Bahama Cruise 2023

We boarded the ship about 230pm. It left the dock by about 5pm. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. It wasn't dark yet and we got a look at the Chesapeake Bridge that carries US 50 across the Chesapeake Bay. We ended up eating in our stateroom as Ann's walker wasn't delivered by suppertime. It was cold outside and not great for sitting on the balcony (yes we got a room with a balcony- woo hoo).

Day two was at sea as we were traveling south toward the Bahamas. The sea was rough - although not as rough as in the image. So we ordered breakfast and supper in our stateroom. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ In addition to the rough seas we got a culinary disappointment. The Carnival Legend had Pepsi but no coke. Another issue was that it was still pretty cold during the day; too cold to use the outdoor spa.

Pictures are from the port (left) side of the ship (middle image) and then the starboard (west) side of the ship. In the image of the three ships, the two ships to the left are similar in size to the ship we were on. Both belonged to Royal Caribbean (which also owns Celebrity). The ship on the right is the Anthem of the Seas. It is much bigger than our ship and also owned by Royal Caribbean ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Our ship (Carnival Legend) is about 930 feet long, has 12 decks (ten are passenger accessible) and carries about 2200 passenger...

The next day we docked at Freeport. There was a big beach party with tug of war and music and a beach party. We stayed on the ship. I used the spa again but since most of the passengers went ashore it wasn't crowded and I was able to use the spa that was covered with a plexiglass top. The temperature was in the low to mid 70s which was below average for this time of the year in Freeport. ---............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... One of the great things about a cruise is how nice everyone is. The crew goes out of their way to help in whatever way they can and all the passengers I met were as nice as I could ever want anyone to be. Self selection or do people just get ...

We docked in the Grand Bahama island. Another ship that docked there was the Margaritaville. It is quite a bit smaller than the Carnival Legend carrying only about 650 passengers and having only 10 decks. It currently does three day cruises out of Palm Beach Florida. And, yes, they have a Jimmy Buffett quote on their website,............................................................................................................... " To me, the only thing better than being on a beach by the ocean, is to be on the ocean. Now you can follow in our wake..." Again I used the spa but this time the people who went ashore came back earlier and the spa got too crowded to use by about 2pm.

I was finished with the spa but hung around on deck for the ice scupturing. These two images were taken only about 35 minutes apart. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Somehow this has became a staple of cruising entertainment. The guy who did the sculpture said he 'had to study and practice for two years' before his first paid sculpture performance but he has now been doing it for about 6 years. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ The temperature was back down in the low 70s that day (about 7 degrees below the long term average) and cloudy.

Every day room services makes the bed and leave a piece of towel art. Towel art is when a towels are used to create a design like an animal. On March 18, they left this piece which looks like a bat. They don't do this completely retail. There is a whole team that make a thousand versions of the art of the day............................................ .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... There were two days at sea going to the Bahamas and one day coming back. This is partially due to the Gulf Stream which has a strong current from south to north just east of the North American mainland.

From noon on the 18th it started getting cooler and then colder. By the time it was March 19, it was quite cold. The image is when the ship went under the Francis Scott Key Bridge which carries I-695 around the east side of Baltimore. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... We got to the Port of Baltimore by about 1000am. We mustered in a social hall in the forward section of the lowest usable deck. We got our baggage about 1130. It was quite a way to the "Pick Up Area" where you could call a cab, Uber or be picked up by a friend (I don't know why the Port of Baltimore doesn't make this easier for people after disembarking - it seems to me there is plenty of room for a closer "Pick up Area" but maybe they have reasons. My Uber ap wasn't working...