Nassau, Bahamas

“Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly.”

Van Morrison

On this overcast morning, we watched our ship entering thew quaint harbor of Nassau. It is a stunning entrance with Atlantis to the left, and many impressive resorts lining the beach to the right. I always enjoy seeing the lighthouse on the point of the entrance guiding us in. The water looks so beautiful here and we are anxious to get off the ship.

When we got off the ship, we weaved through the crowds at the port hearing taxi drivers calling out “Taxi” to the tourist all wanting to start their Nassau vacation. When we got out of the port, we asked one of the locals where to get bus #10 and we were directed down a side street where all the buses were lined up. We asked the driver if this was the correct bus as we couldn’t see a number on it, and he said it was and to hop in. We climbed into a fairly full bus and waited for it to take off.

The last person to enter the bus was a young lanky school girl dressed in a uniform. Now we were full and the bus started to go. What a riot it was listening to our bus driver teasing the school girl. Her aunt was on the bus sitting behind her and when the bus driver offered the young girl a piece of candy, she said, “No, I’m not allowed to take candy from strangers” in that beautiful Bahamian accent. At that, the bus driver introduced himself to her and told her, “Well now we are friends”. She still said no. Then he gave a piece of candy to her aunt who gave the school girl the candy. Then she took it and they all laughed. They continued to laugh and tease each other till the young girl got off at her stop. The bus driver called back to anyone getting off at The Breezes Resort, so we got up and paid our $2.50 for both of us and hopped off.

After we left the bus, we had to cross a circle which was beautifully adorned with tropical plants and bright green grass to get to the resort. As we walked up to the resort, we were impressed by how gorgeous and well groomed the grounds were kept. We walked into the open aired lobby that was filled with bright colors and bustling with visitors checking in. The ladies at the guest desk were smiling and very welcoming. Their laughter was contagious and just made you want to smile.

After checking in, the lovely ladies told us there was a buffet going on downstairs in the dining room so we should go down and check it out. So we headed downstairs for a bit to eat. The buffet was amazing with lots of great foods that were specialties here in Nassau. They had spare ribs and chicken seasoned the Bahamian way, sandwiches, vegetables, fruits, and desserts. We carried our plate to a table and noticed again how they decorated this entire resort with bright colors. The chairs were all different bright colors and the room was painted a bright yellow. It felt like sunshine even sitting inside and just made everything perfect.

We noticed it was loud on one side of the restaurant and saw there was a huge class of school age children in uniforms eating lunch. It was wonderful seeing all the young kids, joking, smiling, and enjoying a good meal. Then we saw them all line up shortly after and head out. It seemed so quiet after they left. We wondered why they were there. Was it a school trip or a program to make sure all the children get a good meal? Whatever it was, there smiling facing are ingrained in my mind.

When we finished our meal, we walked right on past the pools and headed to the beach. On our way, we stopped to get a nice drink, found a comfortable lounge chair, and sat and enjoyed the view of the beautiful water. After having some of my drink, we got in the water. Joe started out snorkeling and swam out near the rope and called back to me to get my snorkel gear as there were some interesting fish out there. About the time I came back with my snorkel mask, the life guard called everyone out of the water since a shark was spotted. We looked up and down the beach and all the resorts had cleared the water. I never saw the shark but Joe did.

We stood watching the water for a while but the shark wasn’t going anywhere. They brought in a jet ski to go over the area and even that didn’t deter him for long. So the beach part of today was a little disappointing. Looking down the beach we saw they had a volley ball court but no one was playing when we were there.

So instead, we headed back to the pool. The water felt great and their really wasn’t many people in it. There was a kids pool, a volley ball net, and a swim up bar. We watched the bartender making all different colored drinks for his crowd near him to try.

There was another Tiki hut where they were cooking burger, hot dogs, and making conch fritters. The fritters were fantastic. It was unfortunate, but since our ship had been delayed we were not able to stay as long as we hoped. The staff was nice and friendly. The pool had some cracked tiles and needed a little extra love but with all the hurricanes they have endured here, it is understandable. There was nothing I saw here, that would stop me from coming here again.

As we were leaving, we went to the stairs to walk up and saw a piano. The sign stated it was the piano that Grace Kelly used to play on their yacht. She loved playing the piano and the owner of The Breezes acquired ownership of the yacht and the piano. There was also a wooden case with a guitar in it that would play the guitar. It was very interesting and we wished we could have seen how it worked.

We walked out to where we were to catch the number 10 bus back to the port. There was a local man sitting in the bus stop who just finished working for the day saw us and said, “You need a picture of you two here.” He asked for a camera and took the picture and said that will be nice and have a good day. We thanked him and as he walked away his family came to pick him up in a car. He was a nice man.

When the bus arrived, we climbed on board and a local gets up to let us sit together and he pulled down the seat in the middle since he said he had to get off the bus soon. On our trip back, the bus took a different route and we rode up a road that had some beautiful tropical vegetation. The drive back was a little longer than the ride to the resort which got us a little nervous that we were going to the right place. We were the only people on the bus besides the local men who were coming home from work. They were all polite and kind.

What fascinated us was a guy at the back of the bus could stay stop in a normal tone and the bus driver could hear him way up front and pull over and stop. It was also interesting how they arranged their seating as to who would get off the bus sooner. It was like an orchestrated dance with no words necessary. In the picture I took of the inside of this bus, you can see a guy facing the rear of the bus. He was sitting on one of the pull down seats where the isle would be, that could be used when the bus got real crowded.

The bus driver told us when we should get off the bus in town and we walked around looking at a couple of the stores before heading back to the ship. We had a great day here at Nassau. We will be back to explore more of Nassau on another trip.

MSC Seaside

Damage from the past hurricanes

Our pro tip for you is if you want to go to The Breezes, you can just walk up to the counter and pay for a day pass which will save you about 20 dollars a person instead of buying it ahead of time through a second party. Another tip to keep in mind, is the local bus only cost $2.50 for two people to get from the cruise port to the resort. If you take a cab it will cost around $25.00 for two. The Bahamians are nice people but they all could use some extra money so don’t tempt them by having your wallet or purse easily reachable. If you buy a drink, watch the bartender pore it and do not buy from a guy who leaves your site to go to the bar. You never know what could be put in your drink. Last but not least, I do not recommend going to a local no pay beach. When we did that we were harassed by people selling their wears and wanting to braid my hair the whole time we were on the beach. Enough so, we just couldn’t relax.

We had a wonderful day on Nassau. The Bahama’s are beautiful and it is a great place to go and relax. Go and enjoy yourself. Till next time Nassau. Good bye for now.