Excursion help!

[Jupiter&Wolfe]

We'll be on the Disney Dream in Sept/Oct and will be making one stop in Nassau and the other at CC. Some members of my party have never been snorkeling and are dying to go, so I think I'm going to book the seahorse catamaran excursion on CC. Other than that, we really just plan on biking around CC, hanging in the water, maybe trying the water slide. Is there anything else that you would recommend at CC that I shouldn't miss? Even just little things worth seeing? What is the cheapest kayak rental on CC?


My other question regards Nassau. I'm not totally sure what to do, and I can really only afford to swing one big excursion for the trip. We thought Cabbage Beach looked like a fun place to hang out. Has anyone spent time there and can vouch for what there is to do? We want to do the banana boats, what other water activities are there that would be fun? Should we check out Atlantis? Anything worth seeing/doing there if you're not staying there? Would there be something more fun to do in Nassau that you can recommend?

I just want to make sure our port days are packed with fun even though we don't have a ton of extra money to spend. Any advice or critique would be appreciated!

 

[Patsydust]

So I haven't done a great deal of excursions. I've done a bunch of activities at CC and Dolphin swim on Cozumel. But even though I am not the wisest excursionist I will say that none of my family or myself are a fan of Nassau at all. It definitely isn't what it used to be. So if you can't find something truly exciting my opinion is do what we do, spend time on the cruise!! There are always a bunch activities to do, even on non-sea days!

Side note: I snorkeled on CC and it was either...cheap or free. I can't recall...I know swimming with the rays costs...but snorkeling, I am pretty sure was free. I just walked up (didn't reserve/sign up for it) and got my tools and went snorkeling for the first time! It was really cool. There were colorful fish, a bunch of wrecked ships and a statue of Mickey everyone hunts for!

 

[tonyolily]

On Castaway Cay one of our favorite things to do are the Kayaks! The pricing is something like $14 for 30 minutes for the one person kayaks and $18 for the two person kayak. Biking is fun and we usually bring our own snorkeling gear so that we don't have to pay extra.

Unfortunately we really didn't do anything special on Nassau so I can't help you with that one.

 

[CEGrant]

It's not available for booking directly through the cruise line, but last year my husband and I did a trip to Rose Island with Sandy Toes and we loved it. It's a super laid back private beach with a bar, great swimming, average snorkeling and a resident pet pig. We went on a Friday afternoon and there were only about twenty people there. You can book through their website, then take a taxi from the port to the boat launch on Paradise Island.

The price is pretty reasonable--$79 for a full day. It includes snorkel gear, buffet lunch and one drink. The staff is super nice and fun to talk to. Our snorkel guide brought along a harpoon because he'd seen a large lobster that morning. Sure enough, he nailed it and they brought it back to the bar and grilled it.

The beach is pretty much perfect. Sandy, calm, warm water, great views. You can read a bunch of reviews on Trip Advisor to see what other people think.

The downside is because it's not booked through DCL, you aren't guaranteed that the ship will wait for you if you're late getting back. But the tour gets you back to Paradise Island at 3:45, and the Disney ship doesn't typically leave till 5:45. Sandy Toes knows that a good chunk of their customers are cruisers, and they keep you on time.