Do you always book an excursion?

[laura12581]

How many of you just on the cruise and don't book any excursions? Is there anything to do in Nassau that doesn't involve an excursion? We are going on our First cruise in Sept for our first wedding anniversary and money is a bit tight, so I am just trying to save as much $ as we can. Will we still have fun without a list of excursions?
Laura

 

[videogal1]

How many of you just on the cruise and don't book any excursions? Is there anything to do in Nassau that doesn't involve an excursion? We are going on our First cruise in Sept for our first wedding anniversary and money is a bit tight, so I am just trying to save as much $ as we can. Will we still have fun without a list of excursions?
Laura

I have been to Nassau several times and only taken two excursions. The first, a taxi tour around town, was notable for the hilarity of the driver and the surprising clash of poverty and wealth...This was 1990...You can take that tour simply by hailing a cab and asking for a tour. The second was a tour of the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, notable for the fact that the water taxi refused to take me back to the ship (the Oosterdam). Luckily this was a ship-organized excursion or I might have had to become a permanent resident there... I have struck out on my own only once in Nassau on what I now call the dead body and drug tour... You won't be missing much by staying on the ship there unless you crave that once in a lifetime unplanned adventure...Nassau seems, at least in my experience, to excel in unplanned opportunities to take part in an eventual conversation stopper....

On the westward repo cruise I arranged a full schedule of ship-sponsored excursions and ended up, for one reason or another, cancelling all but one...I don't feel at all deprived. The adventures I had on my own or with other, like-minded, passengers more than filled the hours in port enjoyably. Go with the flow...

 

[JSCTRico4]

Our first cruise was a little Carnival to Mexico. We were clueless. We ended up getting in this little tour that was like $20. per person and now that I think of it, it's pretty scarry that we just got on a bus with no idea who was taking us where.....

Now, with that said, the fact that you are researching on these boards says you are yards ahead of where we were...... you have the internet to research interesting things to do that don't necessarily cost money. All I can say is that from what I hear, Disney does extensive checking on all it's excursions for quality. You are definitely paying for it, but, at least you know what you are getting!

 

[lbgraves]

We have been on both the Eastern & Western and have never done an excursion. We have enjoyed getting off the ship & walking around the area near the pier and doing a little souvenier shopping before heading back to enjoy the deserted ship.

 

[jilljill]

We have been on both the Eastern & Western and have never done an excursion. We have enjoyed getting off the ship & walking around the area near the pier and doing a little souvenier shopping before heading back to enjoy the deserted ship.

This is exactly what we have done in the past on our 4 cruises. It's nice to walk around the port for a bit, get back on the ship for a nice lunch and then back off the ship for a bit then hit the uncrowded pool.
Personally I don't like Nassau and if we go on a 3 or 4 day again we won't get off the ship. I think the last time we were there we got off for about an hour to get 1 piece of jewelry.
You will have fun if you decided to get off the ship and shop or sightsee or just staying on the ship and enjoying the pool.

 

[Jsme]

We have done both.

Our most enjoyable excursion was done on our own. We got off the ship and hired a taxi (which by law at that island could only charge a set fee) and did a tour. He was wonderful! It cost us half the amount of the same tour from the cruise line. I have to say this was NOT something we had planned to do at all. It just kind of happened to us.

It really depends on how many times we have been to that island whether we do an excursion or not. Or for that matter if we even get off the ship. What better time to enjoy the ship then when 90% off the people are off?

My DS's favorite excursion was the sting ray excursion at Nassau. This was a great day for the family.

In September (adult only) when we go for 3 days on the Wonder we will stay probably stay onboard and enjoy the spa that day. If we do go off we are considering hiring the horse and buggy. Thought that might be a hoot!

 

[lovinaz]

Having been to Paradise Island on a non-cruise vacation, there is plenty to do! If you like hanging out on the beach, Cable Beach on Paradise Island (by Atlantis) is absolutely gorgeous and free to visit. Just take a water taxi and it is a 5-10 minute walk from where they drop you off. There is also the straw market and a pirate museum within walking distance of the port. The Bacardi rum factory is on the south part of the island, you can take a bus or taxi there. There are neat little restaurants to experience (try the guava duff, it is SO yummy!). I guess it all depends on what interests you.

 

[logan1_2000]

The best excursion is the cruise itself, don't worry if the way in which you are budgeting your trip is amking you get concerned about the costs listed for the formal excursions booked through DCL. You can have a great cruise w/o any of them, as we have on 4 DCL cruises (myself, DW, both now in our *ahem!* early 40's, and DS, now 9). That said--you can find many, many DISers who have had a great time on many of the excursions, and many threads exist about those excursions.

In Nassau, for a beach day at a modest cost, you can take a cab, or even a bus, to the Wyndham and use their beach and pool, and lounge chairs, but do bring your own towels. You can find threads about this, including how to find the bus. On our last cruise it turned out to be not quite warm enough, and way too windy, to want to go in the water, we'd already wandered around the downtown area (and not been impressed) on a previous cruise, so we never got off the Wonder. And enjoyed a ship w/o crowds!

On CC getting a float for the few dollars rental fee is worthwhile, but in case you want to wait n see how the weather is that day for how much water time you will choose, you can make that arrangement right there at the beach and need not book in advance.

 

[ljql_5969]

We have cruised 3 times and 2 out of the 3 times, we have winged it and done our own thing. Probably won't do it any other way from now on. Unless there is an excurion that I just really am interested in. Have fun on your trip!

 

[jrabbit]

In September (adult only) when we go for 3 days on the Wonder we will stay probably stay onboard and enjoy the spa that day. If we do go off we are considering hiring the horse and buggy. Thought that might be a hoot!

Here's a thread on peoples experiences with the horse and carriage ride (be sure to click on my link in this thread "a different perspective...)

 

[jrabbit]

OK, back on the Orignal Topic - do we always do an excursion in port.

We will always get off of the ship in every port that we can - if for no other reason than to say that we've been there. On our next cruise we will be sending ourselves postcards from each port.

We usually do DCL excursions - most of the time the money "saved" by doing it on our own doesn't justify the "risk". We mostly go snorkeling. If we want to do a beach day - we will do it on our own because for 4 of us we can do 90% of the DCL excursion for 25-30% of the cost (and that is worth any "risk")

I don't want to leave you with the impression that doing shore excursions on your own is Risky - because there are some very reputable vendors in each port that don't do Disney (ie Captian Marvin's in Grand Cayman).

You don't have to get off of the ship (and do a shore excursion) in order to have a great cruise. You don't have to buy drinks every day to have a great trip. You don't even have to go to the spa - and you will still have a Wonderful or Magical cruise! You don't have to spend any money other than tips to your room steward and wait staff and still have a great cruise.

You're going to Nassau. If you enjoy Sea World or aquariums or zoos for that matter I would go over to the Atlantis Resort on Paridise Island (it's just across the "river" (hey - that's what it looks like) ok, it's a channel between the two islands) and go on the tour of "The Dig" It's an aquarium with the Lost City of Atlantis theme - very well done - lots of sea life and it's clean!! You should be able to do this for about $35 / person (I believe that it's $25 / person for admission and that gives you $10 / person round trip to get there and back again.)

Or Hey, It's Nassau - stay on the ship and enjoy one another's company

 

[Robert and Kelley]

We have also found that when the ship is in port you can enjoy more of it without the crowds. The pools are less crowded etc.

 

[linco711]

The cruise itself in great...no need to spend extra unless you choose to, except for tips. We usually just get off the ship for a short walk, or take a taxi to Atlantis on our own and walk around. At Castaway Cay we just enjoy the beach and nature. I don't think most of the excursions are worth the money to be honest. We really do enjoy the ship though. You'll have a wonderful time..