Year 4, Day 273, “Living the Dream”. Tuesday, 1/28/2025. Day 6 of 10 day Tampa to Bahamas trip (Day 4 of 7 night Bahamas cruise on Radiance of the Seas from Tampa, Florida) – Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas today. We are about 56 miles from Florida. This is one of the largest container ports in the world. It also serves as a major drydock for cruise ship refurbishing.
Windjammer breakfast first.
This is our first time at this port. Grand Bahama Island has natural sand, including white sand beaches and beaches with turquoise waters. We docked early and were off the ship at 8:30am. When you disembark you are in the middle of a colorful marketplace full of palm trees. There are lots of local vendors selling t-shirts, souvenirs, food, and drinks. The Carnival Dream docked after us. It was amazing watching that huge ship pull around us and back into the dock.
The US issued a new Travel Advisory for the Bahamas two days ago (January 26, 2024). It is Level 2: Exercise Increased caution due to crime. The majority of crime occurs on New Providence (Nassau) and Grand Bahama (Freeport) islands. We decided it was better to just wander and explore the port.
If you walk through where the permanent buildings are and up to the right there is all local artisans.
One of the shops was busy baking cakes.
I bought a Christmas Ornament from this lovely lady had made.
We then headed over to the left-hand side of the port. There were local vendors selling the same old stuff in every tent.
There is also the common port stores such as the Cariloha Bamboo store where we looked at their mattresses. This store is located in every port and city. They are not in Europe or Australia. All products are made from Bamboo that is farmed in China. There company is based in Utah. They do give you a 100 night sleep trial and free shipping on their mattresses. Their stores are always very busy. People seem to love their products. We have not bought anything from one of their stores. The bamboo clothing is super soft to the touch. The sheets are made in Turkey. Every Cariloha retail showroom is an independently owned business entity. The first three stores opened in 2008.
Of course it seems like every cruise port has a Señor Frog’s restaurant/bar and this port is no exception. Currently there are 21 company owned restaurants. This company started in 1969 in Mazatlán, Mexico. Their restaurants are located in the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean,
I had never heard of a Value Added Tax (VAT) before. VAT is a tax charged on most goods and services that registered businesses provide in The Bahamas. It is also charged on goods and some services that are imported from outside The Bahamas. There is sales tax in the Bahamas. Goods exported to customers abroad are classified as exempt from VAT or zero rated.
It is a cool, sunny, breezy day. We walked around the port. Then, we sat by the water in the shade. We enjoyed the day before boarding back on the Radiance.
In the afternoon we decided to visit the Boardwalk Doghouse on Deck 11 and split a hotdog. It was yummy.
Then before departing the port we watched other ships move around in the port.
There are many barges moving around with sand.
In the distance you could see these round buildings. We could never figure out what they were. We think they are for water treatment.
Nighty night from the towel animals.
Today’s cruise compass and dinner menu:
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
16 Inch Wooden Cook Nutcracker: https://amzn.to/4geaGVH Another year round kitchen nutcracker decoration for above the kitchen cabinets.
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