Halle was super excited to visit her second country, the Bahamas.  Rusty and I went for a quick jog on deck 4 and then came to wake the kids. We watched from our verandah as the Dream pulled into port.

We took our time having a big delicious breakfast at Cabanas and loading up our beach gear and then headed into Nassau.  I had accidentally scared Josh pretty good in trying to prepare him for the beggars we might see.  Last time Rusty and I were in Nassau it was pretty bad….we were constantly stopped.  Josh decided he didn’t really want to go to Nassau if he would encounter that because it made him feel uncomfortable.  A little scared and a little sad.  I told him we’d keep him safe and avoid it if we could.  Turns out, we didn’t even need to have that talk.  We didn’t encounter any of that the entire day.

We started with a walk through the straw markets on our way to the Queen’s Staircase, which was carved by slaves right out of the existing rock.  The vegetation surrounding the stairs is beautiful and they lead right up to Fort Fincastle.  The views from the top of the fort are beautiful!

When Josh saw the Dream in the harbor next to the two other cruise ships he said, “Mom, look at the Dream, she’s just soaking up all the attention.”  And it’s true. The two other boats looked pretty shabby next to her.

At the fort there were also a bunch of little vendor stalls.  Blake wanted to buy a souvenir and the vendors kept telling him, “The price is $15, but for a handsome young man like you, I’ll sell it for $10.”  He finally settled on a hand carved wooden car.  As we were walking to meet up with the rest of the family he said, “Mom, I don’t know why, but everyone wanted to give me a discount.  It must be because I am so cute!”   I didn’t have the heart to break it to him…..

And now, to the beach!  It was finally warm and sunny and I couldn’t wait to sink my toes in the sand.  We taxied to Cabbage beach on Paradise Island and parked ourselves there for the rest of the day.  The water was warm and the waves were the perfect size.

We buried Josh in the sand and Blake found a giant buoy that provided endless entertainment.  Beach days are the best!!

We walked over to Atlantis in hopes of showing the kids the aquarium, but Atlantis has cracked down.  You may not enter the outdoor areas of the hotel or certain areas inside without a hotel key.  Bummer.

We were ready to head back to the ship.  We were all hungry!  We ate a big late breakfast and decided we didn’t need to stop for lunch.  We hailed a taxi and the driver lead us to a giant van crammed with people.  Probably like 15 in all.  We squished ourselves in and off we went!  Some cars in Nassau have steering wheels on the left, and some cars have steering wheels on the right.  Blake thought it was fun to be up next to the driver with the steering wheel on the “wrong side.”  We who sat in the back were a little scared for our safety! 🙂

After a giant plate of fries to share, ice cream and a shower we were ready for dinner.  Dinner tonight was in the Royal Palace.  This was probably my least favorite venue, but my most favorite food.  I had a lamb chops and a date pudding that was my favorite thing I ate on the boat.
The show this evening was Villians Tonight.  And we all agree that it was our favorite.  You’ve gotta love those Disney Villans!  The boys once again went to Oceaneers Club for awhile and the girls explored the ship and rode on the AquaDuck.  

One of the most fun parts of the day was getting back to our room and seeing our Fish Extender full of fun goodies!  People were so creative.  We got a couple of darling picture frames and an anchor magnet, the boys got tons of star wars stuff, including Tsum Tsums and a pillow case, Halle got some homemade bath bombs and a cute jar to fill with sand and shells from the trip.   We also went and delivered our Fish Extender gifts.  The kids loved putting them in the right slots, knocking on the door and then running down the halls of the ship.