How crowded is the ship in Nassau?

[sillecruisers]

We have gone back and forth over excursions in Nassau, from the BL dolphin swim to beach day and back, now DH wants to stay on the ship- he read mixed reviews on CC about BL. I have read where a lot of folks choose to stay on the ship because Nassau is not that great. Personally, I want to at least do the BL beach day. I am afraid we won't have "the ship to ourselves" and are missing out on a nice beach day. Thoughts?

 

[DizneyNutz]

There are quite a few passengers who stay on the ship in Nassau. We have the past 3 times we have been there. You definitely will not have the ship to yourselves.

 

[Donna3271]

People tend to stay on the ship in Nassau. The only day I feel it empties out is CC (obviously, I am referring only to the Caribbean/Bahama cruises).

This Thanksgiving, we are actually doing Atlantis again. I no longer feel it is a day to be on an empty ship.

 

[saraheli]

Just sailed on the Dream at the end of June, and there definitely were people on the ship but it feels a lot less crowded. You could actually enjoy Deck 11, whereas on the sea day we avoided it. If I had to guess maybe 40-50% stayed on the ship? Hard to guess. Waits for the aquaduck were around 15 minutes if I remember correctly. I was very happy with our decision to stay on although we've vacationed at Atlantis already so felt no great need to see it again.

 

[TestingH2O]

I would say that at least a third of people left the ship in Nassau, probably closer to half. The wait times for Aqua Duck in the afternoon were short and finding beach chairs was easy. You certainly aren't going to be alone in the pool though.

 

[sistert]

I'm just agreeing with everyone else. A lot of people don't get off the ship in Nassau. I would say that what I've seen (and done myself) is most people get off as soon as they are allowed in the morning (for some shopping) and then get back on not long after lunch. The ship isn't overly crowded but you definitely won't have it to yourself.

 

[mevelandry]

When I went in April, The Quiet Cove was more crowded on Nassau day than any other time during the cruise...

If you decide to stay... do it because you want more time to do stuff on the boat.

 

[Ajojo]

We just got off the Dream and thought the ship seemed empty to us on Nassau day. We figured that people must have gotten off, or were in their room.

 

[squirk]

Atlantis notwithstanding, we have always stayed on the ship at Nassau as well. Frankly, the sight of "Señor Frog's" as you pull up to the dock doesn't really inspire confidence that we'll see any real culture.

As others have said, the ship sure isn't empty, but it is noticeably less crowded. A perfect day for the AquaDuck and character meet-n-greets, especially the earlier ones held before people start coming back onboard.

 

[HonoraryImagineer]

Never been to Nassau myself, first cruise is next month. It seems like from this thread and others that many people don't care much for Nassau. Why doesn't Disney pick a different port? Are all the other options too far from castaway cay?

 

[mevelandry]

Never been to Nassau myself, first cruise is next month. It seems like from this thread and others that many people don't care much for Nassau. Why doesn't Disney pick a different port? Are all the other options too far from castaway cay?

I'm dreaming of a 2 days stop at Castaway Cay.

 

[perditax]

Shouldn't judge a whole island by its cruise port.

If I was more of a beach person I'd probably look into a day pass somewhere like Melia or Sandals.

 

[squirk]

Shouldn't judge a whole island by its cruise port.

Fair point, but it definitely sets a tone, and you only have so many hours to push through that stuff and find the real gems.

 

[Quellman]

Never been to Nassau myself, first cruise is next month. It seems like from this thread and others that many people don't care much for Nassau. Why doesn't Disney pick a different port? Are all the other options too far from castaway cay?

DCL ships are registered to the Bahamas. I would suspect there is an agreement when Disney chose The Bahamas as the registering port that they must port there and bring so many passengers. This is likely true for most lines. Another issue is travel time. Nassau is a very close island port for Florida that provides warm weather and a 'taste of the islands'. Blue water, nice weather, resorts that offer day passes, straw market. The cruises that travel here are often 3-4 day cruises. Longer cruises hit islands further away. The only other option is Freeport, which is also in the Bahamas. Nothing else is close enough for a 3 day cruise.

People who travel on shorter cruises don't see an itinerary change unless they change embarkation ports. So they tire of seeing the same stop over and over. Also, people report that Nassau is not as well kept up as it should be, in terms of cleanliness and crime. So instead of getting off or paying for a pricey day pass to a resort, many people opt to stay on the ship.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

The last time in Nassau, we staying on the ship and while we did not have the ship to ourselves, there was a lot fewer people onboard.

Any added time on a DCL vessel is a great time.

AKK

 

[The Sasquatch]

the ship is "less" crowded but there is still a hard time getting a chair on deck, there is a line for the Aquaduck, etc. Then early afternoon hits and it gets "sea day" crowded

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Wife and I had been to Nassau enough times that the last time we were in port we were going to stay on board, this would have been the Disney Dream. The only reason we got off is because BOTH THE DREAM AND MAGIC were in port at the same time, moored side by side. We got off to take a few pictures and got back on board. The wait for the Aqua Duck was never longer than 10 minutes and you could tell the ship was more mellow than while at sea. But it is by no means empty!

 

[JTBE]

There are definitely people on the ship. We left for a couple hours to enjoy the beach and returned for lunch on the ship bc one of our girls has a severe peanut allergy. We felt better eating on the ship. But definitely everyone in our 8 party loved the water-- so clean, pretty, and clear. We liked the water at Nassau more than CC. We felt the water CC got really murky after having lots of people in the water.