Freeport options

What would you do in Freeport if you were traveling with 4 kids ages 6-15 and only had 5 hours?

Does anyone have the name of a wonderful tour guide or snorkeling excursion that they would recommend?

I'm doing the Deadmans Reef..I heard they have really good snorkeling. Heres the website : http://www.deadmansreef.com/

We just got back yesterday and loved freeport.

Two awesom resorts is the Radisson and right next door Our Lucaya Reef Village.

Water sports right on the beach.

Day passes for $15.00 p/person to use pools,beach, chairs towels. WAtersports/ extra. Had the wave runners also.

Thanks for the ideas.

We just got back yesterday and loved freeport.

Two awesom resorts is the Radisson and right next door Our Lucaya Reef Village.

Water sports right on the beach.

Day passes for $15.00 p/person to use pools,beach, chairs towels. WAtersports/ extra. Had the wave runners also.

How did you get there? Taxi or is there a Jitney or something? Thanks

Sand Dollar Catamaran seems to get really good reviews from most people on here. We went with them in Aug and had a great time. Sailing, snorkeling, swimming, wading, beach-combing, sunning, shopping and believe it or not relaxing!!!!! it was just what we needed on our last port day. He has a big beautiful boat and his service in top notch. We had a big group (about 20) age 6-68 and we all felt we got way more than we paid for. I have read on here where most of the time his tours are smaller and not crowded and he has even gone out with as few as 2 people. We grabbed a shuttle bus to get there and back ($5 each way). Some of us went back to the ship after the tour and some stayed and prowled the Marketplace but we all were pleasantly surprised by Freeport and the Sand Dollar. Good Luck!!! Here is the web address for the catamaran www.sanddollarcruise.com

Sand Dollar Catamaran seems to get really good reviews from most people on here. We went with them in Aug and had a great time. Sailing, snorkeling, swimming, wading, beach-combing, sunning, shopping and believe it or not relaxing!!!!! it was just what we needed on our last port day. He has a big beautiful boat and his service in top notch. We had a big group (about 20) age 6-68 and we all felt we got way more than we paid for. I have read on here where most of the time his tours are smaller and not crowded and he has even gone out with as few as 2 people. We grabbed a shuttle bus to get there and back ($5 each way). Some of us went back to the ship after the tour and some stayed and prowled the Marketplace but we all were pleasantly surprised by Freeport and the Sand Dollar. Good Luck!!! Here is the web address for the catamaran www.sanddollarcruise.com

Thanks for the information. Did the younger children snorkel and if so how did they enjoy it?

We stopped in Freeport on our last cruise and we chose to do the Jeep Tour. Save yourself the money and the time and don't do it! All four of us in our party were really dissapointed and especially for the cost. As well, we weren't the only ones upset. We overheard others in the tour group complaining. As far as what to do, I have no clue since the jeep tour took up our whole day.

We stopped in Freeport on our last cruise and we chose to do the Jeep Tour. Save yourself the money and the time and don't do it! All four of us in our party were really dissapointed and especially for the cost. As well, we weren't the only ones upset. We overheard others in the tour group complaining. As far as what to do, I have no clue since the jeep tour took up our whole day.

Thanks for sharing, it is just as important to hear about the bad experiences as it is the good ones. Hopefully you enjoyed your other ports more.

What would you do in Freeport if you were traveling with 4 kids ages 6-15 and only had 5 hours?

I was wondering this myself (we have 4 kids age 6-14, lol).

I've also heard great reviews about the Sand Dollar Cruise, and I am also curious whether the youngest kids will be ok with the snorkeling. Also, anything over 10 feet deep or so makes it harder to get to the bottom to see much. Does anyone know how deep the snorkeling locations are, and are there any reefs (did you see many fish)? Looking to do some underwater photography as well.

Doug

"Thanks for sharing, it is just as important to hear about the bad experiences as it is the good ones. Hopefully you enjoyed your other ports more."

No problem... I always search on here and other internet sites before vacations to get advice and hear reviews so I like to offer advice in return. We also stopped at Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay and absolutely loved both ports. We had a wonderful time in Grand Turk and HMC was the ideal beach day. We plan on returning to Freeport on our next cruise just to see what they have to offer since we didn't get a chance to see much of interest or do anything really. We don't blame our day on the port, but on our choice of excursion. :)

"Thanks for sharing, it is just as important to hear about the bad experiences as it is the good ones. Hopefully you enjoyed your other ports more."

No problem... I always search on here and other internet sites before vacations to get advice and hear reviews so I like to offer advice in return. We also stopped at Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay and absolutely loved both ports. We had a wonderful time in Grand Turk and HMC was the ideal beach day. We plan on returning to Freeport on our next cruise just to see what they have to offer since we didn't get a chance to see much of interest or do anything really. We don't blame our day on the port, but on our choice of excursion. :)

Thanks for the information. Did the younger children snorkel and if so how did they enjoy it?

Sorry it took so long to reply, I don't get on very often.

The Kids loved the snorkeling. They put a long rope with a float attached off the back of the boat and some of the kids felt more secure just staying close to the rope (some adults also) others however (my 10yo) kept swimming straight away from the boat and one of the crew had to swim out and turn him around, TWICE! (Thanks Tino!!!) We stopped at two places (the reef and the beach with Sand Dollars) and the kids (some adults also)seemed to have as much fun jumping off the boat and acting goofy as they did snorkeling. I was very appreciative and had more fun myself because of the watchful eye of the crew. Even the people who never got in the water had a great time watching the shenanigans.

We did deadman's reef. It was great. It was not crowded, they will pick you up if you arrange in advance, the beach is lovely and there is lots for the kids to do, even if they never get in the water.

It is family owned and operated and they are super nice and very knowledgable - and vigilant. The owner was in the water with all the guests for a while making sure that everyone was getting used to the equipment and doing alright.

My 4 year old was free. I think 4 and under are free - including equipment.

You can pay for the "beach only" or for a snorkeling package and they provide equipment. They had all sizes of equipment, even for my small 4 year old. For $5 more, you can get lunch packaged in as well.

Everything you see out to the outcroppings is 2 to 4 feet deep. The main

reef is on the other side of the outcroppings. The day we were there, the wind was coming right onshore so there was no way anyone was going beyond those rocks out there.

It was a great beach day. My only complaint would be that they are not morning people. 9AM was the earliest we were able to get them to pick us up. If you are coming in on the Pride at 7AM and you want to spend every minute at the beach, you might need to find someone else with a beach who opens up earlier.

hb5

What would you do in Freeport if you were traveling with 4 kids ages 6-15 and only had 5 hours?

We just got back and we had 4 kids - 2 were 9 and 2 were 11. We did a snorkeling tour through Fantasia tours. They are located at the Lucaya marketplace but if you make arrangements in advance they will pick you up at the pier and take you back which was nice. They gave us a little time to shop then we went out. The boat was fun for the kids! The snorkeling was great - fairly shallow water with lots to see. They had fish food too so the fish would come closer. After 45 minutes of snorkeling they opened up the slide on the boat and people were going down - looked like tons of fun! Our kids tried it and loved it :) they had music playing, food and drinks for sale, etc. They also had a rock wall on the boat and on the way back in the kids were on the rock wall ... it was fun!

What would you do in Freeport if you were traveling with 4 kids ages 6-15 and only had 5 hours?

 

We just got back and we had 4 kids - 2 were 9 and 2 were 11. We did a snorkeling tour through Fantasia tours. They are located at the Lucaya marketplace but if you make arrangements in advance they will pick you up at the pier and take you back which was nice. They gave us a little time to shop then we went out. The boat was fun for the kids! The snorkeling was great - fairly shallow water with lots to see. They had fish food too so the fish would come closer. After 45 minutes of snorkeling they opened up the slide on the boat and people were going down - looked like tons of fun! Our kids tried it and loved it :) they had music playing, food and drinks for sale, etc. They also had a rock wall on the boat and on the way back in the kids were on the rock wall ... it was fun!

do they have a wb site or email you can provide? Sand dollar sounds good so far and price is right. Gotta love the Bahama Mamas:D

What would you do in Freeport if you were traveling with 4 kids ages 6-15 and only had 5 hours?

 

We just got back and we had 4 kids - 2 were 9 and 2 were 11. We did a snorkeling tour through Fantasia tours. They are located at the Lucaya marketplace but if you make arrangements in advance they will pick you up at the pier and take you back which was nice. They gave us a little time to shop then we went out. The boat was fun for the kids! The snorkeling was great - fairly shallow water with lots to see. They had fish food too so the fish would come closer. After 45 minutes of snorkeling they opened up the slide on the boat and people were going down - looked like tons of fun! Our kids tried it and loved it :) they had music playing, food and drinks for sale, etc. They also had a rock wall on the boat and on the way back in the kids were on the rock wall ... it was fun!

Was the water cold? We are going this weekend.

Was the water cold? We are going this weekend.

A little chilly ... they said the water was 73. We were there when the air temperature was way below normal too. I think it is supposed to be much nicer now than when we were there this past week ...

Thanks for the info!!

So glad to hear all the positives on this thread about Freeport. We are booked on the Conquest Eastern Carribean itinerary in July and had begun to regret the decision based on all the negatives about the Bahamas in general. The information from this thread has been very helpful, and now I am very excited about what we can do during our stop in Freeport! Thank you!!:)

Here's the website for the one we did this past week : if you have any ?'s feel free to ask!

http://www.snorkelfreeport.com/Snorkeling1.html

Our port time on the Pride is from 7AM-2PM in Freeport. Is this snorkle trip on the Sea Safari doable? :confused:

Our port time on the Pride is from 7AM-2PM in Freeport. Is this snorkle trip on the Sea Safari doable?

That's what ours was ... we met Jerry at the pier at 9am and the snorkeling boat left at 10:30am. It was about a 20 minute drive from the Pride to where the snorkeling boat was. We were waiting for a few more people - if people would actually be on time and out there by 9am things would be even better! We were shopping for probably 25 minutes before getting on the boat and a few minutes after. We left Our Lucaya at 1pm and got back to the boat just before 1:30pm. The bus will leave to head back when everyone is on ... there was shopping at the pier but we didn't have any time. We got off the bus and in the line to get back on the ship ...

As a first time cruiser with 2 boys, this seems pretty tight with time. I would hate to miss the ship!:eek: Did you feel anxious about getting back so close to departure time?