Thanks for letting us know....
It's simple why they are doing this. A couple years ago the Bahamas raised the customs fee on US boats entering their waters to minimum $300 per boat for boats their size. Since most of their trips enter Bahamian waters on the weekend, they also have to pay "overtime fees" for Customs.
So they send 3 boats a week to the Bahamas, they have to pay minimum $900 per week for customs. Even more with overtime. Figure $1,000/week. 52 weeks of that means they are spending $52,000 grand a year on customs fees.
They also "motorsail" on the way over and back. Diesel fuel isn't cheap. They won't be using as much fuel anymore.
It's a way of cutting costs. They already know what operating from the Bahamas costs as they operate the AquaCat from Nassu.
I'm sure this will also cut their costs wear and tear on the boats, insurance, etc since they aren't having to cross the gulf stream.
Also no longer a need for their boats to be US Coast Guard compliant since they won't be operating from US ports. (which means less and cheaper maintenance required).
Where the customer/diver will see a big difference is in airfare price. You can fly into MIA for under $250 (with advance reservation). It's hard to find a Saturday to Saturday or "weekend to weekend" airfare ticket to the Bahamas for under $450 to $600 bucks.
Oh well....
The advantage is though that you'll get in an extra day of diving the first day instead of spending all day on the "crossing".
I had a hard time finding a link to the info on Blackbeards website. so here it is for easy access
http://www.blackbeard-cruises.com/freeport-reasons.html