Nassau! 

On Monday, May 26, 2003, we made our first stop at Nassau in the Bahamas. We booked a tour with Barefoot Sailing Cruises for their half-day sail and snorkel tour. Their bus picked us up, took us to the marina, where we boarded a 40-ish foot sailboat. We motored out of the harbor to near Atholl Island. We snorkeled in about 10-12 feet of clear turquoise water. The fish were abundant and beautiful. We even saw a sting ray. Our underwater camera isn't digital, so I don't have those pictures back yet.

After snorkeling, they raised the sails, served us some chese & crackers, a cup of rum punch and we sailed away. A little squall blew up and they had to lower the sails to motor through the narrow channel between the island, back around back the famous Atlantis resort to the main pier in Nassau. Pre-September 11, they used to be able to sail right up and drop passengers off right at their ships.

After the tour, Joe went back to the ship for a nap, and I did some shopping in the Straw Market for souvenirs. And, I haggled with the best of them! 

Downtown Nassau The building with the tower and the one with the teal green roof are Visitor's Centers. There are a lot of boutique-y shops in the downtown area, as well as the new Straw Market.	Heading Out This is pre-snorkeling. We met Brendan and Marci online at Cruise Critic , particularly on the Carnival Cruise Lines message board. Jason, the "First Mate" is in the background.
More of the Group Marci's husband, Jason, and her mom are in this picture, along with our Captain (whose name I forgot to write down).	Atlantis This is the world-famous Atlantis resort. Rooms in the "bridge" part of the resort go for $25,000+ per night (!!!) and are reserved roughly five years in advance.
Mansion This mansion is owned by the owner (CEO?) of Ford Corporation.	Local Scenery These reddish-orange flowery trees were prevalent throughout the islands we visited.
Disney Wonder The Disney Wonder sailed into port after we were already on our sailboat.	Our Paradise We had a nice view of the Paradise as we sailed past.
The Whole Pier Nassau has a good-sized cruiseship pier capable of handling a few more than the 3 cruisehips and one cargo ship it had in port.	Up and Away! This seaplane took off right next to us. They told us it's smoother in the harbor, so they don't take off further out of the bay.

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