shore excursions - HELP!!

[veruka]

I need to lock in my final payment Friday - was wondering if I should book any shore excursions ahead of time. DD is almost 8; DS is 6. We've never been on a cruise before and I'm the only one who has been to the ocean. Any recommendations? Also, any idea of prices or where I can find them?

thanks so much! I'm getting so excited!!!!

 

[RKB]

Which cruise are you on: Bahamas, Western or Eastern?

 

[veruka]

duh!!

It's the three night Nassau cruise. I should have made that clear. Darn us rookies!

 

[Tandyc]

No help on excursions, but don't kick yourself for being a "rookie." We're all here to help each other. Everyone started as a rookie and hopefully will help the rookies when they are knowledgeable.

 

[pooh luver]

If there is an excursion you really want to do book it ahead of time because if you wait until the cruise it might already be sold out. For our last cruise I booked the parasailing on CC about 58 or 59 days before we left and got one of the last slots.

 

[EmmasGrammy]

My opinion if this is your 1st cruise don't book any excursions. There is so much to see and do on the ship as well in Nassau and CC that you won't have time to do it all.

Make this 1st trip a time to get to know the ship and explore the various activities onboard. In Nassau there is plenty to see without prebooked excursions.

If you decide to go see something i.e. the Atlantis, there are plenty of local folks anxious to get you there. As far as CC, I haven't been there yet, (This is our 1st Disney cruise) but these private islands have lots to offer besides excursions. From what I have learned on these boards, CC is the perfect place to do just what you're supposed to do on vacation.... RELAX!!

A 3 night cruise goes by so fast. Enjoy every moment, and don't stress about missing anything!!!

 

[tkd lisa]

The only excursions I would worry about booking ahead would be on CC. And only if it's something you really want to do. You will have more than enough to do on CC just enjoying the island. The snorkling/float tube, bike rental, boat rental type excursions are always available on a walk up basis. Things like fishing, parasailing, and certain high demand banana boat times can fill up (fishing is almost always full by the time you boat the cruise ship). If you really want to do one of those things, I'd suggest pre-booking. Other than those things, I'd just enjoy all that's available in the price of your cruise, and save the excursion $ for souveniers, pictures, drinks of the day, or any of the million other ways that you can use it

 

[prymsu]

not sure i am understanding you correctly, but i don't think that you can book any excursions in advance if you final payment has not yet been received...

 

[NYGiantsRule!]

If you go to the DCL website and click on "Fun On-shore" and then "Nassau Excursions", it will list all of the Disney sponsored excursions and the prices they charge for each one. You can book your excursions at the 60 day mark.

 

[Lynda Silk]

If you were interested in doing an excursion in Nassau, we did the glass bottomed boat on our last cruise. It's not very expensive and I think it only lasted 2 hours or so. It was nice to get onto the ocean and my kids (aged 8 and 10 years old then) liked seeing the fish through the glass bottom. We were back on the ship before lunch and were able to enjoy the ship's amenities then.

We had been in Nassau 10 months before and my kids did not want to walk around Nassau or do any shopping. I suggested staying in the kids club but they wanted to be with us. So this excursion was a great interim measure where we still got out, were able to see the sights a bit and we were able to enjoy the ship too under less crowded conditions.

The glass bottomed boat excursion is offered by Disney so you'll find details on the DCL web page as mentioned by a previous poster.

Have a great time on your cruise! You will have a wonderful time!

 

[jrabbit]

If your kids like aquariums, I would go over to the Atlantis resort and tour "The Dig". It's one of the best aquariums I have ever seen and it is well themed.

I would get off the ship to send yourself a post card from Nassau and other than that, I would stay on the ship on Nassau Day.

As far as Castaway Cay goes, you don't have to reserve snorkel equipment, floats or bikes ahead of time - they have plenty. If you want to do the banana boat or parasailing or some other excursion, you should sign up for it ahead of time. That way you will know you got it and don't have to stand in line on the ship making the ressie - rookie I didn't just say that did I Sorry

 

[webray]

For our first cruises..visits to each island...we opted to only do the taxi tour of the islands..other than that..we wanted to explore and get a taste of the island for ourselves.