Terrific and Troublesome Travels

As a graduation present, my gramma took me on a two day cruise to the Bahamas, and it was amazing.

We left Friday morning, which meant I got to spend Thursday night with my mum since she was driving us to the airport, and therefore I also got to spend time with Sasha, who is one of the most adorable creatures on this plane of existence.

Speaking of planes, our flight to West Palm beach was delayed, but we were not disheartened because it was only by half an hour, and for me that was a whole half hour to listen to more of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, which I am determined to be caught up on before the start of next semester. After my airport adventures of last summer, I decided that airports are a place of inherent chaos and it is best to roll with it or you’ll get consumed. (*Spoiler alert* this was not the only delayed plane of this trip!)

Getting on to the boat was relatively smooth sailing (haha, get it? Smooth sailing, I should take up comedy, I really should) and our cabin was small and cozy, and I didn’t take any pictures because I was too busy organizing my book pile (I only brought five which is so unlike me) BUT I can guarantee that it was a nice place. We weren’t able to get in to our cabin right away though, we had to wait before they let us all in, plus it was lunch time and we were hungry.

This was the part I had been dreading. Food. As a person with food allergies, I can attest to the fact that it sucks not being able to control what I eat, and I’ll readily admit that I loath buffets for the nightmarish amounts of cross-contamination they are capable of. That said, the staff were all super accommodating of my allergies, and I made a good friend out of the head waiter, who helped me plan out all of my meals on the ship.

Friday night was nice (wine tasting, a musical show, and then a smaller but still excellent Donna Summers tribute in one of the lounges) but Saturday morning was when I was able to visit the above mentioned resort and spend time at the amazing beach. I have a few pictures, but they were mostly all taken after I had my hours in the sun because I was adamant that I would enjoy the beach as it should be enjoyed – that is to say I swam in the ocean and read my books in the sand without my phone. I love my phone, but sometimes we need some space.

As it got to the later afternoon we left the resort to walk around the marketplace for a little while, and stopped to have lunch in a restaurant where I faced a mirror and thus had to constantly stop myself from getting in to a staring contest with my own reflection. (A battle I will always both win and lose)

After catching the last bus back to our ship, we perused even more gift shop areas near and on the ship before investigating the rumor of a library (it was tiny, but bilingual!) heading to dinner, where I had the above-pictured chicken/rice/green bean combo. I also had sweet potato fries but they were so yummy I ate them all before I thought to take a picture.

After dinner we looked around more shops (the place was filled with them, around every corner they were, I swear) before gramma headed to bed and I went up to one of the upper decks and to the spa. I’d never had a facial before, but they were offering a discount, so I decided to try it. The entire process was incredibly relaxing, and when it was all over and I went back to my cabin I fell asleep quite peacefully.

Sunday morning when we got up for breakfast I got to sit on the side facing the windows and I watched the sun rise over the sea. I don’t have a picture because by the time I stopped staring at it the sun had risen and before I knew it we were pulled in to the port of West Palm Beach again.

Now, here is where it gets to the part of the post that explains why the word “Troublesome” is in the title of this post, and why I spoiled you earlier about having more than just one delayed plane. We were considering the idea of exploring West Palm Beach a bit before we went to the airport — our flight was at four and we got off the boat at eleven — however, I got this text message:

Naturally, having a flight at four, we were confused and went straight to the airport. The person who we talked to confirmed that it was a small mistake, and that our flight was still scheduled to leave on time. We had four and a half hours at this point, so we decided to stay at the airport and have a long lunch at one of their restaurants. And then I got these messages:

Long story short, because this post is already pretty long, there were thunderstorms where we were and thunderstorms where we were going, so we left for home about half an hour after we should have already been there. When I finally got home at quarter to midnight I wanted to go straight to my bed and pass out, but I was incredibly hungry, so I decided to eat a quick dinner first since the hummus and pretzels I had on the plane wasn’t cutting it. Unfortunately this lead to me hitting my third wind and didn’t properly crash until quarter past two, which made waking up at seven for work particularly unpleasant.

Overall, while the return was less than ideal, I greatly enjoyed my weekend, and am feeling very thankful to my gramma, with whom I had a lovely time. ❤️

Cheers,

Talia

P.S. My toaster was recovered from my mum’s house, and more importantly so was my WAFFLE IRON! Keep watch on my Instagram in the next few weeks. 🍽️

Editorial note: I got food poisoning 😔 still had a good time though!