As always I have a lot of material to share with everyone.
My reviews are loaded with fun times, great pictures and as always an unbiased point of view.
I have been told that I have a great eye for detail, and it will be all here for you to enjoy.
Thank you kindly for being a part of this ^_^
Resorts World Bimini SuperFast
Hello everyone, I hope you’re all doing well. Unlike my other reviews, I will start this one with a brief intro on the Company rather than myself. The reason that I am doing this is mainly because I have noticed that not many people are familiar with the product.
Bimini is the westernmost island of the Bahamas and the closest one to the continental USA. Being so close to the USA is a great asset for people looking for a quick getaway. As a matter of fact, I was told that there is a company running on wave runners from south Florida to Bimini. That would be an interesting adventure. Anyway, I am not entirely how old the actual resort is, but my guess is that it is rather new. As you will see in the review there is lots of construction going on the island and they are rapidly expanding. On June of 2013 they started running cruises from Miami to Bimini in a converted ferry that used to operate in Europe.
The ship itself is called Bimini SuperFast, and it can travel at 29 knots per hour. The crossing from Fort Lauderdale to Bimini is literally a straight line and in our case it took around 2:40. Very fast indeed, we were there before we knew it.
Like I said the company is currently expanding and they recently opened their casino, which by the way is mind blowing. The entire resort itself is spectacular, but I will let the pictures do the talking.
A company that is testing grounds
Resorts World seems to be struggling to appeal to the US market. Now this is just my guess, but let me explain why I am making this assumption. The company has been running day cruises from Miami for the past year. They recently added port Everglades to their port of departure, but due to a lack of sales they are already pulling out. Last I heard they are retreating back to Miami and they are not running daily cruises any more. Their new strategy is to run 2 to 3 day cruises. We will see how that works for them. But I would love it if they at least left one day a week for the daily cruises.
Our original plan was to do the day cruise on Thanksgiving day. Initially we had booked it for $160 per person (I know, very expensive. But I really wanted to try the company). Later on we heard of a promotion and the price went down to $100 per person. About 3 weeks before our sailing they called us and told us that they had cancelled our sailing. We were heartbroken, mainly because the next cruise that we can take will be in late March and we were really looking forward to this short getaway. The worst part is that they had no information on anything… Their sales personnel need to be better informed about the company.
So a heartbroken Gambee decided to post on a social network site about the cancellation. It was then that one of my friends on that site reminded me about the $25 veterans day sale, and the best part was both mom and I were off from work. When I told my mom, her eyes lit up, she could not believe it. After a short call we were booked on the cruise, oh, this all happened 2 days before the cruise. That is the officially the cruise that I have booked closest to the sailing date
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One thing to consider before I get started, is that I had very low expectations for this cruise. As a reviewer, I trust reviews blindly, and lets be honest the reviews for Bimini SuperFast were not the best. While I was very excited to go, I also had my reservations about the company. Another thing that somewhat puzzled me, was the lack of information on the internet. I tried looking for info, but everything was rather limited, with few info on the Bimini SuperFast itself.
Bimini SuperFast Documents
Ok, let’s get this party started! So how do I put this. While I was very excited to get on a cruise, I was however not crazy about having to wake up early to board. I usually wake up around 7:30, but I roll in bed for an hour or 2. You know how it goes. I was actually up by the time the alarm went off, so it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be.
I told my mom that we should get some food before boarding the cruise. Like I said the information was rather limited and I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. All the food aboard the vessel has a cost. So we stopped at Mc Donalds and kept on going to the terminal.
It was actually a tad chilly day, well at least for Florida standards. I remember being puzzled as to how to dress. I ended wearing jeans and bringing lighter clothes on my backpack. Once we got there I noticed that I was one of the few with jeans, but I did not regret my decision.
Driving to port Everglades we saw a beautiful sunrise. Sunrise and sunsets are very special to us. My grandmother used to love them and comment on them always. Seeing them is almost like a manifestation of her.
There were only two ships in port that day.
We decided to park in the port, while it was more expensive than the outside parking. It really did not justify itself the extra inconvenience just to save $7 for one day. Once we got to the parking lot we got our first good look of the ship. Bimini SuperFast was built in 2001.
Like I said Bimini SuperFast was not very large, but she is perfect for her purpose.
Keep in mind that for these short sailings there is no Muster procedures in place.
I remember seeing a TV documentary how one of these ferries sunk when the front hinges gave in and the entire bow of the ship open up. Of course, this was under really rough seas, I think it was in Europe. This was the first time that I actually saw a ferry in which the bow opens up. I don’t think they open the one on this one any more though.
I have always loved the location of the port near the airport.
We headed inside the terminal and the check-in was a breeze, everything went really fast and without any issues. Once you checked in, you could continue directly and board the ship.
You board the vessel from the aft. I am not entirely sure why she registered in Panama and not Bahamas?
Once you board Bimini SuperFast, you encounter a B2B electric stairs.
They also give you a card, but it is not tied to a credit card. We paid everything with cash. The card is simply used to board the ship and disembark.
I will say Bimini SuperFast is nicely decorated, and it is kept in immaculate condition. I was actually very surprised since I was expecting something much different. Just a little reminder that this was veterans day so that is why they had balloons and flags.
We decided to tour the ship before it got too busy. One of the main complains on the reviews, was that it got so busy and you could not find a place to sit (Not the case on our almost full sailing). But either way we did not know that at the time. So my idea was to tour Bimini SuperFast and then find a location to settle down.
This is the double deck lounge area looking at the aft of the ship. Very popular place for people to relax and enjoy a drink or two.
They had a little table with gags to take pictures with.
Pink fedora group?
They have a few cabins aboard for those who want an area to put their belongings or shower after a day at the beach. I believe the rooms cost $50 for a day, but they go on sale if you rent them after you board from the island.
You can tour the ship quite quickly.
They have 2 main restaurants, the buffet and the regular service restaurant.
You can access the promenade, well I am not entirely sure you can call it it promenade. But in any case it is a nice area to get close to the water.
The casino runs the width of the ship and about 1/3 it’s length. Its your average casino, we never visited other than to get off the ship. They open the casino about 40 minutes after you sail out, at the 3 mile international waters marker.
This is the casino bar.
You see water stations throughout the ship.
As you go around you see the other restaurant which is a little more expensive, but you get full service.
The restaurant has a really nice ocean view, but there were several people there and I did not want to disturb with a picture. I get the picture later on, no worries.
Then you get to guest service area.
They didn’t have the model of Bimini SuperFast available, I guess ill have to go without one, LoL.
This is the most reasonably priced bridge tour I have ever seen.
Since we had toured the inside of the ship, we decided to head upstairs and check out the rest. Oh, by the way, we never used an elevator on this cruise. You basically play with 4 decks and they are all connected.
The outside area is really nice, the wood is kept freshly maintained and very clean.
However the deck below was full of patches everywhere, maybe they were getting ready to paint over it?
By the way this is the dock of HAL and Carnival ships. Well, at least those are the ones that I usually see in there.
You could rent the paddle and balls. Remember, everything here is for a charge.
That is pretty much for that deck, it is just basically the aft bar and some seating area. That is where we stayed for the entire voyage, I loved the area.Then we went up one deck and check out the main Lido deck area.
