It is getting warm outside. The crew are starting to walk around closing the doors to the outside decks and also the inner glass doors to keep the cold air in and the warm air outside. Which is unfortunately as about as effective as carrying coals to Newcastle but they try. The wind is still on the quarter and that does not help with cooling things down either. At least with a Trans Atlantic cruise you can slowly get accustomed to the change in temperatures, it is not as drastic as when you travel by airplane. By tomorrow the guests should be fairly well prepared for what will hit them ashore.
And if it is already so nice and warm in the open sea where the water always cools things down a bit, then we might have a very warm day in Nassau tomorrow. The weather forecast gives a full sunny day with temperatures of 85oF or 29oC but with a gentle breeze. Tomorrow is a Sunday and in the old days it meant that in the morning everything was closed until after church. During this call we have 5 ships in port so I expect that commerce will win out in this case.
Apart from us, there will the Enchantment of the Seas, the Majesty of the Seas (both RCI); the Carnival Ecstasy and the Carnival Valor (both Carnival) in port. So we will have a good 10,000 cruise guests invading the local strawmarket and adjacent shops. Some have already confided in me that they will go directly to the big Casino and resort just behind the port on Paradise Island. As a non-gambling man I find it hard to see the fascination in going to another casino while you have one on board, in both you lose your money so what is different, but I seem to miss the point somehow. The casino is a major attraction for cruise guests.
Nassau in the quieter days of the 1980s when two cruise ships was a busy day. This postcard showing the Noordam (III) and the Homeric later Westerdam (II). The two ships together mean that the photo was made between 1986 and 1988.
Nassau has always been a cruise ship destination in the same way as Bermuda and Havana in the old days, for the simple reason it is so close by. It is a short hop from Fort Lauderdale and Miami and even from New York it is not too far away. Holland America has been calling here since the 1930’s when the old Statendam and Veendam made cruises here in the depression years. Then it was still a sleepy resort, recovering from the wild days of piracy of Black Beard a long time ago and following British traditions in every way, even driving on the wrong side of the road. (And often with American cars that do not have the steering wheel …………………..)
Nassau is more or less located in the Centre of the Grand Bahama Bank which stretches from Florida all the way down to the North tip of Haiti. The bank is made up of thousands of small islands, islets, reefs and sand and coral banks and you have to sail around it to get away from Florida. Either by following the coast line of Cuba when taking the south route or sailing south of Freeport when taking the northern route.
A sort of space 3 – D photo of the Grand Bahama Bank. The black”sock” in the middle is the Tongue of the Ocean and Nassau lies about one 3rd down from open sea. (Photo courtesy www.Terracolor.net)
Nassau is laying in a sort of natural deep bay surrounded by shallow area’s on three sides and thus to get away from it again you have to sail north before you can go either West (USA) or East (rest of the World) they call Nassau hilly, as it is on average a little bit higher than all the other islands and islets. Highest point is 37 meters (approx. 100 feet)If you want to see the highest point in the Bahamas, a real local mountain, then you have to go to Cat island which reaches a dizzying high of 61 meters. (approx. 170 feet)
Tomorrow the guests will have the choice of shopping, sightseeing, going to the casino, or doing a bit of water sport including snorkeling and pig feeding. More about the pigs tomorrow.
November 8, 2015 at 7:01 am
My late husband and I crossed the Atlantic from Madeira to FLL in 2010 on the Westerdam. We hardly knew we were on a ship it was such a smooth crossing. Good luck to the Capt and crew on changeover day, it will be a ‘very’ busy day for them. I join Nieuw Amsterdam next Sunday upon her arrival from Europe. I, for one, won’t be grumbling if our boarding is delayed because the crew have been held up with getting the ship ready for us.
November 9, 2015 at 7:04 pm
Of the four ships you mentioned, two were made in Finland. Kind of nice to know.
Love your logic on the gambling drive among the gambling fans, Captain!