The second port on our cruise was the island of Eleuthera, a long, thin island in the Bahamas, roughly 110 miles long and, in places, only one mile wide.

Named from the Greek word for “freedom,”  The island was settled in the 1600s by English Puritans.

We didn’t know we were going to Eleuthera!  Our itinerary listed Princess Cays, a port specific to the Princess Cruise Line.   Cruise line “private islands” have been featured in the Caribbean for years and we have been to at least a couple of others.

The four of us had chosen the same excursion which included island amenities, snorkeling gear, float  and an island cruise in the afternoon.

After the initial rush was over, we boarded a tender for our ride to the island pier.  

The amount of infrastructure was really quite impressive.  All varieties of day accommodations, water toys and activities were available. 

We found lounge chairs in an area we were happy with. 

We stored our valuables in lockers.  As a result, we have very few pictures.

A feature of the private island was that we could use our ship board account for food and drink.  Randy and Bob went off to get mango margaritas and beer.  After their order was taken, the bartender asked “Would you like those mango margaritas to be strawberry or piña colada?” That became a running joke throughout the cruise.

We eventually moved to the snorkel pond where we saw a few varieties of tropical fish.  It was good, not great, snorkeling.

We went back to the ship to clean up and have lunch before our island cruise.

We boarded our boat and had a very fun guide and driver.  We had glass bottom capability but weren’t usually motoring in shallow enough water to see anything special.

While cruising, our guide told us a bit more about Eleuthera.  The island had three international airports and hotels and resorts. Most of the population works in tourism, including cruise line private ports.

The island has about 15,000 inhabitants.  They desalinate for fresh water and use diesel generators for power.

 

As we went around the island, we saw another ship in the distance. Disney also has their own private section of the island.

The ship was the Disney Fantasy – the same ship we’d seen earlier.  The crew was touching up the paint.

Lighthouse beach is the most southern point of the island. We were told that parrotfish excretions result in the beautiful white sand beaches.  Further research indicated that in tropical regions white sand is indeed developed this way because parrotfish eat coral and algae.

Our guide talked about the traditional Bahamian food -conch. There are over 100 preparations.  

She said it is nearly impossible to get a conch out of its shell.  The back of the shell must be cracked and the conch prodded out with a knife. 

Our guide also told us that the Princess Cays portion of the island won’t be used by Princess much longer. Within a few months, they will be transitioning to Celebration Cay nearby.  Carnival, Holland America and Princess will all use Celebration Kay.

The move will be an employment disruption for people who live on Eleuthera.  If they choose to stay with Princess employment, it will add hours to their commute to go to the other island.

In the evening, back aboard the ship, we enjoyed a show by Omar Cardona.  He was in the final four for the 22nd season of The Voice.  He was very good.

After traveling from Arizona to Florida, and having two port days in a row, we were very happy to have a sea day!

I started mine with a mocha, pastry and book with a view!  Randy enjoyed sleeping in.  He did join me for the Meet the Captain talk. 

Our captain was from Scotland and began his career with Princess in 2001 on the Royal Princess. He spent years working his way up through junior and senior officer positions.

Captains aboard a ship this size have many jobs.  He was going to officiate at a wedding later in the day.

His position is three months on, three months off, swapping with the other Caribbean Princess captain.  The same senior management group usually stays together for three years on the same ship. 

Once a year, during their “off” months, they are expected to train at a disaster simulator in The Netherlands.

Amazingly, the captain says the ship can be spun with a ten meter allowance on the bow and stern.  He says he has a two hour checklist prior to arriving in port and wind is the biggest factor in aborting a port. 

We followed up a bit later with a Navigation at Sea talk. 

I’ll just leave the slides for you engineering nerd types.

These posts cover September 22 and 23, 2026.

Next Up: The Dominican Republic