cruises leaving from freeport? how to travel Western Caribbean?

[InternetSuperman]

4 of us are off to the Caribbean for the first time in July. I jumped on a cheap airfare to Freeport before doing any research (just b/c it was such a good deal!). We're going to be there for 7 days. I'm planning on staying at the Westin at Our Lucaya for a few days, but I've had more than one person say that we wouldn't want to stay on the island for the full 7 days.

So, here are my questions:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>Are there any crusies that will allow you to board in Freeport? If so, how difficult would it be to get back to Freeport (to catch our flight)?

If there are no major cruise lines that we could board for a few days, is it easy and affordable to find transportation to the nearby islands? Any suggestions?

And lastly, is there is anything fun to do in Freeport? How about any of the outer islands of the Bahamas?
[/list]
Thanks for your help. Now, I guess I should start praying that no hurricanes will come through in July...

Bradley

[golflady]

I stayed at "Our Lucaya" in September of 2002. It was a nice resort. However, there is not a lot to do in Freeport. At that time the casino was not finished at "Our Lucaya". We went to the casino at the "Crowne Plaza" (I think that is where it was; it was the only casino on the island at the time). You can travel to some of the out islands but it is rather expensive. There were some cruise ships in port when we were there. Perhaps there is more to do now than when I was there.

I have never been on a cruise that I didn't have a great time.

[imsulin]

You can only board a cruise ship at the original embarkation point, and not part-way through a cruise (unless you miss the ship at a port of call and have to travel to the next one to re-board). golflady is right. Freeport is way north of Nassau, and is on Grand Bahama Island. There's not much to do in town. I haven't stayed at Our Lucaya, but it's fine if you are into doing the beach, pool, and casino...and, of course, the all-inclusive package if you're getting it. It is expensive to get to many of the islands, as only a few have airports, and the price is pretty high. Years ago, we had stayed in Nassau for a few days, and then flew down to Eleuthera. That about broke the bank!

[InternetSuperman]

Thanks golflady and imsulin for replying. Any estimates on how much to travel (either by prop plane or boat) to other nearby islands?

Is there anything fun to do in Freeport?

[imsulin]

Well, Freeport is a bit "boring", even though it's the capitol. The casino, beach, and pool are about it, as well as some low-key souvenir shopping. It's one reason that a lot of cruise ships don't go there. Carnival does, on their 4-night cruises, and RCI has been sending some of their ships there because their private island in Haiti (Labadee) was too close to the political unrest that's been going on. You know, I really can't help you about prices to get to other islands (some are uninhabited). Try pulling up a map of the Bahamas, and then do a Google search. Eleuthera is the only other Bahamian island I've been to (besides Nassau), and at the time, it was pretty pricy, because the Club Med was the only resort there. Turk$ & Caico$ isn't Bahamian - it's independent, and w-a-y down there! Let us know what you find out, because I'm really interested. I'd say that Our Lucaya is the best thing going in Freeport! The beach looks really nice. There's also another resort there that is way inland, and has a man-made beach. (Grand something?) (BTW - the Lucayans were the native people there before all that European colonization stuff)

Atlanta, huh? I fly in and out of there all the time, because I only live 1 1/2 hours away. War Eagle.