Excursions for Key West, Nassau, and Castaway Cay

[topo gigio]

Hi. I am a first time cruiser with Disney and my family is leaving from Galvaston in December. I have 2 sons: 9 and 2. We have looked at the excursions and are not sure what to do. We like the idea of the dolphins for me and the 9 year old, but it is so expensive. Is it worth the money? Are there any excursions out there you would recommend and why? Thanks so much for the help!

Sincerely,

Angela

 

[Jennifer777]

We did the Atlantis beach day excursion and it was ok. There was a lot to see and do at the resort and the beaches were beautiful. There were two different dolphin excursions at Nassau. The Atlantis one and the Blue Lagoon and I've heard the Blue Lagoon one is a lot better but can't say from personal experience. Our friends said they didn't get very much time at all with the dolphins at Atlantis so it was worth it to cross it off the bucket list but they wouldn't do it again. Castaway Cay is one of our favorite places so we usually just stay on the island. The stingray adventure is right there on the beach so you can do that and still have a full day at the beach. We've done the snorkeling which is inexpensive and pretty neat, lots of things to see underwater. The cabanas are awesome if you can get one! Our friends rented jet skis and their video looked amazing so we may try that next time. key West is on our itinerary this March and we're thinking of trying the snuba adventure.

 

[sambycat]

asa first time cruiser i would definitely say there is much to do at all the stops without having to do extra excursions so take heart! castaway cay obviously just being on the beach and soaking in the atmosphere is easy and so wonderful, you could rent fins and snorkels if you so desire. key west is really walking distance from port and you can look around, maybe eat something, maybe go into shops or something, it's lively and colorful. nassau would be a great place to do a paid excursion if that interests you, summits people book privately with companies which has advantages and disadvantages but, personally, as a first time cruiser, i wouldn't really bother with that. i can't recommend a dolphin experience personally, but i can tell you that nassau is also a great port to stay on the ship and actually enjoy the pool and aquaduck with a little more elbow room! so just know there is plenty to do without having to do excursions. have a great rip - we are doing the same itinerary in November!

 

[TXTransplant]

My son and I (he was almost 9 at the time) did the Dolphin excursion at Atlantis a couple of years ago. It was great and I would definitely recommend it! We also had time to walk around the Atlantis resort and check out the aquarium displays. It was expensive, but I felt like we got our $ worth. In Key West, we just went to the Ship Wreck Museum and walked around. There is no need to book that in advance. I booked the excursion package at Castaway Cay that included the sting rays and the bike riding, but we had really bad weather for the first two hours and the sting ray thing was cancelled. We did get to ride, bikes, though (at no cost since all of the CC excursion expenses were refunded), and we enjoyed that (but probably not enough to pay for just the bike riding).

We are going back this December and are doing the catamaran snorkel excursion in Key West.

 

[bbn1122]

I recommended the snorkeling excursion out of Nassau booked through DCL. It not that expensive and gets you in the water with gorgeous and exotic fish. In Key West, aquarium, Ship Reck museum and Ft Zachary Taylor Beach are great excursions for families.

At Castaway Cay the snorkeling with the Sting Rays, bicycle rental, and the activity area, which features, Basketball, billiards and ping pong are great for a 9 year old with Dad.

Good luck.