Nassau Excursions--Please rate your choice here!

[shiner6]

Please help me decide which excursion I should book.... I would love to hear which was your favorite and why? Please include any tips/pointers for others to share....oh, and THANKS!!!

 

[Mandy321]

Hello! We have been to Nassau twice. The first time we did Atlantis and the dolphin encounter there. The second time we went over to blue lagoon for their dolphin encounter and stayed the day on Blue Lagoon beach. After comparing the two, Blue Lagoon won hands down. Atlantis was fun but super crowded and not great for my little ones (6, 8, 11). The food there was pretty gross and there wasn't much of a beach when we got tired of waiting in lines at the water slides. The dolphin encounters were mostly the same but the beach at BL was my absolute favorite part of the entire trip. We were the only ones on the beach! It was fantastic! I have tons of pictures of the kids having the whole place to themselves and it was such a great beach. They have a bar there that had the best (and strongest) drinks on the cruise and they were pretty cheap too! If we go again I wouldn't think twice and book any of the blue Lagoon excursions in a heartbeat. Probably dolphin again we love the dolphins. Hope that helps!

 

[Cheryl726]

Did you go to Blue Lagoon on your own?

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Did you go to Blue Lagoon on your own?

Another vote for BL and their sea lions and dolphin encounters. We also have done a sail n snorkel off of priceline that was 3 hrs and included a nice beach and lots of fish on cannonball reef. Great tour company called SeaHorse. Rum punch on the sail back. Great excursions, both. We have loved our two cruises to Nassau!

 

[Mandy321]

We didn't go to BL on our own, we just booked it through DCL and followed their orders to get there it wasn't a bad trip because you get to see all of the celebrity houses along the way

 

[Marshay]

Glad to hear BL is getting such good reviews. We may try this next time.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Hmm. Reading my 6-16 post..
Looks a bit like a flakey day..

Anyway not everyone likes the same things but we specifically picked our cruise itinerary to include Nassau to go back to BL.

I wish I could catamaran too! I want to do both. We have had great days at Nassau!

 

[Aeryn76]

Has anyone done the fort tour excursions? I would some feedback on that if possible please.

 

[Nini05]

We just did a quick tour of straw market and bitof town area, went back to ship.

 

[vakamalua]

LOVED the Sea lion Encounter are Blue lagoon!!! Did it through DCL and hung around the beach there after.

 

[Marshay]

LOVED the Sea lion Encounter are Blue lagoon!!! Did it through DCL and hung around the beach there after.

How long can you hang out at the beach after your animal encounter? I saw the tour says it lasts about 3-4 hours, but can you just hang out all day (or until you need to get back to ship?)

Thanks!

 

[amyh13]

BL was GREAT. We did the dolphin encounter and the dolphin swim.

Also did the Ardastra Garden and City tour. The Gardens and animals were great. A little history on the city tour, view from the Fort and the Queen's staircase. Nice and short but fun.

 

[wiigirl]

Glad to hear BL is getting such good reviews. We may try this next time.

 

[Marshay]

We just went to Ardastra Gardens ourselves since my kids 3 and 7 at the time would not have been interested in the city tour. It was really great!

The gardens were simply beautiful!! We spent about 4 hours there just wandering around, feeding the lorikeets (a highlight!!), finding hidden trails to see flowers and animals, walking with the free range peacocks and flamingoes, holding the parrots and watching the March of the Flamingoes show (my girls were chosen and it was so cool!)

The taxi was $20 with tip, each way (we haggled a bit). The zoo/gardens accepted a discount (I think it was Discover, but could have been AAA) so it was all extremely reasonable.

We had gone years ago and they charged extra to feed the lorikeets and hold/photograph the parrot. This year it was all included in the price. We must have hung out with lorikeets all over our arms, head, etc for 30 minutes. It was amazing!

I do want to try BL next time since you all are giving it such wonderful reviews. We were also there about 18 years ago, so looking forward to seeing it now.

 

[vakamalua]

How long can you hang out at the beach after your animal encounter? I saw the tour says it lasts about 3-4 hours, but can you just hang out all day (or until you need to get back to ship?)

Thanks!

You can hang out until the last boat back to the ship; just check the schedule and be sure to be at the dock a bit early.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Yup. We were the first encounter of the day. After we finished up with watching dolphins and sea lions, we did some shopping (got matching t shirts that say I KISSED A SEA LION!) Then we went to lunch and ordered conk fritters and rice and beans and fish, it was plenty! Made fresh to order. Then we went snorkeling on the reef beach (beach is deserted and relaxing and perfect but snorkling was very hard to get to, I'd just swim in the lagoon etc) but we did see lil fish. But our parents were convinced a shark would eat us and freaked out and made us come back in...(we are 31...?!) So anyway I swam a bit as a mermaid on the lagoon side (as busy as the fourth of July, lots of chair hogs and crass people but perfect for all ages and swimming levels.) Then I sat in a hammock and relaxed until 4 pm ferry. Shopping at straw market after before checking back on board. Great great day! After your encounter, the island is your oyster.

 

[FlyTriPacer]

BL was GREAT. We did the dolphin encounter and the dolphin swim.

Also did the Ardastra Garden and City tour. The Gardens and animals were great. A little history on the city tour, view from the Fort and the Queen's staircase. Nice and short but fun.

We did this in 2011 during our adults-only Disney trip. Was willing to go again with the kids in 16 days, but wife wants to do the semi-submersible trip. Will report back on that excursion after our WDW portion of the trip.

 

[Marshay]

We did this in 2011 during our adults-only Disney trip. Was willing to go again with the kids in 16 days, but wife wants to do the semi-submersible trip. Will report back on that excursion after our WDW portion of the trip.

Definitely want to hear about the submersible, too!

 

[amyh13]

I will say that my DD3 did fine with the "city tour." It was basically a little history on the way to the gardens. And then a little more on the way to the Fort/Queen's staircase. The bus was clean and air conditioned. We were back in time for lunch and a nap for her. Okay, and for me too

 

[chemnerd09]

BL was GREAT. We did the dolphin encounter and the dolphin swim.

Also did the Ardastra Garden and City tour. The Gardens and animals were great. A little history on the city tour, view from the Fort and the Queen's staircase. Nice and short but fun.

Do you recall how the walking was for the tour, such as is it relatively flat? My father has mobility issues but does alright with flat ground. We wanted to try an excursion that we could all do but wouldn't take a lot of time.