{"id":20960,"date":"2012-04-25T12:46:22","date_gmt":"2012-04-25T16:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=20960"},"modified":"2012-04-26T00:16:30","modified_gmt":"2012-04-26T04:16:30","slug":"bahamas-express-ferry-drawing-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2012\/04\/bahamas-express-ferry-drawing-complaints","title":{"rendered":"Bahamas Express Ferry Drawing Complaints"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The Pinar del Rio, Balearia's high-speed ferry from Port Everglades to Freeport, Bahamas, began service in December. (Amy Beth Bennett, Sun Sentinel \/ December 15, 2011) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Four months after start-up, the Bahamas Express ferry is running about 70 percent full on trips between Fort Lauderdale and Grand Bahama Island and plans to add a Bimini route by fall, operators say.<\/p>\n

But some travelers complain of poor customer service and delays that make a day-trip a dud. They say the ferry works better for multi-day trips.<\/p>\n

“When you launch something new, there are always kinks. But we’re working to resolve them and satisfy customers,” said Pilar Lecha, the company’s area manager.<\/p>\n

A top challenge: some travelers envision the amenities of the cruise that had plied the route, while others imagine the speed of shorter trips in calmer seas elsewhere, said Lecha.<\/p>\n

Bahamas Express touts a 2.5-hour crossing between Port Everglades and Freeport, allowing for a day-trip that leaves Fort Lauderdale at 10 a.m. and returns around 10 p.m.<\/p>\n

But with time needed for check-in and for immigration on arrival, many customers say the trip really takes about five hours each way. That leaves little time for a day-tripper to explore Grand Bahama, especially when tourist sites can be a 45-minute drive from the seaport.<\/p>\n

Bahamas Express is run by Spanish ferry company Bale\u00e0ria, which operates 21 routes in the Mediterranean. The fare starts at $142 for a day-trip and tops $200 for arrival and departure on separate days. Lauderdale-Freeport airfares usually exceed $300 round-trip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many travelers have complaints about poor customer service, disappointing amenities and extensive delays when traveling on the Bahamas Express ferry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[96,81],"class_list":["post-20960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travel","tag-boats","tag-grand-bahama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20960\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}