Game Fishing

The tropical waters surrounding Grand Bahama are home to some of the best game fish on Earth. Some of the fish you will find lurking offshore are white and blue marlin, yellow-fin and blue-fin tuna, barracuda, king fish, Wahoo, bonito, and dolphin (also known as Mahi Mahi… not Flipper). I learned today that one of the world’s best game fish – the bonefish– not only likes the waters of Grand Bahama Island, but is more at home there than anywhere else in the world. The flats off Deep Water Cay, in the East and The Old Bahama Flats off West End are known for great catches. Fly-fishing, particularly for bonefish, is quickly gaining popularity on Grand Bahama Island and throughout The Islands of The Bahamas. Next to golf, it is the fastest growing sport. The best time to go fishing is between April and September.

Brrrr

Brrrr….It’s cold today, the temperature dropped to below freezing this morning which is really unusual for South Florida. I expected really rough seas, but it actually wasn’t as bad and I thought it would be. We didn’t have many passengers onboard today, but we did sell quite a lot of tickets for the Bahamian Getaway Island Tour. This is a great tour to do in any kind of weather and takes you to the main points of interest on the Island, including the Garden of the Groves. The gardens are very beautiful and the guides give a very informative tour though the trails of tropical plants and waterfalls. A lot of people also signed up for the Bonfire Beach Party this evening. I bet it will be nice huddling around a big bonfire tonight since it will still be quite cool. The cool weather is supposed to be with us for a few days. I can’t wait for the summer; like most people, I really don’t care for the cold. I spent my afternoon onboard today, but will go running tomorrow afternoon. If it warms up a little I may even venture into town.

Boat Drill :-(

We have yet another cold front heading our way and the temperatures are supposed to reach freezing in the morning. I will have to wrap up like an Eskimo on my moped on my way to work. Even though it is my day off today, I had to wake up early as we had a boat drill. It was really cold when I came to the ship, so instead of riding my moped I borrowed my husbands Jeep, since he didn’t need it until 9:30am. The drill was over by 8:15am so I went home and went back to bed for a couple of hours. My husband managed to leave work early, so we got to spend half of the day together. Since I was feeling lazy we went out for dinner and spent the rest of the evening relaxing cuddled up on the couch watching TV….What a perfect end to the day.

Casino

What a fun group of people we had onboard this morning. They took part in all of the games at the deck party and the winner of Miss Discovery was a real character, she was in her 70’s and won the hearts of everyone, when she sang and danced in the talent portion of the contest. She then went on to win the hoola hoop contest, but opted not to join in with the Beer Drinking, she said she didn’t want to win everything….HA! HA!…. It is a little bit cloudy today, perfect for running. So I am going to attempt my five miles this afternoon when we get to Grand Bahama. I think I will get one of my friends to drop me off five miles from the ship, so that I have to do the full distance to get back, fingers crossed I will make it. A few of the staff are heading to Port Lucaya to try their luck in the Isle of Capri Casino. The Isle of Capri is the only casino on the island. It is approximately 19,000 square-feet, offers 400 slot machines and 21 table games. I love the slot machines and always enjoy a visit to the casino, of course it’s always nice to win, but I still have fun even if I don’t. I am still recovering from a two-month vacation, so a trip to the casino is off limits for me for a while, but I wish them all luck for this afternoon and I am sure there will be a few winners amongst them.

Super Bowl Sunday

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, so a lot of passengers want to watch the game, which we will be showing in Club Illusions. This evenings drink special is ‘Touch Down’ a delicious mix of Bahamian rums and pineapple juice; the non-alcoholic special is ‘Time Out’ which is a tropical fruit punch. I am not really into football myself, but I do love the excitement of the Super Bowl and would love to see it live. I met with a really nice guy today that is traveling to Grand Bahama to organize scuba diving vacations for dive groups. He will be meeting with UNEXSO, which is one of the most reputable dive companies on the island. One of the highlights of arranging dive vacations in Grand Bahama is that the non diving spouses will find an array of activities to suit them while their significant others are off diving. I am yet to find the time to take the Discover Diving course offered by UNEXSO. The ocean is a little cool right now anyway, so I may just wait until the summer when the water temperature is in the eighties.

Cold Front

My cold is much worse today, although I did get some medication from the ships doctor and hope that it won’t last long. The weather isn’t so good today. We have another cold front heading to South Florida and it is supposed to be in the 30’s this evening. Rough seas are forecast for later in the day, so it won’t be much fun sailing back from Grand Bahama this evening. We only have a few people going on the beach and shopping tour today, since the weather isn’t so good, many people have opted not to go to the beach. I will be resting again today once we get to Grand Bahama, the running will just have to wait until this I feel better. Fingers crossed the seas will be kind to us tonight and that the new entertainer doesn’t get sea sick…..Ewe…

Customer Service Seminar

Mamma Mia was fantastic and I had a great night, although I was a little tired after the Customer Service Seminar earlier in the day. The seminar was also very good. I was a little skeptical at first and wondered if I would really benefit from something like that. I was pleasantly surprised and came away with some new useful skills that I look forward to putting into practice. I feel a little tired today and I think a have a bit of a cold coming. I guess I will need to pay a visit to the ships doctor. I should be going for a run this afternoon once we get to Grand Bahama, but I think I am going to give it a miss today. I am however up to 4 miles now and am looking forward to mile number 5. Hopefully I will feel better on Friday and can try for the fifth mile then.