Honeymoon Cruise Booked!! Now need some input.

chapel2012

We finally booked our honeymoon cruise to the Bahamas! We decided on the Bahamas because the cruise is only 4 nights and if FI totally hates it he will only have to endure 4 nights and not 7 (I had originally wanted a Western Caribbean cruise)

The first thing we decided was that we preferred not to be robbed highway style by the airlines and we are going to drive down to the port. Easy enough since my parents live at the halfway point so we can stay with them the first night of our drive. Second night of our drive will be straight to Port Canaveral.

The second thing we decided was that all those shore excursions looked way too overpriced and pretty cheesy (no... no I don't want to pay $200 to have a dolphin touch my nose). So we are going to plan our own excursions which will consist of sitting on a beach after taking a taxi or bus to said beach and then maybe doing a little shopping.

So I am hoping that some folks who have already been to Port Canaveral, Freeport and Nassau can give me some input.

First, we will be getting to Port Canaveral the day before our ship leaves. We are not the worlds worst cheapskates but we also don't want to spend the $100 or so dollars to stay in a hotel at Port Canaveral just to have a bed to sleep in. Any suggestions as to what cities around there would offer better rates for hotels? Our ship leaves at 4 p.m. so if we need to drive a bit to get to the port it's perfectly OK.

Second, in Freeport we think the best option will be Lucayan Beach. It seems to have everything we want to do all right around it. So any tips on the best way to get there from the port, anything to watch out for? We basically want to sit on the beach and sun, eat a little lunch, and do a little shopping.

Third, in Nassau we found this great resort within walking distance to the port. It's the British Colonial Hilton. For around $40 you can get a day pass that includes lunch, beach chairs, access to the pool, snorkeling equipment and other non motorized things. It almost seems too good to be true. Anyone been there? What was it like? Any tips about this place?

Thanks in advance for any tips that comes this way.

chrisM24

I have been to Nassau on a cruise before. It wasn't what I expected at first. Right off the boat you are dealing with people trying to sell you things in brown paper bags. Just keep walking past them. We did the glass bottom boat tour which was awesome! I enjoyed driving up along Paradise Island, looking at all the beautiful homes and taking in the views above and under the water. We also took a bus (it was a little scary driving on their roads which are really only big enough for one car) that took us around Nassau and talked about the history of it all. We ended up at this really cool old church that had an awesome little market outside of it! I wish that I had known about the $40 Hilton thing! I would have totally opted for that! I love lounging on the beach/pool! I hope this was helpful and enjoy your trip!!! 

strlzfan11

I haven't been to any of those ports before, but there are hotels in Port Canaveral that offer free parking for cruise travelers, which could save you the fees of parking at the port.  Check out cruisecritic.com to see if there are any alternative excursions that are cheaper than the ones offered by the cruise line.

Summer2011Bride

I have not been on a cruise and don't have specific advice about those locations, but did just want to offer a word of caution. It is perfectly fine to do things on your own at the destinations; however, make absolute sure you are back at the boat on time. I know that sounds silly, but I have heard horror stories before.

If you do an excursion through the ship, though they are overpriced, they will wait for you if your transportation/excursion is running late. If you decide to grab a cab and do stuff on your own, they will not wait for you. So make sure wherever the cab drops you, you will be able to easily grab one back and allow a lot of time to do so.

swanrat

I've been on a few cruises that port on Freeport. In my experience, there are always a bunch of taxis waiting to take people to the beach in Lucaya. You can arrange for the driver to meet you in a few hours to bring you back to the ship.

chapel2012

Thanks for all the great tips so far.

I never thought about the hotel offering free parking for cruisers. That would be worth it to stay at one of those hotels then since parking at the port itself is going to cost us ~$75.

Being back to the boat on time is probably the thing I am worried about the most. Not too worried about it in Nassau since that resort is within walking distance, but Freeport has me a bit nervous.

ailinjohn

Freeport is nicer than Nassau in my opinion. When you disembark there is not much to do in the area so we rented a car for the day thru hertz or enterprise (I cant remember which one) and they meet us at the ship, it only cost like 50 bucks and we had total freedom for the day. Nassau is a bit more user friendly as right off the ship there is all sorts of excursions you could do, most are not affiliated with cruise liners themselves... and can be reasonable in price... if you want to relax try the Hilton, I personaly have been to Nassau twice and I got so wrapped up in the snorkeling and shoppping, there is a great straw market aka open market, to your right of the peir that I just get sucked in to!!!!