We decided to treat ourselves to a little family R&R this Christmas after a difficult year, and thought a three-day trip to Nassau sounded like fun. And for the most part, it was. We took the Brightline from West Palm Beach to Miami (the three of us made the 75 minute trip for $100 round trip), but had a bit of trouble finding the shuttle, so we just Ubered over. (Tip #1: Finding public transport all the way to Miami Port is not realistic -- plan to taxi or Uber from the train station).

BOARDING: We arrived a bit early for our 12:00 boarding appointment. Wound up sitting in a lounge area for about an hour -- then discovered we could have checked in earlier. (Woops). But it was fun watching the other guest arrive and go onboard. The vast majority of guests on this cruise were African American or other ethnic minorities. (Tip #2.) We were seated at dinner with two single mothers and their teenage children -- they were very nice, and we got along. However, my husband would have liked other men to chat with.

CABIN: Our cabin steward met us in our state room within an hour of getting there (Tip #2: We had to wait about an hour after we got onboard to get to our room at 1:30), and immediately set to work getting extra towels and ice, and making up our daughter's bed from the pullout couch. We tipped her up front (and added a bag of chocolates), and this seemed to be greatly appreciated (we got a spa gift card)! Read more