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This was to be our last full cruise day. We would have been depressed at this prospect, had we not had such a great time and active schedule up to this point. We tried breakfast in the dining room for a change and liked it. The dining room doesn’t offer the variety of fruit and pastries served on the buffet, but it was nice to be waited on. Waiters passed trays of pastries every couple of minutes. I also had a Spanish omelet and hash browns, probably the same as on the buffet but prettied up more for individual serving. A brief disembarkation talk was held at 10:30 in the theater. We learned what would happen the next morning as we left Century and headed for home. After some walking around, we ate lunch in the dining room: grilled zucchini and roasted red pepper in vinaigrette, minestrone, grilled calves’ liver (with bacon, onions, mushroom caps, fried potatoes, and a grilled tomato half) and Key lime pie for dessert. We docked in Nassau right on time, watching land draw closer through the large dining room windows as we ate lunch. We heeded a fellow passenger's advice and took a water taxi (about 15 minutes, cost $2.50 per person) from the Straw Market and dock area to Paradise Island. The hotel there (Atlantis, I believe) had an enormous casino, a walk-through aquarium, an adventure trail, and a picture-perfect beach with teal and light green water. You could spend a lot of pleasurable time just hanging around this area. I recommend this as an inexpensive and fun side trip, I only wish we’d brought our swimsuits, as the water was stunningly pretty. Lots of cruise passengers took the same trip, enjoying walking around the hotel, gambling in the casino, looking in awe at the walk-through aquarium that would do Sea World proud, and sitting on the beach watching the sunbathers and parasailers. Looking was free, but don’t go there hungry or thirsty: tuna sandwiches were $9, a medium pizza $21 on special. We took the water taxi back to the Straw Market, an open-air market right by the ship’s dock. As in the other ports, several cruise ships were lined up, including Century. Maybe we were biased, but we thought Century was the most elegant in design and color of all of them, and the only one showing real wood (on the handrails around the decks.) Some of the other folks on the taxi commented on how nice it looked, and how they had heard Celebrity served the best food of all of them. We didn’t argue! |
Most Straw Market merchants sell some real handcrafted items, even weaving hats and baskets right in front of you instead of importing them from China. You can negotiate prices, which is fun, but the "bottom line" price always ends up being about the same from one shop to another. Vendors approached us as we walked around, trying to get us to buy, but at least they were friendlier and more relaxed than those in St. Thomas and St. Maarten. They call out as you pass: "Braid your hair, pretty girl" and "Handsome, let me make you a deal on these shirts." Since we were again tired and hot, we walked back onto Century in time to get cleaned up and cooled down for dinner. This last night was casual. I had Bahamian conch fritters, chicken consomme, heart of lettuce and tomato salad, roast pork loin (with caramelized apples, Calvados sauce, applesauce, roasted onions, roasted potato, and green beans) and some kind of apple custard type dessert with rum-raisin ice cream (with enough rum in it to taste like a cocktail!) Being our last night, it was time to say goodbye to Piotr and Mustafa. We left our tips and thanks, with best wishes all around, and took a final picture. Walking out that last time was like leaving family. Maybe worse, since our family doesn’t serve us like those guys did. Our last chore for the night was to pack our bags and leave them outside the cabin for pickup at midnight. You keep a small carry-on bag with whatever clothes and cosmetics you will need prior to picking up your luggage once off the ship. Celebrity provides colored labels that represent your debarkation priority and luggage pickup area. We hated to miss any last-minute activities, since it was our last chance. Knowing we needed to be up at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, however, we took a last walk around the now-silent deck under the stars and then headed off to bed at around 10:30, passing up the last show of the cruise.<< Previous page >> Next page |
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