Birthday Cruise Part II

It was a hot sunny day as we docked at Half Moon Cay, Carnival’s private island – perfect for sunbathing and swimming and of course, enjoying a few brews. We had a delicious BBQ lunch and then returned to the beach for more sun and surf.

         


       

Our third port was Nassau, where we took a ship’s shore excursion to Balmoral Island Beach. This is a new excursion for Carnival and well worth the money. The 20 minute boat ride to the island was fun and the facilities at the beach were lovely and new. Since it was a hot day, we passed on the pool and spent our time at the beach going in and out of the water.


     


   

We spent the rest of the cruise enjoying the ship – especially spa, the evening shows, and the comedy club.

       

Birthday Cruise - Sept 2013

On Jane’s birthday, September 14th, we drove from Jenn’s apartment in New Jersey to the port of New York to board our ship, the Carnival Splendor. Our ship was docked next to one of Norwegian’s largest ships and the passengers from both ships shared the same check-in area. Despite the crowds, we quickly found Keith and Debbie who were joining us on the cruise.

 

The view of the New York skyline was beautiful as we sailed out of New York harbour. We enjoyed chocolate birthday cake in our cabin.

         

At dinner, Jane had a birthday candle in her crème brulé while being serenaded by our waiters in the dining room.

   

We spent our two days at sea relaxing in the thalassotherapy pool, on the ceramic lounge chairs, and in the steam rooms in the Cloud 9 spa.

Our first port of call was Grand Turk where we took a tour with Island Trams Limited. Brothers Doug and Ray were wonderful guides and we thoroughly enjoying seeing the sights on the small island.


           

After the tour we enjoyed the pool at Margaritaville and beach next to our ship. Jane checked out the shops but returned to the ship empty-handed (for a change)!