Booked Our Cruise!!!

I always liked the cruise excursions because the boat will not leave without you if there is a delay. If you go on your own and are delayed, you are out of luck! If you are in port for 8 hours and want to take a 3 hr non-cruise excursion, you are probably safe. We took a cab to Atlantis and spent the day on the beach!' There is a big marketplace in Nassau and I think a Navy type of museum. Not sure about Freeport. Have fun.

I went to the Bahamas on a cruise quite a few years ago. Probably about 15. It was a BLAST!
The boat docked and there were a lot of things to look at. I didn't do any ship excursions. I went and checked out the markets, ate some great food, and then danced until the ship was about to leave.
My cruise was 4 days and 3 nights. I slept a total of 3 hours!
SO FUN!

The best site for cruise info is www.cruisecritic.com There are TONS of boards, so you can find boards for your specific ports, your cruise line, and even your exact sailing. Often the independent tours are indeed cheaper and just as good. If you find the board for your sailing, you may even be able to find other families to split the cost with you. We did that in Rome and Naples and ended up having a fantastic time in each city.

You can do anything you like. There is much to do once you hit the ports and it doesn't have to be done through the ship. Many people have offers as you get off the ship.

You literally dock in town in Nassau - just walk off the ship and walk through the tourism offices and into town.

Here is the info I used and then what we did:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g147416-s410/Nassau:New...

See the straw market
For a great lunch - walk down Bay Street towards the Hilton and stay on Bay Street to the Arawalk Cay area. Just down that way, on the beach side, you will find tons of pastel colored shacks that are local restaurants. Amazing food, good drinks and great prices:)
Fort Charlotte (could take it or leave it - I've been to St. Augustine)
Parliament Square and
Queen's Staircase - we got to see an awesome exhibit about the Queen's Jubilee since we were there in November of last year - and it was still going on. Didn't plan on that but it did add a lot.
Consider Governor's House.

We did do a lot of walking and at the end found a bar not too far from the ship and had a few rum punches.

We went to Royal Caribbean's private island: Coco Cay for our other stop so I can't tell you about Freeport. The beaches in Lucaya are supposed to be very nice so maybe figure out if you can walk there or grab a taxi to get there rather than spend so much dough on an excursion.

Good luck! C.

I know that Nassau has a port and you can go into town and shop. I don't know about Freeport.

Many years back I went to Nassau for a week and watched the ships dock and eat dinner in the hotel restaurant. The island is only 21 miles long and about seve miles wide. Paradise Island is a boat ride away.

Enjoy your trip.

the other S.

We just got back from a cruise last month. It was AMAZING. We went to Nassau as our first stop and it was amazing. There are TONS of people just as you get off the ship that will offer you different things to do. A taxi to Atlantis is $4 per person per way. So it's not too expensive to get there and back. You can walk around and see the resort. We did that, but then didn't want to pay the astronomical fees to do anything, so we just ended up walking around the streets near the ship. It was a BLAST! We got to meet so many locals, found an open market where my daughter and I became "Bahama mama's" and just enjoyed talking to locals. A lot of people did the beach at Atlantis.

We didn't go to Freeport. Our other stops were St. Thomas, San Juan, and Grand Turk. Have fun!!!