Bahamas 2011 Aboard the Norwegian Gem

 

 

 

Our itinerary began in New York, we traveled by train to Penn station where we took a taxi to the Hudson river and boarded the Norwegian Gem.  Our first stop was Port Canaveral.  We could have taken a transport to Orlando, to see Universal Studios, Disney World, Epcot or any of the other big name sites.  Instead, we went into the old town and shopped.  John got a manicure and pedicure, and within minutes had a series of bad fire ant bites, which bothered him for some time.  The Norwegian private island(Great Stirrup Cay) was next.  The little harbor had just been put in, and was little more than a rough opening on one side of the island, carved out of the coral-stone.  There were long grooves cut everywhere presumably to catch sand, or to carve the island to their preferred shape.  We lounged away from the rest of the passengers who were congregating along one crescent of beach.  There was plenty of wind, so kayaking etc. were cancelled ,   We just laid on the "beach" after a barbecue buffet and waited for the return of the tender to pick us up.   We did go into the water a couple of times, especially watching a ray patrolling our little beach site.  It was a bit late and there were plenty of people returning to the ship after some time on the beach.

 

We landed in Nassau where we walked around the city.  We saw the government house, queen's staircase, the watchtower/fort at the top of the island, and a rather famous old hotel on the waterfront.    We bought some local handicrafts and "t" shirts etc.  We took a ferry out to the island known as the Atlantis Resort as evening approached.  Our Friends Cathy and Judy were staying there at the time, but we decided not to bother them in the middle of their vacation.  Fabulous aquariums there in the resort.

 

 

    

Back in New York, we stayed in  a nice Holiday Inn Express as we had employee discounts. 

   

We attended a taping of Martha Stewart.

 

We also got John to the top of the Empire State Building, despite his vertigo.

 

We returned home via Penn Station and our room mate at the time, Mike Fleming, picked us up at the Providence train station for the ride home to Mansfield.