I would also like to point out that the person killed attempted to stop the robbery. That is very brave. However, most of the time, they will tell you just to give up whatever belongings you have, because people being gunned down in the street is much less common.
Did anyone hear about the shootings at a Mother's Day parade I think in Baltimore? So really, it's not just Caribbean cities, it seems like its anywhere PEOPLE are.
I do think you can have a safe time at Nassau. When you book an excursion, there are guards right there at the pier and they escort you right to your ferry through the gates, and you have to have your ticket because they only allow the ones with tickets/wristbands etc to go through the gate on the ferry. We noticed a heightened security right by the pier. Once we boarded, it was only crew members and tourists. Blue Lagoon was totally, completely safe. No one offered to sell us ANYTHING. No one asked to braid our hair, or buy this etc. It was so easy going. We kept our eye on our belongings because of other tourists but not because of locals.
So to new cruisers, I think if you book a tour like a catamaran snorkel (very very safe) or the ferry to the Blue Lagoon (very very safe also), you will be just fine.
The only caution is that when you come back, they drop you off right in front of the straw market. We were glad because we had a little bit of shopping to do at the strawmarket (we planned it, we knew exactly what we wanted and then we ran outta there) and got directions to the Tortuga shop, all of which is within sight line of the Cruise ship. It was just my twinkie and I, two blondes, for about 40 min getting our shopping done. We minded our surroundings and didn't lalligag and then got back on the ship.
But if you don't want to shop, you don't have to, you can walk 5 min and be right at the check in point to get back on the boat.
If you don't want to get off Nassau, you don't have to. If you want to do something safe, my suggestion is to book a professional excursion as most of these have very good reputations and they have guards escort you right off the pier to take you away from the city (where the real beauty is anyway.) The bahamas and reefs are beautiful!
In all honesty, it's not any different than Jamaica, or Costa Maya, Honduras, Belize got a bad rap too, Mexico etc. The only rich island I've ever seen was Grand Cayman, and it is British owned I think, but there are tons of banks in that town. Which is funny because you always see the 'bad guy' on the TV show with a foreign account in the Cayman Islands. haha.
Use your sense, don't go far from well populated areas. And as for the comment about a fist fight at Senor Frogs, well enough said! It's Senor Frogs. They have one on every island and people go there just strictly to get toasted...
We've had two great cruises to Nassau. We had something booked each time. (although our friends went to Junkanoo public beach and didn't say they felt unsafe or anything...)
I wouldn't hesitate to go back in a moment! Beyonce and Tiger Woods have houses right there, Atlantis major huge ginormous resort is right there. Yes there are some bad areas, but there are plenty of beautiful and safe areas too. I think that can be said of any city.
