Bahamas cruise port excursions

[loril13]

Crazy slow day at work so I am doing some dreaming for our first cruise in February 2017.
Almost all of the excursions on Nassau look amazing. I haven't even gotten to the ones on Castaway Cay yet.
For those of you who have done four night Bahamian cruises, what excursions did you love / would absolutely have to do again? What ones do you regret / wish you never wasted your money & time on?

Thanks!

 

[dcassetta]

Crazy slow day at work so I am doing some dreaming for our first cruise in February 2017.
Almost all of the excursions on Nassau look amazing. I haven't even gotten to the ones on Castaway Cay yet.
For those of you who have done four night Bahamian cruises, what excursions did you love / would absolutely have to do again? What ones do you regret / wish you never wasted your money & time on?

Thanks!

From Disney - Love Blue Lagoon and I think Ardastra Gardens is lovely if you just want a short excursion. Also enjoy the Chocolate tour at Graycliff. I like Atlantis, but think it is too expensive for what you get.

Non-Disney - Day passes at the Colonial Hilton are nice, I have also heard good things about the Melia, although I have not been there.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

We did Blue lagoon about 6 years ago and loved it!. At that time, most of the animals are ones that had been injured and could not be returned to the sea, which we thought was kool!

AKK

 

[Napoleon Dynamite]

We booked the Blue Lagoon beach day, but not sure if I will keep it. We are doing a short 3 night cruise, and want to enjoy the boat, so might just stay on board again in Nassau. Blue Lagoon looks nice though, although I'm not a fan of the dolphin aspect of it.

 

[Ozarkglittergirl]

We are leaning toward the Discover Atlantis TOUR. Not to be confused with Atlantis Aquadventure. Would love to hear pros and cons on that. Blue Lagoon is 2nd choice. We are doing 5 days with 2 stops at Castaway Cay

 

[Floridatinaherb]

We are leaning toward the Discover Atlantis TOUR. Not to be confused with Atlantis Aquadventure. Would love to hear pros and cons on that. Blue Lagoon is 2nd choice. We are doing 5 days with 2 stops at Castaway Cay

We did the Discover Atlantis Tour last year and thought that it was way overpriced. We left feeling underwhelmed by the whole tour. The aquarium theming was decent, but it was smaller than I anticipated. The hotel interior is quite impressive, but you could tell that the exterior Atlantis has seen better days and needs some tender loving upkeep. We got caught in a rainstorm and none of the drains worked so the whole place had a nasty urine smell to it...smelt like a dirty alley. I have friends who love Atlantis (one group stays there every year), but for us it wasn't worth the money that was charged.

 

[MSPeeler]

We will be doing the Nassau Fort and Junkanoo Adventure at the end of this month, I'll come back to report how it is when we return (if I remember!!)

 

[Ozarkglittergirl]

I Just don't know what to do

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've done the Atlantis dolphin swimming and Blue Lagoon beach day. Atlantis was way, way, way overpriced and I've become a non-fan of the animal experience excursions. Blue Lagoon was nice and relaxing. We only stayed a few hours, so were able to get back on the boat late afternoon (around 2 pm) and enjoy some ship time. Just know, the food at Blue Lagoon isn't very good, so consider bringing some packaged snacks. We did that and then had burgers and ice cream back on the ship. On Castaway Cay, we typically book a cabana. If you can't get one or aren't interested, you really don't need to book anything on Castaway Cay. Chairs are plentiful and you can simply walk up to do things like the water bikes, stingrays, snorkel equipment, bikes, etc.

 

[loril13]

We've done the Atlantis dolphin swimming and Blue Lagoon beach day. Atlantis was way, way, way overpriced and I've become a non-fan of the animal experience excursions. Blue Lagoon was nice and relaxing. We only stayed a few hours, so were able to get back on the boat late afternoon (around 2 pm) and enjoy some ship time. Just know, the food at Blue Lagoon isn't very good, so consider bringing some packaged snacks. We did that and then had burgers and ice cream back on the ship. On Castaway Cay, we typically book a cabana. If you can't get one or aren't interested, you really don't need to book anything on Castaway Cay. Chairs are plentiful and you can simply walk up to do things like the water bikes, stingrays, snorkel equipment, bikes, etc.

Excellent to know. I was looking at the Castaway Cay adventure packs that give you bikes, tubes, snorkel equipment and stingray adventure in a handy dandy package.

 

[kickash]

We are a family of 4 that did the Atlantis Aquaventure excursion last year. It was about $600 for us, so a bit on the pricey side. The park is enormous and it was very crowded that day to the point that we were not able to ride any slides as the lines were all over 45 minutes. We rode their adventure river instead (lots of fun), walked around the grounds, and swam in a few pools. I wasn't overly impressed with the food (our excursion included lunch but it was only available at certain stands and we waited almost 50 minutes for blah burgers and fries). I am glad we went and saw the resort and had pictures with the famed pink hotel and bridge suite in the background, but I would not do it again.

 

[NC State]

I'll be back in Nassau again February 2017. Last time we walked around and didn't feel too safe so we were back on the ship within 45 mins. We are going with a couple this time. We have also started to look at excursions too.

 

[loril13]

We still have our F&WF trip in October to plan and enjoy before we can even book excursions for our Cruise in February 2017. Yet, I cannot stop obsessing over the excursions. lol

One note, we have never left US soil before and we love to walk. (20 years of living in and around Boston turns you into a big walker!) Is wandering on your own safe in Nassau? We want to see and experience the island and the culture. See some shops, eat some food, see local sites. The excursion tours look like they are "drive bys" and you don't actually stop to experience anything. We obviously couldn't wander far with only the one day.

 

[dcassetta]

We still have our F&WF trip in October to plan and enjoy before we can even book excursions for our Cruise in February 2017. Yet, I cannot stop obsessing over the excursions. lol

One note, we have never left US soil before and we love to walk. (20 years of living in and around Boston turns you into a big walker!) Is wandering on your own safe in Nassau? We want to see and experience the island and the culture. See some shops, eat some food, see local sites. The excursion tours look like they are "drive bys" and you don't actually stop to experience anything. We obviously couldn't wander far with only the one day.

I think the tourist area close to the wharf is safe to tour. Be cognizant of your surroundings and stay on the main roads. Here's a walking tour and map of Nassau with points of interest
http://www.frommers.com/images/destinations/maps/jpg-2006/470640-mp0405nassauwalk.jpg
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/new-providence/722464

 

[Imahikergirl]

We still have our F&WF trip in October to plan and enjoy before we can even book excursions for our Cruise in February 2017. Yet, I cannot stop obsessing over the excursions. lol

One note, we have never left US soil before and we love to walk. (20 years of living in and around Boston turns you into a big walker!) Is wandering on your own safe in Nassau? We want to see and experience the island and the culture. See some shops, eat some food, see local sites. The excursion tours look like they are "drive bys" and you don't actually stop to experience anything. We obviously couldn't wander far with only the one day.

We did the walking tour from the Unofficial Guide Disney Cruise in March. We didn't wear expensive jewelry and just carried a small bit of cash split up between us in different pockets. I'd read that some hawkers tried to haggle with you to get you to show how much money you have. Everything was fine. We didn't feel unsafe and the locals were friendly.

 

[Ozarkglittergirl]

Ok I do believe Blue Lagoon is going to be our no.1 choice. It will be July, who wants to walk all over the place in that heat? The more I read about the pools the less I want my granddaughters in them. So, since getting to swim is a huge deal to them , then we'll swim! 2 days at Castaway Cay. One day at blue lagoon and hopefully they wont even miss the on board pool.

 

[summerrluvv]

For those that have done the Blue Lagoon....do they have offer lockers there? Not sure where to put our valuables while in the water (might rent a kayak, etc.), and I don't feel comfy leaving passports, etc. on a beach chair. Also, approximately what time did you get there and what time did you leave? I don't know that I want to spend the entire day there since we are on a short cruise (3 night), and do want to spend some time on the ship.

Also, if you have rented the kayaks on the island, do they offer kid's kayaks? Is the area roped where they can kayak?

 

[dcassetta]

For those that have done the Blue Lagoon....do they have offer lockers there? Not sure where to put our valuables while in the water (might rent a kayak, etc.), and I don't feel comfy leaving passports, etc. on a beach chair. Also, approximately what time did you get there and what time did you leave? I don't know that I want to spend the entire day there since we are on a short cruise (3 night), and do want to spend some time on the ship.

Also, if you have rented the kayaks on the island, do they offer kid's kayaks? Is the area roped where they can kayak?

There are rental lockers available. I am not sure about kayaks.

 

[Frozen2014]

Ok I do believe Blue Lagoon is going to be our no.1 choice. It will be July, who wants to walk all over the place in that heat? The more I read about the pools the less I want my granddaughters in them. So, since getting to swim is a huge deal to them , then we'll swim! 2 days at Castaway Cay. One day at blue lagoon and hopefully they wont even miss the on board pool.

We just went to Blue Lagoon (on Royal cruise)...and loved it. Beach is really pretty with calm water. They provide mats and tubes and you can pay a bit more for extras (Aqua park, water bikes, etc). There is also a Dolphin encounter which we didn't do but walked over to watch. It looked pretty good too. We also enjoyed the ferry ride over.

 

[Luvmypetz]

We did the sea lion encounter back in Feb. Cool concept, fun animals, but basically a photo op at an additional cost. Have been a guest at Atlantis itself and I wouldn't use the short amt of time in port to pay for that excursion. I agree with a previous poster, even a tour of the grounds and aquarium is overpriced. Right off the ship are the usual port stores, DI, Del Sol etc. After 2 cruises they get old. But I never felt unsafe. Way too many people milling about.