Sooo, last summer my partner suggested traveling during the holidays. It would be my first Christmas away from my family but they gave us their blessings so I told him "find somewhere warm, affordable, and preferably at least second-world (aka water/electricity). He worked his magic with priceline, hotwire and who knows what else and he managed to find a great deal for a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas.

 

We stayed at the Florida Mall Hotel in Orlando - the hotel was nice enough, and being attached to a large regional mall with Saks and Nordstrom - well, I was a happy camper. Added bonus - our room faced downtown Orlando which has a small but impressive skyline:

 

 

We didn't get a chance to explore the area beyond the mall - maybe next time.

 

Exterior shot of the hotel as we head to Port Canaveral:

 

Yep, on our way to the coast!

 

Almost there:

 

Two other cruise ships - Disney and I believe a Norwegian:

 

Our ship - the Sensation (which I had to say "SenSATION!!!" with 'jazz hands'):

 

Inside the ship - we had heard that the decor was dated, which it was; that it was a little Vegas-y, which it was. But hey, we didn't mind and I kind of liked some of the retro look. The main atrium:

 

Some artwork in the corridors - told you it was retro ;-)

 

Back to the Promenade deck for our muster drill (aka the practice run with life jackets in case we hit an iceberg). We had a view of the distant NASA Vehicle Assembly building - about 500-ish feet tall:

 

It said Great Lakes and I thought it was a floating brewery - imagine my disappointment.

 

But the gorgeous sunset made up for it:

 

 

Our stateroom had two of these funky windows. This is the ship channel heading into Freeport:

 

Freeport (population about 26K) was charming - they're still recovering from being hit by three major hurricanes. We took a $5 cab (well, an old Toyota minivan) to the Lucaya Beach area.

 

Being a British colony, they drive on the other side of the road:

 

We arrive at the Lucaya Beach area - some cute/touristy shops were around here:

 

 

And Lucaya Beach... the aquamarine/turquoise color of the water was surreal:

 

You're welcome, guys ;-)

 

 

Gecko? Geico?

 

But it was time for lunch - we couldn't have planned it any better as it clouded up later so we got plenty of sun in the morning and had plenty of beer in the afternoon:

 

And what else would we have - conch fritters (drooool...)

 

There were quite a few police about - I think they were there to reassure tourists more than anything else:

 

Just some shots from around the Lucaya Marketplace:

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, a resin statue of a pirate hoochie... umm:

 

 

The Sheraton:

 

The bus stops were absolutely adorable:

 

The tallest building in Freeport, a condo tower undergoing renovation:

 

Back to the ship, I took some shots of the Port Lucaya area:

 

 

View of Freeport from the ship:

 

Next up - Nassau, Bahamas! http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=143481

I heard you can easily talk people down in price when they're trying to sell you stuff. I wouldn't do that though; I'm too nice.

 

Great pics. I feel like I went on vacation just from looking at these!

 

I'd much rather go somewhere nice like that for the holidays than have a white snowy Christmas (minus the whole--spending it with relatives thing) but doing it a few times would be cool.

Very nice...I feel warmer just looking at the pictures.

Haven't seen THESE before! ;)

Very cool.  It's amazing how the cruise ships themselves appear as high rises off in the distance.

MayDay, I even felt warmer viewing the photos! Loved the Dolphin porch lamp and so many others. Too bad the shuttle wasn't taking off eh? Very cool I'm soooo jealous and if you are back in town which  think you are, sorry we welcomed you with snow :-)

Looks like everyone went to an island over the holidays. 

 

The Bahamas must have been hosting a coven of evil bitches convention as from heights to harlem was in the Bahamas also.  :evil: