Cruising Day 4 and 5...Freeport, Bahamas

 

 

We landed in Freeport on Saturday morning.  We scheduled a glass bottom boat tour that didn't meet up until 10:30am so we had a leisurely morning aboard the ship.  Tod and I ran on the ship, showered, had a slow breakfast in the dining room with the boys.  Brady loved his breakfast because his cereal came with a very fancy pitcher of milk.  As he poured his own milk he said, "We should totally do this at home, Mom!"   

 

 

We met the tour group and headed by bus to the marina for our boat tour.  The driver was wonderful.  He told us that Freeport was the industrial capital of the Bahamas with the 4th deepest port in the world.  Guess who owns the port???  Carnival Cruise Lines!!  Yep, I wondered why this was a destination!  The driver told us all about the people, the schools, the government, and the island way of life.  I have to admit...this was my favorite part of the day.

 

 

It was a little chilly so we bundled up the best we could and headed on board our glass bottom boat.

 

We all sat along the edges of the boat and we could peer over the inside railing to see these glass panels....

 

After a 15 minute (very cold) boat ride we made it to the coral reef.  We were able to see some beautiful fish, coral, and amazing blue-green water.

 

Here is Brady with his hood up and head down while the boat was moving.  We at least got a seat in the sun!

 

It is hard to believe it was cold on a day like this!

 

We left the coral reef for another 15 minute (very cold) boat ride to see SHARKS!!  Now this was an incredible surprise.  They took us to an area where sharks were known to be. I am sure they fed them regularly so why leave?!   

 

The captain then baited a rope to try to get the sharks to surface.  Man did the surface.  They fought over the very gross fish head for several minutes.  Glad I got this shot...

 



After the glass bottom boat tour we hopped on a different bus back to the port.  This driver was just as good as the first one.  BUT...he quizzed us on all of the information that the first driver gave us! The boys both answered some questions right and that made him very happy.  He even sang us a song before we got off the bus.  It's nice to see people who love their jobs.

As you can see Freeport is an industrial city with a make shift shopping village for tourists. We were about to depart so we wanted to get a good spot on the outer deck.

 

We were scheduled to depart at 5pm.  We were able to see this beautiful sunset.  We decided to try to move to the front of the ship for the rest of the sunset...



 

Just missed it...



 

We realized that it was getting a little late and we haven't left yet.  People started giving up and going to dinner.  We wanted to stick it out for a little bit longer.  Looking over the railing we noticed a minivan and another strange looking vehicle racing toward the boat.  We thought it must be some passengers that were late for departure.  A few minutes later the captain came over the loud speaker to tell us that one of the passengers passed away while in Freeport and we were not leaving.  We then realized that that strange looking vehicle was a hearse.  I don't know if the family was getting on the ship or gathering their belongings to get off.  Dinner was a little somber that night. 

 

 

Day five was another Fun Day at Sea.  We slept late and watched the sun rise over the water.  Tod and I went to the jogging track and were almost blown off the ship!  It was so incredibly windy.  There was another runner and she passed us saying "Good Luck!  It's awfully windy up here!"  She was right!  It was comical.  Going from the front of the boat to the back of the boat the wind was at our backs.  I think I made that section in about four steps.  Then you rounded the corner.  It was like a wind tunnel.  It took all of the energy we had to make it back to the front of the boat.  There were moments that I am sure that I was running in place.  One mile was 11 laps.  I think I laughed the whole time.

 

 

The boys went to Camp Carnival for about an hour after lunch then we let them have some free time.  They loved that they could explore the ship on their own.  They went to the arcade, played golf, ate ice cream, and went to the candy shop. 

 

 

Tod and I sat in an alcove and read our books and played some blackjack at the casino.

 

 

We met up before dinner and decided to walk around the ship one  last time.

 

Jacob and I on the front of the ship (still in Freeport)

 

Brady couldn't get enough of the Lego Carnival ship...

 

Jacob creamed me in shuffle board.  Guess I am not ready for retirement!!  (Jacob is!)

 

 

Brady and Tod (with Jacobs hat on) acting goofy...

 

                                               

This last night we went to bed early because we had to leave the ship pretty early the next morning.  We watched our favorite channels on our little TV that showed the map and where the ship was located and let the boat rock us to sleep.