I’m sailing on this ship to Nassau and the cruise line’s private island. I’m pretty sure it’s an atoll or possibly a sandbar. The water isn’t very deep here. I haven’t mastered the terminology yet but I’m learning as I go. And I’m learning again every other day.
“Dementia.”
What?
Well, my friends are referring to this place as the refurbished island. I guess they have already heard of it.
“From you!”
This place they are calling Ocean Cay, used to be an industrial sand mining operation. They flashed a picture of what it used to look like on a show in the room TV and it was barely recognizable beyond the shape of it.
Cay is a type of island, so calling it Ocean Cay really isn’t very creative. If they are gonna be lazy like that then ‘The Refurbished Island’ fits.
“That’s your opinion. I’ve heard the other cruise lines have islands too. Maybe better.”
The waters are an amazing white and aqua color, 84 degrees, with white sandy beaches. It is a coral nursery now and after only a couple years there is new coral growing and lots of fish make their home in the lagoons they created.
The whole place seems empty. This is what ‘exclusive’ must feel like.
Anywhere you like, no waiting. Drag the lounger under a tree if you like. It is white sand everywhere and this sand doesn’t have coral rocks or anything sharp in it.
“It is purer than the Columbian yaya we just came from.”
The ship is parked right there. It couldn’t be any more convenient. Walk on and off anytime. And we stayed overnight so that made it very nice to hop on and off the whole time. Eat on the ship, lay on the beach, a freshwater shower and clean clothes right there with you.
Fun fact: bahamas means shallow waters so if I say I’m in bahamas I could be in a swimming pool, hot tub, or even a bathtub. THE Bahamas is a place. Details matter.
Details like this shark net matter too. It keeps the sharks out of the lagoons. Great idea! I wonder if something bad had to happen before they thought to put them there.
“Getting eaten by a shark is so 70’s.”
“That’s a nice font. Fonts matter.”
There are signs on the ocean facing beaches. Read ‘your own risk’ and ‘no lifeguard’. Your first though might be drowning. That’s possible I guess, but I think it really means discovering your personal status amongst the ocean creatures the hard way. And of course, no lifeguard is code for no legal liability for your personal decisions in these matters.
You might end like these fish swimming in the surf, they never see it coming!
Listen to the music playing.
There are Bose speakers along the path. The music changes as you walk around. When you hear the type of music you like, you have found your spot!
It was windy today so the open ocean sports were closed but the lagoons were relatively calm and you could find many spots around the cay that had just the right breeze you wanted. The wind brought cooler temps. It was only 75 today but the water is still 84 and, in the sunshine, it was just fine with a shirt on. This is a beautiful place and I’m happy to spend two days here. Sure beats that Motel6.
There are so many places to be on this little island, and they are all very beautiful to be looking at.
Even though the ship is just a short walk away and has those free baloney sandwiches the Italians seem to enjoy, I see something new at the beach shack for a few bucks. I’ve never had a lobster grilled cheese Panini sandwich. It says meled but I’m gonna cut them some slack on the spelling. I doubt English Lit grads work here, but it would not be a bad deal considering where they will actually be working.
There aren’t many times I think a travel companion would be a good idea but now I can’t decide if I want the grilled cheese lobster sandwich or the bacon lobster roll (whatever that is). If I wasn’t by myself, we could each get a plate and share.
“Hey! Are you forgetting something? You are just romanticizing that because that’s what you would do. You know it wasn’t like that. Remember her snapping at you – get your hands off my food! And just look around, do you see any other people doing that? No. Stop dreaming.”
I’m watching the clock because the shack closes at 3:00. I’m still not hungry at 2:00 but I haven’t felt hunger for weeks now. I walk up to the shack and ask which is better, grilled cheese lobster panini or bacon lobster roll. I still don’t know what that is. Is it a sushi roll? Never mind, give me both. ‘Sorry sir, we’re out of lobster.’ I’m speechless and just plop down in the sand right there in front of the shack like one of those spoiled Disney cruise kids. I’m dumbfounded they could run out of lobster, in this place, just when I want it.
“Well, that’s just great! You sit around all morning thinking about it and now look, we missed it.”
Do you think any place else, but a tropical island owned and operated by Italians is going to serve grilled cheese lobster panini sandwiches? They probably invented it.
“We can look for lobsters. Even hot dogs can be lobsters.”
There was a beach party and a lighthouse show that was fun. My old iPhone doesn’t have the greatest camera so you’ll need to augment this video with your imagination. It was fun and of course like most things: included. We can also see lots of stars here, which are pretty and sparkle more than ever thanks to my blurry vision. We have stars in Vegas too but I like to call them by their names; Don Rickles, Barry Manilow, Brittany Spears, Celine Dion…. They are also blurry since they are older now. That’s where old stars go, Vegas.
It’s pretty.
Now that I think of it, I should have asked the chef to put it between two slices of panini bread.