Message: Am traveling to Fort Lauderdale in July with 3 children ages 14, 13 and 10. I Found out about a round trip one day cruise to the Bahamas by Discovery cruises. Anybody ever hear about these. They cost $149 per adult for a round trip. Leaves at 8:00 am and returns at 10:00pm. with a 3 hour stop at Freeport. We thought it might be fun to spend a few hours in the Bahamas, or maybe even spend the night.


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My husband and I did this about 7 years ago, pre-kids. We enjoyed it for the most part. Pros and cons:

Pros
1) You get to see the Bahamas (at least a little bit)
2) It's an adventure, a change from Ft. Lauderdale

Cons
1) It's a lot to pack into a day
2) It's pretty no-frills, unless you splurge for the extras, like a private room (we didn't)
3) Most people on board were seasick on the way back, as they'd spent the entire day drinking. Not pleasant.

My recommendation would be to try it. Splurge on a private room, if you can, especially with kids along. Without a room we had to change from our swim suits to our dinner clothes in the public locker room, along with everyone else.

If you do go, have fun!

Sue- Please let me know a little info on this, I would be interested in doing this as well, but never heard of it. I am going for my honeymoon. thank you!!!

I wouldn't do it if I were you, unless you're just looking for transportation to the Bahama's and plan to spend a day or two a one of the hotels there. Freeport is pretty neat, but 3 hours is really not enough time to do anything, but shop, which your kids probably won't enjoy. If you spend the night there, you can snorkle or do something else fun for everyone. I don't know how much time you have in Ft. Lauderdale, but if you're dying to get on a cruise ship, I'd suggest a short 3 or 4 day cruise out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. Royal Caribbean and Carnival should have some relatively good prices and will include food, lodging, etc. I agree with the other posting about the Discovery cruise. Waste of time and money and you're stuck in the public area of the ship if you don't book a room.

Did that about 6 years ago and was not really impressed. I could not wait to get back to Ft Lauderdale. Bahamas really did not impress me. We stayed overnight and all I remember about it was the clerk at the counter repaeating over and over. Room price do not include taxes, 12 dollars per person. per room....Stay in FLL!

I did the 1-day cruise just to see if I can survive a cruise because I get seasick. I did survive with the help of medication.
As I recall, we had to get a taxi to Freeport from the dock. There were only casinos and shops and a market. The other choice is to take another taxi to go to a beach.
Since I survived this, we next did a 4-day (3-days depending on the day of the week) cruise another year that stopped at different islands in the Bahamas. I did not find this any more enjoyable than the 1-day cruise; just my personal opinion. I found other more interesting islands in the Caribbean.

We did ths about 3 years ago-it was okay , nothing great. kids might think it is fun to be on a ship. Pool is very small-food good. Motion sickness was a problem so take precautions. Freeport is a dump. Do not take the Xanadu Beach tour. They made it sound great with a rum punch party and entertainment on the beach, when in reality their was nothing there except vendors bugging you to buy things.We couldn't wait for them to pick us back up again and bring us back to the ship. If I were you, I would spend the night somewhere nice away from Freeport. Its alot to do in 1 day.

I haven't done the cruise, but I really had a great time in Freeport. They have a dolphin encounter that kids would love. We stayed at the Lucayan and it was a great hotel. Beautiful pool with a water slide and wonderful beach location. They have music in the Marketplace every night that's free. It would probably be a fun trip if you stayed overnight.

Since you are going to Ft. L. you will be close to Busch Gardens and Miami. What is more fun to do is to travel to the Upper Keys, specifically Key Largo (about 80 miles from Ft. L.), and go to John Pennekamp Park and take a glass bottom boat to see the reef or actually snorkel on the chartered boats offered. The bird life and mangrove trees are such a pretty site when you travel out of Largo Sound into the beautiful turquoise water of the Atlantic.