Princess Cay

Monday 2/11 – Day One of our Cruise, Princess Cays Bahamas

Neither Tina nor I slept well (a very hard bed), so by 7am I was up and headed for coffee.  It was overcast and felt like rain but within the next hour the sun came out for a beautiful pink sunrise! By 8am everyone was up and we went to breakfast and watched as the ship anchored at Princess Key. Soon three of the ships life boats were lowered, gangways were let down from the hull on deck four to begin shuttling passengers to shore.

Before the onslaught of Tourists

Princess Cays is a small island in the Bahamas that has been connected  by a causeway to a larger island called Eleuthera. A private resort of Princess Cruise Lines, Princess Cays is situated on more than 40 acres and features over a half-mile of white-sand shoreline, all at the southern tip of the island. The resort boasts outstanding amenities while carefully preserving this natural paradise. Take in the views from the observation tower. Enjoy a barbecue. Sip a cool drink or browse the shops and the local craft market. All of Princess Cays' facilities are linked by walkways. Recreational activities abound. Enjoy volleyball and a full range of water sports, or simply relax on the beach. (Courtesy Princess Cruises)

Returning to our rooms, we managed to get our shore gear together (cameras, towels, books, lotion, etc.), went down to deck four and joined the short line to be ferried ashore. We arrived at the quay by 10:30 and took an hour to explore some of the shops and sights before claiming our lounge chairs near a small lagoon. Once settled in I went and changed to my swimsuit and ventured out into the 75 degree water. It was great! Aqua marine water so clear you could see the bottom 60eet out. I was able to do several free dives down to about 15 feet, swimming lazily along the sandy bottom. Eventually I returned to the shore and joined the girls on our loungers to read and people watch.

Beach Time with the Buffet Shed behind us!

Before long the gong announced that lunch was ready so we all trooped to the buffet line. The buffet was set up in a large open air shed with four lines of passengers. We slowly passed through and made our selections from hamburgers, hotdogs, bbq'd chicken, bbq'd ribs, fried fish, rice, vegetables and lots of fruit! Finally, a semi healthy meal, heh, heh! After lunch I went back in the water several times for some long swims, once with a school of yellow striped tangs! Around 2:30pm we headed back to the dock to catch one of the lighters back to the ship. We had a very nice stay at Princess Key, day one of our cruise.

A Beautiful place to Relax in the Sun!

Arriving back at the Ruby Princess, I grabbed the laptop to bring the blog up to date while the girls headed out to explore some of the on-board shops and make dinner reservations. After all the big meals we decided to have salads for dinner tonight. Besides, we couldn't get a reservation that late in the day. After a light repast we headed for one of the lounges to listen to big band music and songs followed by a retreat to our rooms where we watched Men in Black 3, and then to bed, thus ending another beautiful day!

To see all our photos go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski