Spring Breakaway: Cruise Excursions and Activities (Part 3)

 

If you were to go on a cruise, 

would you choose it for the ship's destinations, 

or just for the experience of cruising?

One of the reasons we were reluctant

to commit to this cruise,

was that the ports-of-call didn't excite us.

The Norwegian Breakaway was to make three stops...

one in Florida, and two in the Bahamas.

Not that there's anything wrong with those places...

they just didn't float our boat, so to speak.

But, ultimately, we decided that leaving from NY,

and the ship itself,

trumped the destinations.

Nevertheless, we still took advantage of some of the land excursions.

After 48 hours on board, our feet needed to feel solid ground. 

On Tuesday afternoon, we arrived in Port Canaveral, Florida. 

  We booked an excursion to go to the Kennedy Space Center.

It's pretty contained, and it was not at all crowded.

First stop was the Rocket Garden...

   

Even though Junior Goo Shoes does his best 
to make us think he's so grown up,

it makes me smile that he can 

still act like a kid and climb into stuff 
when the opportunity presents itself.

The Atlantis Space Shuttle exhibit 
was the highlight of the space center.
I'm glad we saved it for last. 

I don't want to ruin it for you,
but let's just say it's akin 
to watching a documentary about Bruce Springsteen,
and when it's over, 
out he walks, onto the stage. 
Alright, maybe not that exciting,
but very well done, and quite dramatic.

The Atlantis exhibit was right after it poured down buckets.
And of course, as soon as I bought three rain panchos, it stopped.

On Wednesday, our destination was Great Stirrup Cay, 
in the Bahamas, which is Norwegian's private island.

I took this photo of it from the ship.

We were not docked, 
so we had to take tenders to get to the island. 

It took only few minutes, before we had our toes in the sand.

There's the ship in the background.

 This is as much of me on the beach
that I'll ever show you.

 
 We didn't stay long. 
The weather looked kind of threatening.
It was worth going, though,
if only to get fun pictures of the Breakaway.

Our port-of-call on Thursday, was Nassau, Bahamas. 
It was the one and only gorgeous, sunny day all week!

Paradise Island, Bahamas

 We didn't book an excursion for that day.
Our plan was to walk over to the Hilton Hotel 
and spend the day at their beach.
But, we decided to enjoy the ship while everyone else was off.

We did disembark and walk around Nassau for a bit.
 I had to cajole Junior GS into posing in front of the Breakaway 
to get some perspective on its size.
He didn't want to, but when he saw it, he said, "Whoa."

Junior Goo Shoes went off to be with his friends.
Mr. Goo Shoes and I hung out for the rest of the afternoon 
on The Best Spot on the entire ship.

And we had it all to ourselves!

We had a beautiful view of Paradise Island.

 The next two days, we were back at sea,

headed up the coast to New York.

There was plenty to do on board the ship...
Bowling, shopping, trivia contests;
seminars on everything from how to apply beauty products, 
to how to use a digital camera;
and classes, such as how to fold napkins to

cake decorating, which was a blast.

But, Friday...

oh, Friday was the best day of the entire cruise!

Would you believe that I was the Jackpot Bingo winner?

Yup, I was! 

I won the whole enchilada!

And it was a gigantic enchilada!

See that red card I'm holding?

The game was to get an X, 

and I was the only one who got it!
Oh, Happy Day!

Thank goodness Mr. Goo Shoes was with me...

I was so stunned, I almost forgot to yell 

" BINGO!"

But he yelled it for me.
I think you could hear him 'round the world!

 Not a bad way to end our Spring Breakaway!

 

Oh, and as for how we rated our vacation on this 
"gi-gunda" floating city?

On a scale of 1-10, we had two 9's and an 8.5,

with points deducted mostly because of weather, 

and a few minor glitches we encountered.

Would we do it again?

The short answer is a qualified Yes.

Mr. Goo Shoes and I would actually prefer 
a smaller ship, cruising through Europe, perhaps. 
But as far as a family vacation...
mega-ships are sure please a teenager, 
which is no easy feat.

Aye-Aye, Captain!

 

(I was not compensated in any way for this post). 

You May Also Like:

  Spring Break-Away: Our Cruise Ship Departs (Pt. 1) 

  Spring Break-Away: Touring The Cruise Ship (Pt. 2)

Restin' At The Westin in Grand Cayman

We just came back from our week-long spring break vacation. Not a lot of thought or research went into planning this one, as we pretty much were headed wherever our Starwood Preferred Guest hotel points would take us.  The ground rules for this trip were that it had to be a non-stop flight not longer than four hours, the hotel had to be located on a great beach, and no rental car was needed. It would be an added bonus if it was someplace we’d never been before.  We plugged in our requirements, and out popped the The Westin Seven Mile Beach Resort in Grand Cayman.  After a few cursory checks on Tripadvisor, we booked our reservations. 

The hotel and the island did not disappoint.  The world-renowned Seven Mile Beach was glorious.  Soft white sand and calm turquoise waters were just as the pictures promised.  The Westin’s beachfront was probably the nicest of any in the area. There was plenty of room on the beach to spread out, but there were surprisingly few beach umbrellas available.  Rumor had it that they were all claimed by 6:00am.  I don’t know about you, but for me, it kind of ruins the vacation mojo if you have to set your alarm for 5:30am, and do a mad dash in your pajamas to lay claim to some sandy real estate.  We decided to bite the banana and rent a cabana for the week.  Ah well, whatever money we had saved by using our hotel points, we plunked down for a guaranteed, daily patch of shade. 

The hotel itself was as we expected – comfortable, but not fancy.  The beds were not quite as heavenly as in other Westins, but good enough.  Thanks to our SPG gold status, our room was upgraded to Ocean View.  Had it not been, we would have had a lovely view of the street. That would have been a big downer for me.  After all, half the joy of a tropical vacation is sitting on the terrace, looking at the sea.  And this particular terrace came with sunset views.  Perfection. 

Although we’ve been on many Caribbean island family vacations, this one was unique in a few ways.  Not unique in the physical sense of the island, but more in the way of my own personal mindset.  This was the first beach vacation we were taking since I left my job, so for once, I wasn’t high-tailing it down to the Caribbean with a brain and body more burned than out than a California wildfire. I found that I had pretty much unwound by the time Happy Hour had arrived on Day 1. 

And… it was our first tropical vacation with a TEENAGER in tow. 

It used to be that we’d go on vacation and try to find a “friend” for Junior Goo Shoes to hang out with, so he wouldn’t be bored.  We were almost always successful, especially the time in Aruba when we met a wonderful family from Pittsburg, who we are still in touch with.  But now, he seemed to be content hanging with us on the beach, working on his tan, and entertaining himself by reading or watching a movie on the iPad.  He did find ways to escape the presence of his parents, by heading up to the room in the afternoon, or down to the lobby at night for some ooVoo with his friends.  If we happened to invade his space, he’d snap that laptop shut faster than an alligator’s jaws on its dinner. His phone was a constant companion, but we insisted that he shut it during meals so we could have actual conversations.  I don’t know why I found this surprising, but entire families sat glued to their own personal devices in restaurants, without a word between them, and I was damned if we were going to be one of those. 

Speaking of restaurants, OMG, were they pricey! The value of the US dollar was comparable to being in Europe, adding on about 25% to everything we spent.  Prices for taxis and restaurants were not for the feint of heart.  We did go to a couple of restaurants worth mentioning.  Calypso Grill had a real Caribbean vibe and great food; The Wharf had a beautiful outdoor setting on the water, complete with a school of tarpons swimming just below. It was a perfect choice for our last night. By the end of our one-week stay, I’d eaten conch (say it like a local – it’s “conk”) in every imaginable way – conch chowder, conch fritters, conch stew, conch muffins, conch ice cream…I’m conched out!

Travelling with our teenager turned out to be just fine. We didn’t once hear him say he was bored. He had a great time swimming in the sea…that is, until he got stung by a jellyfish or something.  Then it took some cajoling to get him to go back in, but eventually he did.  He and Mr. Goo Shoes went out for a couple of spins on a jet ski, and we all headed out on a short tour of the area, the highlight of which was a trip to the world’s only turtle farm.  And then, just for the hell of it, we went to Hell and back on a tour bus. Seriously! It's a tiny town in the West Bay area that boasts a jagged formation of rock that looks like it's the remains of a hell fire.  And what would Hell be without a post office and gift shop?  Not surprising, it was hot as... I could go on and on with the Hell jokes.
   

As for the island itself, it is one we would definitely go back to.  Seven Mile Beach…well, it’s not world-renowned for nothing.


Have you been to Grand Cayman? What is your favorite Caribbean island? I'd love to hear!


Linking With:
Weekend Travel Inspiration
Our World Tuesday