Bahamas Carnival Experience 2018 - Road Fever - Part 1

May 5th 2018

Bahamas Carnival Experience 2018 - Road Fever - Part 2

May 5th 2018

Bahamas Carnival Experience 2018 - Road Fever - Part 3

May 5th 2018

Bahamas Carnival Experience 2018 - Road Fever - Part 4

May 5th 2018

Bahamas Carnival Experience 2018 - Amnesia

May 5th 2018

Bahamas Carnival Experience 2018 - Insomnia

May 4th 2018

BAHAMAS CARNIVAL 2018 PHOTOS, VIDEOS AND REVIEWS

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TJJ's Party Guru's Guide to Bahamas Carnival Experience

When I think of the Bahamas, pink sand beaches, Paradise Island Water Park @ Atlantis and the swimming pigs of Exuma comes to mind. However, this weekend getaway to Nassau was all about the Bahamas Carnival Experience scheduled May 4th-6th. With very attractive headline acts, which included the King of Soca Machel Montano, Queen of Bacchanal Destra Garcia, Vincy's General Skinny Fabulous and famous American record producer/radio personality DJ Khaled, for each of the 3-day event line up, I personally wanted to see first hand what this relatively young (only in it's 4th year) carnival was all about.

Prerequisites:

Duration:

The Parade of the Bands, or what they refer to as "Road Fever" takes place on the Saturday in Nassau, New Providence. Ideal travel dates would be Thursday to Monday. If you're looking for the true Destination Carnival experience, then arrive earlier or stay longer to get time to enjoy the island beyond the carnival activities. For you Road Warriors who don't have vacation days to spare, you can arrive on the Friday and leave on the 1st flight out on Monday.

Currency:

The Bahamian Dollar (BSD) is the currency of Bahamas. However USD is widely accepted. The exchange rate is 1USD = 1BSD.

Communications:

The island's leading telecommunications company, BTC, has been the presenting sponsor of the carnival for 4 consecutive years. All I have are 3 words, 4G LTE network.

Accommodation:

Search for hotels and accommodations in Nassau, New Providence area. I was also advised that Paradise Island and West Bay Street are also good locations to stay. Breezes Resort All Inclusive was our home for the weekend, which was a stone throw away from Nassau's newest luxury resort, BahaMar. Airbnb is also an option.

Transportation:

Lynden Pindling International Airport, formerly known as Nassau International Airport, is where you're flying in and out of. Airport Code – NAS. Prefer to get there by sea? Well the good folks at BlueMonkey Bahamas provides All-Inclusive packages designed to eliminate the headaches when traveling to Nassau via Miami on board the Bahamas Carnival Cruise. For more details, visit www.bahamascarnivalcruise.com. There are several options to help you get around Nassau & Paradise Island. Rental cars, motor scooters, buses and taxis are the most common means of public transportation.

Bahamian Lessons:

1) Trini's say "Wine", Bajan's say "Wuk Up", Jamaican's say "Dagger" and Bahamian's say "Juk" and 2) They call a bumpah, a "Boungie".

Events:

Our schedule was pretty straight forward. The Bahamas Carnival Experience three (3) main events and the Road Fever. Both Friday - Insomnia and Saturday - Amnesia were concert based events that took place Clifford Park, which was approximately a 10 minute drive from our hotel. Both events had a nice blend of regional and local Soca artistes, but Saturday's show had infusion of dancehall (Mr. Vegas and surprise guest Mavado) and hip-hop (DJ Khaled).

Let's talk Road Fever. I continually preach that the winning formula for having a successful Carnival is to create a truly enjoyable road experience (Parade of the Bands). Everything else will then fall right into place. The Bahamas Carnival Experience definitely delivered more than enough ROAD, starting at the National Stadium and ending at Clifford Park. A new parade route was also introduced this year, which took masqueraders along the ocean front view of West Bay Street. Roughly counting, there were in the vicinity of 10 to 15 mas bands. However, both Bahamas Masqueraders and Enigma showed to have the largest number of revellers in costumes. Another thing we all take for granted when it comes to Caribbean carnivals is the ability to consume alcohol on the road, and with a legal drinking age of 18. Yes, #IslandLife.

Unfortunately there was a mix up with our flight booking and we ended up leaving a day earlier, missing both Suits cruise and Unleash (at Arawak Cay) on the Sunday. You win some, you lose some. Shout out to everyone who showed us mad love and kept putting Kalik beers in my hand all trip. Thanks BTC for keeping us connected locally. Bahamas you guys definitely have a Destination Carnival and we will be sure to let the world know!

Bahamas Carnival Experience

Peace, Love, Carnival and Jungle Juice-ness
The Carnival Ref -- and Juicy Juice

Ps. I didn't get a chance to go to Fish Fry for a freshly made bowl of Bahamian Conch Salad. So in the words of Kes, "I Shall Return... and I mus come back!"

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Destination Carnival: Bahamas

Day 1 - Insomnia Concert - Blaxx performance and Interview (FB Live)
Day 1 - Insomnia Concert - Destra performance (FB Live)
Day 2 - Road Fever - Part 1 (FB Live)
Day 2 - Road Fever - Part 2 (FB Live)
Day 2 - Amnesia Concert - DJ Khaled (FB Live)
Day 2 - Amnesia Concert - Machel Montano & Full Band (FB Live)
Day 2 - Amnesia Concert - DJ Khaled x Mavado (HD)

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BAHAMAS CARNIVAL 2018 PHOTOS, VIDEOS AND REVIEWS

TJJ's Party Guru's Guide to Bahamas Carnival Experience

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