The front desk has a print out of the activities for each day. There is also a display board in the lobby lounge.  We are not sports oriented, so we opted to see the Junkanoo Show the first night we arrived.  The music was good and the dancers were also very good, compared to other all inclusive resorts we’ve been to, including Mexico and Jamaica. The drinks were very good even the non-alcoholic ones that were served from self-serve machines: frozen banana, pineapple, orange drinks, and others were good with or without alcohol.

Sunday

After a filling breakfast, but not one where I felt “stuffed,” I tried out the exercise equipment by walking on the treadmill for thirty minutes.  While I’m no expert on machines, there was quite a variety and several people were using the different machines without any complaints.  There was chilled fresh water from a water cooler, which was the only place I saw bottled water in the resort that wasn’t for sale (you can purchase it in the gift shop).  Jordan and Caroline hadn’t liked the “beachy” tasting water served at meals and apparently mixed with the machine beverages.  Thus, we had taken note of drinks that we did like,  such as the frozen drink machines, juices, and wines.
 

At 9:30, I took the bicycling tour.  It turned out to be a thirty minute round trip ride to a neighborhood close to the resort, but it was a flat, easy ride and very pleasant in the morning hours, especially on Sunday.  Two staffers accompanied me and the two other guests who showed up for the tour.  Our two guides made sure that we were between them and, once we were out of traffic, we all enjoyed the relaxed ride in the neighboring streets.  We saw a land crab, which our host biker picked up for us to look at more closely. At Breezes, we found out if you get to the beach before 9:30 AM, you should have no trouble getting a palapa (a thatched cabana) or a shady spot.  Even if you’re a sun lover, it’s not a bad idea to have a shelter handy for later in the day.  Once these shady spots were taken, it seemed folks hung onto them.

After lunch, we changed clothes and headed into town on the #10 bus to walk around the market, with the intention of making our way to the Government House.  On Sundays, from early June to late July, the Department of Tourism hosts afternoon teas, with the money raised going to charity.

We arrived promptly by 3:00 o’clock and at the wrong gate. The Tourism officials were most kind to let us in the left gate when we should have come in the right one.  It was quite a hill and in the heat, quite a walk to go around.  (Check out The Islands Of The Bahamas Official Website at http://www.bahamas.com for more information about the schedule for activities occurring while you are visiting Nassau.) 

The tea was a break from the heat and lots of walking, a neat opportunity see the exterior of the Governor’s House, and a nice way to meet and talk to the locals and others visiting the island.  There was a fashion show, silent action, raffle and reading by an author of native books.  The scheduled time for this afternoon event read 3:00 o’clock to 6:00 o’clock.  We thought that this included a jazz music festival, thus it was drop in and then leave by 6:00 o’clock.  The tea and fashion show lasted three hours.  Folks came in much later than we did and still enjoyed the event.  There’s no question that the slower pace of the place certainly takes some getting use to.  There was a complimentary bus that returned us to our resort.

We aren’t night owls and, with lots of folks drinking and smoking late into the evening, we tended to turn in earlier than some of the other guests.  The cable TV was good, with lots of channels to choose from.  Again, the accommodations are simple.  With four adults, we should have considered 2 rooms, so we were less comfortable but that was our choice.  My only complaint about our room was the uncomfortable mattresses.  I noticed some rooms on the beach level (front-older side where we were staying-right, facing the beach) that looked like they had new furnishing and mattresses. Our room had carpet, this one had tile.  I would suggest when booking your reservation, that you ask about their renovated rooms.  I would also suggest that you may want to ask for outside rooms that do not face the courtyard or pool area.  I did mention to a security officer that we had some noise on our floor around 3:00 o'clock several mornings, from “night owls” calling it a night.  After reporting this, I did not hear them again.

NOTE: This is not a 5-star hotel. You are paying for a decent room that covers your needs, activities, and a good selection of good food and drink……and no tipping.  If you plan to stay in your room for the week, then you may want to rethink staying at an all-inclusive resort!
 

Monday In the morning we took the sailing lesson with the water sports staff at Breezes.  They were very informative and answered our questions. while demonstrating how to handle the sails. We later took the Number 10 bus again to downtown Nassau to experience the Pirate Museum and the Straw Market.  The Pirate Museum was a destination that both my teenagers wanted to visit.  It was all right, but not really worth the US$12 per person it cost to see it.  But, it was something other than shopping and we thought it was at least worth trying.

Monday evening, we went down to see the comedian at the Comedy Club, who apparently works at several of the resorts.  He was quite good, even though he used Jordan’s name in an unflattering joke at the beginning and managed to say something funny about her university’s mascot, The University of South Carolina “Gamecocks” – without us knowing that he was personalizing this just for us!  We got one of his T-shirts after the show and did mention to him that he certainly made us feel at home!  It was all in fun and all of us enjoyed it.

Tuesday

The family got an early wake up call and got the early reservation for the Catamaran ‘Flying Cloud’ half-day snorkeling trip.  Snacks were included and the cruise went out to Rose Island.  The coral was not as colorful as Mexico, but was pretty and the reefs were teaming with tropical fish, and we did see a sea turtle.  We spent the afternoon on the beach, reading and relaxing. We had dinner reservations at Pastafari, Breezes’ Italian Restaurant.  The service and food were both exceptional.  After dinner we walked to the Crystal Palace Casino and played some of the penny slots.  Together we won US$2.00 and spent US$10.00 on drinks from Starbucks.  We then took the free shuttle back, which leaves every hour on the hour.

Wednesday

We were able to obtain day passes to Atlantis.  This is a fun excursion if this interests you. We took a cab from the resort (US $22.00-one way).  The aquarium was very nice and the resort was truly breathtaking to see.  Be prepared to spend a lot for simple fare that was just so-so.  We went through the shops around the resort but many of these were repeats from the ones in Nassau.  We enjoyed the oceanfront and looking at the many yachts that are docked at Paradise Island.

That evening, we took in another comedy show at Breezes and dinner at the outside café.  Again, the food was very good.  The comedian was also very good.  While we were dining, there were loud cheers from the front of the resort.  It turns out that a local high school had booked the upper floor ballroom at the resort for their prom.  We had a fun evening watching this spectacle unfold as prom goers arrived.

We spent the day at the beach reading and sunning.  Took the sailboat out over the ice-green water.  It is so pretty.  We walked the beach down to the other resorts after dinner.  I was surprised how unkempt the beach was at the other resorts late in the day, as far as trash and cigarette butts scattered along the strand.  Our beach area was tended to regularly, with the resort staff taking in cups, arranging chaise lounge chairs, and raking the sand each afternoon as folks went in for the day.  We also had the better beach front over the neighboring resorts, keeping in mind that all beaches here are public beaches.

We made one final trip into Naussau to see the Junkanoo parade late in the day.  There is a craft expo that is housed at Prince George’s Warf which is just outside the Straw Market and inside the gates that go to the cruise ships.  We were able to get some nice local crafts there that were less commercial than the items at the Straw Market at a good price.  They also had a band playing local music.  The parade was fun though apparently much smaller in the summer than the normal time.  It was extremely hot and you had to marvel at the folks in the heavy costumes, but with no complaints!  Another prom graced the entrance of Breezes and we enjoyed watching with guests from England that thought this was more interesting to watch than a parade with their queen. It was quite a show.  The evening show at the resort was good with a Grammy award winning singer, whose name now escapes me.