distance from port to Port Lucaya

[royandjenn]

We will be on the Norwegina Sky in February, and I was planning on booking the dolphin encounter tour, but it says it starts in port lucaya... does anyone know how far this is from the cruise ship terminal? Thanks!

[NCTribeFan]

It's about a 10-15 minute drive.

 

There will be lines of taxis (vans) at the pier. Just go get in line, and the dispatcher will group people together to fill up the vans.

 

I think it was $5 pp each way. If you're lucky, you'll get a nice, new van with great AC like we got in May. If you're unlucky, you'll get an old one without AC like we got on the way back to the ship in May. :p

[royandjenn]

Thanks for the reply! Greatly appreciated... Cross our fingers for a van with A/C!

 

Thanks...

[Roce48]

We also are going on the NCL Sky in February. DSo you thgink iut will be warm enough to get in the water without a wet suit?

Mark

[djwen]

We just returned from cruise on Carnival Sensation. Freeport cabs are $5 a person one way to Port Lucuya.

[bobsfamily]

Thanks for the reply! Greatly appreciated... Cross our fingers for a van with A/C!

 

Thanks...

 

I would not worry to much about a/c during Feb. You might want to think about a wetsuit.

[royandjenn]

We are up north in canada, and go swimming, water skiiing in the lakes here.. so we are used to coldish water. Eventually u get used to it!!! ha ha. It is true though! We don't get much of a summer, and the lakes don't get time to warm up enough...

[tiggere]

Our cab (van) didn't have AC but the windows slide so all rows get a good breeze. It was very pleasant. I held my child on my lap by a window on the way back (they didn't charge me for him that way!) and the breeze was so perfect he fell right asleep. It was a nice ride...

[bobsfamily]

Our cab (van) didn't have AC but the windows slide so all rows get a good breeze. It was very pleasant. I held my child on my lap by a window on the way back (they didn't charge me for him that way!) and the breeze was so perfect he fell right asleep. It was a nice ride...

 

I glad you have a great time...

What did you do at Our Lucaya?

We usually stay their and this will be our first time as a "cruiser"

Bob

[bobsfamily]

We are up north in canada, and go swimming, water skiiing in the lakes here.. so we are used to coldish water. Eventually u get used to it!!! ha ha. It is true though! We don't get much of a summer, and the lakes don't get time to warm up enough...

 

Whew!

We live on a barrier island outside Charleston, SC and go over one island on Jan. 1 to do a "polar swim" with about 3000 other crazies.... but the water temp is around 55F. Not much for you!

[tiggere]

I glad you have a great time...

What did you do at Our Lucaya?

We usually stay their and this will be our first time as a "cruiser"

Bob

 

We just walked around through the marketplace, hit the beach (3 different areas of beach actually) ended up down by the Westin - walked in and throughout the Westin, saw the lighthouse, took a lot of pictures, walked through the Marketplace again to buy some cheap tshirts 3/$10 then were back on the cruiseship in time for a late lunch (& nap!) :)

[gottago2mexico]

No worries on the A/C - expect temps to be around 75...warm and pleasant, but not hot hot. Opening the window will be fine.

[golf_hawaii]

We just walked around through the marketplace, hit the beach (3 different areas of beach actually) ended up down by the Westin - walked in and throughout the Westin, saw the lighthouse, took a lot of pictures, walked through the Marketplace again to buy some cheap tshirts 3/$10 then were back on the cruiseship in time for a late lunch (& nap!) :)

 

One internet site said the cruise ship terminal is in Freeport, another said it was attached to the Port Lucaya Marketplace. I stayed at the Westin and spent a great deal of time at the Marketplace/Count Basie Square, but do not remember seeing any cruiseships in the area....Can anyone confirm the "real" location? Also, the GBI taxi rate site indicated a $25 cab ride to the Sheraton/Westin complex, but all over this board, I am hearing $5 USD....:confused:

[cruzeluver]

The cruise ship terminal is most certainly in Freeport. Was there two months ago.

[tiggere]

The cab was indeed $5 per person in a shared cab (van) that they fill up with about 10 people before leaving. There were lots of shared cabs lined up waiting at the Freeport cruise port and at the Marketplace to take you back to the ship. Perhaps for $25 you could get a private cab but I didn't see any like that when I was there.

[gottago2mexico]

One internet site said the cruise ship terminal is in Freeport, another said it was attached to the Port Lucaya Marketplace. I stayed at the Westin and spent a great deal of time at the Marketplace/Count Basie Square, but do not remember seeing any cruiseships in the area....Can anyone confirm the "real" location? Also, the GBI taxi rate site indicated a $25 cab ride to the Sheraton/Westin complex, but all over this board, I am hearing $5 USD....:confused:

 

The cruise pier is at Lucayan Harbour, about 20 minutes drive from Port Lucaya Marketplace, so you wouldn't see any cruise ships from the Westin unless they were coming or going and you saw them on the horizon. Both Port Lucaya and Lucayan Harbour are in Freeport, just opposite ends of town.

 

There are charter buses that cater to the cruise ships and take people for $5.00 per person - shared, you wait for the bus to fill up. These are only available between the cruise pier and the marketplace. Private taxis are readily available not only at the pier but at the Marketplace - $27.00 for 2 people, $3.00 extra each additional person to go between the two.

 

Hope this helps clarify things a bit for you...

[bobsfamily]

Both Port Lucaya and Lucayan Harbour are in Freeport, just opposite ends of town.

 

Neither are in Freeport... BOTH are on Grand Bahama Island. Freeport is a made up town that is not near the beach or the pier/port. It used to have a thriving hotel/pool/golf/casino/straw market area and many went to "Freeport" and never saw the ocean... or took a cab over for an hour or so.

 

"In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests on the island, was granted 50,000 acres (200 km²) of swamp and scrubland by the Bahamian government with mandate to economically develop the area. The city of Freeport was built, which has grown to be the second most populous city in The Bahamas (26,910 in 2000) after the capital, Nassau.

 

The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) operates the free trade zone, under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement signed in August 1955 whereby the Bahamian Government agreed that businesses in the Freeport area will pay no taxes before 2054. The area of the land grants has been increased to 138,000 acres (558 km²)"

[gottago2mexico]

Neither are in Freeport... BOTH are on Grand Bahama Island. Freeport is a made up town that is not near the beach or the pier/port. It used to have a thriving hotel/pool/golf/casino/straw market area and many went to "Freeport" and never saw the ocean... or took a cab over for an hour or so.

 

"In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests on the island, was granted 50,000 acres (200 km²) of swamp and scrubland by the Bahamian government with mandate to economically develop the area. The city of Freeport was built, which has grown to be the second most populous city in The Bahamas (26,910 in 2000) after the capital, Nassau.

 

The Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) operates the free trade zone, under the Hawksbill Creek Agreement signed in August 1955 whereby the Bahamian Government agreed that businesses in the Freeport area will pay no taxes before 2054. The area of the land grants has been increased to 138,000 acres (558 km²)"

 

Hi Bobsfamily,

 

What you're thinking of as Freeport is the downtown area, but Freeport encompasses the entire midsection of Grand Bahama Island. The city of Freeport runs (essentially) from Eight Mile Rock all the way East to Free Town. It's bordered on the North (mostly) by Grand Bahama Highway and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. Lucaya is an area of Freeport, a suburb basically.

 

Here's a map showing the Freeport city boundaries:

 

http://www.gbdevco.com/land_mapzoom.php

[bobsfamily]

Hi Bobsfamily,

 

What you're thinking of as Freeport is the downtown area, but Freeport encompasses the entire midsection of Grand Bahama Island. The city of Freeport runs (essentially) from Eight Mile Rock all the way East to Free Town. It's bordered on the North (mostly) by Grand Bahama Highway and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. Lucaya is an area of Freeport, a suburb basically.

 

Here's a map showing the Freeport city boundaries:

 

http://www.gbdevco.com/land_mapzoom.php

 

I'm not wrong - you are. I have been on Planning commissions and know what land use plans are... The island I live on has a land use plan for the entire island. That is what you are looking at except it is for the a portion that states Freeport and Lucayan. The "downtown" area is "Freeport"... the rest is either privately owned and can be bought outright or is part of the Hawksbill area and can only be "rented" or leased for a certain amount of time. Freeport does NOT encompass that entire area described on that map except in general way such as "Charleston" encompasses many town/cities/islands surrounding it. BUT the island I live on is NOT part of Charleston and is its own "city". Lucaya is not a suburb but it's own area or Town. "Freeport" is an area that is only leased and will eventually revert back to the government.

[gottago2mexico]

This discussion isn't beneficial to the OP's question, so I digress. If you think that I don't know, that's ok with me.

 

Just nice that you enjoy your time in Freeport and Lucaya when you're here.

 

When you're in town again, drop me a line and we'll hash it out over a Sands or three. :D

[bobsfamily]

This discussion isn't beneficial to the OP's question, so I digress. If you think that I don't know, that's ok with me.

 

Just nice that you enjoy your time in Freeport and Lucaya when you're here.

 

When you're in town again, drop me a line and we'll hash it out over a Sands or three. :D

 

Sounds fine... We will be there late May hopefully... I will let you know.

[golf_hawaii]

YIKES :eek: I didn't mean to start anything here!;) Anyway, thank you for the input, I have a much better idea of where I will actually be going now!

[bobsfamily]

YIKES :eek: I didn't mean to start anything here!;) Anyway, thank you for the input, I have a much better idea of where I will actually be going now!

 

Don't worry... I just hate when people think that "Freeport" is the island. After a couple of hurricanes several years ago the area commonly referred to as Freeport has had a major downturn and has never been rebuilt, even though yearly someone says they are going to. I MAY be wrong about the actual extents of "Freeport" though I think not.

[LynneL]

Although the thread got away from the OPs question (was it ever answered how far Our Lucaya is from the cruise ship terminal...I didn't notice answer...), I found it all pretty interesting. Not such a bad thing to disagree, especially when people were presenting their opinions with logical reasoning & basis for their belief. Unlike the BS I often see on these boards, which make me wonder if it is kids' day off from school & they're just messing around on-line making believe their adults.

 

I was one of those people who always thought Freeport was the whole island. As I mentioned on another thread, I didn't have a great last memory of my time in Freeport....walking & walking along a road with nothing on it before finally agreeing to take a van to a casino (no interest for me & young kids there) with a couple of shops. A real bust! Seems like there is a bit more to the place & hope to see it in Aug. If not, I have at least some interesting new facts about the place.

[gottago2mexico]

Although the thread got away from the OPs question (was it ever answered how far Our Lucaya is from the cruise ship terminal...I didn't notice answer...), I found it all pretty interesting. Not such a bad thing to disagree, especially when people were presenting their opinions with logical reasoning & basis for their belief. Unlike the BS I often see on these boards, which make me wonder if it is kids' day off from school & they're just messing around on-line making believe their adults.

 

I was one of those people who always thought Freeport was the whole island. As I mentioned on another thread, I didn't have a great last memory of my time in Freeport....walking & walking along a road with nothing on it before finally agreeing to take a van to a casino (no interest for me & young kids there) with a couple of shops. A real bust! Seems like there is a bit more to the place & hope to see it in Aug. If not, I have at least some interesting new facts about the place.

 

Port Lucaya is about 15-20 minutes drive from Lucayan Harbour.

 

As you found out the hard way, you never want to walk out of the pier area in Freeport. There's nothing there. You will want to grab a taxi or shuttle bus and have them take you where you want to go. There are lots of things to do in Freeport, they just aren't located at the pier (though Pier One restaurant is set to re-open any time). Excellent port for an excursion due to it's great snorkeling, beautiful beaches and water, and cozy feel.

 

Glad you found the correspondence interesting, there's a lot of interesting history there if you dig into it, but too complicated to get too far into on a forum thread. I don't know everything about Freeport by a long shot, and I've never seen an official survey of the city limits (the govt says they don't have one, the Port Authority says the land use map is the closest thing they have), but I have spoken to officials at the GIS Dept, GB Port Authority, GBDEVCO, and the Dept of Lands & Surveys on several occasions (I'm a Licensed Surveyor - not in GB though) and have always received the same information.

 

Here's the basics as I understand them:

 

On August 4, 1955, A grant of conditional purchase leases totalling 50,000 acres of Crown Land surrounding Hawksbill Creek and the sea bed in that area was made to Wallace Groves, and put under domain of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, who manages the land today. GBPA also purchased 1,420 acres of private land. This land was offically named "Freeport" the next day. In 1958, 88,400 more acres were added to the Port Area (Freeport). Including other private land purchases, the Port Area of Freeport now encompassed over 145,500 acres (230 square miles of the island's entire 530 square miles).

 

The boundaries of Freeport were now described as:

 

"bounded westwardly by a line drawn across the said Island on a bearing north 21 degrees 49 minutes east at a point three and a half miles westward of the West Bank of Hawksbill Creek aforesaid and eastwardly of a line drawn across the said Island north and south at a point five hundred feet eastward of the East Bank of Gold Rock Creek where it joins the sea on the south side of the said Island". Hawksbill Creek is West of the Cruise Port - Gold Rock Creek is well East of Port Lucaya Marketplace.

 

July 11, 1960, the agreement was amended to direct the Port Authority to construct a new 200 room hotel. In 1961, 102,305 acres of Port Authority land was granted to the Grand Bahama Development Company (GBDEVCO) for development. This development was called Lucaya. In 1963, the Lucayan Beach Hotel was built, and tourism began in Freeport.

 

So, Freeport is the whole Port Area, 230 square miles in area. Lucaya is the portion of Freeport that is under jurisdiction of GBDEVCO. The GBDEVCO official website states: "The City of Freeport covers 230 square miles and is located in the centre of the island of Grand Bahama." 230 square miles is really big - roughly the size of Chicago. Just not comparable on development or population of course. The cruise port is on one side, and Port Lucaya Marketplace is over halfway to the other side.

 

That's the scoop as I understand it. Could be wrong, but that's how it's been described and explained to me.