Carnival Cruise to Bahamas / Turks and Caicos (June 2024) – Days 6 and 7

Unlike our previous ports, there was no beach to greet us this time.

Freeport, Bahamas

Woken up fairly early, I stepped out onto the balcony, the rising sun behind dockside cargo cranes as we arrived at Freeport on Grand Bahama Island. After being spoiled by the vista of beautiful beaches, I was a bit disappointed by the sight of cranes, container ships, warehouses, and other industrial facilities greeting us for our last port of call. Instead of stepping into the beautiful island life, we were being dropped off at the Grand Bahama’s back door. The industrial feel to this port of call was a prelude of returning to our regular lives in just another day or two.

With strict instructions to be back on the boat by 1:00 PM, we ate breakfast and wandered down into what was more or less a giant tourist trap shopping center. A cash grab to get a little more out of the cruise passengers before setting sail for home. When I originally read about this stop, I imagined being able to wander around the city a bit, but we were restricted to the shopping area, smack dab in the middle of the docks. There were some excursions that took passengers out of the shopping area, but the reviews weren’t encouraging, and with travel fatigue catching up with us, we opted to walk around and find whatever touristy things we could invest in. Unlike the shopping areas at our past stops, this market claimed a much bigger number of shops and a wider range of things to buy – everything from touristy jewelry, t-shirts, and magnets to nicer clothing and bongs.

In addition to my usual shot glasses and magnets, we bought some necklaces and rings, t-shirts, and some locally made Bassett’s Single Barrel Rum from the Bahamas Distilling Company (good for mixing, but don’t recommend drinking straight). Farrah spotted a ukelele at one shop and another engraved her name on it via Dremel tool for a few dollars more. Once we boarded, the ship took the alcohol and held it for us, naturally making sure that any alcohol we drank was from their bars and restaurants.

Since we got back on board fairly early, we were wandering around near the exhaust tower when the horn sounded, heralding any and every passenger still on shore to get back on the boat. The deafening horn sent Farrah racing downstairs and away from it, not liking the blast (not that we were happy about it either). Believe me when I tell you that being right next to that horn when it goes off is both a rush and something you won’t soon forget.

Last Day at Sea

The nice part about sailing home was we backtracked most of the way from the first three days at sea via our ports of call, so we had just one last day to kill before arriving home. With Farrah more-or-less over her Strep, we spent a lazy day wandering around the ship and hanging out at the pool, even enjoying a couple of adult beverages while Farrah planted herself in the hot tub with some of the other kids. At dinner, I watched the crowd and you could see long faces and tired bodies – travel fatigue successfully spread fast and every sunburnt traveler looked about ready to dip back into their regular daily routines.