On the last day of our cruise on RCCL’s Adventure of the Seas, we did the Island Food and Culinary Insight Tour in Nassau, Bahamas. We had a VERY long walk down the pier in Nassau before reaching the exit. Plenty of shops are around the dock but the town’s main street and native marketplace are within an easy walk. There is a tram available for disabled folks that goes to the ship. Our ship, Adventure of the Seas, docked at the farthest berth.
Our first stop on the cruise line’s Island Food and Culinary Insight Tour shore excursion in Nassau was a coffee house where we tasted Guava Duff along with a paper cup full of iced lemon ginger tea. The guava duff was a doughy mixture with guava fruit inside and served with a vanilla rum sauce. It was tasty, but the shop had standing room only which made maneuvering difficult. Regular customers had to jostle their way through the crowd to give take-out orders at the counter. It was uncomfortable and not helped that the driver/guide only gave our head count of 26 guests after we entered. So we stood around, squashed like sardines, for fifteen minutes or so while he told stories.
Stop number two was a tea shop where we heard a brief lecture on the benefits of their herbal teas. You could buy a box with ten teabags for $16.00. A steal, right? This air-conditioned shop also had coffee beans, shot glasses and other souvenirs for sale but it seemed pricey to me. I passed up this golden opportunity to meander outside, where we could taste mixed rum drinks for free. I liked this portion and even bought a couple of small ready-made bottles to bring home. Down a slight hill in the rear, you could also taste spicy conch salad. Across the street were some interesting buildings, and our drive to the next shop took us through the town.
On stop number three, we sat outside at a café where there wasn’t enough seating for everyone, and it was mid-July and hot. Eventually, the server brought us a plate of 4 conch fritters covered in sauce, and no forks or napkins. Ann Meier and I shared the food and were grateful when someone brought around paper towels for us to wipe our sticky fingers and a green spiked Independence Day drink, as Nassau residents were celebrating that holiday. Although the area was covered and had ceiling fans, the tables didn’t accommodate everyone on the tour. The food was good, albeit messy. They could have been better organized bringing everything out at once.
For stop four, we drove by the water and a bunch of fishing boats toward a section with one food shack after another. We went inside at our place and found seats at a counter facing the harbor. Others squeezed into chairs at very narrow tables. Here we received a platter with two fried snapper fingers, potato salad and Cole slaw, and beans and rice. We had a choice of a lemony soda or beer. It was a good meal that we might have enjoyed more if not so crammed into the room. Our stomachs satisfied, we headed back to the ship huffing and puffing in the heat as we walked down the long pier.
Dinner was a welcome retreat at the elegant Chop’s Steakhouse specialty restaurant. I dined on jumbo shrimp cocktail, petite filet mignon, and Key lime pie for my meal. It was a delightful end to a wonderful cruise.
It’s always good to arrive home, unpack, and relax while already making plans for the next voyage. My only regret from this one was that I brought home an unexpected souvenir. I figured I’d caught a mild cold with some nasal congestion, but home test results for Covid came back positive. Meanwhile, these pictures bring back happy memories. Onward to the next cruise!
Did you miss my previous Cruise posts? Read them here:
Embarkation
Coco Cay
Jamaica
