VOS/16/04 sailing, day 7 and 8 review. Getting near to the end! LOL

Day 7, at sea.

I can’t remember what we did much of this day. We did spend part of the afternoon time with “cruzeluvr” and his DW by the pool. We watched part of the Belly Flop contest. For lunch we ate at Johnny Rockets. “babchia” and I had had a snack here a day or two before, but this time we had meals. It was nice. (I especially liked my chili-cheese fries and coke float. “babchia” enjoyed her Chocolate Coke.)

We did see Rhythm & Rhyme, the show about Broadway music. The show, itself, was not that great. Whoever produced this seemed to try to make a flow, but it never really worked well. It seemed almost like a Greatest Hits, but only of selected songs from Broadway. The good thing was the singers and the band really shined through on this.

The towel animal that night was a cat by a cat dish with mints in it.

Day 8, Freeport.

Another port, another early day to watch the ship pull into port.

We had not heard a lot of good things about Freeport. Even the shopping guy on the ship pushed Jamaica and Grand Cayman as better shopping places. We wanted to get a few more souvenirs/gifts, so the plan was to take a taxi to the International Bazaar, then back to the ship. Quick shopping, then done. We read the shops don’t open until 9AM, so didn’t rush off the ship. In fact, we got off right after 9AM. We walked off with this plan.

As we were looking around, we saw The Straw Market on the other side of the driveway. We went over. It consists of a number of very small buildings. Each is open air. Most have two vendors. There were the usual souvenir items, but most had t-shirts and clothes. Most of the vendors were very friendly and helpful. Some would even help with other’s items. We found one place where we found a lot of things we wanted. After spending a lot of time, we decided on what we wanted. We were able to quickly negotiate a lower price, and buy it. We went to another booth and found something else we wanted. I felt because I was only buying one item and the price seemed somewhat reasonable, I didn’t negotiate a lower price. The owner gave “babchia” a ring, and me a keychain after the deal was done. Also, when I asked about where I could get Bahamian money, the owner gave me her change. Very nice people.

We finished this area, then walked over to several buildings that appeared to be storefronts. It turns out they were, but most were vacant. We went through and found a couple of nice stores mixed in.

It turns out that most people don’t go into this second area even though it is right next to the ship. Of the few stores that were there, we found an artist that sold his own works, and a couple of more tchachkie type of souvenir stores. We saw some cute colorful fish mobiles, but passed on them (a little expensive). We did pickup some postcards, and a couple of other things.

We were done (except for a gift for one person, which we decided to buy on the ship). We headed back onto the ship. It was 10AM. We had saved the cost of the taxi, got a lot of gift buying done, and were back on the ship in less than one hour.

(Interestingly, while we were off the ship, the captain held his weekly crew emergency drill. It was a little strange standing near the ship while the emergency alarms were sounding.)

All week, I had been building up my courage to try the rock climbing wall and in-line skates. I had hoped to do it while the ship was not moving; however, neither of these things was available while we were docked. So, today, shortly after they opened (at 3PM, at sea), I tried the rock climbing wall. I didn’t get far, but was proud of myself for trying. (I found the staff was really supportive, so that helped, too.) Once done with that, I took several spins (and one spill) around the skating track. That was fun (and tiring)!

That afternoon, we met up with “cruzluvr” and shared the gift we had given them for their renewal.

That night, we went to see special artist Nick Lewin. He was listed as doing comedy and magic. His magic was nothing overly fantastic (when compared to the magicians we can see on TV), but his humor was good. Nice show. “babchia” enjoyed it even more than me.

Our dinner was a little quieter because some of our tablemates had gone to Portofino’s for a second time. Because we wanted to see The Quest, we tried to hurry through our meal. Not much luck with that. Our waiter was going to give a speech about his service, but we left. He gave it to us the next night.

We had planned on meeting “cruzeluvr” and his DW at the show. Because they had seen it before, they knew a lot of what to expect. I had expressed interest in participating,. They said they would if we wanted to. We decided to pass, and just watch. I am glad we did.

For those who don’t know what The Quest is, it is a sort of scavenger hunt with a large number of teams. Each team consisted of two men and two women. The way our cruise director did it, he said everything that was needed was in the room. Beyond that, I will leave the rest for you to discover. It was definitely an experience, and I recommend not missing it.

Right afterward, there was Rocking Through The Ages. A band played a number of songs (mostly 50’s and 60’s, but even some disco). The audience was encouraged to come out and dance. Those that did really got into it and had a great time. The Cruise Director’s staff was there in full force helping with making it fun. (We sat out and enjoyed the music and the ‘show’.)

I have copied and combined all of the parts of this review after Part 1.

Sorry about this mess.

Read the entire review at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?postid=1744631

DH of Babchia