Oh, the Places We'll Go!: Allure Day 2

Day 2 - Sunday, October 1. As normally happens on cruises, no matter how dark the blackout curtains are, the sun woke me up. We were due to arrive in Nassau at 7am. Per the clock on my photos, I must have woken up just before 7am and we were already docked.

I was excited about this day, because I knew we were sharing the piers with two ships that are very special to me. The first one, I saw the minute I opened the drapes.

Carnival Ecstasy. This was my ship in 1993 when I cruised with my first husband with another couple who still remain dear friends of Chris and me - Bryan and Melissa. I remember we had an outside stateroom, but I don't remember which side or end of the ship. I do not remember those balconies. Don't they look like they were stuck on with Play Doh? It's still a pretty ship, reminiscent of the days when balcony staterooms were reserved for suites. It was very nostalgic to see this ship.

A few minutes later, Chris was waking up, and I looked out again and guess what was pulling in to port?

The Disney Dream! This is one of Disney's newer ships and sister ship to the Fantasy - their two largest. I made Chris come out to the balcony to watch the ship back in.

We are big Disney lovers, and I have researched this ship until I've grown mouse ears on my head. But, we have decided to wait until we have grandchildren old enough to enjoy a Disney cruise. That should be 10-15 years from now. So for now, we either borrow someone else's kids, or we wait. And Dream. Pun intended.

Today's Plans:

9:30am - Flowrider lessons

Late morning/afternoon - Head ashore with two goals:

1. Take photos of the Ecstasy and Dream.

2. People-watch at Senor Frogs

7:30pm - 150 Central Park

10:30pm - Chicago (Broadway production)

Late - Black & White party at Blaze nightclub

So we slowly got moving and stopped by Park Cafe for breakfast. They have custom made bagels, fruit cups, yogurt and granola cups, pastries, fresh fruit, and probably more.

Then we headed up to the flowrider for our lessons (which were pre-booked and paid before the cruise). Lessons are $60 per person with a minimum class size of 4 and maximum of 8. You have two instructors and can choose boogie board, stand-up, or a combination.

We were joined by a mother-daughter team. Jane and Grace. Grace just missed the minimum height limit for stand-up so she only worked on her boogie skills. Jane tried both. Our instructors were Sean and Mel. We rotated through a few runs for the first fifteen minutes. Then Jane and Grace decided they were finished and, even though we all encouraged them to stay, they decided to leave. This turned out great for us, as it ended up basically being 2-on-2 private instruction for 45 minutes. Both of us improved quite a bit. They had Chris power carving and doing 360s. I did a couple of 360s by the end and was carving, but not with power. Once I had the carves down pretty smooth, I remember saying "someone should have just told me this is like snowboarding on powder".

We had a blast in our lesson, and we tipped our instructors (not required, but we really appreciated them). We both agreed that the lesson on the first morning was the best thing we could have done for our flowrider skills for the week.

Next, we were headed to change into dry clothes and grab a bite to eat before heading to shore. I think we had a couple of slices of pizza at Sorrento's. In my opinion, Sorrento's is not the best pizza on the planet. But it's not the worst. And sometimes you're just craving a good ole piece of pizza. I got a spinach and (goat?) cheese slice and a pepperoni slice. If "pepperoni" is singular, that is what I got. There was precisely ONE pepperoni on my slice. Chris got something similar, but with pepperoni (plural).

Then we went to the elevator bank and hit the "Gangway" button. When we got to the elevator lobby, a RC employee asked if we were planning to go ashore. When we said "yes", she shook her head and guided us around the corner, saying "take a look". It was pouring rain. So we waited a few minutes for it to slow, and it didn't. We decided to explore the ship a little more and try again later.

From Deck 5 forward, near the Amber Theater