dolphins - the usual stuff like "dolphins are mammals, they breathe air, bear live young, suckle their young, have hair," etc. That was followed by a brief explanation of the process of training the dolphins to interact with human beings, and after that the trainer came out and whistled for the dolphin. Ours was a male, three years old. We had the opportunity to touch him (actually rub his skin as he swam past - unlike sharkskin the dolphin is smooth and the skin flakes off continually). Over the next hour everyone in our group (20 people) got to "dance" with the dolphin, be hugged by the dolphin, feed the dolphin, etc. I kept thinking to myself that dolphins may be as intelligent (or even moreso) than humans; I convinced myself that in the dolphin's eyes I could see a certain bemusement, as if he was thinking, "Hey, I've got an easy gig here," and wondered if back in the communal pool they didn't share laughs about the humans they saw.

Then we motored back to Nassau and made our way back to the boat. The last trivia contest of the cruise was just before dinner - I went down and was surprised to see quite a few teams had gathered, including the four ladies I met the first day. Teams were limited to six and I figured someone might invite me to join, but no one did, so I went into the contest alone again. I wish I could remember some of the questions that were asked, but this was a very tough contest and I didn't think I was going to do well. We exchanged papers and the host ran through the answers; I cringed with each wrong answer that I knew I had written. At the end I looked at the sheet I was scoring and that team only had 6 right answers. Each team got its own answer sheet back - I had 9 right answers. The host asked how many teams got all 20 right - no one responded. Then she asked how many teams got at least 15 right. Again, no one responded. To make a long story short, my 9 right answers were enough to claim the first prize, a "pleather" photo album to store 5x7 pictures in.

This was our last night to dine onboard and the dining employees were introduced, sang a song, and paraded through the dining room. The couple with whom we were paired at the table regaled us with tales of the wife's success at the slots, winning around $500. She also won a "winner take all" bingo game that netted her another $1500, so she certainly had a successful cruise.

The final show was a "cast show"; the entertainment staff and others put on a show featuring the music of The Commodores; ABBA; Earth, Wind and Fire; and other groups of the era, complete with period-appropriate costumes. It was quite good. And although there were celebrations that went on until the wee hours, elwing and I went back to the cabin to pack our bags and put them out to be picked up - the ship would be back in Miami the next day and we had an excursion booked that required us to leave the ship at 6:15AM. So we eschewed the frivolity and turned in early in order to be fresh for the next day's activities.

You haven't seen kt's ship have you?

[MarleysGh0st]

The other trivia teams were fools not to invite you to join them!

Would there have been one of those deluxe "pleather" albums for each member of the team, if you hadn't had a solo win?

[earendel]

The other trivia teams were fools not to invite you to join them!

Would there have been one of those deluxe "pleather" albums for each member of the team, if you hadn't had a solo win?

Yes, and the team that placed second place got them.

[FlyingDevilMonkey]

Did you see or touch any monkeys?

[ulysses5019]

Did you see or touch any monkeys?

I dunno. But you just might get spanked.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Did you see or touch any monkeys?

I dunno. But you just might get spanked.

Here's a new avatar for you:

[ulysses5019]

Did you see or touch any monkeys?

I dunno. But you just might get spanked.

Here's a new avatar for you:

Sorry, if you want a request, go ask Casey Kasem.

[silverscreenselect]

Only 78 more days until our cruise.

These diaries are getting me pumped up.

I never thought I would enjoy cruising, but after we went on our first one three years ago, we've been hooked.

We actually had an extremely lucky break on that cruise. Based on the timing and what I was willing to spend (I didn't want to spend a ton of money on a long cruise we didn't enjoy), I gave Mrs. SSS the option of a Nassau cruise out of Jacksonville or a Mexico cruise out of Mobile, both about the same distance and cost. These were the two smallest, oldest (and cheapest) ships in the Carnival fleet (the Jacksonville ship has since been retired, to be replaced by a larger one this fall). She decided she'd rather go to Nassau (because the ship also stopped at Key West which she'd always wanted to see).

That was the week Hurricane Katrina hit. Our trip down the Florida east coast had no trouble at all and nearly perfect weather. If we'd gone out of Mobile, we would have been at sea when the storm hit and there's no telling what would have happened to our car or how long it would have taken us to get home. So we feel extremely fortunate about what we were able to avoid. Watching CNN on the ship's TV describing the horrific conditions in the Gulf while we were away from it all in the Atlantic was one of the most bizarrely surreal experiences of my life.

This year, we are actually going out of New Orleans for the trip.

[MarleysGh0st]

This year, we are actually going out of New Orleans for the trip.

Tempting fate?

[kayrharris]

This year, we are actually going out of New Orleans for the trip.

Tempting fate?

I was just thinking the same thing, Marley.

[silverscreenselect]

This year, we are actually going out of New Orleans for the trip.

Tempting fate?

I was just thinking the same thing, Marley.

If you take a Caribbean cruise anywhere between June and October, you have a chance for a hurricane. If you go in the winter, you can get a winter storm which isn't much fun either. That's the risk you run.

That thought process may be the reason that I was able to get a good deal on the cruise (the fact that the ship will be renovated in drydock two weeks after my cruise and a lot of people would rather wait on the "improvements" is also a factor).

If you worry about what might happen on a vacation, you will never go on a vacation.

[kayrharris]

You are exactly right. I always think talking about it might increase the liklihood of a storm.