Mariner Of The Seas Bahamas Cruise – Day Four

Today was a busy day and an exhausting one.  We arrived at Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean’s private island, around 7:00 a.m. and the ship was ready to disembark guests around 8:00 a.m.  I left the ship at 9:00 a.m.  The first thing that struck me was the beauty of the island and the colors all around us.

After I did a quick walk-through of the island, I went for my “shore excursion”, a ride in their helium balloon.  I was speaking to the operator of the balloon and told him that it was just like the one at Disney Springs.  When I said that, his face lit up and he said, “That’s where we all trained for this balloon!”

Anyway, here’s the balloon and views from it:

These are the buildings where the employees live while on the island:

After I got off the balloon, I have to admit that I was a bit motion sick.  It was a really windy day and the balloon had been swinging a lot.  The motion, added to the heat, made me feel sick.  So, I got a lot of water to drink and took my time taking flower pictures.

I came back to the ship around 2:00 p.m., showered, and lounged around in my room appreciating the air conditioning.  We left the island around 5:00 p.m.  The island employees were standing at the end of the pier with signs in their hands spelling out, “We hope you had a perfect day.”  What a nice send off!

My “Last Supper” was good, as usual.  I had ordered lobster bisque, wedge salad, and beef tenderloin.  Since I had ordered shrimp cocktail every evening, they automatically brought that to me as well.  I wasn’t going to complain.

Tonight’s production show from the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers was entitled “Gallery of Dreams”.  I have said a million times that I wished I had their energy.  They were great.

After the show, I had two choices:  pack or blog.  I’m not doing both.  So, I’m blogging.  I will pack when I wake up tomorrow.  I do not have to put my suitcase outside my door tonight since I am doing self walk-off tomorrow.  I will take my own bags with me and have to leave between 7:00 and 8:15 a.m.  I’ll catch the bus outside the terminal for transfer to Orlando International Airport and then wait until I can go into the terminal to wait for the afternoon flight.  It will be a long day since my flight does not leave until 4:05 p.m.  That was the best non-stop flight I could find.

The earlier non-stop flight was for 11:05 a.m. and I was not sure we would be at the airport in time.  Sometimes something comes up to keep a ship from being cleared right away or something happens on the road to stop traffic.  I’d rather sit and wait at the airport than worry crazily about making it there on time.

So, tomorrow, I will come home tired from the travel and a little worse for the wear.  However, it will have been worth it for the wonderful week I had.  (I just hope those damn love bugs are not still around.  They are a couple of week in duration and I do not know at what point in their cycle they were when I came down on Monday.

Thanks for following my vacation this week and for following this blog in general.  I know I do not always give you a whole lot but hope, at least, that you get something entertaining from time to time.