Summer of 2000 Vacation
Well, it's been about 9 years since I've had a real vacation, so
I planned this back in June as a birthday present for Deidra (oooow, a
teenager on July 9).
We got a DisneyWorld / Bahamas cruise package from Premier Cruise lines.
3 nights in Orlando and 4 nights on the ship. We were gone from July 21
to 28.
Pictures follow, but here's an itinerary of what we did...
Friday, July 21
We did Magic Kingdom on Friday after getting our rental car and
finding the hotel.
Saturday, July 22
Spent all day Saturday at Epcot Center.
Sunday, July 23
Sunday at Disney MGM Studios. Rode all the good rides, watched some shows, saw lots
of fireworks.
Monday, July 24
Monday morning we drove to Cape Canaveral and got the the
Kennedy Space Center around 9am. Took a bus tour with a few stops, saw an
IMAX movie, and headed for Port Canaveral about 2pm. Got checked in and
on the ship, found our cabin, and set out about 5pm. I found the casino
while Deidra found the teenage group called the Sharks -
which had their own itinerary for the whole cruise.
Tuesday, July 25
We arrived in Nassau
about noon on Tuesday. I'd signed up for "Thriller", which was about a
one-hour ride on a power boat. Four 250HP outboard engines. Quite a bit
of fun, and a real bumpy ride through the waves. The thing sped along at
what seemed like a 45 degree angle. After that we wandered around the
little shops on the main drag in Nassau and Deidra got a chunk of her hair
braided and beaded.
Wednesday, July 26
Wednesday at 8am we took a tender out to the little
island of Salt Cay (pronounced "key") and spent the whole day there. The
ship's crew prepared lunch for everybody in the pavillion, and we swam in
the ocean and picked up shells (and got a little sunburned despite the
SPF39). Some groups snorkeled or scuba'ed, others did the "Dolphin
Encounter" or "Stingray City Snorkel", while still others went on a
glass-bottomed boat tour. We opted for parasailing. I'd never been
before, and it looked pretty neat. Deidra was a little nervous but tried
not to show it. It was a lot less exciting than I hoped, but still fun,
and real pretty. They just winch you up from a sitting position, and
bring you right back down on the back of the boat. I could have taken my
camera with me. Later, we saw some of the other people that were
parasailing getting dunked in the ocean, and I was a little disappointed
that I hadn't known I could ask them to do that. Our tender headed back
for Nassau at 2pm, and we had plenty of time to get ready for the formal
dinner onboard that night. We set sail back for Port Canaveral at 5pm,
and after dinner, Deidra went with the teens and Ron went to the casino.
I love blackjack, and spent quite a bit of time playing. All told,
for the whole trip, I came out $40 ahead, or $20 behind if you count the 3
$20 entries into the blackjack tournament. (Top seven players play in the
final, I was in the #4 slot until the last half hour of qualifications,
when lots of people were bumped. Winner got $1150.)
Thursday, July 27
Thursday we were at
sea all day. I watched a couple of shows, played a little more blackjack,
and met Deidra for dinner. We had to have our bags outside our cabins by
midnight, and just keep the essentials for the last morning.
Friday, July 28
Friday
morning (early) they dropped anchor for a few hours out in the middle of
the Atlantic. I guess that makes the schedule work better, and it's
cheaper to "park" in the middle of the ocean than at port. Pulled into
Port Canaveral and docked about 6:30am. We had breakfast at 7am, then
hung out in the lounges waiting for the customs and immigration people to
clear the ship. Then we waddled off, found our bags, and went through
customs. Found the rental car, loaded up the bags, and headed back to
Orlando. Got to the airport about 2 1/2 hours before our flight (which
turned out to be nearly an hour late), so spent some time napping in the
airport lounge. Got back to Dallas around 3pm, found a Super Shuttle, and
got home before 5pm.
Unpacked, started some laundry, went and rescued our cats from boarding at
the vet, went through the stack of mail the PO had been holding, turned on
the computer to find that it had actually stayed up the whole time with no
problems. Checked email. Listened to phone messages. Back to reality.
<sigh>
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This page last updated March 14, 2006
