Freeport Hurricane Matthew aftermath

Does anyone have any information on when Freeport Cruise Terminal may reopen? I hear Freeport sustained major damage from hurricane Matthew and may be without power for weeks.

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Yep. I do not think anything definitive has come out yet about when Freeport will be able to start accepting ships again, but according to the brand ambassador for Carnival, it will be at least a couple of weeks and they are looking at alternate port options for ships with Freeport on the itinerary.

They don't know when the Freeport port will reopen. Power is out and it may be several weeks before it's restored. Alternate ports are Nassau, Key West, Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk.

Victory leaving Sunday has changed from Nassau and Freeport to Grand Turk

How does Carnival notify you that you're not going to Freeport ? Did you get an email? I pray our cruise goes to Key West ..that'd be awesome...we'll see...

elainmir, we leave 11/27 on the Pride. I am also hoping for a trip to Key West. That would be awesome.

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I leave on 11/20 - no word yet. Looks like a recent cruise from Baltimore headed to Freeport did an overnight in Nassau. That would not be my choice. Hoping for anything else but that!

I read that the Freeport cruise port is open again. We will be heading there on our cruise that leaves on the 20th as well. I'm wondering how bad the damage is? It would be great to hear from anyone who has been now that it is open again. Would have loved a re-route to Key West!

We are on the 11/6 Carnival Pride out of Baltimore; going to Freeport on Friday 11/11. [emoji106]

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I'm currently on the Pride pulling out if Freeport. I'm totally surprised that Carnival actually brought us here and neglected to inform us that the entire coastline from Lucaya to Taiano had been devastated and was not open. My husband and I walked down to a residential area and made out way to the death in Lucaya. And walked the beach up past the hotels. Every single hotel along the coast is closed. Hurricane damaged. A guard here and there watching the properties. Billy Joe's Conch Shack is gone. Totally gone.

Up at Junkanoo Beach Club they have severe damage and they're taking the $3 admission for a beach chair at a makeshift location a couple of doors up. It's sad. Tony Macaroni's beach shack/bar is gone too.

Word from the locals is the hotels should be pretty much open again sometime in December.

My suggestion is to book an excursion in this port. Freeport is beautiful if you actually take the initiative and go away from the port area. We've always ventured out on our own, but die to the devastation, book an excursion to guarantee a fun time. Some of the most beautiful beaches are in Freeport and they still are beautiful.

Okay. Back to my book and my drink. I only have 1-1/2 days till I'm back to reality.

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Nodogkisses,

Thanks for that update. I was afraid of just that. Although i have never cruised before, i don't know what to expect at any port but i heard that Freeport was an industrial port. Which doesn't sound appealing.

But we will make the best of it anyway.

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Nodogkisses,

Thanks for that update. I was afraid of just that. Although i have never cruised before, i don't know what to expect at any port but i heard that Freeport was an industrial port. Which doesn't sound appealing.

But we will make the best of it anyway.

 

 

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Thank you for the update! I figured as much. Good to hear how it really is.

You mentioned you heard that Freeport is an industrial port. It is. You are right however; the island and the beaches really are beautiful if you get past the port area. Freeport is truly one of my more favorite port stops. The people are so nice. I highly recommend an excursion in Freeport!

Nodogkisses:

Thanks for the report. Is there any construction going on at Billy Joe's?

TIA

SurfCat, not only is there no construction going on at Billy Joe's it actually took me a little bit to even see where it used to exist. It was insane. And it doesn't look like they're even trying to work on the hotels along that beach, however, the security guard tells me work is going on inside. I couldn't see any evidence of that.

I apologize for the typos and autocorrect in yesterday's post. Yikes!

My advice to anyone sailing soon to Freeport--definitely book an excursion unless you just want to shop and have lunch/drinks at Lucaya. Or, just hang out in the port area. You can't even really tell they were hit with a hurricane there. It's the beachfront along that area of the island where Lucaya and Taiano beaches are that was hit the hardest. The beaches are still beautiful and the weather is so much better than in the northeast.

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We booked the snorkel tour with Pat and Diane Friday 11/11 off of the Pride. They had to borrow a boat to take us out and there were only 12 of us. It seemed a little sad with all the hotels closed. However, the locals we talked to and the tour guides were making the best of it! It was a one of a kind experience. Much better than the bus accident we experienced on the #10 in Nassau. [emoji15]

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Nodogkisses,

Thanks for the quick reply. That's really sad to hear. We won't be there until January, and i'm sure not much will change before then.

We'll be praying for those who made their living in that area.

Thanks for the update, nodogkisses. It makes me so sad. We were in Freeport just a couple of weeks before the hurricane and spent the day at Memories, across from the Lucaya Marketplace. It was such a lovely place. I hope they will be able to recover soon!

Nodogkisses, had the beaches been washed out too? Did it look like they'd have to replace a lot of sand?

What Billy Joe's looked like when we were in Freeport September 17:

We walked down to the beach through a neighborhood right past the police station. We walked along the beach down past a few big hotels and came up at the end of the straw market. The beach was absolutely gorgeous.

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is this the beach at the Grand Lucayan Resort that you pay for ? Gorgeous!

We will be in Freeport on 12/4. Any specific destination recommended? Might plan to find the beach mentioned by Nodogkisses above. We have done the Bike tour last year, and really enjoyed that.

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We will be in Freeport on 12/4. Any specific destination recommended? Might plan to find the beach mentioned by Nodogkisses above. We have done the Bike tour last year, and really enjoyed that.

 

 

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That's Lucayan Beach, the same beach I posted a picture of in post #18. It doesn't look like there's much there now. :(

From what I've read, the hotels should start reopening in December.

Just back from Freeport. There is still alot of hurricane damage. It was pretty sad and depressing. But the people there really need the tourist business.

I came back on the ship feeling sad.

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Just back and I did the carnival excursion kayaking through the man groves. I have done it before. It's such a great excursion we did it again! Where you're going in the national park the hurricane damage will not affect you. Gold rock Beach is just as gorgeous as ever. As another poster said, they need our tourist dollars. I enjoy Freeport much more than Nassau.

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We did kayaking at Nassau and it was amazing. I didn't see the Freeport kayaking adventure until after we had booked an excursion to the beer distillery.

I actually preferred Freeport over Nassau. I'm sorry i didn't kayak in Freeport. I'm sure it was beautiful.

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