Stirrup Cay

My Favorite Ship Shot
Originally uploaded by blountman

On Sunday, we ported at Stirrup Cay, a private Island owned in part by NCL. They have a private beach which was way too crowded for Peggy's and my liking, so we took the two mile walk to the other end of the island t see the lighthouse and some other very interesting sights.

This picture is my artsy shot of the Norweigian Sky through some of the vegetation as we took one of our "side trips" off of the main trail. Words cannot describe how much we enjoyed this walk and the scenery God put together for us to enjoy. It was so easy to worship our Creator as we walked in unspoiled beauty of a Caribbean Island! Check out the other pictures on my FLICKR site.

While I had a blast on the entire cruise, this was by far my favorite part of our experience! Walking hand-in-hand with my Bride and exploring together was fantastic. Getting to take some side trails and look back at the ship over coquina rock, or in the lightly forested areas...breath-taking!

The lighthouse was cute, but the view from the end of the trail at the neighboring islands was fantastic! Some of the locals were around in their sailboats, and I have one picture of people walking a sandbar between two islands. Pretty sweet, indeed!

We did eventually head back to the beach and to lunch, but not before seeing several iguanas, including one three-footer. It was such a relaxing time. It was a perfect way to spend the day: walking in unspoiled beauty with the most beautiful woman on the planet. Now, THAT is my idea of a perfect day!

Peggy at the Market

Peggy at the Market
Originally uploaded by blountman

Norwegian Sky Bahamas Cruise, Day 2. Saturday morning featured a walk around the immediate downtown area of Nassau by the pier. We looked in several shops, and then hit the "Straw Market." I was struck by the sameness of the items for sale in the SM, not just the materials, but the prices. We didn't try to bargain with anyone primarily because we didn't see anything that just jumped out at us. We did enjoy the stroll, and we did wind up purchasing a Christmas ornament in a shop at the pier. We also toured the Nassau Senor Frogs gift shop. Being a frog freak myself, well...a picture of me in front of Senor Frogs can be found on our Flickr page.

Day 1 Cruisin'

Trekking from Vero Beach to Miami with Steve & Patty Macaluso was an absolute treat. Steve drove! We enjoy their company so much, and the trip was uneventful which is my favorite way to travel by automobile. Boring car (or van) trips are the best! Not that the company was boring, but the drive was uneventful with the minor exception that my Sunpass apparently decided it didn't want to work. Had to take care of all of that after we got back from the cruise, but that is a story for another post.

Boarding the ship was a relatively painless and easy process, and we were able to navigate to our stateroom very quickly. We did talk with Ann a couple of times in the process, and that made things much easier.

Speaking of Ann...when I first met Tom and her last May, they had come into the church office wanting to talk with someone about doing a wedding ceremony for them. I scheduled an appointment with them for the next day. I had plenty of paperwork for them to fill out, and we talked about their backgrounds, church experiences, family life, etc. After about an hour, I decided that I would indeed perform their wedding ceremony for them. They wanted to get married that Saturday (this was on a Wednesday).
On the appointed day, Peggy and I were there with Tom & Ann. We held the ceremony in the welcome center of our church building, Peggy took pictures, and I did the pronouncing. They wanted Peggy & me to go out to dinner with them that evening, but we already had plans. We sent them to the Lobster Shanty since they were brand new in town, and they told us that they would see us in church the next day. They did, and have been attending VCC ever since. A couple of weeks after the wedding, they attended our Discover Vero Christian Class, and I had the privilege of baptizing them both into Christ that evening in their swimming pool! We love Tom & Ann dearly.

Back on board the ship, we worked through the initial orientation, and the soda package confusion. We found Ann to talk with her about the soda package, and she broke down crying in her stateroom. Too much stress. We assured her that everything was just fine with us, and just spent some time loving on her to help calm her down a bit. She is such a dear, and we kept reminding her that this was to be a celebration cruise. She assured us that she would be fine, she just needed to vent. I am so glad we were there for her!

The "venting" took another form later on that first night, when Ann and the "Gang" (which included Patty Macaluso and Peggy) got up to do some karaoke. Here's a video snippet of that performance:





Overall, the first day/evening on board the Norwegian Sky could not have been better! And the fun was just beginning.