Domincan MayDaze BearCruise | Day 5 | Bimini Beach, Bahamas

It’s Tuesday, May 30, 2023 and we had an 11-hour port call from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. in Virgin Voyages’ Beach Club at Bimini, Bahamas.

BearCruise group activities

8:00 am – 7:00 pm: Bimini Beach Club (private beach club owned by Virgin Voyages)

Look for us by the pools or on the beach if you want to hang out with the group. We will string a Bear Pride Flag from a palm tree or umbrella so you can find us. We are told that the DJ and dancing by the pool is awesome from about 1:00 – 3:00. Head right as you go into the pool area if you want to be near the action.

A lot of cruise lines have their own private beaches or islands, but I’ve never been on one that made a port call to theirs. I really like this concept, because the food is included like on the ship, and your drink packages or bar allowances work there, too.

We had a leisurely morning on the ship, and made our way down to the beach club around noon. Not surprisingly, we didn’t have any luck finding shaded seating, or on any available lounge chairs actually, but we found 2 chairs set around a tree stump big enough to act as a table, which we nabbed.

We had a couple of cocktails, read a little, and did a little people watching in and around the wide variety of seating options.

After a little while, we got some lunch, which we brought back to our “table” to eat. John chose the Watermelon & Jicama Salad, Caribbean Chicken & Coconut Curry, Grilled Corn-on-the-Cob, and the Rum Cake.

---

Bob took a dip in the ocean and was surprised that his inadvertent mouthful of water was salty. I spent a little while in the “calmer” (volleyball side) pool—there were two pools, separated only by a walkway.

---

3:00 – 4:00: Sean Hornbeck of The Connected Traveler is hosting a private cocktail party at The Lounge at Bimini Beach Club and we’re invited. There’s a $35 cost that can be charged to your account using your bracelet. Unlimited alcohol for the hour is included.

We did not attend this event, as we still had $115 left of bar money that we wanted to spend on Buffalo Trace & club sodas, our drink of choice.

---

7:00 pm: Cocktails, The Dock House Bar, Deck 7

Earlier in the week, a friend of ours told us on Facebook Messenger that two friends of hers, a gay couple, were on this ship and she thought that we should meet each other. We asked her to tell them that we’d be at The Dock House Bar every day during the cruise for our cocktail hours, and it might be easier for them to spot us than vice versa.

They came to the bar today and we really enjoyed talking with them. Since they are big Broadway fans, as are we and our mutual friend, Sandy (who facilitated our meeting), it would be fun to all go on a Seth Rudetsky’s Big Fat Broadway Cruise in the future.

---

8:00 pm: Dinner, Restaurant of the Night: Gunbae, Deck 6

We pretty much let, Simba, our fantastic server bring us a little bit of everything.

After dinner, Simba engaged the four of us (Al, Ken, Bob, and me) in the drinking game called Sam-Yuk-Gu (“3-6-9”). It involved taking shots of Jinro Chamisul Fresh (about 17% alcohol and a.k.a. “Korean Vodka”).

and its rules were:

I would be remiss in not sharing that our friend and tablemate blew away this game. Bob and I were out quickly, then Al.

Starting from 1 again when someone goes out, Ken went 1-on-1 against Simba, who told us before we started, “I’ve played this game thousands and thousands of times, so I’m pretty good at it.”

Ken ended up getting into the 90s, when Simba just stopped and declared him the winner. He said, no one had ever gotten beyond 50 playing against him.

All of us drank to that—and to Ken!

And Al recorded all 10 minutes of the game!

Ship Shows and Activities

11:00 pm: Studio 72 Disco Party, The Manor, Deck 6

Bob ran up to The Manor to get a few pictures of this event, which we otherwise did not attend.

However, a member of our group who did attend asserted that this drag queen split that he captured was the highlight of the event.