What's up everybody?
I'm Alex, a.k.a. Alexthevagabond,
and in this video, I'm working with Royal Caribbean
to experience one of their cruises.
We're going from Miami to a private island in the Caribbean,
Perfect Day at Cococay and
wrapping it all up in the capital of the Bahamas, Nassau.
You ready to roll? 'Cause I am.
What's going on ladies and gentlemen?
Welcome back to the channel.
Today is a great day.
We're in Miami, Florida, and we are boarding
The Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas.
It is a beautiful ship.
We have a super fun long weekend in front of us.
It's Friday morning , and we'll be sailing today, tomorrow,
Sunday, and making it back to Miami on Monday.
Along the way we're going to be going to Perfect Day at Cococay,
which is Royal Caribbean's new, private island.
There's a ton of stuff to do on the island:
a little bit of chill, a lot a bit of adventure, and
we'll also be stopping in the Bahamas.
So it's going to be a super fun little trip.
I'm not alone. I have a Carrie Rad here.
Hello everyone. I'm so excited. Yeah.
I am excited for warm weather, beach and blue water, and a nice cocktail.
Time to get on the ship? Let's go.
Already relaxing? We just got here.
I know. That's what this is all about, though.
We're all checked in. We've boarded the ship.
We have made it to our cabin.
We have a super-fun couple of days lined up.
This is essentially just like a perfect long weekend.
It's been a couple of years since I've explored the Caribbean. I miss it.
I've never been to the Bahamas before.
I'm excited to check out Nassau.
And I'm really excited to check out Perfect Day at Cococay.
It's going to be something that I've never experienced before.
And to do it with Carrie, definitely a bonus.
Marko we missed you, bro.
Maybe we'll catch you on the next ship.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
It's a beautiful, beautiful morning in the Bahamas.
I'm pretty sure every morning in the Bahamas is beautiful,
but this one particularly beautiful.
And we are at Royal Caribbean's new private island.
We have a balloon ride.
The tallest waterslide in North America is here on this island,
and there's also a whole Chill section dedicated to relaxation,
which we will most certainly be checking out.
All right, we are hopping on the Up Up and Away.
It's a ballon, and it's going to take us up up and away.
This is cool.
This is going to be a good way for us to get some perspective on the island.
We've just entered into the Thrill Waterpark,
home to the tallest waterslide in North America,
believe it or not.
It's perfect timing because it's just gotten pretty hot.
It's definitely time to cool off,
and we might as well have a little adrenaline boost.
I think Carrie might be a little bit worried, though.
Well, it's the tallest water slide in North America.
Carrie, hold on! {Screams}
So after checking out more of the thirteen water slides
and taking a dip in Oasis Lagoon,
the largest freshwater pool in the Caribbean,
we decided it was time to dry off.
Well, we've made it over to South Beach here at the island,
and this is so chill.
We have just this beautiful pristine sand, turquoise waters.
I think it's time to grab a cabana,
post up for the day, maybe go for a swim.
Sounds like a plan.
This is where I'm at my best..
when I'm lounging in the sunshine on a private island.
I'm down for the Chill. That's my vibe.
I would have to agree, too.
I'm definitely more of a chill person than a thrill person.
Don't get me wrong.
I like my adrenaline rushes. I like all the fun stuff.
But at the end of the day,
you just want to hang out, kick it on the beach, and relax.
And so that's what we're going to do.
Until it's time to get back on the ship,
we will be right here on Chill Island.
All right, well that was a super enjoyable day at Cococay.
But now it's time to leave.
So we've pulled up anchor,
and the ship is setting back out to sea.
But for me personally,
this is the best part about cruises.
I've only done two in my life.
This is my second, but
you can't knock the fact that every single sunset is over the open ocean,
and there's something just super peaceful
and elemental about watching the sunset over the sea.
This evening is not quite over yet.
We have a delectable dinner lined up at Jamie's Italian Italian food from Jamie Oliver.
It's been a really, really fun day.
I feel great and watching another sunset over the ocean,
it's just a fantastic end to a really great day.
Let's go eat.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
It's day two of the cruise.
We're in Nassau. We've just gotten off the ship.
We're renting a scooter.
We're going to do as much as we can in the five hours that we have off the ship.
We're going to start things off by heading to one of the older places on the island
and learning a bit more about the history of the Bahamas.
Let's ride. Are you ready ready?
Ready.
Let's go
All right
Well, we have taken the little scooter up to Fort Charlotte,
which is an old British fort, and this is Raquel.
She's the local historian.
She's going to tell us a little bit about the Bahamas.
Can you tell me about the history of pirates in the Bahamas
because everybody knows the Pirates of the Caribbean,
but what's the story behind that?
Pirates were basically here late 16th century, 1670.
Blackbeard being one of those famous pirates, you know.
He was in control for many years.
Back then they referred to the island as Pirates Republic.
The British didn't decided to fully colonize these islands until 1717.
In order to do that, you needed to get rid of the pirates.
But during the time of piracy, Fort Nassau was the fort.
Wow.
Obviously, the harbor in Nassau is not filled with pirate ships anymore.
It's filled with very large cruise ships.
We're actually on a cruise.
Okay.
What is a message as a local Bahamian that you would have for people visiting on a cruise ship
to kind of get out and really explore the Bahamas?
What I'd like to say is you know
you're visiting on a cruise ship to another Island.
Come out explore the history, explore the native people.
We're beautiful people.
We have a beautiful island.
If you hear our history and entwined with your history, you put it all together,
you'll see how everything just ties up in one big bowl like a present and give it to you.
I like it. Yes. Thank you so much Raquel.
You're very welcome.
I really appreciate your time.
Okay, everyone we have hopped on the scooter and driven about 20 minutes up West Bay Road.
Just tracing the coastline here,
and we're at a restaurant called Travelers West,
which has all sorts of local food,
ice-cold beers, and most importantly a view of the ocean
because how could you not want to dine with that right in front of you?
Oh nice. Wow. Oh my gosh, this looks good.
Wow, goat curry. Look at that. Thank you
So I got the goat curry with roti.
The Caribbean has a lot of influence from people from South Asia, specifically India.
With them they brought a lot of their culinary traditions best exemplified in the goat curry
and the roti the roti bread, which you might recognize from India,
some potatoes in there, lamb, couple of those garbanzos, boom.
Roll it all up into a little Caribbean taco.
I got the conch main because I just asked her what the most authentic thing on the menu was,
and so I'm going with that.
I am very excited about this.
It's kind of like calamari she said, but better.
All right ladies and gentlemen, well
unfortunately, that is the end.
We are on our way sailing back to the United States of America, back to Miami,
and it's been a really
pleasant and enjoyable experience.
Not going to lie.
Cruises have always been something that I've been kind of skeptical about.
I didn't really know what to think about them,
but this cruise in particular has really changed my mind.
I think cruisers are what you make them.
This video, hopefully, has shown you that you can really get out and make the most of each day
and explore and experience the culture, the food, the cuisine, the people in each place.
One of my favorite parts is just being on the ship,
being here on the balcony with an expansive open ocean view,
watching the sunsets over the sea and just
listening to the ocean as it's breathing all around us.
If you enjoyed this video, you know what to do:
give it a big thumbs up and share with your friends.
Hit that subscribe button, if you haven't already.
Once again, huge thank you to Royal Caribbean and the Navigator of the Seas for making this trip possible.
And as always, stay curious, keep exploring,
and we'll see you on the road.
Peace.