THE ART OF CRUISING (PART 2)

CRUISING Usually ship sails through the night and arrives at the new or next port in the morning. One of the things I love best about cruising is waking up to a new port every morning.

PORT OF NASSAU, BAHAMAS Welcome to Nassau! Our major port is Nassau. My husband and I smiled happily despite of the record breaking cold weather in the Bahamas at thirty
degrees. Surpringly, it was chilly and drizzling. No kidding! Is this Bahamas? Where's the hot sun?

SEE THE WORLD LIKE AN ARTIST How to travel meanigful like an art? Whenever you go in the world, try to see a place through the eyes of an artist. As an artist, wherever I go, I like to spend more time in art museums or galleries. If there are no museums around, I like to spend time in places with artistic and imaginative architectures and creative attractions.

PASTEL HOUSES There's no substitute for visiting a place in person. Being there in real place gave us more appreciation for the beautiful islands in the the Bahamas, than any guide book, expo, or TV travelogue could ever do.
I have seen these typical pastel - colored Caribbean houses in many travel magazines before,
but nothing was more thrilling than actually seeing those beautiful houses with my own eyes.

ATLANTIS RESORT, PARADISE ISLAND We saw many beautiful sights in Nassau, but the most impressive was the Atlantis Resort. WOW!

I couldn't believe I was actually here. What a beautiful architecture and place!

MOVIE SETTING We had seen this famous landmark many times before in travel magazines and movies, but there's no subtitite for actually seeing and walking in the real Atlantis Resort. Lately, it was shown in the latest James Bond movie "Casino Royal."

ATLANTIS INTERIORS Crafted to stimulate creativity among guests and tourists. Atlantis was set amidst 34 acres of waterscape, there were 11 exhibit lagoons filled with 11 million gallons of water, home to over 50,000 sea animal.

Through panoramic windows and underwater viewing tunnels, guests could get close and personal with 200 different species and more. What a colorful fish! I admired it like a vibrant impressionist Van Gogh painting. Remember, Van Gogh loved yellow. Surely, he would love
this yellow fish as much as I did.

I loved this sexy red and seductive fish. It's sooo......nice to paint, but I wouldn't eat it.

ATLANTIS ARCHITECTURE Among the most prominent interior architectural details were the soaring ceiling, with painted nautical theme, immense windows and columns, and unique color pallettes.

QUEENLY THRONE I loved the comfortable feeling being on top of this gigantic and artistic gold throne. Look closely at the impressive detailed art work. Surely, Queen Latifah would love to sit here but this time, it's my turn to be a queen too. "Hail to the QUEEN!"

"HAIL TO THE KING!" This chair was fit for Goliath but it's also good for someone who is not a giant. My husband enjoyed sitting on this artistic throne even for just a minute.

CASTAWAY CAY Out next port was Castaway Cay, Disney's 1,000-acres private island. It was meant to be the ultimate escape. The natural environment had been preserved, miles of white sand beaches were surrounded by beautiful water.

DISNEY IMAGINEERS Had created shops, rest rooms, and pavilions that gave the impresssion they had been there for years. The cruise line had also planted several "shipwrecks." There's also treasure chest around.

AT THE PIER Of Castaway Cay. A pier allowed access to the island without tendering.

We posed with Disney Wonder in the background. What a beautiful day!

A DAY IN CASTAWAY CAY Disney Imagineers had re-created Mount Rushmore. Instead of four presidential mammoth sculptural busts of Lincoln, Washington, Roosevelt and Jefferson, here's their outrageous version of the Mt. Rustmore. Happily, I posed together with Mickey, Goofy, Donald Duck and Who else????????

MY PHOTO A day in Castaway Cay was short but the memories lingered long after our Disney cruise was over.

I am not a professional photographer but I like to take photos while traveling. This was my artistic composition and photo of Disney Wonder. I tried to capture the serenity of this wonderful ship and the remote island. Wouldn't it be nice, if we could live here forever?

FAREWELL TO MICKEY MOUSE This was our happy, good-bye kiss to Mickey Mouse.

Till we meet again.

AT THE END allow travel to change you. You should return from a trip a slightly different person than you were when you left. Have a grateful heart for all the beautifully things God allowed you too see and the delicious food that you enjoyed. Come back home with an artistic eyes and imagination. That's the ART of cruising.