Jestem juz w domu! :) Wrocilismy z Luizjany do Georgii 25 kwietnia po pieciu tygodniach nieobecnosci w domu. Koty tak sie za nami stesknily, ze obecnie prawie w ogole nie opuszczaja domu, a jesli nawet to nie wypuszczaja sie dalej niz do drzwi wejsciowych. Slawomisia caly czas spi na dywaniku pod zlewem, a ja robiac cokolwiek musze to robic tzw. "okrakiem". Po powrocie nasz dom stal caly i wszystko w nim bylo w porzadku:) Sasiedzi i miejscowa policja, patrolujaca nasz dom w trakcie naszej nieobecnosci spisali sie na medal. Przynioslam od sasiadki koszyk naszej korespondencji! Od czasu powrotu bylismy bardzo zajeci, rozpakowywanie, sprzatanie domu, jak i ogrodu (podworko nam zaroslo niczym dzungla), tysiac jeszcze innych spraw po drodze i w miedzy czasie zaplanowany trzydniowy rejs na Bahamy, o ktorym glownie dzis bede pisac w tym poscie. Ja przez ostatnie dwa tygodnie wlasciwie caly czas bylam w biegu od wczesnego switu az do wieczora. Dopiero dzis w niedziele pierwszy raz od dluzszego czasu, zrobilam sobie kawe w moim nowym kubku, ktory kupilam na Bahamach i usiadlam, zeby podzielic sie z Wami kilkoma slowami z informacjami co u mnie slychac... Po wszelkich wyjazdach sluzbowych i natloku obowiazkow chcielismy z Majkiem spedzic kilka dni gdzies tylko razem, zwiedzajac, odpoczywajac i dobrze sie bawiac. Bedac w Luizjanie znalazlam na GROUPON.COM oferte trzydniowego rejsu na Bahamy i od razu ja wykupilam. Nigdy wczesniej nie bralismy udzialu w takim rejsie, dlatego pomyslalam, ze bedzie to fajne, nowe doswiadczenie i rzeczywisicie wycieczka byla fantastyczna! Moze za duzo nie odpoczelismy, bo rejs byl krotki, ale na pewno mielismy tam wielka radoche! Na pewno wiemy juz, ze w przyszlosci jak nam los bedzie sprzyjal, to wybierzemy sie na kolejny rejs i na pewno na dluzej... Moj maz jeszcze nie zdazyl dobrze ochlonac po jednym, a juz zaczal szukac ofert rejsow dookola swiata :D 4 maja udalismy sie do portu w West Palm Beach na Florydzie, gdzie czekal na nas nasz ogormny statek GRAND CELEBRATION, po kliknieciu w link bedziecie mogli przeczytac wszelkie informacje na temat rejsu oraz zobaczyc zdjecia statku. Odprawa na statek wyglada prawie tak samo jak odprawa w podroz samolotem. W porcie musielismy przejsc przez kontrole bezpieczenstwa (na statek nie mozna wnosic zadnego alkoholu, wszelkie plyny typu szampony, odzywki, perfumy sa dozwolone), nastepnie musielismy zdac bagaze, ktore zostaly nam potem dostarczone do naszych kajut. Kolejny krok przed wejsciem na statek to okazanie paszportow oraz w moim przypadku zielonej karty. Zarowno obywatele USA, jak i obywatele polscy nie potrzebuja wiz, aby wjechac na Bahamy, wystarcza paszporty. Musielismy takze podac numer naszej karty kredytowej, ktora byla obciazana w trakcie rejsu. Przy odprawie zostaly nam wydane dwie niebieskie karty (wyglad karty kredytowej), ktore byly naszymi identyfikatorami na statku i jednoczesnie naszymi kartami kredytowymi, ktorych uzywalismy np. placac za drinki w barze. Po odprawie, przed wejsciem na statek oferowane nam byly oczywiscie zdjecia, degustacje alkoholi, musielismy tez zarezerwowac kolacje w restauracji na kolejne dwa dni na statku. Po wejsciu na statek udalismy sie na lunch do jednej z restauracji, gdzie serwowano "szwedzki bufet". W tej samej restauracji jedlismy tez sniadania. Na statku byly w sumie cztery restuaracje, ale z dwoch mozna bylo korzystac w ramach ceny rejsu, czyli nie musielismy ponosic zadnych dodatkowych kosztow. Jedzenia po prostu nie dalo sie przejesc! Duzo i pysznie! Alkohol byl nam niemalze wlewany do gardel! Kelnerzy oferujacy drinki byli na statku po prostu wszedzie, nawet serwowali alkohol w jacuzzi! Alkohol na statku nie jest tani, aczkolwiek rozne restauracje i bary maja swoje promocje, tzw. HAPPY HOURS. Statek GRAND CELEBRATION, ktory w 2014 roku zajal 6 miejsce na swiecie pod wzgledem poziomu, jakosci i ilosci oferowanych gosciom atrakcji zrobil na nas naprawde ogromne wrazenie. Tak jak wspomnialam wyzej na staku znajduja sie cztery restauracje, osiem roznych barow i klubow nocnych z przerozna muzyka z lat 50,60,70,80 i wspolczesnych, trzy kluby dla dzieci, trzy baseny, trzy jacuzzi, sklepy, kasyno, silownia, SPA, fotograf, teatr, gdzie odbywaja sie rozne wystapienia taneczne, komiczne i inne. My oczywiscie korzystalismy ile tylko nam sil starczylo:) Jedlismy, pilismy, tanczylismy w basenie i na parkiecie, moczylismy sie w jacuzzi z drinkami w rekach, na samej gorze statku, podziwiajac przy tym ocean oraz poznalismy przesympatycznych ludzi, z roznych stron swiata z ktorymi spedzilismy milo czas:) Statek liczy 12 pieter. Muzyka w tle na statku to same karaibskie hity. Obsluga na statku to klasa sama w sobie, wszyscy bardzo schludnie i elegancko ubrani, bardzo mili i kulturalni, az po prostu chcialao im sie dawac dobre napiwki. Obsluga to tez przewaznie osoby z roznych stron swiata, co mozna wnioskowac po typie urody oraz akcencie. Podsumowujac powiedzialabym, ze statek ten to taki wspolczesny TITANIC:) 5 maja rano dopynelismy na wyspe GRAND BAHAMA, gdzie odebral nas autobus i przewiozl do portu, skad katamaranem poplynelismy w morze, aby nurkowac w rafach koralowych. Na Bahamach obowiazuje ruch lewostronny, ze wzgledu na wplywy brytyjskie tam. Niestety nie mamy podwodnego aparatu, dlatego nie mam zadnych podwodnych zdjec, ale widoki, ktore tam mielismy okazje podziwiac naprawde zapieraja dech w piersi. Cos niesamowitego! Ja dlugo niestety nie nurkowalam, dlatego, ze plastikowa rurka od maski do nurkowania sprawiala, ze robilo mi sie niedobrze, ale co mialam zobaczyc to zobaczylam i sie z tego powodu bardzo ciesze! Majk spedzil w wodzie cale dwie godziny moze z dwoma minutowymi przerwami:) Czul sie w swoim zywiole! Karaibski blekit wody jest przepiekny! Po przygodzie z nurkowaniem udalismy sie na lunch do hotelu GRAND LUCAYAN, nastepnie spedzilismy troche czasu na pobliskiej plazy i nad hotelowymi basenami, plywajac, odpoczywajac i opalajac sie. Po tym relaksie udalismy sie do Port Lucaya Marketplace, skupiska przeroznych sklepow, sklepikow i straganikow, gdzie obowiazuje strefa bezclowa. Mozna tam kupic bardzo tanio alkohol oraz bizuterie. My kupilismy tam Karaibski rum oraz whiskey "White Hennessy", ktore nie sa dostepne w USA. Za "White Hennessy" zaplacilismy $40, podczas gdy koszt "White Hennessy" na specjalne zamowienie do USA wynosi $150 z przesylka. Do USA mozna wwiesc dwie butelki alkoholu na osobe. Kupilismy pare innych pamiatek, wsiedlismy do autobusiku i wrocilismy do portu na Bahamach, gdzie czekal na nas statek. Zanim wsiedlismy na statek znowu musielismy przejsc przez kontrole bezpieczenstwa, odebrano nam takze alkohol, ktory otagowano i przekazano nam informacje, ze mozemy go odebrac w ostatnim dniu rejsu, tuz przed opuszczeniem statku w sklepie z upominkami. Zabieg ten oczywiscie sluzy uniknieciu sytuacji, w ktorej pasazerowie beda pili swoj wlasny alkhol zamiast kupowac go na statku, ktory w koncu chce zarobic. Po jednym calym dniu wrazen na Grand Bahama na statku skorzystalismy jeszcze z roznych dostepnych tam atrakcji, zjedlismy pyszna kolacje i padnieci poszlismy spac do naszej kajuty z widokiem na ocean. Tak jak wspomnialam wyzej rejs byl krotki, ale oboje mamy wrazenie, ze wykorzystalismy go najlepiej jak tylko sie dalo. Wszelkie atrakcje dostepne na wyspie, typu nurkowanie, plywanie z delfinami, parasailing, i inne mozna bylo wykupic na statku do godziny 21:00, pierwszego dnia wycieczki Koszt takiego trzydniowej imprezy na Bahamy wyniosl nas $269 za dwie osoby w cenie promocyjnej (normalnie koszt wynosi okolo $450 za dwie osoby) + podatki prawie drugie tyle + parking $18 za dobe + $12 za dzien za napiwki + $24 za dwa dni za personel sprzatajacy + wydatki wlasne i tu juz zalezy ile kto planuje wydac:) Najwiecej wydaje sie na alkohol:) Koszt nurkowania na Grand Bahama to $79 za osobe. My wydalismy na te impreze razem z dojazdem wlasnym do West Palm Beach, polozonego od nas okolo 6 godzin jazdy samochodem w jedna strone, nie odmawiajac sobie niczego prawie $1000, czyli okolo 3900 zl, co na realia amerykanskie nie jest duzo. Tutaj $1000, to jak 1000 zl. Od czasu kiedy dostalam Zielona Karte wyjazd na Bahamy byl moim pierwszym razem, kiedy opuscilam USA, na szczescie udalo mi sie szczesliwie wrocic do kraju po okazaniu paszportu oraz Zielonej Karty:)
Polecam goraco rejsy, naprawde warto, a sam statek jest lepszy niz pieciogwiazdkowy hotel!
Ciekawostka:
Zauwazylismy, ze mieszkancy Bahamow (90% to ludnosc czarnoskora) sa duzo bardziej mili, grzeczni i kulturalni niz Afroamerykanie, mieszkajacy w USA.
Milego tygodnia!
Marta
Rok temu na blogu:
CIEKAWOSTKI KULINARNE:
Welcome Everybody in May!
I am already in home, sweet home! :) We came back from Louisiana to Georgia on April 25th after five weeks of absence in home. The cats missed us that much, that now they almost do not leave the house. If they even go somewhere it is no further than around front door. Slawomisia is sleeping all the time on kitchen rouge under the sink and when I am doing something there I have to do this astride. Our house was totally fine after we returned:) Our neighbors and local police who were watching our house during our absence did such a good job. I brought from our neighbor a basket of our correspondence! We were very busy since we returned to house with unpacking, cleaning the house and yard (our yard looked like a jungle), and thousand of different issues, including our planned three days Bahamas cruise, that I am going to write mostly about in this post. I was practically running since sunrise to late evening in two past weeks. I just found a time today, on Sunday, first time since a long time I made a coffee in my new mug, which I bought in Bahama and I sat to write some words for you with information how things going in my life... Mike and I wanted to spend some time together, have fun, relax and see new places after all business trips and all responsibilities. I found an offer of three days Bahamas cruise on GROUPON.COM while being in Louisiana and I immediately bought it. We have not been before on a cruise, that's why I thought that it will e new, cool experience, and it really was a fantastic trip! Maybe we did not get enough rest, because cruise was short, but we for sure had fun! We know for sure that in the future if we will be lucky we will go for another cruise and it will be for sure a longer one..My husband barely came back from one cruise and he is already looking for a cruise around the world :D We went to port of West Palm Beach on May 4th, where our big GRAND CELEBRATION boat was waiting for us, after clicking in the the link, you will be able to read about cruise and see the pictures of the boat. Check in on boat looks almost the same as a check in for the flight. We had to go through the customs in the port (you can not take any alcohol on board, but liquids such as shampoo, conditioner, perfumes are allowed), then we had to check in our luggage which was delivered to our cabin later on. Next step before getting on boat was showing our documents such as passports and in my case also a Green Card. American and Polish citizens both need just passports to get into Bahamas. They do not need Visas. We also had to give our credit card information, which was charged during the cruise. We got two blue cards during check in (same look as a credit card), which were our IDs on boat and same time our credit cards, which we were paying with for example for alcohol in the bar. We were offered pictures, alcohol tasting before getting on boat, we also had to make reservation for supper in restaurant for two days. We went for a lunch after getting on boat to buffet restaurant. We were eating breakfasts in same restaurant. There were four different restaurants on boat. We could use two of them as a part of ticket price without any additional costs. We were not able to eat all of this food! There was a lot of food and everything was delicious! Alcohol was served almost directly to our throats! Waitresses who were offering alcohol were everywhere! They were serving drinks even in hot tubs! Alcohol on boat is not cheap, but some of restaurants and bars have their special occasions called HAPPY HOURS. GRAND CELEBRATION boat which took 6th place in the world in terms of level, quality and quantity of attractions offered to the guests really impressed us. As I mentioned above on boat there were four restaurants, eight different bars and night clubs with music from 50,60,70,80 and contemporary music, three kids clubs, three swimming pools, three hot tubs, stores, casino, gym, SPA, photographer, theater where different dancing and comic shows are held. We of course were using all of those things as much as we could:) We were eating, drinking, dancing in the pool and on dance floor, we were sitting in hot tub with drinks in our hands, on top of the boat, enjoying the view of the ocean, and we also met very nice people from around the world, that we nicely spent time with:) The boat has 12 decks. As music in the background on the boat were best Caribbean songs. Boat staff was the highest class ever. Everybody was dressed very neatly and elegant. They were very nice and polite, that you just wanted to give them good tips:) Staff was mostly from different part of the world, what you could conclude based on type of beauty and accent. Summarizing I would say that this boat is a contemporary TITANIC:) We arrived to GRAND BAHAMA island on morning May 5th, where we were picked by the bus, which took us to the port from where we went on catamaran on the sea, where we were snorkeling in coral reefs. Bahamas has left side traffic law, because of British influence. Unfortunately we do not have an underwater camera, that's why I do not have any underwater pictures, but views, which we had opportunity to admire are really breathtaking. Something amazing! Unfortunately I did not spend a long time snorkeling, because a plastic pipe, which is a part of snorkeling mask was making me sick, but what I was suppose to see I saw and I am very happy of that! Mike spent two hours in water, maybe with two one minute breaks:) He felt in his element! Caribbean blue of the water is beautiful! We went for a lunch to GRAND LUCAYAN hotel after our adventure with snorkeling, then we spent some time on swimming, relaxing, and getting some tan on nearby beach and hotel swimming pools. We went after this relaxation to Port Lucaya Marketplace, which is a complex of different stores and stands, which represent a free duty zone, no taxes there. You can buy there alcohol and jewelry very cheap. We bought there a Caribbean rum and whiskey "White Hennessy", which you can not buy in the US. We paid for "White Hennessy" $40, when a special order of this to the US with shipping cost about $150. You can bring with you to the US two bottles of alcohol per person. We bought a few different souvenirs, we got on our bus and we came back to the port on Bahamas, where our boat was waiting for us. We had to go through the custom again before we got on boat. They also took from us alcohol, tagged it, and informed us that we can get it back from the gift shop on last day of our cruise right before check out of the boat. This manipulation is needed to avoid a situation when passengers will be drinking their own alcohol instead buying it on board, at the end boat wants to make money. We took advantage of different attractions on boat after day full of impressions on Grand Bahama, we ate delicious supper, and we went to sleep fully exhausted in our cabin with ocean view. As I mentioned before a cruise was short, but we both feel like we took full advantage of it. All of different attractions such as snorkeling, swimming with dolphins, parasailing and others you could buy on boat until 9 pm, on first day of the trip. We paid for this three days Bahamas event $269 for two people, and it was a promotional price (normal price is about $450 for two people) + taxes (almost as much as a price of cruise) + $18 per day for parking + $12 per day for gratuity + $24 per two day for housekeeping + your own expanses, and here it depends how much you plan to spend:) Most money you would spend for alcohol:) A cost of snorkeling on Grand Bahama is $79 per person. We spent on this whole event with driving to West Palm Beach, which is located from us about 6 hours of driving almost a $1000, and we pretty much were doing whatever we wanted to, no saving. $1000 is about 3900 PLN, which for American reality is not much, here $1000 is like 1000 PLN. A trip to Bahamas it was my first time when I left the US since I hold a Green Card, fortunately I was able to reenter to the country after showing my passport and Green Card:)
I highly recommend you all cruises, it is really worth, a boat is better than a five stars hotel!
Curiosity:
We noticed, that Bahamas residents (90% black population) are much nicer and more polite than African Americans that live in the US.
Have a nice week!
Marta
One year ago on blog:
CULINARY SPECIALTIES:
Flaga Bahamow/Bahamas Flag
Kilka slow o Bahamach...
Bahamy to panstwo wyspiarskie polozone na Oceanie Atlantyckim, do XVI wieku zamieszkiwane przez indianskich Arawakow, odkryte w 1492 roku przez wyprawe Krzysztofa Kolumba. Hiszpanie jednak nie przeprowadzili kolonizacji wysp, a miejscowa ludnosc, ktora w efekcie wyginela przesiedlili na pobliskie wyspy Dominikane i Haiti. W 1648 roku Anglicy rozpoczeli kolonizacje Bahamow. Hiszpanie nigdy nie uznali angielskiej kolonizacji wysp. W trakcie kolonizacji na Bahamy masowo sprowadzano afrykanskich niewolnikow. W okresie prohibicji w USA, wyspy sluzyly do przemytu alkoholu. Obecnie Bahamy sa glownym punktem przerzutu narkotykow do Europy Zachodniej i Stanow Zjednoczonych, sa takze miejscem nielegalnym transakcji finansowych. W 1973 roku Bahamy otrzymaly niepodleglosc od Wielkiej Brytanii, jednak pozostaly czlonkiem Wspolnoty Narodow na czele z Wielka Brytania. Mieszkancy wysp zyja glownie z turystyki, ale tez z rolnictwa oraz produkcji odziezy, bizuterii i perfum. Bahamy to prawdziwy raj dla turystow!
Zrodlo: Wikipedia
A few words about Bahamas...
Bahamas is an island nation, located on Atlantic Ocean, until XVI century inhabited by Indian Arawak, discovered by expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492. Spaniards did not colonize islands, but they moved local population, which are in result to nearby islands Dominican Republic and Haiti. British started to colonize Bahamas in 1648, during colonization they were bringing in mass an African slaves into Bahamas. Islands were used to smug alcohol during the prohibition in the US. The Bahamas are currently the main drug transfer point to Western Europe and The United States. They are also a place of illegal financial transactions. Bahamas got their independence from Great Britain in 1973, but they stayed as a member of Commonwealth led by Great Britain. Residents of Bahamas live mostly off of tourism, but they also live on agriculture, clothing, jewelry, and perfume production. The Bahamas are a real paradise for all tourists!
Source: Wikipedia
Statek GRAND CELEBRATION/GRAND CELEBRATION boat
Port w West Palm Beach na Florydzie, kiedy dojechalismy do portu troche bylo pochmurno i nawet padalo, ale pogoda nie popsula nam humorow, a potem pieknie sie wypogodzilo:)
Port of West Palm Beach, Florida, when we got there the sky was a little bit cloudy and even it was raining a little bit, but the weather did not spoil our moods, and later on the weather beautifully cleared up:)
Wejscie na statek przez korytarz, prawie jak do samolotu:)
Entrance on boat through the corridor, almost like getting on the plane:)
Nasza kajuta/Our cabin
Widok z restauracji na West Palm Beach/A view for West Palm Beach from restaurant
Lunch w restauracji typu "szwedzki bufet"/Lunch in buffet restaurant
Orientacja/Orientation
Drinkujemy w jednym bardzo przyjemnym barze, sliuchajac spiewu oraz gry na fortepianie, ktory wprost uwielbiam! To byla czysta przyjemnosc dla moich uszu!
We are drinking in one of the very nicest bars, listening to singing and playing piano, which I simply love! It was a pleasure for my ears!
Kolacja/Supper
A do kolacji znowu cudowna muzyka!/An awesome music again for supper!
Wystep magika/Magician show
Bawimy sie przy muzyce z lat 70 i 80!/We have fun with music from 70 and 80!
Majk zostal wybrany do konkursu tanecznego i wygral nawet egzotycznego drinka!
Mike was chosen for a dancing competition and he even won an exotic drink!
Widok z naszej kajuty/A view from our cabin
GRAND BAHAMA
GRAND LUCAYAN hotel
Port w Freeport/Port in Freeport
Znowu drinkujemy:)/Drinking again:)
Wschod slonca, doplywamy do portu w West Palm Beach.
A sunrise, we are getting into West Palm Beach port.
Pamiatki z Bahamow/Souvenirs from Bahamas
To byl moj pierwszy drink na statku BAHAMA MAMA, a kubek dostalam na pamiatke:)
It was my first drink on board BAHAMA MAMA, a cup I got as a souvenir:)
Alkohole, ktore kupilismy na Bahamach:)
Alcohols, which we bought on Bahamas:)
W drodze powrotnej z West Palm Beach zatrzymalismy sie na bardzo duzym pchlim targu w Micanopy na Florydzie, gdzie upatrzylam sobie koszyk na drzewo do kominka. Jak widac spodobal sie on komus jeszcze:)
On way back from West Palm Beach we stopped at very big flea market in Micanopy, FL, where I bought this basket for wood transportation to our fireplace. As you can see somebody else liked it too:)
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