December 18 2009--the beginning

GETTING THERE
The army has a saying--Hurry up and Wait--That must be true of Bahamasair service. Good passenger that I am, I made sure to be at the Ft. Lauderdale airport two hours before my international flight to Nassau to get through the paper work of customs, TSA and all the other rigmarole. I was scheduled to leave at 8:55 am and arrive around 10:10 am. A simple one hour plus flight. After three time changes we boarded at 1 PM and really did manage to set down an hour later, even though I had my doubts that I would ever see Nassau and board the ship, which was scheduled to sail at 5 PM.

Two sisters, whom I met on the plane, shared a taxi with me to the dock--on a long, circuitous and not particularly attractive ride. Looming to our right and overshadowing the horizon, looking like two ice cream cones between an enormous arch, was the pink monstrosity Atlantis--gambler's paradise on adjacent Paradise Island. The narrow streets are no cleaner than they have been in the past and the whole island seems to be in a state of unfinished constructions. At the dock, bustling as ever, is the Straw Market--dirty, noisy and displaying the usual touristy "bargains".

The ship is small but pleasantly appointed--and exceptionally clean. Lunch and a brief tour of the ship was all I could manage before we were underway at 5 PM. Any further investigation was cut short by the realization that the ship was not only moving forward but swaying side to side. A quick retreat to the cabin was in order and there I stayed, luggage unpacked for the next two days while fought mal de mer. While I never quite succumbed to a serious case of sea sickness, I did have my moments and also the fear of falling and doing more damage to my slowly repairing fracture. So I stayed in bed, watch movies on the TV, read two books and listened to the lectures.