Gray, Anne, Caroline, and Freedom Go to the Bahamas

      In January Gray, Anne, Caroline, Freedom, our Mom, Dad, and Grandmother went on a cruise to the Bahamas. On the way to Jacksonville, FL we changed planes in Charlotte. There was snow on the ground when we landed in Charlotte. In Jacksonville we took a van to the ship. We went through security and got on the ship. We had lunch on the ship in the Wheelhouse grill. We had pizza from the 24 hour a day pizzeria and ice cream. The ship started out of dock around 4 pm, and then we were on our way to Freeport, Bahamas.
      We licked an ice cream cone and watched the ship squeeze under a bridge. The ship was tremendously huge, and there were lots of fun things to do. There were three pools and two jacuzzis. We ate dinner and went to the Camp Carnival orientation. After dinner, when we went to our room, we found animal shaped towels lying on the bed. Anne and Caroline's beds had been pulled down from the wall. The girls climbed up on the beds and jumped down to Mom and Dad's bed.
      When we woke up the next day we ate breakfast and saw the ship docking in Freeport. We played in the pool. At 11:00 am we went to Camp Carnival in the disco place. We danced, drew pictures. and looked at Freeport. After lunch we left the ship and took a taxi to Paradise Cove. We got snorkeling gear, and learned how to snorkel. We started snorkeling. Four or five colorful fish greeted us. We saw lots of coral and a coral minnow hotel (a big coral with lots of minnows crowding around and going inside).
      That night was formal night. We got very dressed up for dinner. There were ten pieces of silverware on the table! We had four courses including dessert. Anne's favorite was chocolate melting cake with vanilla ice cream.
      We came into Nassau, Bahamas around 8:00 am. There was another Carnival ship, the Fasination in dock. We got off and went into Nassau. We met a lady who braided Anne and Caroline's hair. While Anne and Caroline got their hair braided Dad and Gray went to Fort Fincastle. It was a small fort and a man was giving a guided tour. It was used to protect Nassau from invasion. After that we went to an Anglican Church which was very pretty inside. We met Anne and Caroline at the straw market. The straw market was very big and crammed with interesting things to buy.
      In the afternoon we went on a glass bottom boat tour and saw brain coral and starfish. Parrotfish were taking a stroll in the ocean.
      Playing in the pool was so much fun. It had a big slide that twisted and turned all the way to the bottom. The water in the pool was saltwater from the ocean. The salt water soaked our hair. The slide was a way to warm up quickly. The current coming from the slide pushed us to the far end of the pool. Anne and her new friend thought up a million different ways to go down the slide.
      The last day was a day at sea. It was very rough and Gray got very sick. We had a very good vacation and will remember it forever.