What to do in Nassau and Freeport

[Dee88]

I'd like to know what other cruisers have done in these ports.

I am going to book the Dolphin Encounter but what can I do the rest of the time there?

We are only in Freeport a short time...is there anything that you have done there without going through the ships shore excursions?

Thanks for any feedback you can offer :D

[Jacqui Z]

We did the Dolphin Encounter in Nassau, at 12:45. You really need to rush afterwards if you want to get any shopping done,since the stores close at around 5 or 5:30

 

We didn't book an excursion for Freeport, because we didn't want to feel the pressure of rushing, so we just went shopping there, which was great. It was nice to not be on a schedule.

 

Have a great cruise!

[Dee88]

Thanks for the reply...

I already have an Email to Dolphin Swim because I wanted to know if you can stay in BLue Lagoon after your Dolphin Encounter or do you have to get on the boat right away and go back. Maybe you can answer that for me?

One other question :D Did you book this yourself and did you pick the time or they gave it to you? (OK, that was two :o )

[halos]

I can help you with Freeport....

We did the snorkel tour and it was REALLY great. So if you like to snorkel, give that one a try. We booked through Carnival and we WERE the last people back on the ship. It was kind of cool knowing that they had to wait for us...although it was a mere 5 minutes... :D

[Jacqui Z]

Dee- they give you a few options for times (at least through the ship). I think you can stay, as we saw more boats coming back as we were boarding the ship hours later. I think it would depend on space.

 

If you're booking it on your own, make sure to do the actual swim. The one offered from carnival is just an encounter...still amazing, but we were a little jealous seeing the people across get to do the toe push!

 

I wish I could go back and do it all over again....seeing Atlantis coming into view, the water...hey, can I come with you???

 

~J

[Dee88]

Hey Halos...thanks for the snorkling info. I have never done that so it's something to look into. I guess booking via Carnival would be the way to go then since you were late!! That would have made me very nervous! :eek:

 

JacauiZ...I wish I could do the swim but they are booked. They get full 3-6 months out. I originally wanted that but I waited too long :( I'm happy to do the encounter and it's cheaper!! More money to drink and gamble with for me!!!:D

[CabinForFour]

Thanks for the reply...

I already have an Email to Dolphin Swim because I wanted to know if you can stay in BLue Lagoon after your Dolphin Encounter or do you have to get on the boat right away and go back. Maybe you can answer that for me?

One other question :D Did you book this yourself and did you pick the time or they gave it to you? (OK, that was two :o )

 

In October, we visited Nassau and Freeport aboard the Carnival Victory from Charleston. We were in port in Nassau from 7:00 AM until 2:00 AM the following day. We booked the Dolphin Encounter on our own for 2:00 PM (ship usually only offers the earliest time) and then booked the Blue Lagoon Island excursion through the ship for that morning. From the information I got when researching our options, you cannot stay on the island after the Dolphin Encounter. I imagine you could sneak around the walkway from the Encounter to the main part of the island (it's a longer walk than it seems), but I'd be afraid to try it in case you ran into transportation issues getting back to the ship. The BLI excursion through the ship is only $25-30 for the entire day, so it's very reasonable. Don't bother trying to book BLI on your own. You'll actually pay more money for it on your own because you'll have to pay for transportation to the Paradise Island Ferry Terminal to leave, while the ship's excursion leaves directly from the pier. If you buy the BLI tour AND the later Dolphin Encounter, you have two transportation options back to the ship, since each tour includes roundtrip transportation. The BLI ferries leave at 2:00 and 3:00 (I think), while the Dolphin ferries offer more return options. We actually had to ride the Dolphin ferry back when we went because the last BLI ferry left while we were still waiting for our videos in the Dolphin Encounters gift shop.

 

The entire day was great. We loved BLI, and the Dolphin Encounter was such fun. In Freeport, we booked a horseback ride through Pinetree Stables online. It was incredible. I highly recommend it as well. There are a ton of pictures of all three excursions at the link below, "Two Little Sailors," if you're interested. Have a great cruise!

[Dee88]

HI Cabinforfour

 

I checked out the pictures and they are amazing!!! Thanks for sharing.

I think the BLI excursion is a good idea since I really don't want to do anything else on the island except the Dolphin Encounter and just chill out in the beautiful blue water and maybe swing from a hammock. :D And doing that in the AM and the Dolphin in the PM makes alot of sense.

 

The horseback riding looks pretty neat. I'll bring that up to the family tonight and see what they say about that too. I'm giving them too many choices now...could be an interesting conversation.

[hill6]

We just got back today from the Fantasy and did tours in both Nassau and Freeport. We did the Pirates of the Bahamas tour is Freeport. It was ok for $39 and it included lunch. The beach was kind of small but there were no pushy sales people right on the beach as we have encountered before. Lunch was chicken and salad and rice. Very good.

 

We did the Pearl Island Treasure Hunt in Nassau and that was a blast. It was $99 a person but a very good tour. We met on the pier along with the other Pearl Island Tours (they separate you by wrist bands) and took a gorgeous boat ride to Pearl Island where we got our free rum punch (unlimited) and did our snorkeling and brought home a gorgeous conch shell - only two in our group found oysters but lots got conch shells. This tour also included a full lunch (burgers, chickens, hot dogs, salad, noodle salad) and unlimited soda and rum punch.