Brzycki family: November 2012

On Nov 14th we flew to Miami to catch our cruise--a 3-day Carnival Glory cruise to the Bahamas. This was Dan's first cruise and mine and Ed's second cruise (having done a 3-day cruise last year with my sister Cathy and her family).

The ship departed from the Port of Miami on Thursday evening. The ship was scheduled to leave at 4 PM but we were delayed a couple hours. So instead of seeing Miami Beach as we departed, we instead saw city lights at night.

Friday morning we arrived in Nassau, Bahamas. We didn't arrive until around 10 AM so Dan and I tried out the exercise bikes in the gym beforehand and could see Nassau in the distance as we working out. Nice view that I wish I could see every day! We decided on an excursion to see Atlantis which was a good way to see that property. Before we left on that we walked over to the Marketplace and picked up a couple souvenirs. The Atlantis excursion was informative and we saw a lot of the properly. Even put some $$ in a machine at the Atlantis casino (so we could say we did)!

Friday night was "elegant" night for dinner and so we dressed up (yes, can you believe it?) and the guys were also good about posing for pictures for me (hoping I could get at least one good family picture out of this trip!). Dinner was very good and we also agreed beforehand that we would try the "didja ever..." appetizer where they put something unique on the menu for you to try. The first night was cured salmon (which I didn't care for). Night 2 was alligator fritters (which were good). Night 3 were frog legs (looked like frog legs which was not appetizing, but they tasted like chicken pretty much).

Saturday morning we woke up as we were arriving in Freeport, Bahamas. Now the port at Freeport is in an industrial area and I didn't take this into consideration when I woke Dan up at 6:15 am to see the sunrise. Not only were there some clouds, but there was no horizon at sea. Rather it was a horizon of barges, container ships, and huge oil tanks. Oh well, sleep is overrated, right?

While in Freeport, we took a shuttle to Port Lucaya where there is a Marketplace and you can also walk down to the beach. We did walk down to the beach, put our toes in the sand and water, but didnt spend too much time there. It was windy and cool. We then headed over to the Marketplace which wasn't much different than Nassau but the vendors seemed more pushy. So after a couple hours in Port Lucaya, we went back to the ship to grab some lunch and play some mini golf. It did rain a bit while we were in Freeport, but thankfully we were back on the ship before it rained hard.

Monday morning we were up early again since we needed to disembark (sad face). We had a nice breakfast in the main dining room before leaving though. Overall, the cruise was great! We got a balcony suite so that there was plenty of room for the three of us and there was. Our cabin steward was very attentive and took good care of us. Our wait staff on night 2 and 3 was great. We all agreed that next time we need to do more then 3 days--just not enough time to try everything on the ship. So I guess that's always a good sign whether your vacation is good--you can't wait to go back!

Monday we spent the day in Miami and did the Grayline HopOn/HopOff tour. This included both a city loop through Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, and Little Havana and a beach loop that brought us to Miami Beach. We got off in Miami beach to checkout the Art Deco and to walk on South Beach and check that out. A couple showers that day that caused some flooding in Miami Beach but we avoided them since we were sitting at a bayside restaurant having lunch when they came through. Good timing again on our part (okay, it was pure luck!). For us, the weather was sunny and 80 degrees--loved it!

Ed faired pretty well on the cruise except he continued to experience significant shoulder pain that kept him awake at night (which in turn meant he was waking me up too!). Also, on the day before we left, Dan helped Ed shave his head since he had bald spots where his hair was falling out. The hair loss was slower than last year, but still unfortunately a side effect of his current chemo treatment. I know Ed hates losing his hair (it's such a reminder every time he looks in the mirror) but I keep reminding him that it's a small thing compared to the alternative. Ed goes for his next CT scan on 11/28 and then we meet with Dr. B on the 29th. Hoping we can get some more info about the shoulder pain which is really becoming difficult to manage. I'll continue to keep you posted on that front. In the meantime, enjoy the pics below from our cruise.