Missing Heaven on Earth because of Irene

Since we knew we would be back to Nassau we decided to sleep in a little and when we got up we had already docked in Nassau. We quickly took a shower and then headed to the Royal Palace for breakfast. We signed in and were led to a table.

Our server was quick to introduce himself and ask for what we wanted to drink. Tom ordered some coffee and I ordered some Hot Tea. And he came right back with a large wooden box from where I could pick my tea, Earl Grey. Another server came by with a huge tray of pastries, but we didn't feel like any. Tom ordered the Swiss Bircher Muesli, Muesli with raisins, shredded apples and yogurt again, while I ordered the Mornin' Tug Boat, a fresh blend of strawberries, bananas, almonds, raisin granola and low-fat yogurt. We both enjoyed our starters very much and once we were finished our main courses arrived. I had ordered the Disney Cruise Line Breakfast Trio, French toast, Belgian waffle, and buttermilk pancakes served with cinnamon butter, syrup and whipped cream, accompanied with bacon and it was the only food I was not happy with. Tom had ordered The Express, Scrambled eggs, grilled ham, bacon, sausage, hash browns and a side of toast. Not the world's most famous breakfast either, but it filled Tom up.

Once we had finished breakfast we went back to our stateroom to decide what we would do all day and since I had printed out a walking tour of Nassau we decided to try that today and to have a look at all the storm damage, Hurricane Irene had done. Having been in the air conditioned surroundings of the Disney DREAM for quite some time we were not prepared for the heat outside. We started to walk towards the town center, then headed towards the Water Tower and the Queen's Staircase. It was an uphill climb and we took lots of time and were really shocked at all the damage that the storm had done. There were lots of downed trees and buildings with damaged roofs. Suddenly we arrived at the Princess Margaret hospital and could see the Water Tower in the distance.

There was a path going up and we followed it. After a few steps a man joined us and started telling us about the history of Nassau. We stood and listened for about 10 minutes, then he told us that he wasn't a tour guide, but would accept tips. Tom gave him a few dollars and up we went. Since the climb was steep we took our time and very slowly walked up to the Water Tower in the sweltering heat. We stopped ever so often to turn around and look at the scenery below us and finally made it to the top. We walked around and over to Fort Fincastle, where we paid our entrance fees, met another nice guy, who again was not a tour guide, but gave his little speech about the Fort.

He was pretty hard to understand and we were happy when he was done with it, so Tom forked over a few dollars and we went to explore on our own. You have a lovely view from the Fort and we enjoyed it for quite some time. A while later some other people came up and we decided it was time for us to leave. We still had not found the Queen's Staircase, so we walked past all the vendors and finally found it. Unfortunately the storm had damaged some of the trees and the walkway was blocked and we could see people working at the very end of the Staircase. There was a sign that said that the staircase was closed, so we took a few photos before we headed back to the way we had come up on and started walking down. We then headed towards the harbour again, but took a few other roads and explored a little more. The town is very nice and some of the buildings are very spectacular. We finally got back to Charlotte Street, and did a little more window shopping before we headed to the Tortuga Rum Company again for a taste of their rum cake and we picked up three rum cakes, one for Ana and one for Sapto, our dining room team and one for our stateroom host. Then we were done and we slowly walked back to the DREAM. Once back on board we emptied out the Fish Extender, then stowed away our purchases and freshened up before we headed to the Royal Palace for lunch.

It was held at Meridien and we just had to walk up a few stairs and walked in. To our huge surprise we found George, the sommelier again. He greeted us warmly and told us that they had decided that instead of doing the usual tasting we would have a tasting of some of his favourite Italian wines. He also informed us that only 4 people had signed up for the tasting, so we were just waiting for one more couple to join us. A few minutes later that couple arrived and we could not believe it, but it was Alison  and her husband. We had met on the first day when they had walked by our stateroom and now we were the only four people doing the tasting. We took our seats at the bar and tasted the wines, talked about how they were made and had a really fun time.

All to soon our last wine was poured and we had to say goodbye again. Tom and I went back to our stateroom and checked the weather for Hurricane Irene and the news that reported on her slamming the New York area. We had a few more DISsers coming in the following day from that area and were very worried about them.

 We were both tired and sat out on our veranda, watching the DREAM pull out of Nassau in the early afternoon. After some time we returned to the TV and watched a little more CNN, munching some Caramel popcorn from the Epcot Karamellkuche. We decided to again skip the show and picked up our last fish extender gifts for this cruise and headed out. Once we had finished delivering our gifts we paid another visit to the shops and picked up a few more gift items, then took them back to our stateroom and picked up our cameras to check out the bars and lounges on board. First up was 687, a sports bar with huge TV screens and momentos of how the DREAM had been built.

Tom wanted to try their 687 beer and I got a Diet Coke and we sat and discussed the first part of our vacation and what was still to come. We sat there for quite some time and before we left we went around the room taking pictures of some of the things on display. We were both surprised that there were not more people using those areas, but we also enjoyed the peace and quiet. Once we had taken all the photos we wanted we moved on and walked around that area for a little while before we decided to check out the Skyline Bar as well. There were only two other guests there, so we decided to stay and order a drink there as well.

When we left we knew we had to hurry as we still needed to get ready for dinner. We returned to our stateroom and found another fantastic towel animal, a dog wearing my sunglasses. Needless to say I was searching for them all over the place the next day. After quickly changing into some other clothes we walked down to the Royal Palace, waited in line for a little while until the opened the doors and then it was time for another fantastic meal. We were seated at another table for two, handed out our tip envelopes and were handed the menus to choose our dinner.

Ana was back fairly quickly with two Diet Cokes and filled the Princess coach bread basket with some Warm Herb Brioche with an Olive Spread.  We placed our order for dinner and started nibbling on the nice brioche and spread. It didn't take long and our starters were delivered. Tom had ordered the Double Baked Spinach Souffle, coated with a three cheese cream. I had had it before and had told him to try it, it was really wonderful. I had chosen the The Comtesse Du Barry's Soup, rich velvety cauliflower cream, topped with salmon caviar croutons, which was very creamy and tasty indeed.

My main course choice was the Roasted Wild Boar Tenderloin , sweet carrot and onion potato cake with a red currant reduction, which was wonderful and Tom tried the Royal Palace Aged Angus Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Lobster Medallions, sauteed snow peas and marquis potatoes with a cognac reduction.He enjoyed it a lot. Next up were the desserts. Tom ordered one of his new favourites, the Grand Marnier Souffle, infused with fresh orange zest and served with creme Anglaise while I tried the Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brulee with a macaroon. Once we had finished our dinner and said our goodbye's to Ana and Sapto we headed back to our stateroom, chilled for a while and then called it a day and went to bed.