More Rum, more cake, more fun, more Palo

The night had been a bit rocky, especially when crossing the Florida Straight, but even though we were up again at the crack of dawn. Well, we were up for the sunrise and then went back to bed. It was another Nassau day and this time we were taking it easy.

We got up again when the Wonder docked in Nassau and sat out on the verandah for a while, watching the ship dock. It was time for breakfast, but neither of us really cared for going up to either Beach Blanket Buffet or down to Tritons, so we decided that instead of having breakfast we would have a drink out of the fridge and try some of the Rumcake. The cake was delicious so we decided we better get some to take home.

Later that morning we finally made our way off the ship. We slowly walked over into Nassau, checking a few touristy souvenir shops along the way. Tom wanted to pick up a few things from the Bacardi store and there was one other store that sold the rum cake, so went there to explore as well. They had several kinds of cake to try and several kinds of rum too, so we got a sampler box of the rum. We were looking for the Del Sol shop to get some special T-shirt and when we finally found it, spent some more time and money there.

By then we were getting hungry and headed back to the ship for lunch. Once back on board we went back to our stateroom, were happy to find some more goodies in our Fish Extender and after freshening up went down to Tritons for lunch. We were seated right away, at a four top next to the main walkway. Our server was over quickly, and explained the menu, brought out some Bread and took our drinks order. Diet Cokes, what else! Tom tried the Vegetable Quesadillas, served with Guacamole, Sour Cream and Pico de Gallo. I tried the Ginger infused Carrot Soup. We enjoyed both of them very much and when I took photos of our food, the little Japanese girl at the table next to us, looked over and laughed. Soon after we had finished our starters, we were served our entrees. Tom’s choice was the Angus Chuck Burger, grilled ½ lb burger with Swiss Cheese, Lettuce, Onions and Tomatoes, served with French fries and coleslaw.

I wanted something smaller and went for the Turkey Melt Sandwich on a Whole Grain Panini. Thinly sliced roast turkey breast, Thousand Island Dressing and melted Cheddar Cheese served with Potato Chips. I grabbed the camera and started taking pictures of the food, when the little girl leaned over and said, “My mum does that too.” We all had a good laugh and it turned out that the mum at the other table was a bit of a foodie too and loved taking photos of her food! Once we were done taking photos we tried our food and it was delicious. I was wrong about the portion size of mine, as it was huge! We thought about skipping dessert, but our server told us that we “had to” order some, or our meal would not be complete. And who are we not to take the hint. Our server handed us the menu again, to find a dessert we wanted and we both quickly found something we wanted. Tom ordered the Hot Chocolate Fudge Pudding with Vanilla Sauce.

I wanted to try the Key Lime Pie, Lime Custard on Graham Cracker Crust and a Meringue Topping. We ordered two Espressi as well and really enjoyed our desserts and beverages as well. After lunch we went to explore the ship a bit more before we left the ship again, to walk back into Nassau to find some Bahamian Beers for Tom to try and buy some more of those rum cakes. We went to the Tortuga Rum Company store to get the assortment of rum cakes.

We also wanted to buy few extras, one for our stateroom host Arturo and two more for our WPE servers. Then we walked over to the Bacardi shop to pick up some of his favourite rum and to the off license store to pick up some beers to try. We got back to the ship by mid afternoon and were personally greeted by another CM, Ion, who made his way into Nassau.

When we were back and on the way to our stateroom we ran into Arturo, who we always had a conversation with whenever we saw him. When he mentioned that he didn’t have time to go into Nassau we handed him his rum cake and told him that we had thought of him and got him a little something. He was quite happy and amazed that his guests got HIM a present.

We relaxed out on the veranda for a short time before we were overcome by the need to snack on something. So off we went to Goofy’s Galley. It was hard to decide because there are so many yummy choices, but in the end we decided on a Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwich, a Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap and a Lamb Wrap with Couscous for each of us! What a yummy treat. We took it back to our room and sat out on the veranda enjoying it and the view of Nassau.

The skies changed from blue to grey constantly, but it was amazing to see that it never started to actually rain. After a nice long relaxing rest in our stateroom we walked around the ship to deliver more Fish Extender gifts. When we were done we walked up onto the top deck and waited for the ship to pull out of Nassau. We spent quite some time there, watching Nassau disappear in the distance, before we got changed and walked down to the Walt Disney Theatre to watch Toy Story, the Musical. The performance was wonderful as always and soon it was time to walk up to Palo for our dinner. We were welcomed by the Maitre d’ and asked if it was possible to have Oliver as our server again. Sure, he would grant our wish.

We were seated after a very short wait and were served our drinks, a Whiskey Sour and a Strawberry Daiquiri. Then, while we were still studying the menu, Oliver served the Pane Casalingo, freshly baked bread selection from their bakery accompanied by homemade dips, olive tapenade, aioli and roasted pepper & garlic. And there was still another plate of yummy food, the Specialita' Del Palo: Antipasto Freddo Prosciutto, Bresaola, Parmesan Reggiano, Marinated Olives and Sun-dried Tomatoes. It was hard to decide on a starter but we were finally ready to order. Tom went for the Frito di Calamari, lightly-crusted calamari served with deep-fried cherry peppers and I ordered the Tuscan Minestrone Soup scented with Fresh Basil. Once we had finished our starters we were served a palate cleanser, Lime Sorbet.

Tom had the Grilled Sea Scallops with Borlotti Beans and Pancetta, served with a tomato borlotti bean sauce. Both main courses were equally good and we took our time to finish them. I wanted to try the Tiramisu for dessert, but Oliver talked me out of it, explaining that it wasn’t like a traditional Italian dessert, but more a very Americanized version. So I went with his recommendation which was the Panna Cotta, sweet, white cream custard with fresh Berries, which was a very good choice.

Tom wanted something “less” sweet and chose the Pineapple and Almond Ravioli, lightly poached pineapple filled with an almond mousse. Nice guy that Oliver is, he brought out a Chocolate Soufflé as well for us to share. Then it was time to settle the bill and we were served a farewell drink, Lemoncello with Lime Sorbet. We said goodbye to Oliver and as stuffed as we were wobbled back to our stateroom. Thankfully our fridge was well stocked with liquid goodies, so we sat outside on the verandah for a while and enjoyed the night air out at sea.