OK, I'll admit it. When the alarm went off at 5:50 this morning, I actually questioned whether or not it was worth it to go diving. "Why are we doing this?" and "It's vacation and I'm up before the sun!" definitely crossed my mind. Yeah, I know, once I'm up and going it isn't so bad. It's just that whole getting up early thing. Just let me have some coffee and I'll get over it.
Thinking back on our first trip to Nassau in 2010, we had to get up early as well, but not quite as early as today. We booked a day pass to Atlantis Resort and loved it. An afternoon nap would make up for getting up so early if we really needed one.
Our port times for Nassau today are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. With morning dives booked at Bahama Divers, we really needed to be there as soon as we could get off the ship, grab a taxi and head to the dive shop. The arrival window would be tight, but they'd wait a few extra minutes for us if necessary.
It was just getting light enough to watch our approach into Nassau from our balcony as we waited for first breakfast. I tried to get a good picture of the moon, but it was still a bit too dark for the camera to capture. At least the hotels had plenty of lights on, so I was able to get a decent shot of one of them.
Now that I was up, I enjoyed viewing the scenery as I sipped my coffee. Just a touch of cool in the breeze made it the perfect environment to wake up in. Room service delivered first breakfast right on time. While a breakfast burrito from the Blue Iguana Cantina would've been ideal, I was happy with the pastries. The croissant with butter and orange marmalade is especially pleasing.
This is pretty typical of our first breakfast when we have it delivered. The specific type of muffin and pastry might differ, but otherwise that's what we have. I sure hope Tolkien's estate doesn't take issue with my liberal use of "first breakfast" and "second breakfast." It's just so fitting for what we do!
Our site greeter
Cindy checking out the wall
Hey, look behind you!
Edge of the Lost Blue Hole
Was that cool, or what? The DM is up ahead, pointing to a large turtle. Let's go check it out. Careful now, approach slowly so you don't spook it. This thing is huge! I've never seen remoras on a turtle like that before. Interesting.
Turtle and remoras
Our divemaster decided to give us something funny to shoot. He started blowing "bubble rings." I need to learn how to do that. Looks like fun.
Not smoke rings, but bubble rings
By this point in the dive, we were close enough to the dive boat where we could just swim around on our own, finding interesting fish to video or photograph. Follow me, and let's see what we can find.
How many sharks in this photo?
Two, actually. Look in the background, near the top right of the photo and you'll see another. Remember to look all around, as well as up and down.
Spotted burrfish (?)
One of these days I'll make more of an effort to learn fish recognition. Normally the DM will carry a slate and write down specific fish species or use a hand signal to identify the fish. When finding something on my own that I don't recognize, I'll either ask the DM (or other divers) when we get back on the boat or use a fish identification book I have at home.
There's the downline. Let's go ahead and do our three-minute safety stop and get back on the dive boat.
Bottom time: 40 minutes
Average visibility: 65 feet
I noticed a remarkable similarity between skydivers and scuba divers. Immediately after a dive, be it from a plane or a dive boat, the participants tend to talk animatedly about what they just did. From my skydiving days: "Dude! That was an awesome 8-way we did. We must've turned a dozen points before breakoff." From my recent scuba dives: "Dude! Did you see that huge moray? It was freakin' cool!"
See what I mean?
Our surface interval was a bit shorter than what I'm accustomed to. I'm NOT saying this was bad or a mistake, just shorter than surface intervals we take in Grand Cayman or Cozumel. After we received our pre-dive brief, I understood why it was so short. Our second dive site for the day is Barracuda Reef, with a maximum depth of 30 feet. Our time would be limited to 42 minutes at the most. In fact, they were very specific about it.
I'm generally not a fan of diving to a timetable versus my computer. That's one of several reasons I like using a private dive operator instead of the one through the cruise line. I get it, though. Different areas of the Caribbean do things, well, differently. Most of my perceptions of "Caribbean dive operators" comes from who we use in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Roatan. Yesterday in Freeport and today in Nassau is our first experience diving in the Bahamas. Maybe that's just the way things are done here. No worries, we'll still have fun. We've had a blast so far.
For Barracuda Reef, the boat crew had bags of fish food for sale if we wanted to take some along. A few of the divers purchased a bag of food, but since I would be diving with my GoPro, I thought I'd just shoot video of the others as they fed the fish. Cindy opted not to carry a bag of food either since so many others had some. Our pre-dive brief indicated that this was a horseshoe-shaped reef, and the DM recommended we start at one "point" of it, follow it around the outside, then continue around the inside. The dive boat was moored essentially in the center of the horseshoe.
Are you ready to go, my virtual dive buddy (AKA "reader")? Full tank? Good! Fins on, BCD inflated, mask on, regulator in and off we go! Giant stride entry into the water.
Bottom time: 42 minutes
Thinking back on our first trip to Nassau in 2010, we had to get up early as well, but not quite as early as today. We booked a day pass to Atlantis Resort and loved it. An afternoon nap would make up for getting up so early if we really needed one.
Atlantis Resort
Our port times for Nassau today are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. With morning dives booked at Bahama Divers, we really needed to be there as soon as we could get off the ship, grab a taxi and head to the dive shop. The arrival window would be tight, but they'd wait a few extra minutes for us if necessary.
It was just getting light enough to watch our approach into Nassau from our balcony as we waited for first breakfast. I tried to get a good picture of the moon, but it was still a bit too dark for the camera to capture. At least the hotels had plenty of lights on, so I was able to get a decent shot of one of them.
Some hotel in Nassau
Now that I was up, I enjoyed viewing the scenery as I sipped my coffee. Just a touch of cool in the breeze made it the perfect environment to wake up in. Room service delivered first breakfast right on time. While a breakfast burrito from the Blue Iguana Cantina would've been ideal, I was happy with the pastries. The croissant with butter and orange marmalade is especially pleasing.
Our standard "first breakfast"
This is pretty typical of our first breakfast when we have it delivered. The specific type of muffin and pastry might differ, but otherwise that's what we have. I sure hope Tolkien's estate doesn't take issue with my liberal use of "first breakfast" and "second breakfast." It's just so fitting for what we do!
With such a tight arrival window, I was glad to get off the ship by 7:20 and secure a cab. The drive from the terminal to the dive shop went smoothly and the driver dropped us off right at 7:30. Perfect! We signed in, paid our fees, and were directed out the back door to our boat, the Dreadnought 6. The boat crew helped us aboard and we introduced ourselves to the crew and other divers.
Soon enough we were underway to our first dive site: The Lost Blue Hole. This particular site was literally a large hole, about 50 feet across, extending to about 200 feet. As we were setting up our gear, I learned that one of our fellow divers was an Air Force instructor pilot. It was cool talking to him about flying, especially the "Bone" (B1-B).
Our divemaster ("DM") gave a thorough pre-dive briefing, and left us with: "I don't know why it's called the Lost Blue Hole. We find it every day." Good one, dude! Are you ready? We'll do this just like we did yesterday in Freeport. Inflate your BCD, mask on, regulator in, and let's go!
Cindy (L) and the DM (R) on the downline
Our site greeter
Cindy checking out the wall
Hey, look behind you!
Edge of the Lost Blue Hole
Was that cool, or what? The DM is up ahead, pointing to a large turtle. Let's go check it out. Careful now, approach slowly so you don't spook it. This thing is huge! I've never seen remoras on a turtle like that before. Interesting.
Turtle and remoras
Our divemaster decided to give us something funny to shoot. He started blowing "bubble rings." I need to learn how to do that. Looks like fun.
Not smoke rings, but bubble rings
By this point in the dive, we were close enough to the dive boat where we could just swim around on our own, finding interesting fish to video or photograph. Follow me, and let's see what we can find.
How many sharks in this photo?
Two, actually. Look in the background, near the top right of the photo and you'll see another. Remember to look all around, as well as up and down.
Spotted burrfish (?)
One of these days I'll make more of an effort to learn fish recognition. Normally the DM will carry a slate and write down specific fish species or use a hand signal to identify the fish. When finding something on my own that I don't recognize, I'll either ask the DM (or other divers) when we get back on the boat or use a fish identification book I have at home.
There's the downline. Let's go ahead and do our three-minute safety stop and get back on the dive boat.
Sign for three-minute safety stop
Image used with permission from sportdiver.com
My basic stats for the Lost Blue Hole:
Max depth: 92 feet
Average visibility: 65 feet
I noticed a remarkable similarity between skydivers and scuba divers. Immediately after a dive, be it from a plane or a dive boat, the participants tend to talk animatedly about what they just did. From my skydiving days: "Dude! That was an awesome 8-way we did. We must've turned a dozen points before breakoff." From my recent scuba dives: "Dude! Did you see that huge moray? It was freakin' cool!"
See what I mean?
Our surface interval was a bit shorter than what I'm accustomed to. I'm NOT saying this was bad or a mistake, just shorter than surface intervals we take in Grand Cayman or Cozumel. After we received our pre-dive brief, I understood why it was so short. Our second dive site for the day is Barracuda Reef, with a maximum depth of 30 feet. Our time would be limited to 42 minutes at the most. In fact, they were very specific about it.
I'm generally not a fan of diving to a timetable versus my computer. That's one of several reasons I like using a private dive operator instead of the one through the cruise line. I get it, though. Different areas of the Caribbean do things, well, differently. Most of my perceptions of "Caribbean dive operators" comes from who we use in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Roatan. Yesterday in Freeport and today in Nassau is our first experience diving in the Bahamas. Maybe that's just the way things are done here. No worries, we'll still have fun. We've had a blast so far.
For Barracuda Reef, the boat crew had bags of fish food for sale if we wanted to take some along. A few of the divers purchased a bag of food, but since I would be diving with my GoPro, I thought I'd just shoot video of the others as they fed the fish. Cindy opted not to carry a bag of food either since so many others had some. Our pre-dive brief indicated that this was a horseshoe-shaped reef, and the DM recommended we start at one "point" of it, follow it around the outside, then continue around the inside. The dive boat was moored essentially in the center of the horseshoe.
Are you ready to go, my virtual dive buddy (AKA "reader")? Full tank? Good! Fins on, BCD inflated, mask on, regulator in and off we go! Giant stride entry into the water.
Scuba selfie!
I'm really not vain, but the older model GoPro I use doesn't have a display on the back. I like to turn the camera around so I can visually verify that it's recording. Some family members though, often encourage me to take more selfies since I'm usually the one holding the camera.
Our welcoming committee?
Yellowtail snapper
Cindy selfie
Multiple species here
Grouper
Continuing along the "horseshoe"
"Can we buddy up with y'all?"
As Cindy and I approached another dive pair, Ryan (the Air Force dude) signaled us to ask if they could tag along. Absolutely! The more the merrier. It's also proper to let Army lead the way over Air Force. Just sayin'...
We must be at Ft. Bliss
I know many of y'all reading this are probably wondering about that last caption. Yep, this is another one of those esoteric references my wife is always fussing at me about. I'll explain the caption in my next blog but would love to see what your guess is. Please leave a comment below (in this blog, not where I posted the link) with your best guess. I'll give the one who supplies the first correct answer a shoutout in the following blog. This should be interesting!
Heading back to the dive boat
This is one of the few Caribbean dives where we don't need to do an official safety stop. Our average depth for this dive was around 22 feet. Basically, the whole dive was a safety stop. The crew said 42 minutes max for the dive and as soon as my dive computer indicated 42 minutes we began our ascent to the surface. I climbed back onto the boat with 1625 psi of gas still in my tank.
My basic stats for Barracuda Reef:
Max depth: 26 feet
Average visibility: 50 feet
To paraphrase Forrest Gump: And just like that, our diving and port days were over for this cruise. We broke down our dive gear and stuffed it back inside the bag on our way back to the dive shop. Like we did in Freeport, we'd rinse all of our gear in the Lido showers back on the ship. The dive shop gave us a ride back to the cruise terminal, and we were back on the ship right at 1 p.m.
Number one on our list was to drop off our gear in the cabin and go up to Lido for lunch. Both of us were quite hungry, so rinsing our gear could wait a few minutes. Priorities, you know.
Cindy had been mulling over whether or not to try a lobster roll from Carnival's new dining venue called Seafood Shack. This is one of those additional fee places, so she was initially hesitant. "Oh, just make like a rodent and gopher it," I encouraged.
Go ahead and get all those groans out of the way now. I'll wait.
Better?
About the time she decided to snag that lobster roll, we found Keith and Barbara heading up to the BBQ place for their lunch. We chatted briefly, and I let them know we'd join them after we got our lunches. I decided a Cuban sandwich would be perfect, so off to the deli I went.
No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. The fries in the foreground are smaller than the ones in the background. The smaller fries are from Guy's Burgers and are crispier than the ones included with the sandwich. I mixed a little BBQ sauce with the ketchup to dip my fries in and carried my plate up to deck 10 to join Keith and Barbara.
Oh, wow! That Cuban was delicioso! Was I tempted to get another? Of course! Did I? Nope, not with the selection of desserts available just a few steps from the stairs. Carnival does a good job with their chocolate chip cookies, too. Care to join me at the dessert station?
Dessert trio
To paraphrase Forrest Gump: And just like that, our diving and port days were over for this cruise. We broke down our dive gear and stuffed it back inside the bag on our way back to the dive shop. Like we did in Freeport, we'd rinse all of our gear in the Lido showers back on the ship. The dive shop gave us a ride back to the cruise terminal, and we were back on the ship right at 1 p.m.
Number one on our list was to drop off our gear in the cabin and go up to Lido for lunch. Both of us were quite hungry, so rinsing our gear could wait a few minutes. Priorities, you know.
Cindy had been mulling over whether or not to try a lobster roll from Carnival's new dining venue called Seafood Shack. This is one of those additional fee places, so she was initially hesitant. "Oh, just make like a rodent and gopher it," I encouraged.
Go ahead and get all those groans out of the way now. I'll wait.
Better?
About the time she decided to snag that lobster roll, we found Keith and Barbara heading up to the BBQ place for their lunch. We chatted briefly, and I let them know we'd join them after we got our lunches. I decided a Cuban sandwich would be perfect, so off to the deli I went.
Cuban sandwich
No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. The fries in the foreground are smaller than the ones in the background. The smaller fries are from Guy's Burgers and are crispier than the ones included with the sandwich. I mixed a little BBQ sauce with the ketchup to dip my fries in and carried my plate up to deck 10 to join Keith and Barbara.
Oh, wow! That Cuban was delicioso! Was I tempted to get another? Of course! Did I? Nope, not with the selection of desserts available just a few steps from the stairs. Carnival does a good job with their chocolate chip cookies, too. Care to join me at the dessert station?
Dessert trio
This trio of yum provided a tasty finish to lunch. On the left is a citrus napoleon. Proceeding clockwise you'll find a couple of chocolate chip cookies, and continuing around the plate reveals a Dutch apple cheesecake. The flaky layers of the napoleon combined with the tart, lemony filling definitely won the taste battle over the cheesecake. The cheesecake was good, but not quite up to the level of the napoleon. And the cookies? Both of them disappeared and a few more magically appeared to accompany us back to the cabin.
Would you believe me if I said that we had every intention of taking our dive gear up to Lido to rinse it off? We did, really! Between the early wakeup and a good lunch, the sleepy germ infected both of us and just a short little rest on the balcony would be just the thing before we went up on deck. That was the plan, anyway.
Would you believe me if I said that we had every intention of taking our dive gear up to Lido to rinse it off? We did, really! Between the early wakeup and a good lunch, the sleepy germ infected both of us and just a short little rest on the balcony would be just the thing before we went up on deck. That was the plan, anyway.
I wonder if we could rent this house
I have no idea who owns this house, but I bet it would make a great place to rent for a week of diving in Nassau. It was visible from our balcony and I thought just how cool it would be to hang out there as sleep overtook us. Hard. Ninety minutes later I managed to claw my way up from the depths of blissful slumber. Glancing at my watch and...
Uh ohh....
Sailaway and dinner were rapidly approaching. By now the Lido pools would be getting crowded so rinsing our gear would have to be first thing in the morning. After breakfast. It's a sea day, so we should be fine if we get it done in the morning. We can watch sailaway and get cleaned up for dinner.
Tugboat to assist us from the pier
Lines dropped and we were underway just after 5. Thankfully we departed on time so we could watch sailaway and still get to dinner by 6. I like having a cabin near the aft. Being so close to the MDR allows us a few extra minutes to do what we want or need to do.
Interesting lighthouse
We passed by this little lighthouse as we departed Nassau. After visiting the other lighthouse in Key West, I was curious about the history of this one. It did make for some good photo ops, regardless of its history.
Farewell, Nassau
Nassau receded into the distance as Cindy and I made our way to dinner. Keith and Barbara had just sat down, and we traded stories of our day as we looked over the menu. There are some good choices tonight!
With two sea days ahead, and diving finished for this cruise, I treated myself to a pre-dinner cocktail.
Island Rum Punch
This "Island Rum Punch" consisted of rum (duh!), pineapple juice, orange juice and grenadine. Tasty! The thought briefly crossed my mind to order a second one, but at $9.25 per drink, I satisfied myself with iced tea after finishing the first drink.
Appetizer: Cannelloni
Ricotta, bacon, shaved parmesan
This cheesy pasta, accented by a rich tomato sauce served admirably as the start of my dinner. I appreciated the fact that the pasta wasn't overcooked and mushy.
Entree: Caribbean Pepper Steak
Tender strips of marinated steak, peppers, red onions and pineapple.
Served with fried plantains.
Oh, yeah, baby! This is definitely another keeper. The beef was tender and exquisitely seasoned. Combined with the pineapple chunks, it reminded me of a Caribbean-Asian fusion. Too bad I can't get this at a local restaurant.
Dessert: Double Roasted Pineapple
White wine stewed pineapple
The menu didn't mention it was served with cream, and I forgot about it since I had it on the last cruise. I ordered some vanilla ice cream to accompany the pineapple dessert. Pineapple is my favorite fruit, and I enjoy it prepared in almost any fashion.
Pleasantly full, we returned to the cabin to change out of our dinner wear. We had about half an hour before the "Name that Spooky Tune Trivia" started in the main lounge. Remember, we did this cruise the week before Halloween, even though I'm just now posting each day's events. I took a few minutes to sit outside on the balcony and enjoy a full moon reflecting off the water.
Beautiful night
That photo does absolutely no justice to just how pretty it was. Then again, I did take this from my phone, so it was still better than what I hoped for. On the horizon was another cruise ship, although I have no idea which one it was. I don't even know which cruise line it belonged to. Yes, this is at full zoom.
Who are you?
Cindy and I arrived early enough to get good seats for the spooky tune trivia, as well as the "Spook-Tacular Bingo" and the Love and Marriage Show to follow. Keith and Barbara showed up just as bingo ended, so we all sat together for the Love and Marriage Show.
Cruise Director Emma
Our CD Emma hosted the spooky tune trivia and the Love and Marriage Show. I wrote previously about this show on our last cruise. You can find the whole blog here, but if you don't want to read all of it, I'll repeat the most important details.
For those not familiar with this show, the CD will host the Love & Marriage Show once per cruise. He or she normally selects the most recently wed couple, the longest-wed couple and something in between. She'll then bring them on stage, sitting back to back, and ask them a series of questions. Much like TV's The Newlywed Game, these questions are definitely adult in nature, so Carnival restricts minors from the show. You can just imagine how funny some of their answers (and reactions) are.
For those not familiar with this show, the CD will host the Love & Marriage Show once per cruise. He or she normally selects the most recently wed couple, the longest-wed couple and something in between. She'll then bring them on stage, sitting back to back, and ask them a series of questions. Much like TV's The Newlywed Game, these questions are definitely adult in nature, so Carnival restricts minors from the show. You can just imagine how funny some of their answers (and reactions) are.
Love and Marriage Show
As expected, some of their answers were hilarious, and everyone seemed to have a great time. I'm always curious after these shows what kinds of conversations the contestants have once they get back to their own cabin.
Ben Gentry has the night off from the piano bar, so off to the comedy club we went. Keith and Barbara decided to join us for the comedy show and all four of us made the trek from one end of the ship to the other. On the schedule for tonight is John Wessling. Much like the other comedian we saw earlier, Chris Wiles, we weren't that familiar with Mr. Wessling. I'm glad we went, though, as his show was fantastic. He was especially relatable because he's originally from the Rio Grande Valley, where I spent a lot of time throughout my life. I think he was a bit surprised when I asked him when he last ate at El Pato's. That's a local chain in the Valley that I really wish would make its way to our area. It's not known outside of the Valley unless you've just happened to eat there.
John's show wrapped up and we called it a night. Yeah, we had a nap in the afternoon, but that early wake-up started making itself felt. We are so sleeping in these next two days!
Here is the whole Freedom blog series so far:
Back to the Bahamas on the Carnival Freedom
Day 2: Our First Fun Day at Sea on the Carnival Freedom
Day 3: Key West on the Carnival Freedom
John's show wrapped up and we called it a night. Yeah, we had a nap in the afternoon, but that early wake-up started making itself felt. We are so sleeping in these next two days!
Here is the whole Freedom blog series so far:
Back to the Bahamas on the Carnival Freedom
Day 2: Our First Fun Day at Sea on the Carnival Freedom
Day 3: Key West on the Carnival Freedom
Coming up next is our second fun day at sea, as well as our second formal night at dinner, and you can find it right....here.
Until next time.....
carpe cerevisi
wonderful trip! I have a friend going on her first in March, with Royal Carribean. What do you think of the differences between the cruise lines, Patrick?
ReplyDeleteWe've only cruised on Carnival (multiple times) and Holland America Line (twice). We haven't experienced Royal Caribbean yet. I think most differences are a matter of personal taste/preference.
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