West Grand Bahama District

Although there were a smattering of souvenir shops adjacent to the wharf, it was much more like landing in the industrial docks at Newport or Harwich, than the piers in the picturesque down-towns of isla San Juan or Charlotte Amile. Rough concrete and chainlink fencing dominated the view in most directions, some of the nearer docking berths occupied by cargo ships whilst the only other passenger ship in sight was about 2 kilometres up the harbour at the shipyard, apparently undergoing some sort of maintenance. We ran into Kimberly in the port and wandered around the shops for 30minutes or so discussing the conch shortage, why the Bahamas had so much Jamaica themed merchandise and mulling the possibility of buying some extra luggage.

This was probably the port where booking an excursion had been most necessary, there being nothing of note accessible by foot from the wharf. On the other hand, the day’s overcast weather and limited time wasn’t really conducive to a relaxing day in the Bahamas so taking the time to chill with no commitments suited us.

We reboarded the ship well before the ‘Back From the Dead’ panel which was scheduled to go on whilst we were still in port. Right at the opening Jordan Hoffman (host of many of the sessions) dropped a massive spoiler for those that hadn’t seen the latest Picard episode yet, causing the only (well deserved) ‘boo’s of the trip. In the talk Denise Crosby, Garet Wang and Wilson Cruz disused their returns from the dead; the most memorable moment was a question from an Irish solider who asked a question about Wilson’s portrayal of PTSD.Read more