If you’re sailing to the Bahamas, your ship is almost certainly heading for one of two places: Nassau Cruise Port on New Providence, or Freeport’s Lucayan Harbour Cruise Facility on Grand Bahama. Add in the private islands each cruise line runs for itself, and that’s the whole picture. A lot of Orlando to Bahamas cruises tack on a Turks and Caicos stop too, and there’s only one spot ships can dock there, the Grand Turk Cruise Center.
This guide covers where ships dock, which private islands belong to which line, and what changes when your itinerary combines the Bahamas with Turks and Caicos. Turks and Caicos keeps things simple in one respect at least, there’s only one cruise terminal in the whole territory, so you always know where you’re headed.
Bahamas Cruise Ports at a Glance
Between Nassau, Freeport and the private islands each line keeps to itself, there are more Bahamian stops than you’d think. Here’s where everyone docks, with the detail on each one further down.
| Port or Island | Location | Cruise Lines | Known For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nassau Cruise Port | New Providence | Azamara, Carnival, Celebrity, Disney, Fred Olsen, Holland America, MSC, Norwegian, Oceania, Princess, Regent Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean, Virgin Voyages | Bay Street, the Straw Market, six berths for the biggest ships afloat |
| Freeport, Grand Bahama | Grand Bahama Island | Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian regularly; Celebrity, Princess, Windstar and Crystal less often | Quieter than Nassau, a new MSC terminal is planned |
| Celebration Key | Grand Bahama, south coast | Carnival Cruise Line | Carnival’s newest private destination |
| Perfect Day at CocoCay | Berry Islands | Royal Caribbean, Celebrity | Oasis Lagoon, Thrill Waterpark |
| Half Moon Cay | Between Eleuthera and Cat Island | Holland America, Carnival | Tender only, wild bird preserve |
| Castaway Cay | Bahamas | Disney Cruise Line | Pier access, adults only beach |
| Great Stirrup Cay | Berry Islands | Norwegian Cruise Line | The original cruise line private island |
| Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve | Bahamas | MSC Cruises | Marine reserve setting, pier access |
| Princess Cays | Eleuthera | Princess Cruises | Beach day on Eleuthera |
| Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point | Eleuthera | Disney Cruise Line | Pier access |
Nassau Cruise Port, Where Most Bahamas Cruises Begin
The Nassau Cruise Port sits on New Providence, with six berths that can take the biggest ships afloat, three Oasis class giants at once if it comes to it. Paradise Island runs alongside the city and soaks up most of the Atlantic swell, so the harbour stays calm even when the sea outside is doing something else entirely.
A consortium led by Global Ports Holding rebuilt the whole place under a 25 year concession, and it shows. You get a three storey arrivals building with customs and immigration, a pharmacy, an excursion desk and more than 60 shops and restaurants, plus the Bahamas Museum of Junkanoo and a 3,000 seat amphitheatre. The port now handles over six million cruise passengers a year, more than four and a half times what Grand Turk sees, according to Wikipedia’s compilation of Caribbean cruise port data.
The terminal drops you straight onto Bay Street, with the Straw Market about a five minute walk away and Junkanoo Beach and Pirates of Nassau another five to fifteen minutes on foot. When a few megaships are in together, Bay Street turns into a proper scrum, which is why plenty of passengers skip it altogether and head for the popular beaches instead, or buy an Atlantis resort day pass on Paradise Island and dodge the crowds entirely.
Once you’re off the ship, our guide to getting around Nassau by taxi and jitney covers the options if walking isn’t your plan.
Freeport and Grand Bahama Island
Freeport’s cruise terminal, the Lucayan Harbour Cruise Facility, is the main way into Grand Bahama Island. Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian call fairly often, along with the smaller Margaritaville at Sea. Celebrity, Princess, Windstar and Crystal turn up less frequently, and which ships show up can change from one season to the next, so don’t treat any list here as gospel.
Carnival’s presence here looks set to shrink. With Celebration Key now open just down the coast, fewer Carnival ships are likely to keep calling at Freeport itself, now there’s a private destination with its own pier to send them to instead.
Further down the line, Bahamian authorities have plans for a large new MSC Cruises terminal in Freeport Harbor, built on an existing man made island with extra berths. For what’s there right now, see our Freeport, Bahamas cruise port guide.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Celebration Key
Celebration Key is Carnival Cruise Line’s first private destination, sitting on Grand Bahama’s south coast about 20 miles east of Freeport. It opened recently with a pier built for two Excel class ships at once, and the capacity to handle around two million guests a year.
The island splits into five portals: family focused Starfish Lagoon, adult only Calypso Lagoon with its own private club, the central Paradise Plaza, and the Lokono Cove retail market. If you want to spend more, there are floating and beach cabanas, villas with their own lagoon slides, a swim up bar and duty free shopping. Carnival’s already selling it across around 400 itineraries on at least 18 ships.
Grand Turk Cruise Center, the Only Cruise Port in Turks and Caicos
Every cruise call in Turks and Caicos arrives at the same spot, the Grand Turk Cruise Center, a three berth pier south of Cockburn Town. There are no cruise calls at Providenciales, South Caicos or North Caicos, whatever a pretty itinerary map might have you believe.
Carnival Cruise Line owns and runs the terminal and brings the bulk of the passengers, alongside Costa Cruises, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Holland America Line, Marella Cruises, Princess Cruises, Silversea Cruises and Virgin Voyages. The site covers more than 14 acres and can handle up to 7,000 passengers a day, with a private beach, a swimming pool, a FlowRider surf simulator and what’s billed as the Caribbean’s largest Margaritaville themed bar and restaurant.
Tourism statistics show cruise arrivals climbing from around 295,000 in the terminal’s first year to more than 939,000 since, which tells you how far this one stop has come. Cockburn Town, the territory’s capital, is roughly two miles off, a short taxi ride rather than a walk for most people.
The pier itself is step free with ramps and adapted bathrooms, though there’s no free Wi-Fi and nowhere proper to shelter indoors if the weather turns on you. If you fancy something quieter, you can combine a Grand Turk call with a tender excursion to nearby Salt Cay, a much smaller and far less developed island.
Bahamas Private Islands Compared
Several big cruise lines run their own private islands in the Bahamas, each one kept mostly for that line’s own passengers. Access, paid extras and how you get ashore vary a fair bit from one island to the next.
| Island | Cruise Line or Lines | Known For |
|---|---|---|
| Perfect Day at CocoCay | Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises | Oasis Lagoon freshwater pool, Thrill Waterpark |
| Half Moon Cay | Holland America Line, Carnival Cruise Line | Wild bird preserve, nine miles of beach |
| Castaway Cay | Disney Cruise Line | Adults only beach, onshore childcare |
| Great Stirrup Cay | Norwegian Cruise Line | The original cruise line private island |
| Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve | MSC Cruises | Marine reserve setting |
| Princess Cays | Princess Cruises | Beach day on Eleuthera |
| Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point | Disney Cruise Line | Pier access, part of Eleuthera |
Getting ashore differs by island. Perfect Day at CocoCay and Castaway Cay both have piers, so there’s no tender queue to stand in, while Great Stirrup Cay and Half Moon Cay still rely on tender boats. Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve and Lookout Cay also have pier access, and Princess Cays rounds the group out on Eleuthera.
Half Moon Cay is the one that needs a bit of planning. The tender ride takes twenty to thirty minutes each way, there’s no Wi-Fi at all, not even the extended version some ships sell you, and drink packages from Carnival or Holland America don’t follow you onto the island. So download anything you’ll want offline before you leave the ship, and budget separately for drinks if paying out of pocket doesn’t appeal. A waterproof dry bag is worth packing too, tender rides mean spray over the side more often than you’d think.
Extra cost add ons across these islands usually cover waterpark access, beach club cabanas, zip lines and balloon rides, so book ahead if you want any of them guaranteed. Shops onshore are handy but limited, so packing your own reef safe sunscreen before you leave home saves you queuing for the privilege.
Comparing Bahamas Cruise Itineraries, Nassau, Freeport, the Out Islands and Turks and Caicos
Not every Bahamas sailing looks the same once you line them up. Shorter three and four night cruises, including a lot of the Orlando to Bahamas sailings, tend to call at Nassau plus one private island and leave it there.
- Short Bahamas cruises, three to four nights: Nassau plus one private island, usually Perfect Day at CocoCay or Castaway Cay.
- Week long Caribbean and Bahamas cruises: often add Freeport, or stretch as far as Turks and Caicos alongside Nassau.
- Out island itineraries, less frequent: may call at quieter stops such as Great Exuma, Long Island or San Salvador’s, each with its own character and its own guide on this site.
Planning a Combined Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Cruise
A combined Bahamas and Turks and Caicos cruise usually runs a Nassau or Freeport call, a private island day, then a sea day or two before Grand Turk. Grand Turk is a pier port, so it mostly shrugs off the weather that cancels tender calls elsewhere, unlike Half Moon Cay or Great Stirrup Cay, which get skipped if the sea’s too rough for the tender boats.
Grand Turk is currently the only Turks and Caicos stop on any itinerary, so when a cruise line’s marketing talks up the wider territory, it means this one terminal. Beyond that, treat a combined itinerary as two separate port days rather than one trip. The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos sit a decent sailing distance apart, each with its own terminal and its own facilities.
Why Trust About2Cruise
This guide pulls from cruise line and port authority information, checked across several independent sources rather than lifted from a single listing. We haven’t sailed every itinerary here, so where the sources disagree, like exactly which lines call at Freeport from one season to the next, we’ve said so rather than guessed. You can read more about how we research and fact check our guides on our about us page, and browse our full library of cruise port guides for other Caribbean stops.
Common Questions
Does Carnival Cruise Line go to Turks and Caicos?
Yes. Carnival owns and runs Grand Turk Cruise Center and brings the majority of passengers who visit, alongside Costa Cruises, Holland America Line, Marella Cruises, Princess Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Virgin Voyages and Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.
Can cruise ships visit Providenciales?
No. Every cruise call in Turks and Caicos arrives at Grand Turk. There are no scheduled stops at Providenciales, South Caicos or North Caicos.
Is Nassau or Freeport better for a short Bahamas cruise?
Nassau has far more ship traffic, shopping and sights within walking distance. Freeport sees fewer big ship calls and suits a quieter, beach focused day ashore instead.
Do all Royal Caribbean and Celebrity sailings stop at CocoCay?
Perfect Day at CocoCay is used by Royal Caribbean and sister line Celebrity on Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries, though not every sailing from either line calls there.
Is Half Moon Cay open to every cruise line?
No. It’s shared mainly between Holland America and Carnival, so it isn’t the free for all some Bahamas private islands are.
Is there Wi-Fi on the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos private islands?
Generally not. Half Moon Cay has none at all, and Grand Turk Cruise Center has no free Wi-Fi either, so download whatever you’ll need before leaving the ship.
How far is Cockburn Town from the Grand Turk cruise terminal?
About two miles, which most people cover by taxi or an organised tour rather than on foot, especially once the heat kicks in.
Which Bahamas private island suits families best?
Castaway Cay and Perfect Day at CocoCay both have dedicated kids’ areas and water features included. Half Moon Cay suits a quieter, slower beach day instead.
Last Updated: 19 October 2026