Nassau on your own?

[kalc12345]

From a previous thread regarding the same topic, I responded with the following:

I'm in the minority camp that says you should get off the ship at least for a few hours if you have never been to Nassau. Fort Fincastle and Queen's Staircase are just about a mile walk from the pier, and quite nice to visit. It's not a huge fort, but the views are very pretty. The ladies can shop on the return walk to the ship. Here are a few pics from our recent stop there...



Enjoy!

This will be our 3rd trip to Nassau and we had planned to stay on the ship but this looks really neat!!! We have only did the market and things close to the port. And we did a carriage tour as well. Is that a safe walk to Queen's Staircase and the fort? Our last trip to Nassau we were a bit worried about safety.

 

[Brittmarie04]

Ditto. I printed off a map from a website and we took our 7&5 yo boys on a walk through the town. There is a fairly steep hill up to Queen's staircase, but it is nice and cool inside the rock cut, and the boys almost ran up the steps. From there Fort Fincastle is literally right next door and costs $1/person to enter. The boys loved looking at the cannons, seeing where they stored the gun powder, how cannons are fired...and on. There is a great view of the ships docked at the port from the castle too. We too went to the pirate museum, at $12/ adult and $6/child it was an expensive way to spend 45 minutes, but the boys really enjoyed it. We walked by the straw market, people asked us to look at their items and were polite, but we just weren't interested. There is basically a strip of shops on the street parallel to the docks aimed at cruisers where we found some t-shirts and such, but that's about it. The nice thing about Nassau is that you can see the ships from almost anywhere you can walk, so you really can't get lost, and we found all the local people very helpful and friendly.
We go to Nassau again on the Dream, almost 2 months after being there on the NCL Jewel, so we plan on staying on the ship. I may make a quick run to the Clinique store to restock, but otherwise we will enjoy the ship!

There's a Clinique store?? Is it cheaper prices? Please share lol

 

[sarahk2013]

Passports are needed to board the ship on embarkation day, they confirm and store your info. After that we didn't need them. When we went to Nassau we simply showed them our Key to the World. Everyone HAD to have their Key to the World.

Our son (14 at the time) was with us and had his passport.

I think it may be best to call DCL with ample time and ask any ?s you may have...it's best to be safe than sorry

I called disney and they said a birth certificate would be fine. However when I specified that we had a short form birth certificate, she said "oh no we require the long form birth certificate". The short form is an official card size paper that we received from our county court house when all three if our boys were born. It has a beveled raised border and says official on it so I thought that it was what they required. Glad I called and still have a month to go to the court house and get a long form version. It would be nice if they specified that or showed an example document on their website for those of us not fluent in legal documentation. Maybe it is out there but i did not see it. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Mariellen102]

Has anyone gotten off the ship and taken a cab or water taxi to Atlantis? I heard it is four dollars each way?? Is it safe? Seems cheaper then paying the bus that DCL offers just to go over for a short period of time since we have been there before!

 

[Dave Dizney]

Has anyone gotten off the ship and taken a cab or water taxi to Atlantis? I heard it is four dollars each way?? Is it safe? Seems cheaper then paying the bus that DCL offers just to go over for a short period of time since we have been there before!

Yep - $4 one way per person. The cab I took was an over-crowded minivan, but it was fast and didn't take long to load and unload. The water taxi took forever to get ready (they have a larger capacity, so they wait until it's full). They also had a "tour-dude" who told stories about celebrities who lived on the island - and then passed his hat for some high pressure tips.

Also, someone had painted the rails of the boat before we got on and they failed to mention that when we sat down. It was the inaugural wearing my new DCL Hawaiian shirt that day - and so it was also it's final voyage.

I now prefer the over-crowded taxi.

 

[OrcaPotter]

Any experience grabbing a handicap accessible taxi to Atlantis? I would rather stay on the ship this time, but I'm traveling with a lot of newbies and they have expressed strong interest in seeing Atlantis. My grandfather will have a scooter; there's no way he'd be able to make the walk from the ship to the area where the taxis are--much less traverse the massive hotel.

 

[MND]

This will be our 3rd trip to Nassau and we had planned to stay on the ship but this looks really neat!!! We have only did the market and things close to the port. And we did a carriage tour as well. Is that a safe walk to Queen's Staircase and the fort? Our last trip to Nassau we were a bit worried about safety.

Yes, I felt perfectly safe.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[tiarasandcrowns]

We went 2 years ago to Nassau on the 3 day Bahamas cruise and felt perfectly safe. We hired a taxi for about $6 that took us to Comfort suites next to Atlantis, where you get a room for about $200, that allows you to use the facilities at Atlantis all day. We spent the whole day in Atlantis and strolled around the shops outside of Atlantis. We liked the tortuga rum factory and even bought a few boxes of the cakes to give to our friends.Then we came back in a taxi and spent about 30 mins visiting the straw market and walked back to the ship. It was different but we still felt safe and enjoyed our experience.

 

[Mariellen102]

Also I guess taking the taxi to Atlantis does not include admission to the aquarium? Does anyone know how much per person that cost ? Just wondering if its cheaper to book the discover tour or go on our own ?

 

[iloverags2]

This will be our 3rd trip to Nassau and we had planned to stay on the ship but this looks really neat!!! We have only did the market and things close to the port. And we did a carriage tour as well. Is that a safe walk to Queen's Staircase and the fort? Our last trip to Nassau we were a bit worried about safety.

Yes, it is safe. Nassau is no different than any other major city in the U.S. Just be aware of your surroundings and you will be fine. Many folks walk over to the fort and staircase, including people from other ships.

Enjoy!

 

[CanuckTraveller]

There's a Clinique store?? Is it cheaper prices? Please share lol

There were several cosmetic stores on the street running parallel to the docks...I don't remember the name of the street, but it has Del Sol, the bamboo store etc. I priced out the Clinique BB balm which was $35 in Nassau and $49 with tax at home. I will be making a quick pit stop when we are docked in Nassau in March

 

[Brittmarie04]

There were several cosmetic stores on the street running parallel to the docks...I don't remember the name of the street, but it has Del Sol, the bamboo store etc. I priced out the Clinique BB balm which was $35 in Nassau and $49 with tax at home. I will be making a quick pit stop when we are docked in Nassau in March

Awesome thanks for sharing