Hurry and Cruise Through November 14th, 2010!

Discovery is offering a $50.00 off per couple if you book an All-Inclusive Fun Day Cruise and sail through November 14th, 2010! Hurry and take advantage of this great deal. They have premium brands and two all you can eat breakfast and dinner buffets. There is dancing to a great live band, movies, games and a casino on board. It is a great value and wonderful way to spend time with your friends and family.

Bahama Mama Party Cruise

I purchased my shore excursion ticket on board Discovery Sun. They give you a telephone number that you have to call to check in with the tour opertator for a reservation and directions. I was told to go to the excursion office located in Port Lucaya Marketplace to check in about a half hour before the tour began and exchange my ticket for their ticket stub. Then they walked us to a two story boat at the Port Lucaya Marina. It happened to be the same boat and crew as the Robinson Crusoe Beach Party. We cruised slowly around the lagoon, canals and out in the ocean. For those who wanted to upgrade their excursion and opted for the steak and lobster dinner, they went to the upper part of the boat to enjoy their meal and then join the rest of the passengers downstairs. For those who decided on the regular excursion, you stayed downstairs and ate meatballs, wings, fresh cauliflower, carrots & broccoli and little finger sandwiches. All of the Bahama Mamas were free as well as red and white wine but if you wanted a beer, it costs $3.00 each. The children had lemonade. They played music and a local artist was on board selling his cds for $10.00 each. We even got to go up a canal to see the “Ghost”, the replica of the ship used in Johnny Depp’s movie, Pirates of the Caribbean. Everyone had a good time; people were dancing, drinking and the crew was very friendly.

Bahamian Getaway

Hello again!

Mr. Almondo Talbot from Tawanna Tours picked us up at our resort bright and early for the Bahamian Getaway tour. He gave us a very informative history of the Island with information on plants, laws, schooling, religion, child rearing, the water supply, Indians, etc. and a tour of Millionaire’s Row. Did you know that the Bahamian flag has three colors: blue represents the ocean, black represents the people of The Bahamas and yellow represents the sun? The national bird is the flamingo and the fish is the marlin. The first stop was The Garden of the Groves, which was built in dedication to Wallace and Georgette Groves for all that they did for Grand Bahama Island. They basically came in to open a lumber business and ended up building the town. This is a beautiful, lush park full of imported plants mostly from Hawaii: hibiscus, chenilles, cactus, guava trees, tamarind trees, the tree of life, lantana, pine screw trees, etc. and herbs such as rosemary as well as medicinal shrubs. They have ponds full of tilapia and some Japanese Koi, ducks, a few parrots in cages, a labyrinth, a statue of the Virgin Mary and a beautiful little chapel that is perfect for weddings. There are a few shops containing, perfumes (they have already blended essences and you can also blend your own creations), herbal soaps, shampoos and creams, candles, crafts and straw market goods. They also have a café with healthy food and drinks – both alcoholic and non alcoholic. I was able to meet Ms. Erika Gates, who was very charming. She informed me that they also do the Kayak Adventure I tried on a previous occasion. From there we went to downtown Freeport and saw the government buildings, hospital and we stopped at some little stands where they sell straw market items such as: t-shirts, conch, smoothies, daiquiris, vegetables and medicinal bush items. We even had a conch presentation, where the woman showed us how she takes the conch out of the shell to make conch salad, scorched conch and conch fritters. Afterwards, we went to the Port Lucaya Marketplace for about an hour or so of shopping until being dropped off at our different hotels. I found this to be very informative and a great value.

Snorkeling in Grand Bahama

A beautiful day for a snorkel tour!

I called the tour operator in advance to reserve the tour and schedule a pick up and drop off for a small fee. We boarded Pat & Diane’s Fantasia and the tour lasted about two hours. They have a stand onboard that sells grilled burgers, hot dogs, strawberry daiquiris, beer as well as fish food and underwater cameras. I did not have an underwater camera so decided on purchasing one there. We went to the reef and snorkeled seeing many fish such as black and white Angel Fish, Grunts, Yellow Tail Snappers, Sergeant Majors, Parrot Fish and an awful lot of Uni….sea urchins. The visibility and colors in these Bahamian waters is amazing……only in The Bahamas! After snorkeling for a while you can get a little hungry so it was time for some burgers and daiquiris. Then off to the climbing wall and a slide that goes from the second story of the boat and into the water. Wooohooo!

Grand Bahama Beach Party

Grand Bahama Beach Party

Greetings!

It’s always good to get away from the daily grind so back to The Bahamas for me. I boarded Discovery Sun and looked through all of the Shore Excursions they offer and decided to do something I haven’t done in years….go to a beach party – a Bonfire Beach Party to be exact. I was picked up at my resort and taken to a place called Outriggers on Taino Beach. It was great. They had the wood stacked up looking like a teepee. Unlimited Bahama Mamas were served. Activities were a nice selection of games such as relay races on the beach and a hat game were they play music and you pass the hat around from your head to your neighbors’ and whoever gets stuck with the hat in their hand when the music stops is out of the game (kind of like musical chairs with a hat instead of a chair). The winners get a bottle of rum. Everyone was participating and it was quite funny to say the least as well as a great way to make new friends. We all watched a beautiful sunset from lounge chairs and picnic tables. Some people walked on the beach and others took a dip in the ocean. When the sun went down the bonfire was lit and it was very warm and beautiful. Dinner consisted of a very tasty buffet of: bread, ribs, peas & rice, chicken and corn. Afterwards was a limbo contest, dancing, a fire eater performance and more and more dancing. Did I mention the beautiful full moon? It was another wonderful evening in Grand Bahama.

Glass Bottom Boat

If you do not snorkel or dive and still want to see the reefs of Grand Bahama Island, a glass bottom boat tour is a great option. Discovery offers two different tours, one departing from the Island Seas Resort and the other from Taino Beach, where The Ritz and Flamingo Bay properties are located. I was staying at the Flamingo Bay and departed from the marina, which was conveniently right outside of my hotel room. We were gone for about ninety minutes and went to some of the colorful coral reefs I had snorkeled on other excursions. The Captain of the boat threw some bread in the ocean so we had plenty of beautiful fish to look at such as angel fish, parrot fish and seargent majors. From there we were taken out to deeper water – over forty feet deep and there got to see big groupers, nurse sharks, chub and jack. Then off to a purposely sunken tug boat that gives divers something different to dive around or in.