Majesty of the BOOZE

The weekend cruise to the Bahamas was such fun. It reaffirms my theory that cruising is all about the company you keep. Mathematically, the relationship looks something like this:

f(Fun)= travel buddies^2 + 10*amount of alcohol intake/savings from duty-free rum + 2*Ports of Call + quality of ship/2 - 1.38*losses at casinos
(I thought about this formula for at least five minutes; five minutes of purely justified procrastination. It was sweet.)

Day 1, Departure. We board and immediately head up to the café for lunch (buffet style). We explore the ship, participate in a mandatory safety drill, and watch Miami's skyline recede as the ship leaves the port.
After some nice sun-time and walking around, we spent the afternoon unpacking, chatting and thinking about dinner. There are 13 of us total, and each has his or her own agenda, but we all have one thing in common: food. Dinner time is always fun; since all the food is paid for, you can order as much as you want. Believe me, we took advantage of this; "Yes, I'll have the filet and the salmon. For dessert, I'll have the chocolate cake, key lime pie, and some ice cream. Please." We hit up the ship's 90's-esque nightclub for the rest of the evening. Essentially, cruising all comes down to this: eat, drink, sun, swim, dance/gamble/vice, repeat.

Day 2, Coco Cay, Bahamas. Private island with lots of sunshine, palm trees, rocks in the ocean, and did I mention sunshine?

Jenny and I went snorkeling (she had to persuade me and I am so glad she did), and 100's of fish surrounded us in the water. Jenny found a perfectly preserved sand-dollar, which I kept by shoving into my bikini top while snorkeling. Yes, there was enough spare space. We got back to the ship at 5pm, and got ready for dinner; it was formal night, which is sort of like prom minus the drama plus the alcohol. Afterwards, we changed and partied to some latin and reggae on the deck, in the rain. I was tossed around by my coworker, who apparently is a merengue king (I know this because old hispanic men standing around the dance floor high fived him like proud fathers). We stayed up again, till 4 a.m. Like I said, eat, drink, sun, swim, dance/gamble, repeat.

Day 3, Nassau, Bahamas. Shops are closed, but we walk around for a bit before hopping into a taxi ride to spend the day at the Atlantis Hotel. The driver insists that Atlantis has "The biggest aquarium in the world." and "some of the best restaurants in the WORLD." and "some of the largest pools IN THE WORLD!" By the end of the ride, we thought we were walking into the Guinness Book of World Records. When we got there finally, we hit the water - fun waves and a soft sandy beach. The sandiest IN THE WORLD.

After getting washed ashore and our suits filled with the stuff, we walked around the resort. The aquarium (aka huge fishtank) was super impressive, as we saw many sharks, barricudas, a 7 ft. wide stingray, schools of different fish, and the largest fish IN THE WORLD! (at least, that's what this sucker looked like to me). It reminded me why I dont like big fish. When I asked my friend how long she thought the fish was, she looked at her boyfriend and replied, "Well, at least as long as Ron's mom."

All in all, it was a superb cruise. The ship was decent, the rooms were tiny, the food was average, the pools were gross, but it was so much fun - it all comes down to the company you keep.