When we woke up Christmas morning, Santa had left a few favorite treats-skittles and peanut butter Christmas trees. We also found our tickets to see the dolphins. Sometime during the night we had docked at Nassau. We went out on the balcony to see the view of the Island. There were three other cruise ships parked by us.
After breakfast we put our suits on and lathered on the sunscreen. Then we got of the boat and explored the market area for a bit before it was time to go to the dolphins. A lady talked Emilee into letting her braid her hair. I can’t tell Emilee I am going to brush her hair without her squealing that it hurts. This lady was not being gentle. I could tell Emilee was uncomfortable but she never said a word. She really liked the braids when she was done though. It is almost a month later and she still has them in.
When the hair braiding was done we found the place to go on our dolphin excursion. We had to take a tender (small transport boat) around to the other side of the island. We had some beautiful sights to see on the way. Atlantis of course. The kids thought it was cool to see a place they had seen on TV before. There were some big yachts by us and famous peoples homes that we passed. I only remember Oprah’s and my kids don’t know who she is so they weren’t overly excited about that. The water and views are just gorgeous so just watching the view around the island was relaxing. They dropped us off in a little cove area where we could play on the beach and swim until it was time to see the dolphins. There was some blow up water toys that the kids played on for several hours. Ryan and I played for a little bit with the kids in the sand and water, then we found some comfy beach chairs to take a nap and relax in. After we ate lunch I also found a souvenir shop that had a delicious pint of cookies and cream Ben and Jerry’s ice cream that I enjoyed while basking in the sun on the beach. The water was clear and pretty. A little chilly but not bad. When we got there the place was way overcrowded and I was a little grumpy that they basically marooned us in the cove with a million other people for four hours until it was time to go to the dolphins. After about an hour though several of the ships were leaving so most of the people left and it was almost like having the beach to ourselves. We were the last group to see the dolphins so we were pretty much the only people in the cove when we walked back to the tender. It was easy to forget it was Christmas Day being on the beach. The weather was gorgeous-it was the best weather of our trip. There was always Christmas music playing but we all mentioned that it wasn’t the typical Christmas atmosphere and feeling.
Atlantis 
This is where we spent Christmas Day. 
Getting ready to head back to the boat. 
Everyone was worn out on the way home. 
The dolphin excursion we went on was AMAZING. I think it was everyone’s favorite part of the entire vacation. You get to sit in the dock area and have fun watching the dolphins up close while you wait. Then when it is actually your turn you get into the water and the dolphin is swimming right there with you. Our dolphins name was Salvador, and he went by Sal. He let us rub his back and belly, and even feel his teeth. He did a little dance with us and he gave each of us a hug and kiss and took pictures with us at the end. When he gave Allison a kiss he came back for three more and then whistled really loud and did a little spin. She told everyone how the dolphin had a crush on her. It was a lot of fun. They took lots of pictures for us and even a video.
Our tender boat was cutting across the back of the cruise ships on our way back to dock. One of the ships was leaving and even though we were cruising pretty fast and could have easily made it, they laid on the horn and the police boat came out and was not happy. The boat leaving was a Carnival boat, the week before a different Carnival boat had crashed into another one of its own boats. I can only imagine how the steering crew were freaking out when they saw a boat in front of them after their company had already had a crash less than a week ago. I was never concerned about getting hit. It took us a lot longer to stop and back up then it would have to finish going across and we still had plenty of time. It was a little funny since it was obvious no one was going to get hurt.
Once we got back to the ship we showered and cleaned up then went to have Christmas dinner. They had a kids menu in addition the regular menu, Emilee was ecstatic she didn’t have to eat boring yucky food. The girls went to kid place for a few hours after dinner. Matthew went to the arcade for a bit again and then he went to play basketball so Ryan and I went to the variety show and watched a juggler and some singers and dancers put on a pretty decent show. We grabbed some hot chocolate from the suite lounge again and all met back in our room. We were all ready to turn in a little earlier than usual. We had a great time making memories with each other.