Luck on the Liberty

"Good morning everyone, this is your ship's cruise director Donkey, the voice from above. Hope you slept well and are ready for your day in the beautiful Bahamas!" Yes, our cruise ship director's name was Donkey, and yes, we were greeted with his slogan "The voice from above" every time he spoke to us. Any time ship announcements were made, Donkey greeted us from the speakers located on the ceiling of our stateroom or speakers scattered throughout the ship. As we rocked to and fro while the boat docked in Nassau, he made a few announcements concerning the day's agenda. Originally, we had not planned on doing any additional excursions, but this changed as Donkey informed us of a few updates.

For those of you who have never cruised, once a cruise docks in a port of call, you can sign up and pay for excursions offered by the ship, which are typically crew led activities such as tours, water activities (scuba diving, boat tours,etc), and much more. These excursions can be costly however, and as we were in Nassau for only a few hours, we decided against paying extra and instead were going to wander along our own route and explore before hopping back onto the Liberty. Donkey, though, let us know of a new excursion, for only $25/piece we could travel to Balmoral Island, Nassau's private beach resort. We stopped down and booked our excursions and then headed into the ship's Venetian Palace Theater to await our guide.

Upon exiting the gangway, we were welcomed to Nassau not just by the crew or the welcome sign, but by the vibrant colors boasted by store fronts and homes in our viewing vicinity. We were escorted to a smaller boat traveling to the island which was about 45 minutes from where the Liberty docked. As the small boat moved closer to the island, the water proceeded to lighten until we finally reached the crystal clear shore of Balmoral Island. The island features Sandals beach resort as the only place to stay, but offers five different tours experiences for those visiting daily. We opted to take the day at our own pace, exploring and relaxing until heading back to the Liberty. With about four hours to take in the beautiful scenery, we waded into the warm clear water on the beach and spent an hour or so taking pictures and collecting stones and shells. After rinsing off in the outdoor showers, we found a few beach chairs to lounge in before boarding our boat back to the Liberty. Besides Carnival passengers, this slightly larger boat also brought back greenery to Nassau's mainland. While the boat ride to the island had been quiet and relaxing, this boat had a fun light atmosphere created by the crew and their music and dancing. The ride back to our docked ship seemed to breeze by as we danced to the Cupid Shuffle, the Wobble and much more. After bidding adieu to the boat's crew, we quickly made our way back towards the Liberty and with one last glance at Nassau, boarded.

Once back aboard the ship, we raced to our room to prepare for our formal night of the cruise. Carnival's quantity of formal nights depends on the length of your cruise. Our 3 day cruise fit within their 2-5 day cruises offering 1 formal night, while cruises having 6 or more days offer 2 formal evenings. Besides having the ship's passengers decked out in elegant attire, the dining hosts sing and dance and the menu's offerings are a bit elevated than the other evenings' meals. Following showtime (the meal's show) we took some photos before changing into some comfier clothing and heading to explore more of the ships activities.

Whilst Courtney and Elizabeth went up to Lido to watch another movie, Allison and I headed to the lobby to partake in the 90's sing along party. It was epic. After the last singalong, we headed back to our stateroom to catch some Z's after our wonderful day in the Bahamas.