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For many, a vacation is a once a year opportunity. Consequently, the decision as to where and how to spend this time (and money), clearly deserves some serious consideration. The last thing, any of our guests would want, is to find out, too late, that they have made the wrong decision .
This is also the last thing we want (aside from any altruistic motives) from a purely selfish point of view. As discussed in the previous page, our aim is to provide "The Perfect Escape" for all our guests. It would clearly make our job much more difficult, in regard to our other guests, if one or two individuals were not "Happy Campers".
To minimize the chances of this happening, this page attempts to lay out some of the factors that may deserve some consideration - before making a decision in regard to joining us on a cruise. These follow - in no particular order.
As stated in "Overview", our cruises cater to reasonably fit and active individuals. The layout of Grand Illusion and the beach camp demand a certain level of physical fitness and agility. Likewise, participation in many of the activities also demands a certain level of physical fitness and agility.
To put it bluntly, our cruises are definitely not wheelchair accessible nor are they very suitable for grossly overweight and/or unfit individuals. For instance, access from beach to boat, from lower to upper deck, and to the toilet facilities, is all by ladder. In the case of the toilet facilities, this also involves going through a relatively narrow hatchway.
Related info. available on the following web sites:
Is this for me? and Why is this web site so big?
Pristine Tropical Paradise -
somewhere out there
Many of our destinations are separated by 50 miles of open ocean from the nearest medical facilities. The only destinations with tiny rough landing fields for light planes are La Blanquilla and Isla Tortuga. Consequently, anyone with an existing medical condition that could necessitate prompt medical attention would be ill advised to join any of our cruises.
Our menus will definitely revolve around seafood. This seafood does not come from the supermarket as serving sized portions - hygienically and attractively packaged. We catch, kill, butcher, cook (sometimes not) and eat all sorts of sea creatures - cute or otherwise. No, we don't kill or eat turtles, porpoises, nor decorative reef fish. We do however eat most everything else.
Vegetarians will have no problem, in regard to tasty meals, as we will have plenty of other options on the menus. However, pleas for mercy, on behalf of our prospective dinner, from any quarter, will not be graciously received. Carnivores, who don't care for fish, will also be catered to. However, be warned, that many a non fish eater, has been converted to fish lover by the culinary skills (combined with the freshest ingredients) of our "chefs".
As stated in overview, we are not targeting fanatics of any particular stripe.
Some individuals may find that a vacation, which does not revolve 100 % of the time around a particular activity, does not provide them with the sense of being part of an exclusive group - with it's own hierarchy, code words, unwritten rules and shared belief system.
Some may also find that the consequent lack of competitiveness and the potential reward of elevation in status, which may be achieved through successful actions within such a tight knit community, is a negative factor.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we feel that, possibly the most essential factor to providing "The Perfect Escape" is the provision of the opportunity to feel "Free at Last". See: "A few thoughts on the road less traveled" on the "Spirit of the Bahamas" web site - linked below.
With this in mind, we have come up with a set of "Ship's Rules" under which our cruises will operate. These are:
Rule 1: Everyone shall be free to do as they choose.
Rule 2: There shall be no rules other than Rule 1.
Breaking these rules shall be punishable (at the captain's whim) by:
(A) Walking the plank. (B) Flogging with the cat o nine tails.
(C) Keel hauling. (D) Hanging from the yard arm
Or any combination of the above.
Those not comfortable with these rules might wish to think twice before signing on.
Note: Deeper contemplation of these rules may put a different light on them.
It's sort of like a Zen Koan.
stock image
The fact that you are reading this web page is a good indication that this cruise might be "just the ticket" for you. The reason for this stems from the fact that, quite obviously, neither this web page, nor this web site, nor any of our associated web sites conform to current popular thinking in regard to design, construction and layout.
No doubt, anyone in the web site design business, on being presented with this web site (or group of web sites), would immediately throw everything in the garbage and set to work creating a proper professional web site that conformed to current thinking as to what is cool and professional and what is not.
Likewise, many individuals, on clicking to any of our associated web pages, will, more often than not, immediately beat a hasty retreat to more comfortable and familiar territory. It follows then that, if you are reading this, you are not overly wary of the unconventional or of venturing into unexplored territory.
Grand Illusion, like this web site clearly does not conform to current popular thinking- in regard to design, construction and layout.. The cruises, we will be operating, are also somewhat unconventional and will be venturing into relatively unexplored areas. It follows, then, that these cruises will be most suitable for those who are not daunted by the prospect of being a "Stranger in a Strange land".
While Grand Illusion is indeed a rather unconventional boat, this is not by intent, but rather is the result of a perfectly rational pursuit of certain design goals. Similarly, the design, construction and layout of this web site is also the result of the perfectly rational pursuit of certain design goals.
These design goals are, firstly, to influence the search engines (most importantly Google) to present our offering to as many prospective guests as possible and, secondly, to encourage SUITABLE prospective guests to book a cruise with us. The pursuit of these two goals is the reason why this web site (or group of sites) is so big.
The means we have chosen (rightly or wrongly) for achieving the first goal have, to a large extent dictated the form (and size) of this web site group. The underlying reasons for these choices will be of little interest to anyone except "web geeks" and we will not get into those reasons here
In regards to the second goal, SUITABLE prospect guests, in this case, means that, in addition to other requirements, suitable persons would be in the habit of employing rational thought processes, in regard to making many if not most decisions - in their daily lives. We feel, for many reasons, that such persons would be a much better fit with our cruises and with each other.
In our opinion, these persons are a small minority amongst the general population. Marketing experts would seem to agree with us, as indicated by their choices in marketing strategies - in regard to virtually every "product"
they lend their expertise to.
Virtually without exception, all marketing is aimed at the irrational emotional, intuitive side of human beings. It follows then, that they (the marketing experts) must agree with us that the overwhelming majority of their "target market" make their "purchasing decisions" based largely on the intuitive, emotional, and irrational side of their psyche.
Clearly then, in our decision to target the "rational minority", we have flouted virtually every single marketing rule in existence. This is not to say that we have entirely eliminated any appeal to the emotional side of people - as evidenced by the pretty pictures on the left of this page.
In regard to the first goal, the search engines, so far (whether in spite of, or because of the unconventionality and sheer size of this site group) have been very "kind" to us. If you, are still reading this page, this is a strong indication that besides your "explorer" mind set, you also probably have a strong streak of rationality - and that our cruise might be "right up your street" .
We are not in the shoe business - or even the hotel, restaurant, passenger- ferry, or cruise- ship business. The "product" we are marketing, i.e:
"being stuck on a desert island, for nearly a week, with 30 total strangers"
(without the option of "voting anyone off the island") is, clearly, a bit "iffy".
A rational person will no doubt perceive that, this being the case, it is imperative we provide all the reliable and relevant information we can. We
clearly need to ensure that each and every one of our guests is the right match for this type of cruise and, equally importantly, for each other.
If you should, in the end, choose not to sign on, that would leave us requiring 312 guests to meet our year's quota (24 persons per cruise - 1 cruise every 4 weeks) With the current world population of 6.6 billion that would mean we would need to "snag" 1 person out of every 21 million people on this planet.
We feel that, while this may be a difficult task, it is not unachievable. Consequently, while we would love to "snag" you, we would recommend your reading on - before making a decision as to whether or not to join us on a cruise.
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Pristine Tropical Paradise -
somewhere out there
Pristine Tropical Paradise -
somewhere out there
Pristine Tropical Paradise -
somewhere out there
Pristine Tropical Paradise -
somewhere out there
Pristine Tropical Paradise -
somewhere out there
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Escape! Runaway! Getaway! - - to a
Faraway Pristine Paradise, where
Light dances with crystal seas - Time flows at a gentle pace -
Space goes on forever and
Grace reaches out to all.
Stretch your horizons!
We can take you there!
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Caribbean Paradise.
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