Ever cruise and NOT do an excursion at the port stops?

[Aimeedyan]

Have you ever cruised and not booked an excursion? This is REALLY a budget trip and we're wondering if it's worth spending money on. Our two ports are Coco Cay (RCCL beach) and Nassau. I hear mixed reviews on Nassau but my mother was determined to go to the Bahamas and not Mexico so there you go!

In Nassau, can we just lay on the beach? Or wander the city? For free? Or must we book something to do that? I figure Coco Cay will be great to relax at, too, and I was slightly interested in snorkeling there perhaps...

(I'm going to hop to CruiseCritic.com as well!)

 

[Kim in TN]

we've been on 2 short Disney cruises with the 3rd planned for June and we've never been on an excursion. We seem to really enjoy ourselves, just looking around and enjoying the ship. (We aren't big Bahamas fans)
Good Luck with whatever you decide

 

[Chattyaholic]

Yes, you can just get off the ship in Nassau and wander around the town on your own. We did that our first time there, mainly just went into some of the shops to buy a few souvenirs then got back onto the ship. The last time we were there we had my parents with us and we did take a horse and carriage ride that wasn't very expensive but we've never really done an excursion in Nassau. I'm not sure how close a beach is, you may have to do an excursion if you want to do that, or maybe just take a local taxi.

We didn't get off the ship when we stopped in Key West on one of our Disney Magic cruises. We decided to just stay on and enjoy relaxing and getting some sun in lounge chairs. I did regret that though, that we didn't at least get off and walk around.

 

[Anna114]

I was just in the Bahamas this Sept. on the Zenith. We were suppose to go the Bermuda but that was the same week that Florence hit Bermuda. Anywho, when you get off the ship your sent through a bldg. when you exit there, there are a large amount of taxis offering to take you to the Atlantis Hotel. The taxis aren't expensive, you can walk around the Atlantis and then just hang on the beach. Not expensive excursion!

 

[BostonTink85]

Yes....we did the Norwegian cruise to Bermuda from Boston and did not do anything that was planned on through the cruise, which is what I consider an excursion. We went to the beach a few days, and then we took the public transportation to Hamilton (major city) one day and took a tour of the island in a cab. It's fun to just go out and explore!

 

[of the seas]

I would also recommend taking a taxi to see the Atlantis in Nassau. For our family, there wasn't much to do there except a little shopping. I didn't see any public beaches by the dock.
In Cocoa Cay, you can easily not do an excursion there. You can sit on the beach all day if you want. When we went, Royal Caribbean had activities planned there also.

 

[Beth76]

Here's what we did in Nassau. We got a cab and said "take us to Cable Beach". He dropped us off at the Radisson and we walked right through the lobby to the beach (there were signs). We got out to the beach and walked one hotel over to the Wyndham (I think). We just found some chairs and sat down. A waitress came over a few times and took drink orders for us. The bar was playing nice music. We just vegged on the beach for a couple of hours and swam--the water was beautiful. When it was time to head back to the ship we got the jitney instead (much cheaper and actually nicer) which dropped us off right in front of the pier.

If you look on the Bahamas Port of Call page on Cruise critic you can probably hear from other people who did this. We went 2 years ago and people were saying this was perfectly acceptable with the hotels--they just hope that you buy drinks from their bar. There were a few people who said that they were asked by security if they were hotel guests and then asked to leave. We were not bothered by anyone and spent at least 3 hours there.

ETA: Coco Cay was great too. We did snorkle and it was great. They've got a nice little lagoon that you can go in and then it breaks out into the open water (which actually freaked me out a bit). But it was very nice. We brought our own snorkeling gear, but you can rent everything you need fairly cheaply. The buffet at coco cay is also included (watch out for seagulls), you just pay extra for drinks.

ETA again: There's a hotel right next to the pier Hilton Colonial Inn (I believe) that I think sells day passes for something like $15. You might want to look into that too because that would be "legit".

 

[JadenLayne]

Well we didn't go to the Bahamas so I don't know if it's any help but we just got back from Costa Maya and Cozumel last week and didn't do an excursion at either port. In Costa Maya we rented a golf cart and went to the little fishing village and in Cozumel we rented a jeep and drove around the island. I'm pretty sure there is shopping right at or near the pier regardless of where you go, LOL!

 

[Kteacher]

The jitney is a great way to travel, and is only 1.00 each way. There is a stop right across from the British Hilton. You can spend a day at the beach for very little money. Are you sailing on the Sovereign? The last time I sailed on that ship it was in Nassau until late at night. You can take a cab over to the Atlantis, and if you time it right, you can see the " Digs " - the aquarium on the lower level for much less than the " day rate " . Security is usually a lttle more relaxed after 5 or 6 in the evening . Cococay is a nice day at the beach- you will just be paying for your drinks. Have a great cruise!!!!

 

[Kitty 34]

When we did a cruise and were at Cozumel, we did some shopping right there off the ship and then in the afternoon spent the whole afternoon on the ship at the pool. It was great as we had the pool area almost all to ourselves!!

 

[Cindy B]

Yes we did that on our entire Disney cruise. We walked around St. Maarten and hated it, so we did nothing. We also walked around St. Thomas as well, not doing anything either.

We got back on the boat and enjoyed an empty ship.

 

[mrsltg]

I generally do a cruise for the ship and the sailing as opposed to the ports. DH and I have come to realize that the third world looks the same be it warm, cold, or otherwise and it's just more relaxing to stay on the ship and lay by the pool while it's empty.

If the ship has a private island we get off and hang out at the beach. I will rent snorkeling equipment - does that count?

Have a wonderful vacation!

 

[debbi801]

Have you ever cruised and not booked an excursion? This is REALLY a budget trip and we're wondering if it's worth spending money on. Our two ports are Coco Cay (RCCL beach) and Nassau. I hear mixed reviews on Nassau but my mother was determined to go to the Bahamas and not Mexico so there you go!

In Nassau, can we just lay on the beach? Or wander the city? For free? Or must we book something to do that? I figure Coco Cay will be great to relax at, too, and I was slightly interested in snorkeling there perhaps...

(I'm going to hop to CruiseCritic.com as well!)

Yes, and actually prefer it that way. I'd rather do my own thing than be running around on a tour. Generally you can get information on the ship about each port ahead of time--such as good vs. bad beaches, unsafe areas, reputable stores, etc. We've even rented a car before to explore the island. Just keep an eye on time so that you have plenty of time to get back to the ship.

 

[mickeyboat]

We did not book excursions on either of our cruises. Our first cruise was a country music cruise, so events (concerts) were planned while we were in port. We did have a little free time in Nassau, and just walked around a bit.

On our Disney cruise, the kids were too small for most of the excursions, and we were not comfortable leaving them on the ship while we were not there, so we did our own thing. On St. Maarten, we walked around town a bit, and staked out an umbrella and chairs on the beach near port, and hung out there. At St. Thomas, we took the ferry to St. John and walked around - St. John is where we honeymooned, and it was neat to bring the kids there years later.

The only thing I did not like about not booking an excursion on DCL was that in St. Thomas we had to tender to shore. All the people who had booked excursions got to leave the ship first, and we had to wait unti leveryone else had disembarked before we could tender.

Denae

 

[DMRick]

There isn't that much to do on either port. We just got back from a RCCL cruise from Port Canaveral and that's where we went. We did go on a segway tour in Nassau, but other than that, we walked around and used an internet cafe, then got back on the ship and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the ship (relatively..we seemed to be on a pretty lively ship). There are a ton of stores. The usual flea type market where you can bargain, and a ton of upscale stores. Not much different from being home.

For Coco cay, be sure you have water shoes. Lots of rocks as you get in. We brought our own snorkel gear, but they did make us rent their snorkle vest ($6 each). We also went to Walmart and bought $1.98 floating thingy's, since they rent foam floaties at Coco Cay for $10 each. We didn't end up using them, so I don't know if they would have stopped us. You will be served a great free lunch at Coco Cay and while they will try hard to sell you water as you wait to tender off the ship for $3 a bottle, they have free ice water and lemonade on the Island.

 

[rigs32]

Just as an example, on our recent cruise we booked an excursion independantly for $55pp that would have cost $178 through the ship and we had a MUCH smaller group of 15 instead of 50. A little time invested on the message boards at cruisecritic.com can save a lot of money and still give you a great trip.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Y'all are awesome! Thanks for all the great info; I think we'll skip the excursion bookings for now since it's our first cruise and may want a little more freedom to check things out.

Yes - we're crusing on the Sovereign =)