The stunning view from the ship as we approached Nassau, Bahamas.

Today, our ship is docked in Nassau, Bahamas. We’ve both been here many times and have little interest in getting off the ship. At this point, we’re busy online making arrangements for the time we’ll spend in the US, including time spent with family and friends.

View of hotels along the beach in Nassau, Bahamas.

With many family members to see in Minnesota, Nevada, and Arizona, the two months in the US will surely pass in a breeze. Plus, with the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, we’re trying to figure out what will work for everyone while we’re there.

The world-famous Atlantis Hotel.

Today is packing day. This morning I managed to pack all of my clothing, leaving the same outfit to wear tonight to dinner and again tomorrow on travel day. All I have gone to fill are the toiletries. 

We’ll leave what items we’ll need tomorrow morning since our bags will be taken away tonight. Each cabin is given a number as to when the passengers will be called to disembark the ship.

Today, over 13,000 cruise passengers are in port in Nassau, Bahamas.

We were assigned #27, which may be a little too late for our 11:30 flight. Tom visited the customer service desk requesting a lower number ending up with #1. The reality is that we’ll either wait on the ship to disembark, or we’ll spend more time staying at the airport.

At least while we’re at the airport, we’ll have access to WiFi whereby the ship turns off their WiFi first thing in the morning on departure day. After breakfast in the buffet in the morning, we’ll depart the ship, pick up our bags using a porter, and head to the Fort Lauderdale airport via a taxi.

A peninsula near the port of Nassau.

The ship offers a shuttle service to the airport, but their cost is higher than a taxi. Thus we’ll go on our own as always. We’ll probably arrive two hours before our flight but can easily busy ourselves while we wait.

A small dock ready for the arrival of a boat.

Once we arrive in Minneapolis around 7:00 pm, we’ll collect the rental car and head to a grocery store to purchase a few items before heading to our friend Karen’s home in Eden Prairie, where we’ll stay while in Minnesota. 

We’ll have a whole level of Karen’s spacious home for ourselves, and no doubt, we’ll be comfortable and at ease, settling in within a day. We insisted that Karen does not fuss over meals for us, nor will we ask our kids to worry about meals for us.

“Conveniently, there’s only one cruise ship terminal in Nassau. It’s called “Prince George Wharf,” located on the northern side of the island. From there, it’s relatively easy to access every beach on the island.”

We’ll either pick up something for dinner at Costco or another takeaway restaurant or dine at one of the many conveniently located restaurants in the area. I can’t wait to get my hands on some Mexican food we’ve both missed over the past years of world travel.

As for the remainder of today? We’ll finish packing and continue working on our plans for India, where we’ll stay for two months. We’re currently looking into an almost two-month country tour beginning after the upcoming Maharajas Express train expedition. It’s pretty exciting. We’ll share more details later once we’ve booked the tour.

Nassau Harbour Lighthouse.

Tomorrow, while at the airport, we plan to do Friday’s post, which will include our final bill for this cruise and all of its ancillary costs. Please check back.

Thanks, dear readers, for hanging in there with us during these relatively mundane periods of mindless drivel over happily cruising along!

It’s a rarity for us to see impalas in the garden, but several stopped by to partake of pellets. No doubt, they are hungry this time of year, put aside their apprehension of humans, and came to call. This adorable girl was chewing pellets when I shot this photo. Too cute for words! For more photos, please click here.