Day 81: Nassau, Bahamas

THIS was another best day of the winter. Allow me a moment, please, to celebrate...

OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG!!!!!!!!!!!  The Broncos are going to the Super Bowl!!!!  (I'm just a smidge ecstatic about that). 

But, even before the AFC Championship game kickoff, this had been an incredible day. So, as much as I just want to sit back and relish the Broncos AFC Championship title and watch the NFC Championship game, I really need to think back to 12 long hours ago when the alarm first went off and we hit the snooze button at least twice. 

Our arrival in Nassau, capital of the Bahamas, was at 7am, just as it had been on our visit here on the Maasdam in 2010 and on the Allure last November. And, just as on those two ships, sailaway was at 1pm in order to get to St. Thomas on Tuesday morning. This meant we had to be back on the ship at 12:30pm. However, this time I wasn't recovering from pneumonia (Maasdam), nor was it raining (Allure) and we were determined to visit the world famous Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. Apparently, though, we weren't determined enough to get up when the alarm first went off at 6am. It was closer to 7:15am when we left our cabin, walking out onto the Terrace Deck en route to the Horizon Court Buffet just as the sun rose.

We had a quick breakfast in the Cafe Caribe, gathered up the few things we needed for the day, and, for the first time in my life, walked off the ship and onto New Providence Island in the Bahamas. A $4pp, 10 minute taxi ride took us over the bridge to Paradise Island, where the Atlantis resort is located. Of course, it looked familiar to me right from the start: after all, Oprah, quite taken with the place, decided to do a week's worth of shows from there several years ago. When Oprah likes something...

After asking around (all the employees there were extremely friendly and helpful), we were directed to an Adventures desk, where we purchased two day passes for a resort tour and entrance to all the aquariums. ($45pp, but you know G. Somehow we got them for $20pp).  We waited just a few minutes to join a tour and spent an hour in absolute awe at the sea life we were seeing, not to mention the gorgeous resort and grounds. 

I have lots of photos to share, but I'm going to force myself to limit them to just a few. Internet on the ship has been abysmal...the 1400 Platinum and Elite passengers on this cruise, all with Internet benefits, might have something to do with that. 

The suite in the arch of the Royal Towers is called the Bridge Suite, and comes with its own personal chef and butler. It costs $25,000 per night with a four night minimum to stay there.  Like Oprah did. ;-) The other rooms in the Royal Towers cost between $600 and $1400 per night to stay in. There are other towers at Atlantis that cost less, but they're all at least $300 per night or so. Atlantis is not cheap. 

But guests get free access to the aquariums we paid to see, and Aquaventure water park.

Atlantis is also not small.  We walked non-stop for over three hours, finally ending up at Marina Village, which features a series of quaint but upscale shops in that Key West style we like so much. 

The only thing unimpressive about Atlantis was the beach; the water there is quite rough. 

All in all, I wish we'd had more time, but I'm really happy we did go there. We took a taxi back to the ship, standing in quite a long line to reboard. That always happens when we have an early sailing time on a beautiful day. And the day was beautiful...but chilly. I don't think it got above the low 70s today. 

On the way back to the ship, I started stressing about our ability to get two chairs by the Calypso (MUTS) pool to watch the AFC Championship game.  After all, the game started at 3pm and I knew people had been camping out there all day. G took it on as a personal mission to get us two chairs...and when he does that, there is no stopping him. Once on the ship, the elevator lobby was packed, as we were all getting on at the same time. G ran up TEN flights of stairs only to find no available loungers...but space for some. He found two loungers from another area and dragged them over, giving us a prime viewing location up on Deck 16. As long as it didn't rain (and it didn't), we were good to go, and by the time I arrived he was sitting there looking quite proud of himself. 

We left, one at a time, to return to the cabin, charge our phones after all our picture taking, and get pizza and beer. And there we stayed, hot in the sun despite the cool breeze once the Emerald Princess sailed. And stayed. And stayed. Competition for seats was fierce, and we didn't dare leave. Finally, 3pm arrived, and the game was a hopeful blur. We did battle with the sun the rest of the afternoon. We would think that, in another few minutes, it would be behind the screen, but the ship would change course, and we had it shining in our eyes from the other side. No worries though...we had a gorgeous sunset as a reward, just as the Broncos sealed the deal and stopped my heart from racing and my stomach from hurting. 

G decided to go to the Michelangelo Dining Room for a quick Dinner with Darko. I'm staying here for the NFC Championship game. It's just too darn pretty out here to leave, despite that it's so chilly that I'm wearing my fleece pullover and the wool headband that I tucked in my suitcase the day we left. I KNEW that headband would come in handy during a football game!  I have no dog in this fight, but certain Seahawks fans sitting nearby are so loud that I might be secretly rooting for the 49ers.

Life tonight is as good as it gets.