When the winters are dark and deep, it is perhaps pertinent to look at our joyous events/adventures of our past to light the glimmer of hope: a Harry Potterisque trip down the memory lane. Movies like ‘Cast Away’ and ‘Life of PI’ have ingrained a deep sense fear of the ocean, but I was pleasantly surprised to experience quite the opposite in our family vacation on our MSC cruise which carousel ’ed us from New York to Bahamas and back in a week over the Thanks Giving week.
The Journey!!
Day 1: Adventure Begins
We woke up quite early to drive down to Brooklyn for our 9:30 AM check-in even though the ship was set to leave at 3 PM. After quite a smooth check-in process and lengthy walk, we settled in on the best food that our ship had to offer, a multiplecuisine (all you can eat at anytime) type of buffet on Deck 15, which we frequented countless times. The ship made a memorable pass under the Brooklyn bridge as we spent the rest of the day exploring the various activities the ship had to offer.
Day 2: Adventure Continues
The made-to-order omlette station (courtesy ever-smiling Mohit) greeted us with sumptuous breakfast to wake us up coupled with amazing cappuccino/ hot chocolate. The day meandered through exploring the various activities, indoor swimming pool, hot sauna, kids play area, lounge area to hang out, all quipped gym and a late night dance party as the weather mellowed during the later part of the day as we crossed the maritime waters over North/South Carolina.
Day 3: LandFall
After nearly 2 days at sea, the ship made landfall at the beautiful port of Cape Canaveral, the hometown of erstwhile NASA space launches. As much as we want to explore the amazing NASA center, due to lack of time we head out to a nearby beautiful beach and the balmy waters welcomed us warmly. However, we missed watching the test flight of one of Space X rocket flights as it got postponed.
Day 4: Nassau Bahamas
As our ship docked precisely in the shallow waters of the port of Bahamas along with other massive cruises, it reminded of our own Central Train Station, which housed the trains in the various platforms. Some of our families grouped into a memorable outing to the places below.
Waterfall at Queen’s staircase
Rum cake factory
Chocolate factory with Rainbow umbrellas.
Bahamar hotel
Atlantis hotel (housing with a humongous basement aquarium) and fire on water show.
Day 5: Ocean Cay
On our last day to land, we visited the most beautiful private island of Ocean Cay, specifically designed for MSC cruise passengers, with the ship rotating nearly 360 degrees to land up most accurately on the port. We head out to the most popular Bimini beach, with most of the day either floating and/or swimming in the shallow waters of the beach including a short canoe ride. With our hearts still firmly planted on the beach, we were ordered to return to the ship earlier than usual due to a medical emergency, missing out a lighting show at the light house.
Day 6 & 7: Back to Home
We set sail back to our homeland, en route Miami, dropping off the injured passenger. Explored more activities in the ship including the ‘Himalayan Bridge’ which was a rope course across the windy back side of the ship. Consuming countless Mojitos, early morning health drinks, Deck 15 buffet and amazing Deck 6 dinners, we landed a week later, safe and sound.
This trip would not half as enjoyable without all our ten friends and family. Looking forward to many such adventures and experiences in future.
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