Today we are in Nassau and for us that means it’s a sea day 😉. For those that are new here, we have been to Nassau a few times (48 cruises in total and 18 for the YouTube channel) so we choose to stay on the ship. The best thing about staying on a ship in port is that it is typically empty and we had the entire ship to ourselves.

Breakfast – first up we went to the main dining room for breakfast. It was nice to sit down and not have to fight the buffet area. We had a pretty standard breakfast and everything was tasty. Coffee was good. Eggs were good. Hashbrowns were good. Overall it was a good breakfast. My favorite part of MDR breakfast is the coffee because they just keep it coming. Perfect to fuel up for a busy day on the ship.

Thermal Suite – we are staying in a spa interior cabin and with this cabin type, we get complimentary access to the thermal suite. The thermal suite on the Sunrise is really nice. It’s small but the layout works well. There are 8 hot stone loungers, 2 sensory showers, a sauna, an infared salt room, and an aroma steam room. The layout was very similar to the Disney Magic except one main difference, the whole side of the spa has floor to ceiling windows. I love features like this in spas. It allows a small space to feel larger. Keep in mind, we were visiting the spa on a port day where most of the ship disembarked so we had the place to ourselves.

Spa Time – now that we have toured the spa, it’s time to relax and relax we did. The steam room was great to open up all the nasal passages. I love the eucalyptus smells. Next up it was time to cool down a little in the sauna. Did I say cool down? Lol, no cool down happening in here. It was quite warm so we hopped over to the infared salt room and that was just right. The infared room was great. Very relaxing and I felt like my skin was being purified. One thing I really liked is they have music in all the rooms. This keeps the talking down (although it was just us, lol) and it allows you to focus on something other than sweating.

After thoroughly removing all of the toxins from the previous nights at the Alchemy Bar, it was time to move onto the hot stone loungers. Now we have spent time in many thermal suites on other ships and I have never really experienced a lot of relief on stone loungers. I always just assumed it was a place to have a small amount of heat applied to your back while you dried off. BUT, I was about to be shocked. The stone loungers on Sunrise are hot…heating pad on the highest setting hot. IT WAS WONDERFUL! It was absolutely heaven on Earth. It is not a secret that we are getting older and with that progression of age, our bones and muscles are not wanting to keep up with our island tour, ship tour, stair walking, try to accomplish as many things that we can, lives. My calves have been killing me ever since island tour day from Day 2 (all that sand is hard on your legs). The loungers removed all of that pain within 10 minutes. It was the first time all cruise that my legs were smiling. With this pain relief, I declared to Sean that this was one of the best thermal suites we have been in. If the thermal area had a thermal pool, it would have been number 1.

At 41 years old, the thermal area is all about pain relief for me. Saunas and salt rooms are great but if I am able to get relief on any part of my body, you have just been placed at the top of my list. And with my new legs, I would place the Sunrise as one of the best.

Lunch – all that relaxation worked up an appetite. There are a ton of lunch options on the Sunrise and even a lot of options for a port day (a lot of ships will have a smaller availability while at ports). But I just haven’t been able to resist Guy’s Burgers. I have been craving a burger everyday for lunch, which is weird cause we don’t eat burgers at all at home. But Guy’s Burgers are amazing and I gotta get my fill before we leave.

Pool Time – after lunch we headed to the back of the ship to enjoy the Tides Pool. It had a great view of Nassau and it was the perfect way to spend the rest of our afternoon. I love the opportunity to spend time with Sean and it’s especially nice when the ship is empty. We were able to enjoy the hot tub, swim a little in the pool and even grab an ice cream cone, which is right next to the pool area.

Evening is Here – time to get ready and head out. We have dinner reservations at Cucina del Capitano tonight but we were ready early so we decided to grab a pre-dinner drink at the Alchemy Bar. As I have mentioned before, the Alchemy Bar is such a great place to get a craft cocktail. It feels fancy and I love that the drinks taste so good. All the yums!

Dinner Time – Like I mentioned we are eating at Cucina del Capitano again. We love the food and the crew are absolutely amazing. Our dinner did not disappoint and we were even treated to a special entree of chef special meatballs and branzini. If you didn’t know (because I didn’t know), branzini is fish. I am typically not a fan of fish fish. I love shellfish but fish is a different story. I have now changed that thought process because this fish was amazing. It was even better than the chicken parmesan that I ordered. A special thank you to Chef Tahir for an amazing dinner. You and your staff went above and beyond for us.

Showtime – tonight’s show is Soulbound. We saw Soulbound on Horizon and it was so good that we knew we didn’t want to miss this one. We arrived about 10 minutes before showtime and found the best seats. One thing I like about Carnival is that you don’t need reservations for their shows. You just show up and look for a seat an we have never had any trouble finding a great seat, even with only 10 minutes to go.

Soulbound was spectacular. It was better on Sunrise than on Horizon. If you are curious what Soulbound is about, it’s Motown music (Natural Woman, I Put A Spell On You, etc) set to a New Orleans voodoo kind of theme. Not scary but very well done and orchestrated. We loved it! Kudos to the primary singers who rocked the house!

Motown Showdown – the fun isn’t stopping yet. Next up was the Motown Showdown otherwise known as a humongous Motown sing-along in the atrium. Carnival does parties the best and this was no exception. Everyone was singing, dancing and having the best time. A great way to end the evening.

Overall Thoughts of the Day – our Nassau sea day was awesome! We loved enjoying the thermal suite in the spa, spending some quality time together in the pool & hot tub, we loved getting a specialty cocktail at the Alchemy Bar, having a fantastic Italian dinner at Cucina del Capitano, watching one of the best production shows at sea and finishing off the night dancing, singing and smiling so hard it hurt.

Special thanks to our sponsor Your Perfect Getaway by Brittany Watson. If you are looking for a fantastic travel agent to help plan you next land or sea vacation, definitely give her a ring.

As always, thanks so much for following my live journal adventures.

Day 5 Coming Tomorrow….