Bahamas Cruise: What to Expect

Five days in the Bahamas, four friends, three ice cream cones a day, and two very happy couples celebrating one year of marriage. Our week in a nutshell. Last week we hopped on the Carnival Victory Cruise Ship with our friends Kylee and Trever and set out from Port Canaveral for a belated anniversary cruise. 

Trever was actually Tayler’s mission companion, and he and Kylee got married just three months before us so they’ve been our go-to married friends from the start. When they invited us to join them for a week in the Bahamas, I was ecstatic because Tayler has never been on a cruise before. Guys, Tayler is ALWAYS a step ahead of me with life experiences, so it was exciting for me to be the one on the inside for once.

If you’ve never been on a cruise, I highly suggest trying it at least once. It’s the perfect relaxing vacation. Generally Tayler and I prefer traveling and exploring new places rather than beach vacations, but every now and then you need a lazy, lounge in your swimsuit by the water all day vacation. 

On cruises, each day is designated as either a port or sea day. When you port at a city, you are free to roam about the place and take part in shore excursions (like snorkeling, horseback riding, paragliding, etc) until the evening when the cruise ship is scheduled to leave.

We ported at Freeport the first day, Nassau the second, and Half Moon Cay the third. Our fourth day was a sea day. Taking the advice of a friend, we decided to stay on the boat at the island of Freeport because you have to pay for a taxi to get the beach. It was a wise choice because we had the ship-the swimming pool, Jacuzzis and mini golf- to ourselves.

 Our days were filled with beaches, buffets, and sea breezes. We planned our shore excursion for Nassau, and chose the Clear Kayak and Snorkeling adventure-pretty self explanatory. We boarded a ferry that took us out into the ocean, loaded us into our kayaks, and let us paddle around and gape at the schools of fish swimming underneath us. It seemed a little shady to be honest! Locals ran the excursion and they took us pretty far out into the ocean to a bay that had THREE boats shipwrecked against the rocks. Comforting right? ;) I don’t understand tides but something funny must go on there. There was also an old shipwreck on the bottom of the ocean, and with our transparent kayaks and the clear turquoise water we could look down and see it perfectly. A little eerie, but very cool.

For the first hour we kayaked, and the second hour we tried snorkeling. I’ve never snorkeled before in my life and I. Was. Terrified. To submerge your face in water and then suck in a breath?! I had a little anxiety attack every time I did it, it’s just so contrary to common sense. Tayler has done it before (remember that life experience thing I said earlier?), and he was diving all over the place while I just kind of tredded water, occasionally ducking my head in to see if any fish were creeping up on me. Seeing schools of fish was cool, but I definitely didn’t want them to get too close. 

Tayler and I loved the Dive In movies they did every night. It became a ritual to get some hot cocoa and ice cream (makes sense right?) from the always open buffet, grab our beach towel, and cozy up in a beach chair. 

Five days of cruising and sunning later, we arrived back in Florida! Off to our next adventure-San Antonio, Texas, where Tayler will be selling pest control for the summer. Probably be smart to make some money this summer ya know? Haha wish us luck!