1st Disney Cruise!!!

[stevelee]

Hi everyone...

We just booked our first Disney cruise and a first cruise with my kids. DS 4 and DD 2.

We are going to be on the 4 night Wonder sailing on Feb 26th out of Miami, stops in Key west, Nassau and CC.

Any thoughts or ideas for us would be appreciated. Things i should bring, know about, or even excursion ideas we are stuck on nassau and what to do. Have heard mixed revies about atlantis.

Thanks, and looking forward to it!

 

[rowlands57]

I cannot comment on other options in Nassau given the ages of the kids but I would skip Atlantis and look for other options. I just don't see the value there and I tried it twice to see if I was missing anything.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

if you are looking for a great almost once in a lifetime family excursion, I recommend the sea lions or dolphins at Blue Lagoon Nassau. Even if you don't do an animal encounter, the island is still a perfect day destination. But the sea lions made it really special for our family! Not all of you have to book encounters, some can go as observers and go back and film from the observation deck.

Castaway Cay is a great day for chilling on a wonderful beach, and since it was inclusive (all we bought were some bottled waters for volleyball the entire day) we went ahead and splurged on this day. What a day!

I know some people don't care for Nassau, but if you book something, there is some great family time to be had...

 

[RMoneyTheHBomb]

We just got off the dream yesterday for our first cruise. We ended up not seeing a lot of things on Nassau that excited us, so we stayed on the ship.

It worked out as our 8 year old wanted to stay in the kids club and we got to explore and visit the spa. There was soooo much stuff to do on the ship that We were never bored and were wishing for a few more days.

Have fun!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Dawg91]

Personally, I'd just chill on the ship on the Nassau day. There won't be much that will entertain your kids and I think you'll enjoy the time on the ship.

 

[Justacruiser]

stay on board. consider Nassau a day at sea!

 

[Saamh]

I agree with what most of the others recommend - stay on the ship in Nassau. Unless your kids are die-hard beach fanatics, the ship has everything they could possibly want plus more.

 

[darkwing818]

Personally, I'd just chill on the ship on the Nassau day. There won't be much that will entertain your kids and I think you'll enjoy the time on the ship.

With 2 children (2 & 4) I agree with the the other folks I'd bag Nassau & just explore the ship . 4 nights will go by in in a blink of an eye.
But that's just my thoughts.

 

[stevelee]

Thanks everyone.

I think we might jut stay on the ship in Nassau and explore the ship. We don't have a "day at sea" with this itinerary so we might just make this one a day at sea.

Is there any must do's on the ship. Or at caraway cay!

 

[Postal68]

Hi everyone...

We just booked our first Disney cruise and a first cruise with my kids. DS 4 and DD 2.

We are going to be on the 4 night Wonder sailing on Feb 26th out of Miami, stops in Key west, Nassau and CC.

Any thoughts or ideas for us would be appreciated. Things i should bring, know about, or even excursion ideas we are stuck on nassau and what to do. Have heard mixed revies about atlantis.

Thanks, and looking forward to it!

If you decide to book Atlantis, book a room on your own via Comfort Suites. It should save you a good amount of money even with having to pay your own transport to the resort.

 

[UmmGooD]

Hi everyone... We just booked our first Disney cruise and a first cruise with my kids. DS 4 and DD 2. We are going to be on the 4 night Wonder sailing on Feb 26th out of Miami, stops in Key west, Nassau and CC. Any thoughts or ideas for us would be appreciated. Things i should bring, know about, or even excursion ideas we are stuck on nassau and what to do. Have heard mixed revies about atlantis. Thanks, and looking forward to it!

We sailed with a 3 year old and 3 month old. One thing I didn't see mentioned is your 10 month old will not be able to go in the pools. While you will have a beach day at Castaway Cay you will not have any pool time with your little one. If you can I would find a hotel you can get a day pass at and use their pool. With swim diapers of course. When we cruised our 3 year old was not potty trained and hated the beach. She is a neat freak and hated the sand on her hands. She lasted maybe 30 minutes on the beach. Thankfully we booked an all inclusive in Mexico on our cruise so she could enjoy the pool. So if you want your 10 month old to enjoy a pool on your vacation I would consider this.

 

[SuFiMomma]

Another vote for skipping Nassau. I found it hectic and dirty. We got off the ship, poked around a bit and then got right back on. You will deal with lesser crowds since so many will be on excursions in Nassau.

Castaway Cay- if you can book a cabana, do. Check as soon as you are able, as they are gobbled up quickly.

If you are a runner, the Castaway Cay 5K is also something you should do. Pre-register with Guest Services. I really enjoyed it!

Be sure and get inner tubes. It is nice to float around in the water at CC.

Hope you have a wonderful time! We just got off the Magic and I already miss it!

 

[mamabug70]

We spent the day at Atlantis on November 15 and we had a fantastic time. That being said, I don't know if I will ever go back. It has always been on my bucket list to see The Atlantis and I was so excited to do it! I have also never been so scared in my life. We came out the front door from our excursion and were told by many different people several different buses to get on. We eventually picked one that had others wearing Disney wristbands already on board. When I looked around it was all women and my husband who is not a very big guy. The drive back to the ship was crazy with people honking and making "rude" gestures since traffic was horrible. They dropped us off at the ship in a different spot we left from, so we were confused as to which way to go, but eventually went through the straw market back to the ship. Very scary and confusing.. What if we had gotten on the wrong bus? There are warnings on the Navigator about increased crime against tourists in Nassau so I was already a little concerned. There was a guy selling small bags of something on one of the streets we were stuck in traffic on.. I can only imagine what that might have been, and I think my DD's 14 and 16 figured it out too. The Atlantis was wonderful, but the trip to and from made it not worth it. We also did the shallow water dolphin swim which was okay, but it wasted a lot of time. So my vote especially with such small kids.. Stay on the ship.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Another vote for skipping Nassau. I found it hectic and dirty. We got off the ship, poked around a bit and then got right back on.

This is exactly what happens if all you do is get off and poke around. There isn't much good to see RIGHT around the port, in fact, most ports tend to be that way.

Whatever you decide, be sure and do your research on all your options. We actually chose our cruise itinerary BECAUSE it went back to Nassau. We had the opportunity to take a Double Castaway Cay dip the week before and the family all voted to go right back to Nassau and the Blue Lagoon. For us, that was one of the BEST excursions we have had (I've cruised in Spain & Portugal, Hawaii, Honduras and more).

It irks me when people say "we got off and hated it, you should just stay on the ship." There is a TON to offer in the Bahamas but it might actually take some method of transportation to see it. For instance, the reefs are never located right next to the cruise ships. If you want to see marine life, you usually have to take a catamaran or ferry to THEM. Stuart Cove is immensely popular tour destination too. So much, that they actually film movies there, big name movies too.

If you make a plan, you will probably love Nassau just like we did. On the other hand, my husband who didn't go to BL with us said "Seriously? We are going back to Nassau?" to which I remind him, "YEs the family loved it so much, they said 'Can we please go back?' and YOU didn't go to BL so you missed it, and this time you will be able to go with us."

Just DO something if you are going to make it an actual excursion. Disney spent a lot of time in their survey trying to figure out their itineraries and they asked me in depth about my experience in Nassau. I had to give it the highest marks across the board because we just had the best day there. This board is full of people who just say "don't get off the ship" and guess what, you will still have crowded pools and lines because people think Nassau has nothing to offer and is a wasted port.

I disagree.
http://www.bahamasbluelagoon.com/images/homepage_header.jpg

Hmppf!

 

[stevelee]

Thanks for the info. I am going to check out blue lagoon. My kids are young and can't do the animal encounters. Is there enough "other" stuff there or just a beach.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Thanks for the info. I am going to check out blue lagoon. My kids are young and can't do the animal encounters. Is there enough "other" stuff there or just a beach.

Hmm 4 and 2 is small. There is a lagoon side that I saw all the kiddies swimming in, there are paddle boats and kayaks and fun water trampolines and such, plenty of hammocks to lounge in and amazing food and drinks. There were a lot of families there with various ages in their groups, and what I liked about it was that it was secure and not a public beach so much (everyone was paying resort or cruise guests like us) so we didn't have to worry about things being sold to us.

Even if you can't DO the encounters, you all can go to the marine section and watch them as long as you like, the dolphins and the sea lions playing. Its like a mini Sea World mixed with a beach island. We liked that fact a lot. We stepped off the ferry and a dolphin swam right up to 'talk' to us and check us all out. That was a great start to a great day.

The advantage of booking something through the cruise line is that the ferry picks you right up at the end of the ship dock. (It takes you back about a 10 min walk from the bright colored Fiesta building. You can shop like we do, or just follow that sidewalk right back to the cruise check in building.) The ferry ride is really nice too, it is a boat ride through the channel (think MK ferries, big and easy to get onto even with strollers) and you cruise past fancy homes like Beyonce's and Tiger Woods' houses. We enjoyed the boat rides too. A return ferry takes you back to the city at 1pm, 2pm or last ferries are at 4pm.

I think the other posters may be on to something with the pool resorts as well.

Just check out your options, I think Nassau is working at providing more family friendly tourist places.

In the end, you might decide because your little ones are so little, to stay on the ship. That is always an option.

I just wouldn't write off Nassau altogether.

 

[RHSTigerMom]

Stay on the ship. Nassau is nasty (IMHO). There are plenty of things to do, like put the kids in the club/nursery and go to the spa. The weather will be a crap shoot so good luck on Castaway Cay.

 

[amejiajr8]

We did atlantis beach day and had a blast. Played on beach...swam in the lagoon...lunch came with it and was delicious (had fish and chips at Pisces..one of resturant choices) yes it was a little pricey but 1) felt safe 2) got to have another beach day and got off boat 3) saw some pretty cool fish in the two aquariums 4) had delicious food 5) got great pictures of family playing on the beach

 

[jcoyne4781]

we are going on the same Disney Cruise, leaving Miami on Feb 26th. We booked the Blue Lagoon Beach Day in Nassau, Bahamas. It was a little pricey, but pretty much the only excursion that we could enjoy with my two boys, 3 1/2 yrs and 18 months. I don't think we are doing any excursion at Castaway Cay.