10/20/23
When we booked this cruise, we were traveling as Travel Agents, scoping out this new-to-Carnival ship, leaving from a port very close to our homes. I wanted to be able to share as much information as I could about the port, the ship, the destinations, etc. I get inquiries, (almost weekly!), for all-inclusives in the Bahamas. Sadly, my research has not produced great results unless you are going to a Sandals. This led me to research day passes to resorts that were close to Freeport!
We were up early today because we were going to be getting off the ship for an excursion. We went to breakfast at 7:45 a.m., as we were getting off the ship around 8:30-8:45 a.m. We ate in the Grand Canal Restaurant. We did make a reservation on the app and the wait time was under 10 minutes. It was the same menu I posted for a previous morning.
Breakfast beverages of champions…
I had the melon again. Nice and fresh!
I also had the same Vanilla French Toast again! It was so good.
We had an excursion planned here today with a tour operator named Leo Wells Jr. I met him in our cruise Facebook group. We were going to visit Lighthouse Pointe at Grand Lucayan Resort. He was charging $20 roundtrip per person for transportation, and the cost to get into the all-inclusive resort was $75.00. The ship did also offer this excursion, but their pricing included 2 drinks and 1 meal. Ours was unlimited and we had more flexibility with time. You can also buy tickets on resortforaday.com, but we just bought direct once we got there.
We were off the ship at 8:30 a.m. It was overcast…booooooo.
The port area was cute with a bunch of shops and stands. There is plenty here souvenir wise for sure! No need to venture away from this area if you are just looking for souvenirs.
Once off the ship, we easily found him. He had communicated prior to the cruise where exactly to meet him.
There were 8 total people going on the excursion. He did give us flexibility on pick up times to return to ship. 4 people wanted to go back at 1:30 p.m. and the other 4 at 2:00 p.m. The drive was about 20-25 minutes. We were at the resort by 9:15 a.m.
The lobby:
It was early and empty! There was no one to be seen anywhere except the front desk staff.
They do have a Senses Spa here, but I didn’t see it beyond this sign.
Dining here seemed to be very limited. From what I can see on their website these are the dining options:
- Aroma Cafe–Opened daily 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Serves coffee, pastries, sandwiches and ice cream.
- Pizzeria Capri–Opened Tuesday through Saturday 12:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Serves flatbreads.
- Portobello’s–Sunday Breakfast (Pavilion): 7:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., Monday – Saturday Breakfast: 7:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., Sunday Brunch: 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Daily Dinner 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. | Last dinner seating is at 9:30pm.
- Lobby Bar–Sunday – Thursday 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m., Friday & Saturday 5:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.
- Waves Bar and Grill–Daily lunch 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Bar 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Serves classic grill menu
- Prop Beach Club–Sunday – Wednesday Lunch: 10:00 a.m. -6:00 p.m., Thursday – Saturday Happy Hour: 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Thursday – Saturday Lunch & Dinner: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m. Sports bar type vibe.
Here is the menu from Portobello’s located near the lobby of the resort.
The inside of Portobello’s:
The pizza place:
This was outdoor seating for one of the restaurants, but I’m not sure which one!
The view stepping out of the lobby building towards the beach:
It was cloudy, but not raining, and not humid.
The view walking from the lobby to the pool and beach area:
They did have a small lap pool. It didn’t look the best.
View of some of the rooms:
The pool! It’s located right at the edge of the beach. It wasn’t the cleanest…
There is a small hot tub here in the corner and there was a huge sign that said NO KIDS ALLOWED IN THE HOT TUB. There also was a towel hut if you needed a towel.
View of some of the other accommodations. This section was not open. This resort suffered hurricane damage years ago, and still has not recovered! That was not disclosed anywhere prior to arrival.
We made it to the beach and had our choice of seats!
The beach was beautiful! The sand was super soft.
Looking back towards the resort:
This was literally my day! I loved every minute!
There was a lifeguard on the beach. They had kayaks and paddle boards you could take out. You just had to sign a waiver.
The bar was opening, and that was included with our all-inclusive package for the day, so I went to check it out.
Here’s a look at the menu:
The drinks actually all sounded amazing! I love fruity sooooo….
I don’t even remember what this was, but it was good!
One thing to note…the vendors on the beach. From the second we sat down, there were vendors coming up to us to buy whatever they were selling. Keep in mind, there were not many people there at all, and some of the vendors were selling the same items. They did not stop when we said no. They just told us, “It doesn’t cost anything to look.” I was firm in my nos but my friend was not! This went on until about lunch time. They approached every new person that came onto the beach. This stretch of beach is so small, so that was overwhelming to me.
You can see here, they did have a security guard. The others are vendors.
I decided to take a walk down the beach. This is part of the resort that is not open.
It was a nice walk and beautiful scenery!
Also not open and looking extremely run down:
Looking back towards the part of the beach where we were sitting:
We were hungry for lunch, so we ordered! These were the boneless wings…
They actually tasted like McDonald’s chicken nuggets.
Fries:
These were okay.
Another drink:
We were being picked up at 2:00 p.m. to head back to the ship.
We met our driver out front at 2:00 p.m. and were back in the port by 2:20 p.m. I wanted to get back onto the ship to chill by the pool for a little bit.
We buzzed through the port area looking in the shops.
I went directly to the pool at the aft after browsing the buffet first. My previous lunch was eh.
Nothing here looked good to me either!
DJ Cue was playing and people had clearly been taking advantage of their drink packages! I went back to the room around 5:00 p.m.
I brought some pizza back with me because I was starving at this point.
I took a nap and then showered for dinner.
Tonight’s menu:
Fried Mozzarella:
This was really good!
Baked Meatballs:
These were Chrissy’s, but I tasted them and they were delicious! I wanted more!
Our other tablemate Dana ordered the BBQ Pulled Wild Boar:
I also got the Roasted Broccoli & Three Cheese Soup:
This was also so good! (Carnival wins the soup award of all cruise ships I’ve been on!)
Linguine, Salsiccia Italiana:
I think this was Chrissy’s! She ate it all, so it must have been good!
Southern Fried Chicken:
I really wasn’t very hungry, so I ordered the Grilled Chicken Breast:
Was perfect!
These might have been Salmon Cakes that Dana ordered?!
Bitter N Blanc:
I got some fruit!
They did some dancing for us tonight!
After dinner, we went to see the Love & Marriage show. IT WAS SO FUNNY! They picked the perfect couples! I laughed so hard! I highly recommend it.
Thoughts on Lighthouse Pointe Grand Lucayan Resort:
- This resort is not super crowded. It is not a 5 or even 4 star resort in my opinion, but a 3 star.
- I think this is perfect for a quick 3-4 day getaway with friends who have low expectations regarding food.
- The drinks were GREAT! Food options were varied.
- There is no real entertainment aside from some music beach/poolside, so it’s a good location if you want to relax by the beach/pool.
- They was 1 kayak and 2 paddleboards, all complimentary. You did have to wear a life vest and sign a waiver.
- They did have life sized chess, connect 4, and cornhole.
- There is some shopping across the street.
- The beach and water were both great.
Review of Leo Wells Jr. and his tour service:
5 stars! He was super nice when we initially met him. He was very easy to work with and communicated before and after the excursion. We paid him directly the day of for his transportation services, and paid the resort directly. I would highly recommend!