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| Above, shopping in Freeport with our cruise ship in the background. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
When Mitch Geriminsky and I took the Bahamas cruise back in August, two of our stops were at Freeport and Nassau.
We didn't know it then, and we weren't advised by Norwegian Cruise Line during the cruise, but both Nassau and Freeport were under a State Department Level 2 travel advisory. This is due to some violent crimes from gang activity.
According to Yahoo!:
Both Nassau and Freeport are popular cruise destinations that are both under a travel advisory from the US Department of State. That has been the case since Jan. 26, 2024, but anyone visiting needs to be aware of exactly what the warning says in order to be safe if they decide to get off the ship in either destination.
A Level 2 warning is a little more serious and should be paid attention to, but it's not the US government telling you not to travel. In the case of The Bahamas, which is under a Level 2 travel advisory, you really have to read the warning.
"Exercise increased caution in The Bahamas due to crime," serves as essentially the headline for the Level 2 travel advisory which then gets much more specific.
"The majority of crime occurs on New Providence (Nassau) and Grand Bahama (Freeport) islands. In Nassau, practice increased vigilance in the 'Over the Hill' area (south of Shirley Street) where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate primarily affecting the local population. Violent crime, such as burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assaults, occur in both tourist and non-tourist areas. Be vigilant when staying at short-term vacation rental properties where private security companies do not have a presence," the State Department shared.
Although in a Level 2 safety warning, we saw nothing that would give us concern while we were in Freeport or Nassau. It would have been nice if Norwegian Cruise Line told us about the travel advisory.
To read more, go here.
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