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| Bus Ride to Miami at ungodly hours |
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| The boat taking forever to turn around |
Mom and I had to leave at 5 something in the morning. Her neighbor drove us up to the Denny's by her house and we caught the charter to Miami to meet the cruise ship. The bus was crowded and miserable. Maybe that is just because I am not the most pleasant person first thing in the morning. I managed to get out of her house dressed, packed, ready to go.... except for the bluetooth and phone charger I left plugged in the kitchen right on the counter by my coffee I finished. So typical for me to forget at least one thing .
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| The Carnival Glory docked in Miami |
This was my first cruise and it was just total overload. We sat at the dock in Miami for quite a while with two other cruise ships. When it finally came to the send off party it was pretty amusing. The other two ships took off and were already in full swing with the passengers. We were docked facing the other direction sooooooo the big send off party when we started moving was QUITE the disappointment. We started cruising and went all the way to the end of the channel and it took an hour it seemed to turn around and head out on the real cruise. Bummer!!
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| Nassau |
We made it to our first stop in Nassau, The Bahamas and did a little shopping first thing before we headed to Atlantis and Paradise Island. The Straw Market was a cool little place to barter and buy some island crafts. I was darn near mugged by the ladies that braid hair for all the tourists. They would have made a killing off all my hair at $3 a braid! The didn't even ask mom to do her hair... go figure.
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| One of the million dollar pieces at Atlantis resort. |
As you enter Atlantis and head to the aquarium you pass through their casino with several of these pieces of art. They are all made of hand blown glass and they paid a million dollars US for each piece. This one was my favorite of them.
We walked through the aquarium and the tanks were amazing. The sea life they have in this resort is just incredible to watch.
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| The span on this beauty was over 8 feet long. |
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| Eels inside Atlantis. |
Outside the resort they have a man made lagoon. You can snorkel outside or inside the main tank with the the fish they have confined. There is a beautiful beach and the water was as clear as glass.
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| Mom and Me outside by the lagoon at Atlantis. |
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| Sharing my new lounger with Mom. |
After our walk through the resort and aquarium we walked to Paradise Island where there is a craft square similar to the straw market and did some more shopping. I spend a little bit and the ladies there with their crafts were just friendly as can be. We hopped on the bus back to the docks driving on the wrong side of the road and almost got t-boned twice. I could NEVER get used to the traffic there and they just honk and go without waiting to see if there is room for them in traffic!! Holy cow it I couldn't find my passenger brake pedal.
After returning to the boat we headed up top to the lido and got to watch a real send off this time.
