Saturday, February 20, 2010

Princess Cays in the Bahamas--Feb. 5

We enjoyed a great sea day and decided to go to the Captain’s Cocktail Party. We joined two ladies from Quebec. We had met them at dinner one night previously, and they were really struggling with their English. We met the other lady, Judy, while we were waiting to go into the lounge and invited her to join us. Left to right in the picture are Mado, Rejean and Judy.

It certainly must have been our lucky night because I put our camera on the table and forgot it. It was only when we got back to our room much later that night that we realized we didn’t have it. We went to the purser’s desk and darling Rejean had turned it in. She didn’t know our last name or our cabin number, so we were extremely lucky. I mentioned this to one of the waiters the next night and he told us how lucky we were. Somehow “missing” cameras don’t seem to turn up.

The balloons were all ready for the balloon drop at 11:30, but by that time we were snug in our beds.

The next morning the seas were quite rough and I was surprised when they said we would still be tendering into Princess Cays. The captain did warn that you might get wet in the tender boats, and if you were prone to seasickness, it might not be a good idea to head out. The ride was dippy but we arrived dry without problems.

Princess Cays is located in the Bahamas, in the southern portion of the Island of Eleuthera. Often described as the most beautiful and scenic islands of the Bahamas, 100 miles long and about 2 miles wide, Eleuthera is a mostly flat, coral and limestone island, graced with gentle rolling hills and miles of deserted white sand beaches. It is surrounded by clear, turquoise waters and has a warm tropical climate. Its population is about 10,000 and it maintains an economy based on agriculture, fishing and tourism.

Here is the flag of Bahamas...very different!



There is no lack of things to do…

This is the little bungalow we rented for the day. I’m not a huge heat lover, so having an air-conditioned place to escape to was nice.

A cute little line of bungalows…

Our view for the day…

Jim noticed a group of people at the cabana by the beach and went to investigate. The lifeguards were throwing pieces of bread in the water and the fish were very happy! It made it interesting for the people snorkelling.

There were lots of pretty striped fish…

They have built an extensive breakwater…

If you wanted to snorkel or swim, you had to swim out around these rocks. With the choppy water and my limited swimming abilities, I opted for a lounge chair and a book.

The sailboaters were having fun, although a couple of them had to be rescued when their boats overturned and they couldn’t right them.

As part of our bungalow rental, you could opt for the “VIP” package. Note to selves: next time, DON’T! Way, way, way too much food. Here is our starter plate of antipasto. Our two plates would have easily fed four people.

Followed by a beautiful lobster salad…

By now, we’re both regretting this and try to convince our waiter to bring “small” portions. Our main course was a “sampler” of chicken, ribs, ground beef and pork. I think I was in food shock because I forgot to take a picture of it.

Then came cheese and bread and dessert. I’m dying here! Sadly, most of the food was wasted…

By 3:00 it was time to head back and catch the tender to the ship. These tractor like contraptions looked like fun! It also reminded me of a similar type of excursion we took once in Jamaica that ended with both Jim and I being tossed into the water, being rescued, and Jim losing his glasses. We wisely passed them by this time!

So it’s goodbye to our last port…the cruise is almost over. Our favourite waiter, Roque, had found us and presented us with our present. How adorable! So that we’ll remember our time on the Crown Princess…

A beautiful sunset to end a great set of cruises!

And here we are back at home…going to get groceries!

We’re heading to Las Vegas on February 23 and plan to spend a few days in Arizona as well. We're meeting up with fellow cruisers, Barb and Ed, in Yuma and hope to see Joni and Max, as well.


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