Port hostess is always the plug.

First of all, there is only ONE Bahamas and with almost 1,000 cruise ships currently under construction, the days of the Bahamas going out to beg cruise lines to bring their cruise ships here are a thing of the past. Secondly, those cruise ships that do come here and their crew tell them not to shop in The Bahamas or even not to bring money off the ship and also those who do not allow straw work on their ships must be eliminated from the Bahamas route. Let them dump their garbage and their sewerage elsewhere! And finally the government must pump more millions into the downtown, Junkanoo Beach and Montagu areas to ensure that the cruise ship experience is as good as staying in any major hotel in the country, the beaches are always clean, safe and accessible. The downtown area was killed dead when hotels decided to go all inclusive or find even deceptive ways to keep their guests on campus. To rebuild downtown around cruise ship passengers they ships will have to spend more than a few hours in port. Night life must be unique and since most cruises provide their passengers with up to seven feedings a day, food must be unique, exotic but yet inexpensive. And since there is now no shortage of cruise ships or passengers, yes the cruise port experience must be one that draws passengers off the ships, enticed them to spend money and encourages them to return as repeat visitors. And you cannot just fix downtown and leave it. It has to be a constantly evolving and regenerating creature.

John you are sadly mistaken about 1000 cruise ships currently under construction. The top 9 largest cruise lines have a total of 40 on order. Carnival is the largest cruise line in the world with 25 ships.
If you think there are another 40 cruise lines coming online with 25 ships each, you'd be sadly mistaken.
Please tell me why it is that we always talk about this problem and that problem as though the dock, or the beach, or the stores, or the proximity to amenities are our biggest problems. I think we all know that we need to fix the attitudes of our people before we can improve any tourist attractions.
To fix the attitudes, were likely going to need 20 years of education improvement, (and that time starts when we actually improve education, noting no progress being made currently).
If we can't even admit to these being our bigger problems, we will never amount to anything.
I've been to nearly every Caribbean destination over the last 20 some years, and never ever have I witnessed the attitude that we Bahamians give out

You also must have a very clean beach close by with clean, easy and safe walk to the beach. No empty shops and closed building to walk by.. Clean, clean, clean! Spotless. Look on Youtube for travels down Front St. in Martinique. Also compare this. http://portshoppingspree.com/port-of-ca…

You come off of the ships and you are met right at Festival Place with foul mouthed vendors offering " made in China " items or outrageously priced services or rentals or God forbid, you venture out to the " made in China straw market " to be harrassed by hair braiders wearing ankle bracelets or selling "knock off" cheap shit for over the top prices or you get brave and go all the way to Junkanoo Beach to be plied with drug dealers right opposite the Police station that is manned by overweight, lazy, cell phone toting policemen who are too busy watsapping ! And the ships crew is gonna suggest you come ashore because of ...

The cruise ships must be encourage to stop at EACH of the Out Islands ........ as they do in the Pacific .......... There is too much focus on Nassau and Freeport ........ and the private cruise cays MUST be eliminated or taxed heavily to offset the lack of contact with the Bahamian economy.

That's one point of view. I for one don't want them in Abaco. Our tourism product is unique and our visitors are attracted here because of the lack of cruise ship/cookie-cutter "tourism"

That would be great if they went to the out islands! I believe that would be very popular. Unfortunately when people exit the cruise ship in Nassau they are met with attitude. Some Bahamians seem to not like Americans. I think they believe that we are all rich. Which isn't true. Most American's have a lot of debt. There are a lot of rich, but the average American is middle class waiting on the next pay check. I don't mind the vendors or even the hair braiders, as long as they are polite. Sometimes I get my hair braided, especially if it's real humid or I know I'm going to be in the water a lot. Just be respectful and everyone will get along. If the American is a ass, ignore them. It shows their intelligence, or be a ass back. I really don't blame you.

Just was Down Town and it looked like a giant , sprawling Crack House, infested with junky Japanese used cars like roaches and rats. Cars should be prohibited on down town Bay Street. Further, painting and repairing of shops and buildings should be mandatory, or the Government will confiscate the shop/building.

Agreed ......... First step is to get traffic off Bay Street ...... Then rebrand the wharf and shop fronts ......... then make Bay Street a duty-free shopping and cultural mecca like New Orleans - from Arawak Cay to Potters Cay.

I agree cars need to be off Bay street, but how would that occur. We would still need a two lane road going west to east for those cars. Where would it be? I can only think they would have to build a new road right through areas near shirley street, which due to the cost won't happen. This of course makes turning bay street into a pedestrian area a long term solution. Quicker ones would be to ban parking on Bay, have a free bus service to safe car parks outside of nassau, along with a toll to enter nassau so people would rather use the free bus (though those passing through would not like this). Also make sure there are bathrooms to be used (at night especially) as in the morning down town stinks of piss. Finally clean up the sidewalks with something that lasts longer then a week or two, clean the lamp polls and trees as there are still wires from the 1980's hanging on them

Dawes. It sounds like you are serious about change. Don't give up. Get rid of cars on Bay Street period. Trust me. Our tourism product is suffering and worth the short term pain of relocating them.

Sooooooo, you think there is no corruption in French/Dutch St. Martin??? ...... Did you see the aftermath of last year hurricanes on these places?????

They are colonies of First World countries ......... who abandoned them too.

TheMadHatter. I agree with you. The problem is also that our Government and people are secretly racist against whites. Why would white tourists want to come to a place that secretly, and not so secretly, hates them. Bahamians need to change their Black Lives Matter attitude and learn to be loving hosts or we will lose everything!!!

When I say racist, I mean that they are trying to model Haiti and Jamaica rather than colonies such as Bermuda, Cayman etc. What the hell are we doing with these loser countries???

So right! We set the bar very low and still don't get over it. We, as a collective, are destined to fail if we don't think bigger and better. We are so happy with what we consider mediocre BUT our mediocre is a fail everywhere except Haiti, Jamaica and dozens of African countries. We try so hard NOT to be like that white man!

Problem is the lack of accountability in everything in Bahamas. It starts at the top with all the thieves and down to the straw vendors and drug dealers. We as a nation are getting worse than better..

Starts with our education system or lack of. When the national average is a D at best its hard to train someone to be competitive with others in different countries. Bahamians always want the quick buck and are extremely lazy and disrespectful.

Go to Cayman or St. Maarteen they have let foreigners in to set up shop and investments and thus have thrived. They know how to treat tourists as it is their bread and butter. Their immigration system makes it very easy to come and set up shop.

I have businesses in Bahamas and Cayman. Cayman is easier to do business and encourage investment. Bahamas always are looking for handouts and ways to make it difficult to do business and very racist.

We as a nation need to look in the mirror slap ourselves in the face and wake the f__k up !!