Bahamas, not Nassau

[kayehall]

Looking at doing a short cruise from Charleston but not interested in Nassau.  Does anyone have opinions/suggestions on Half Moon Cay, Bimini, Princess Cays, Freeport?  Looking for relaxing day ie: beach, food and drink, small shops and safe area to walk around.  Thanks.

[iheartmarshall]

I haven't been to Bimini or Princess Cays yet but I have been to HMC and Freeport.  Here's my thoughts on both:

Half Moon Cay
There's nothing here but a beach so definitely plan a beach day.  It's also a tender port, so make sure you bring everything you'd need with you as you won't be able to easily hop back on the ship.  However, for a beach day, it's amazing!  There's plenty of chairs but the area near the entrance gets crowded so if you want something more relaxing, walk further down the beach for those chairs (I'd get an early tender if you can so you have your pick).  There's a few restrooms along the beach, water sports you can pay extra for, and some bars.  Since it is a Carnival-owned port, they also have a free buffet lunch that will be open at your leisure for 2-3 hours.  Carnival does offer some excursions here (horseback riding, etc.) but the beach itself is free and that's really all there is. There are no traditional port shops aside from some gift shops at the entrance.  

Freeport

You'll definitely want to take an excursion here as it's an industrial port and there's nothing at the docking location besides some souvenir stands.  However, Freeport offers a variety of excursions depending on what you want -- mangrove kayaking, beautiful beach days, garden tours, island tours, and even shopping at the Grand Lucayan Marketplace.  I'm not sure what excursions are offered on your cruise but on my upcoming one to Freeport, there's several that have a beach day and/or shopping so I think you can find what you're looking for.  And on a side note, Freeport seems to get a bad rep but we loved our time there previously and are actually having a hard time deciding what to do on our upcoming cruise there because there's several excursions we're interested in.  I guess it depends on your interests but we enjoyed it. 

[blue_water]

On 2/1/2023 at 10:50 AM, iheartmarshall said:

I haven't been to Bimini or Princess Cays yet but I have been to HMC and Freeport.  Here's my thoughts on both:

Half Moon Cay
There's nothing here but a beach so definitely plan a beach day.  It's also a tender port, so make sure you bring everything you'd need with you as you won't be able to easily hop back on the ship.  However, for a beach day, it's amazing!  There's plenty of chairs but the area near the entrance gets crowded so if you want something more relaxing, walk further down the beach for those chairs (I'd get an early tender if you can so you have your pick).  There's a few restrooms along the beach, water sports you can pay extra for, and some bars.  Since it is a Carnival-owned port, they also have a free buffet lunch that will be open at your leisure for 2-3 hours.  Carnival does offer some excursions here (horseback riding, etc.) but the beach itself is free and that's really all there is. There are no traditional port shops aside from some gift shops at the entrance.  

Freeport

You'll definitely want to take an excursion here as it's an industrial port and there's nothing at the docking location besides some souvenir stands.  However, Freeport offers a variety of excursions depending on what you want -- mangrove kayaking, beautiful beach days, garden tours, island tours, and even shopping at the Grand Lucayan Marketplace.  I'm not sure what excursions are offered on your cruise but on my upcoming one to Freeport, there's several that have a beach day and/or shopping so I think you can find what you're looking for.  And on a side note, Freeport seems to get a bad rep but we loved our time there previously and are actually having a hard time deciding what to do on our upcoming cruise there because there's several excursions we're interested in.  I guess it depends on your interests but we enjoyed it. 

Thank you for the question kayehall, and for that great feedback iheartmarshall! We haven’t cruised in 10 years or so because we built a retirement hone in the Riviera Maya, and spent most of our time there. But we just reversed course and sold there so we can enjoy more cruising and visiting other areas we love. And since we’ve only been to New Providence Island we are curious about the “private island” options. Your feedback helps, thanks again!

[Rothko1]

If and when Disney ever gets around to opening Lighthouse Point on Eleuthera, you would definitely want to consider that on the list of places to visit.

 

Lighthouse Point is spectacular.  I'm just hoping that Disney doesn't screw it up. 

[Kristelsea]

I agree with Rothko1, Lighthouse Point should not be missed.  The cool thing is, you can actually see it now, before Disney changes it forever.  If you go to Princess Cays, you can catch an excursion with "Eleuthera Tours" called "Pink Sands" - this will take you 2 miles from the point.  You can walk the rest of the way (30 mins on hard packed sand) or hire a dune buggy to get out there.  None of this is offered thru the ship, but again, there is a local tour company that can accomodate you.  Google Lighthouse Beach Eleuthera to see photos and you will realize it is a MUST SEE when going to Princess Cays.

[hannibal54]

Not much in Bimini, we were there in December, it's our least favorite.. Princess is also a tender port plus a beach day, at least it was the last time that we were there. I wouldn't go back to Freeport again. HMC is a great beach day with the best scenery of all the places you mentioned.

[blue_water]

On 2/17/2023 at 11:37 AM, Rothko1 said:

If and when Disney ever gets around to opening Lighthouse Point on Eleuthera, you would definitely want to consider that on the list of places to visit.

 

Lighthouse Point is spectacular.  I'm just hoping that Disney doesn't screw it up. 

Better yet go there while on a Princess Cays stop before LP gets spoiled like so many other islands…

[Lindancer]

Strangely, my Holland America cruise isn't offering any shore excursions in Freeport the day we are there, end of March.  I wonder what' going on.

[Lindancer]

1 minute ago, Lindancer said:

Strangely, my Holland America cruise isn't offering any shore excursions in Freeport the day we are there, end of March.  I wonder what' going on.

From their website:  There are no Shore Excursions available to be booked for this port at this time. Please check back later. For now, there is still plenty to experience on board.