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Published: March 20th 2022
Saturday, March 19, 2022
Nassau, Bahamas
Our voyage last night went off without a hitch. We had some lateral movement, very slight something akin to a vibrating platform is how it felt to me – when I woke up to answer to call of nature. Quite minor. The lateral stabilizers did their job admirably.
These beds are EPIC. That’s all I have to say about that.
This morning we woke up in Nassau. It was supposed to be a sea day, but Mother Nature and Neptune had other ideas – and their ideas are bigger and stronger than this ship. Know what I mean? I’d rather not sail into 30-foot swells, thank you very much. Nor do I want to be around others at that time. HARD PASS.
Morning ablutions done, we dressed and took the stairs down to six, for breakfast in the Grand Dining room. Christopher had Avocado toast with poached eggs which looked sublime. I had a ham and cheese omelet with a side of sausage. Plenty of protein to keep me going (probably should have gone with the plant-based protein and egg selection, but one only lives once. AMIRIGHT? Mine was ok. Nothing spectacular, but it was filling and tasty.
We were almost done when a lovely couple from DC, now in N. Carolina (retired Feds) sat at the table next to us. V, the wife was very outgoing and personable and got the conversation rolling. This is their first Oceania cruise after having been on many of the other lines. They thought they’d like to treat themselves post-pandemic and try a little more of a “luxury” line. They shared horror stories from other lines (which shall remain nameless – but you know who you are) of children under foot and non-stop drinking and dining. Again…HARD PASS. D, her husband is also an excellent conversationalist (a skill I’ve yet to master). Are people truly interested in anything I have to say? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
So, Nassau was smaller than either of us anticipated. Perhaps our trek along one street did not do it justice, but we felt compelled to get back aboard asap. There are at LEAST six ships in Port today – some of the behemoths from other lines, which again shall remain nameless. TOO. MANY. PEOPLE. There was a bottleneck at the pedestrian walkway leaving the port. We both immediately donned our masks, as most of the others were maskless. Perhaps we overreacted, but safety first, always. We did our best to avoid the crowds. We shall have to try a little harder.
Nassau is rather compact, so it’s quite a challenge avoiding others. Once again, we encountered “privileged Americans” blocking the sidewalks (standing in front of a watch store talking about the $150 thousand watch they saw – YET CLEARLY blocking the door in to the store and the sidewalk – so no one had the opportunity to enter the store or get around them). I said excuse me and got nasty looks from each of them and they got QUIET rather fast. I noticed they were on one of the behemoths and decided to cut right through them – I didn’t care. I had my mask on. They would never recognize me – and I seriously doubt they are crossing the Atlantic. They look more like the Caribbean crowd – not meant as a derogatory comment. Just an observation. I will say they all need to step away from the buffet line though.
Oceania now has a touchless high tech scanning device with facial recognition so leaving and returning to the ship is truly easy. All one does is look into the “tablet-like” device and it recognizes you and grants you exit or entry. I. MEAN. FAST. And one needn’t wait for someone to get their card out, or fumble to look for it – because how many people are ready when they get to the front of the line? AMIRIGHT? No fuss no muss. Boom – out the door and down the gangway (almost wrote gangplank – which is reserved for fools and “privileged Americans” who think their you-know-what don’t stink). But see I didn’t.
We got back on the ship via the magic of facial recognition. Some people – see above – will respond negatively to this new technology but trust me the chip from the booster vaccine goes through undetected. No problems. You know I’m kidding, right? We went to the room, but it was in the middle of being cleaned, so – what the heck – why not get a double espresso? SO. We did. One canelé and a double E, and we’re ready for almost anything. By this time the room was done so let’s go to the pool and read before we have our massages. I’m reading CABAL, an Aurelio Zen novel (3
rd in the series of 10). Fun. Simple. Entertaining. Perfect ship reading. Read a little, went into the pool and the jacuzzi. After drying off, I went to the Spa and prepared for my massage.
I left the massage feeling 3 inches taller and 30 pounds lighter (if ONLY). She hit muscles and knots I didn’t even know I had. So relaxed. SO relaxed that I purchased a HYPERVOLT GO massager – ½ price (after they marked it up 50%!p(MISSING)robably….just guessing). She was excellent. I feel amazing. Tomorrow she’s blocked out time to teach how to use the device. I’m such a sucker…she saw me coming a mile away. Christopher just returned from his massage in a state of nirvana. She’s that good. Early still so after someone takes his shower, we’ll discuss dinner and such. I’m thinking Grand Dining room….why not?
OK…in the course of conversation and catching up with one another, Christopher relayed a story from his afternoon in the Executive Suite conducting High Finance and such (general pain in the A$$ which required a LOT of signatures if ya ask me…DOCUSIGN, PEOPLE). Anyway…there was a man coughing up his lung, rather loudly, I might add (I heard it when I went to give C a mask as requested). He did not cover his mouth. He did not cough into his arm. HE. JUST COUGHED IN GENERAL. Annoying. OK…now the story his fishwife seated across from him had mentioned that the Cruise Director had on a Navy-Blue suit and wore a “red tie”. Hubby replied so? Well, Ms Fishwife says…” That’s CONSERVATIVE” He’s appealing to the “conservative passengers”. It took C everything in his power (remember last night….he’s fast when he’s furious) …not to walk over and slap the smirk right off her face. I MIGHT be exaggerating a little, but that’s how I remember hearing it, so….I am telling the story. OK….FIRST…many, I mean MANY of the Cruise Directors are “Friends of Dorothy” – which by the way is Dorothy Parker, NOT Dorothy Gale. Ms. Fishwife has NO IDEA of what she speaks. I have worn red ties with Navy suits….and I’m the FURTHEST from a conservative one can get. What I see as a clothing choice she sees as Virtue Signaling. She watches too much Fox News. Or OAN. Just keep to yourself, Jim and no one gets hurt.
Notice I haven’t mentioned lunch…because I didn’t have it. I didn’t want to be weighted down when I got he message – so like I fool, I skipped it. BIG MISTAKE. While I was in my massage, Christopher had a light salad for lunch and got our refund for Bermuda. He’s an excellent details man.
In lieu of the Captain’s party, the bars and lounges all had free booze (excluding top shelf liquor, of course). SO, playing it safe I ordered a Rye Old Fashioned – we are up to two errors today with that order. TOO SWEET. Muddled maraschino cherries the neon red kind – WAAAAYYYY too sweet for me. But, while sipping our cocktails, a couple from Michigan asked to join us. D and B are cruising enthusiasts from Celebrity to Queen Mary II. They like the crossings and such. We had a lively conversation, which at times was drowned out by the string quartet. D had had a three-martini lunch, so was only sipping …water? Could have been a vodka tonic or gin tonic for all I know. We four had a nice conversation before they went to Polo for their dinner. We slipped out of the Grand Bar and into the Grand Dining room.
We were seated at a window, so Christopher could see the sun descend from its lofty perch. Naturally, at one point its rays were blinding him…until the wait captain noticed and lowered the shade just enough.
For dinner I had the Monkfish, meh. Christopher had the duck and we ordered more red cabbage – the star of my meal for sure. Can ANYONE explain chives? I loathe chives. WHY do chefs put miniature chives on practically everything? My cognac sauce and monkfish were doused in the vile green menace. At least mention that chives are on the meal, so I can ask to have them removed. From today on – PLEASE NOTHING from the Alum family on my plate (garlic, onions, chives, green onions, shallots….they make me miserable). So, I shall remember to ask for nothing onion or garlic on anything I ingest. Both mains were a little overcooked. It happens, particularly when cooking so many, many meals. Everything is par cooked and sometimes it’s a miss. For dessert we both had the Pistachio Souffle. OMG. Light as a feather served with a cherry sauce.
Dinner over, we went for a brief walk on the deck…too windy. Up to Horizons…too dark (and the AC was cranked WAY TOO LOW. Back to the room. Time to call it a night. With the strong winds, I can tell we’re gonna rock and roll again tonight.
The next 7 days….we’re at sea.
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NoraK
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How many peeps?
Since Riviera can take about 1,200 passengers, how many, do you estimate, are on the ship right now? Just curious. Infuriating about the no-cover cough situation...