Trips and Vacations
 |
| Cruise to Bahamas!!! |
| November 2009 This year for our family vacation, Tess got to pick what we did. Since she was two, she's been asking to go on another cruise. More than half of her life has passed waiting for this to come true... So, we decided to finally give her what we'd been promising for years. She even offered to give up her birthday party next year to cinch the deal. The Carnival Pride cruise ship leaves out of Baltimore, MD - goes to Port Canaveral, FL - then goes to Nassau, Bahamas - then to Freeport, Bahamas - then back to Baltimore. The total trip is 7 days. The best part is that we don't have to fly anywhere or stay in a hotel! Bill and Vicki (Erica's parents) joined us on the cruise and booked the cabin right next to ours. Van (my mother) and her best friend from high school also joined us. Their cabin was one deck below ours and down the hall a little.
|
|
|||||
 Going over the Bay Bridge to get to Baltimore |
 Tess takes a nap before the adventure |
 We take the motor home to the port to add luggage space and split the parking fees |
 Everyone carries their own luggage |
||
 The boat |
 Since I packed light, I get to carry someone else's luggage too |
 The first thing we do is go eat and drink! |
 Drink |
||
 The Mermaid Grille - I don't know if the grille belongs to mermaids, or they grill mermaids |
 Eliza eats French Fries with chopsticks... how multi-cultural |
 She wonders what that pretty drink tastes like |
 Tess gets a hold of a drink umbrella |
||
 Cheers!!! |
 Eliza gets the umbrella |
 Tess gets a fun drink to share |
 Tess got new sunglasses for the trip. They're a little big. |
||
 I get bored and start to color with Tess and Eliza while waiting for our rooms to be ready |
 AKA - "not potable" |
 The girls get set up with their bunk beds... toys on the bottom, sleep up top |
 Tan and Erica are excited |
||
 Erica says "are you ever going to put that camera down?" |
 Grand Atrium - Deck 2 |
 Statue over-looking the adults-only pool on Lido deck aft |
 Family photo! |
||
 Baba and Grammy photo! |
 Funnel and tube slide over Lido deck aft |
 The front of the funnel is mostly glass - looking down into David's, the steakhouse |
 A staircase |
||
 Inside David's steakhouse |
 Leaving Baltimore |
 Tess decorates her bunk with a "cruise ship" themed drawing |
 My feet, on their bunk |
||
 Eliza eats bread, with enthusiasm |
 Erica drinks wine, with enthusiasm |
 I took this picture to remember the brand, it was pretty good |
 Shrimp cocktail |
||
 Some kind of steak, can't remember exactly |
 Linguini and peppers in tomato cream sauce |
 Tan and Erica plus a little wine |
 Half of our table noticed this bull on the ceiling. Everyone had a very different idea of who he looked like. |
||
 Fruit appetizer |
 Crème Caramel with assorted berries |
 My nightly cappuccino |
 While eating pizza on the first night, Tess's loose tooth came out. Here it is. |
||
 One of the hallways outside of the main theatre |
 Staircase leading to Taj Mahal theatre |
 Inside Taj Mahal theatre |
 Some trippy staircase |
||
 Hallway to somewhere else |
 Tess gets bored while others are shopping |
 Van and Lan |
 |
||
|
|||||
 Eliza hanging off the top bunk |
 "Sugar Chunks" cereal, with sugar and rock candy on top |
 Tess shows off her new missing tooth |
 David from the rear |
||
 Out on the deck... we're in the Atlantic!!! |
 Time for my daily face stretches |
 Oh yeah, that's a good one |
 Erica's got a drink, so she's happy |
||
 "Hi, I'm Julie McCoy!" |
 Wind makes everything better |
 Carnival Funnel drink |
 Lifeboats at sea |
||
 Daddy and Eliza |
 Tess shows off her garlic bread |
 Sailing off into the sunset |
 Erica waits for her nail polish to dry before dinner |
||
 Sunset over the Atlantic |
 Erica enjoys the ocean air before dinner |
 TEAM OUT! |
 Nguyen family |
||
 Our table was 237 |
 First formal night |
 Van and Lan |
 Bill and Vicki |
||
 awwwwww.... |
 I don't remember what this was, but it was good |
 Lobster, shrimp, and mashed potatoes. I also had the filet mignon this night |
 Some kind of fish with stuff |
||
 Eliza, Senvil (our head waiter), and Tess |
 Eliza approves |
 Serious stuff... |
 Grand Atrium on formal night |
||
 BFF |
 Me and her |
 We got an elephant on the second night! |
 Tess and Eliza really enjoyed the giant chess board on Lido |
||
 One of my many beers, and Erica's wine |
 Midnight pickle |
 Asleep by the glow of a TV screen |
|||
|
|||||
 Wakey wakey! |
 Eliza tries out a lounge chair |
 "Bright light!" |
 Mini Golf on deck 10 |
||
 Sisterly Love |
 Van and Lan on deck |
 Tess takes a few laps on the jogging track |
 Eliza is not amused. |
||
 Erica gets tired of the camera |
 It's like she's flying! |
 At the pool, the girls wear their matching beach cover-ups. I made those! |
 Ham. |
||
 I prepare to go on Pool Duty |
 Exaggerated excitement!!! |
 Something went wrong |
 Outdoor showers are more fun if you lick them |
||
 Red Bull gives me WINGS! |
 In the Taj Mahal theater |
 Grammy needs her medicine |
 Time for Mommy's medicine |
||
 All I got was this coconut. |
 She's really sleeping. Not just faking it. |
 Eliza likes bread |
 Erica doesn't like the camera |
||
 I told her that this was going on the website, and she refused to smile. I warned her. |
 Huh? |
 Penne Mariscos with seafood cream sauce. Yum |
 This looked good, but sucked beans. Literally (black beans) |
||
 They called this "A study in sushi". They were apparently poor students. Not so good |
 Pretty, but have no idea what it tasted like. It was someone else's. |
 NOM NOM NOM |
 Tender shortribs with their rice buddies, with some peas to make them look thinner. |
||
 Salmon and stuff. Good |
 Tess begging for something |
 We call her "Upchuck 'Liza" |
 I love my Momy |
||
 Warm Chocolate Melting Cake... tastes better than it looks |
 Strawberry cheesecake - it was good, but heavy on the sour cream |
 One of the decks after a rain storm |
 Elevator panel with decks. This is more for my memory than your viewing pleasure |
||
 We got a sea monster... or a brontosaurus... or something |
 Tess won a "Piece of Ship on a stick" by helping out with Bingo |
 They enjoyed the giant chess so much, we brought them back |
 A lonely towel and slippers from someone in the adults-only pool |
||
 Eliza patiently waits as I try to get a clear picture in the dark on a moving ship |
 That's a cloth napkin wrapped around the pole... if you were wondering |
||||
|
|||||
 Port Canaveral from our balcony |
 Eliza doing her "duck walk" |
 Nothing like ice cream for breakfast... |
 Mirror shot |
||
 Nothing like booze for breakfast... |
 Port Canaveral was full of these birds. They came on board and ate anything they could steal on Lido deck |
 Erica going down the escalator. Is it still an "escalator" if it only goes down? |
 Me looking up the escalator |
||
 The ship from the terminal |
 Services to suit all situations |
 A fellow passenger gave us $30 in casino chips to buy her cigarettes from town. We were now on a mission. |
 Us... on a bus... going to town |
||
 At the local mall, there was a great selection of belt buckles. I was very tempted. |
 "Hey, I've never had a hair cut on vacation before!" |
 Continuing a cruise/vacation tradition, Erica bought dried mangos |
 Me, eating mango |
||
 A turtle got stuck between the ship and the dock. He's the turtle-like shape in the water. |
 Looking up the grand atrium from deck 2 |
 Christine came out to see us just before we had to leave. She's the best cousin named Christine living in Florida that I have... bar none. |
 Tess takes a picture of herself after getting tired of waiting for me to do it |
||
 Christine! |
 The FAM (minus me) |
 Mother and daughter, coming to see us off |
 Mom and Lan were thrilled with the Vietnamese food they smuggled on board |
||
 Tess pretends to be super-excited about her ice cream |
 Eliza enjoys her ice cream, again |
 I don't remember what this is. It was probably something with vanilla, and therefore very disgusting. |
 Tess and Eliza find a stairwell to play under |
||
 Our 4th night was "Leisure Suit Bunny" night |
 Bill and Vicki finishing up Bingo, waiting for the next show |
 The girls burned off some energy by having me chase them on the aft deck late at night |
 Tess is really trying to cross her eyes. She's getting better... she's put in a lot of time and effort |
||
 Squishy McSquisherson |
 Eliza (moreso than Tess) likes to be hung upside-down. Weird. |
||||
|
|||||
 Some boat escorting us into Nassau |
 The view coming into port |
 Someone's house... nicey nice |
 Bill taking pictures of me, taking pictures of him |
||
 We could see the Atlantis resort from the port, but we didn't go there this time |
 Speedy hallway photography |
 Carnival Pride from the gangway |
 Carnival Pride photo taken over my shoulder as we walked toward town |
||
 Nana and Tess |
 Van and Lan alternating sides to take pictures |
 Tess looks bored, even though this was her idea |
 Bahamas Royal Police - gotta love those uniforms |
||
 Mom and Lan in downtown Nassau |
 One of the little side shops |
 It was kind of hot. A welcome change from the freezing cold of Maryland |
 Lots of hand decorated straw goods |
||
 More dress and gift shops |
 A street vendor had a table of starfish and a little shark in a bottle |
 I don't know what happened, but Grammy quickly covers Tess's eyes and gasps... |
 Heading into the Nassau straw market |
||
 Eliza is bored |
 Bird in Nassau |
 Carnival Pride from Nassau Straw Market |
 Erica asks for directions to a nearby beach |
||
 We walk through town to the beach |
 ... and see my favorite Bahamas beer |
 Junkanoo Beach in Nassau |
 Mom and Lan take a rest under some trees |
||
 Erica and the girls get in the water. I'm the last one in. |
 Eliza in the sand |
 Tess does ballet on the pier |
 I jump. Tess takes picture |
||
 Right as Mom is talking about drinking out of coconuts as a girl in Vietnam, a coconut vendor walks by. Perfect. |
 Tess B N |
 There's a sound that goes with this picture. Try to guess what it is. |
 Eliza shows me a shell she found. There were many shells. |
||
 Another me jumpy |
 Nothing like the feeling of succeeding at a very simple task |
 Tess drinks out of her first coconut! |
 Jumping on the beach |
||
 More jumping on the beach |
 Kalik... it was cold and a short walk away |
 The beach wasn't far from the port |
 Isn't it funny how kids don't realize that they have knees until about 4 years old? |
||
 Tess doesn't like fresh coconut milk |
 Eliza crashes after the beach |
 Uh... some big "stick your face in here and collect germs" thing in the cruise port |
 Carnival Pride in Nassau at sunset |
||
 Me walking to dinner |
 A light sushi appetizer before hitting the dinning room |
 Don't remember what this was called, how it tasted, or who ordered it |
 "Hot dead animal" doesn't really convey the yummy-ness of hot dead animal |
||
 My mother makes me apologize to Erica's mother for a joke that she wasn't supposed to hear. It was a good one. |
 Dessert stuff with chocolate and raspberry sauce |
 Apple pie - just like Erica's mom made once many many years ago, but never did again. There's a funny story that goes with that. |
 Van and Lan in their PJ's after dinner |
||
 Our room steward, Sergay, was nice enough to leave all of our towel animals, and remake one that he killed the night before |
 Tan and Erica on Lido aft |
 I took my best photo of the moon from the aft deck of a big ship. Dumb luck I guess. |
 Tess and Eliza spend the evening with Mom and Lan while Erica and I go to a show |
||
|
|||||
 At breakfast, Tess cleans her fork before eating |
 Heading back to the room before going ashore |
 Freeport from our balcony. The port is very industrial, and the town is on the other side of the ship |
 "Do you remember where we parked? I don't see our car anywhere..." |
||
 We didn't make it any further than the cruise port. There were taxis to the nearby town, but we didn't go. |
 The cruise terminal and port were very pretty compared to Baltimore and some others. It's small, but nice |
 Bahamas payphone |
 Both of our shore excursions were cancelled on this cruise. The swim-with-stingrays company folded, and the glass bottom boat said the seas were too rough |
||
 Local wood carvings |
 Tourists love conch shells, and the locals don't know what to do with them |
 Eliza gets a "Kare Bear" purse thing with her name on it |
 Bahamas telephone pole in training |
||
 Carnival Fascination as seen from the Carnival Pride. It was backing into it's parking spot near us |
 Carnival Fascination from the Carnival Pride |
 Tess and Eliza putting on a puppet show with their Nassau turtles |
 Tess watching TV |
||
 Eliza watching TV |
 Leaving Freeport |
 Tankers and other ships heading out to sea |
 Freeport pilot boat waiting for the hand-off |
||
 Once we were out of port, we got in the pool. Erica sat this one out. |
 Dolphin-back ride |
 Eliza jumps into the pool under the impression that she won't get water on her face |
 Eliza agrees to let me throw her in the air... again she is under the impression that she won't get water on her face |
||
 Erica plays MacGyver when the heel of her shoe breaks off |
 Tess and Eliza wearing the Chinese dresses that Uncle Harris got them from Hong Kong |
 Eliza being silly. Silly Eliza |
 Tess loves her pasta dinner... Penne Mariscos again |
||
 Shrimp appetizer thing |
 Escargot and garlic bread |
 Eliza falls asleep at the table so we set her up with a little bed |
 Jumbo Shrimp Appetizer thing, a different one |
||
 Some fish entree with a creamy sauce. I don't think it was mine. |
 Tess watches her sister sleep, wondering when she'll have her playmate again |
 Lan, Tess, and Van |
 Some very yummy chocolate dessert I ordered |
||
 Tess and I spent some time coloring and drawing in the cabin |
 Tess and Eliza got a portrait photo from the ship's photographers |
||||
|
|||||
 The girls, Senvil, and Putu on our last dinner night |
 Towel Monkey hanging in our room |
 Erica sits her tea cup next to a sanitizer station. |
 Tess playing with her Bahamian chicken toy |
||
 Eliza hiding from me under the table |
 Tess in a window |
 Waiting for Mommy to come out of the store |
 Eliza checks out the little glass Snow White figures in the display |
||
 Eliza is all of a sudden too tired to climb stairs. She was full of energy just a minute before |
 Eliza looks out over the grand atrium while we go up in the elevator |
 Some pretty drink that Erica had |
 I had some drink... it was good. Don't remember a thing about it, though |
||
 Bill finally wins his "piece of ship on a stick" during the last trivia game. |
 Hmm, I think it was crab cake with plantain sauce |
 Some really good and rare prime rib. Yum. |
 Salmon and Garfunkel |
||
 The waiters all sing "Leaving on a Fun Ship", and Tess gets a little emotional |
 Senvil comes over to console Tess after noticing that she took the song a little harder than most |
 On our last night, we received a towel piggy |
|||
|
|||||
 Tess and Eliza watch as people are herded off the boat in Baltimore |
 Eliza eats her cereal with serious conviction |
 Erica goes through her "preparing to prepare to get off the boat" checklist |
 It was 90 degrees and sunny the day before... and now it's 34 degrees and our car is covered in snow. |
||
 "Why isn't this working!? I can't live like this!" |
 "I guess I'll just have to live with this mediocrity until I get back on the boat." |
 Tess's inner ear misses the boat. It's called "Post Boat Inner-Ear Stress Disorder" |
 We try to console ourselves with Pho and bubble tea. |
||
 Even the dog is bummed about going home |
 Eliza sleeps to get away from the reality of no boat |
 Tess sleeps and has nightmares about getting kicked off the boat |
|||
|
The End |
|||||