Not impressed

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(1st stop on cruise)
I went on a cruise without Jeff (sorry hun). I wanted to start the tradition of having a girl's only trip, even if it's not every year and even if it's not a big trip. Of course, I had to go all out for the first vacation with the girls and when I found this cruise, we booked it a year and a half in advance! The logistics behind the trip was quite troublesome at times, with cancellations and finding subs & with us all flying from the far corners of the states--Tiff & I from AZ, Spyce from SC, Jenn from VA and Tara from VT. But we all made it!! The first stop on the cruise was on the island of Nassau in the Bahamas. I had high expectations yet realized that we would most likely be dumped off the boat into the tourist trap area, which we were. We wandered for what seemed like an eternity trying to find a nice sliver of sand to relax on. We weren't interested in shopping, we just wanted to soak up the natural beauty and enjoy a peaceful day. You would think that being on an ISLAND, beaches would be abundant. Wrong! We wandered and wandered, stopped and chatted with a couple really nice guys who were splitting open coconuts. They happened to be near a beach, but it was more of a cove, with factory looking buildings along the edge. Uh....not really my idea of a beautiful view. So, after sweating what felt like gallons and gallons, we turned around and headed back into town, this time opting on a taxi. Before the trip I tried to look up a few things about each place we visited and the only thing I could seem to find about Nassau was the damn resort called Atlantis. We figured, okay, it's on a beach, let's just go there--who cares that it's some ritzy resort. So we ask the taxi driver to take us to the beach near Atlantis. Instead he dropped us off at the actual resort and before we realized we were nowhere near the beach, he sped off. We ventured through the resort/casino, which is on the scale of a Vegas casino, with a glimmer of hope in our eyes we would find a way out of this maze! Our time was ticking and we still had NOT been to the beach! In keeping true with any casino, once you are in, they don't want you to find your way out. Finally we found a pathway that looked like it led to the beach. Hooray! But then we were stopped by the ladies at the door because we weren't guests of the resort so we weren't allowed on the beach there. Aaaaaaagggghhhhhh! Needless to say, my frustration got the best of me and adding the insessant sweat dripping from my every nook and cranny, I opted to go back to the ship. Being back on the boat was not what I had in mind but at least it was relaxing and that was the point of the trip! Sadly, I doubt I will ever go back to Nassau. I'm sure there are lovely, off the beaten path places to see, but they just weren't in my line of vision that day. Gladly, this sour note did not set the tone for the rest of the trip. The rest of the trip was fantastic...

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Photos

Pirate Museum
which we did NOT go in