Nassau & Castaway Cay Excursion Recommendations

[Bapster]

We will be going on the Disney Dream in February. Does anyone have any recommendations as to the best shore excursions for kids (Mom & Dad, too!)? They'll be 8 & 5 (going on 6). They both love the water.

We'd like to find something not overly crazy as Grandparents are traveling with us (like no hang gliding....LOL).

Also, would you recommend an excursion on Castaway Cay or just enjoying what there is to offer in activities available without booking an excursion? What did you find the most enjoyable?

 

[kateandy08096]

Following. We are going on the dream also Nov 2017

 

[rhinodadz]

For Castaway there's ample to do on the island without an excursion. https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ports/castaway-cay/

 

[cedricandsophie]

The only excursion we have ever done at Castaway are the stingrays. You get in the water with them, touch and feed them. Very easy and I loved it. Otherwise it's just a fun day. If you snorkel you can rent equipment or bring your own like my husband does. There are floats to rent. And if your kids want there are kids program activities all day.

 

[olookasquirrel]

Seconding that Castaway is so much fun without excursions - February will be my third visit and I'm HOPING this time MAYBE to get past the beach!

 

[Luvzmy3boys]

We did the blue lagoon dolphin swim/observer with my extended family (kids ranged from 6 to 8) the first time we stopped in Nassau and enjoyed it. 6 yo was a little nervous at first but had a fabulous time despite the rain. Grandma took photos from observation deck and we all enjoyed the beach after. It was pricey though. This most recent trip we did Atlantis aqua venture which allows you to enjoy the slides and rapid river tubing. We saw adults and kids of all ages on the Rapids (it is not all that scary). Plenty to do at Atlantis. I would not worry about booking excursions on castaway cay-- so much to do. Plenty of equipment if you decide you want to snorkel or rent floats etc. the chat feature of the DCL app does work on the island so you can meet up with your group if you decide to split up or get separated.

 

[griffindesign]

We've enjoyed renting the bikes as a family on castaway cay and exploring. As mentioned before, there is lots to do.

 

[Bapster]

Great! I think we'll just book something for the Nassau day then and hang out at Castaway Cay. Now to figure out what to do in Nassau..... Sooooooo hard to make decisions.

 

[Sytrace]

In Nassau we have done:
the Atlantis beach break and tour of the Dig a couple of times.
Greycliffe Chocolatiers
Walked around the port for awhile and got back on the ship to enjoy some pool time with fewer people. (not empty of course, but definitely smaller crowds)

In CC we have done:
Stingray Adventure (lots of fun...my son and I enjoyed it)
Biked around the island, snorkeled, rented floats and just relaxed. Got off the ship at about 9 AM and hung out for a few hours and then back onboard for some Aquaduck time.
A couple of times we just stayed on the ship and that was fun too. We are from Florida and about 45 minutes from Cape Canaveral so we get to the beach frequently already.

 

[MSPeeler]

We did the Forts and Junkanoo Tour, my husband and FIL are history buffs, so it looked like it could be interesting, but GEEZ it was hot...
You can read about it here in my trip report from our cruise in May: Day 2 is Nassau

http://www.disboards.com/threads/4-night-disney-dream-with-young-kids-5-23-5-27-2016.3517802/

 

[disneyholic family]

we did the blue lagoon island dolphin swim and LOVED it..
you need to be able to swim for that one..
but there's also a dolphin encounter there that gets very very good reviews...
we've done many dolphin swims and thought this place was very well run!!

 

[lovebugsmom]

How much time did you spend in the water with the dolphins at Blue Lagoon Island? Is it organized? We sail in Dec. and I book our port adventures this Sun. I have no clue what I'm doing.

 

[Otimon]

Another vote here for the Greycliff Hotel Chocolate Factory Tour in Nassau. Enjoyed it so much we've done it twice.
"Delicious" fun for the whole family.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We did the Forts and Junkanoo Tour, my husband and FIL are history buffs, so it looked like it could be interesting, but GEEZ it was hot...
You can read about it here in my trip report from our cruise in May: Day 2 is Nassau

http://www.disboards.com/threads/4-night-disney-dream-with-young-kids-5-23-5-27-2016.3517802/

We did this excursion when we were there, also. I thought it was pretty interesting, as I didn't really know anything about Bahamian history/culture.

 

[dcassetta]

I have enjoy both the Greycliff chocolate tour and Blue Lagoon. On the Greycliff tour, there were people 8-80 and everyone seemed to have a great time. Blue Lagoon is beautiful. You can do an animal experience with dolphins or sea lions (Maggie the sea lion is very sweet) or just enjoy the beach there.

 

[disneyholic family]

How much time did you spend in the water with the dolphins at Blue Lagoon Island? Is it organized? We sail in Dec. and I book our port adventures this Sun. I have no clue what I'm doing.

we were on the dolphin swim - i think we were in the water for about half an hour...
both the dolphin swim and the dolphin encounter are very very organized..
we did the swim, but you need to know how to swim for that one..
if you don't know how to swim then do the dolphin encounter..

we LOVED the dolphin swim..
we've done a lot of these dolphin encounter type excursions and the one at blue lagoon was by far the best organized one we've done..
and had the most time with the dolphins we've ever experienced..
if we go to nassau again, we'll definitely do this one again ...

we were right there in the water with the dolphins for a very long time and got to do more things with them than we've ever done before..

i have to find you some youtubes..
lots of people have posted their experiences..

here's one from last year...the photography is choppy since they edited the video to show only the highlights of their group, but you get an idea of how much time each individual gets with the dolphins...though even when another person is up with them, you're right there nearby so it's totally cool...our group at had i think 8 people, the four of us (DH, DD, DS and me), a mother and young son, and a young couple ....it was super fun!!..

here's another from a few years back - but they're all like this..

there are lots of these videos - just go to youtube and write in blue lagoon dolphin swim...and if you want to see an encounter, write in blue lagoon dolphin encounter

.

 

[wishuponastarforever]

We will be going on the Disney Dream in February. Does anyone have any recommendations as to the best shore excursions for kids (Mom & Dad, too!)? They'll be 8 & 5 (going on 6). They both love the water.

We'd like to find something not overly crazy as Grandparents are traveling with us (like no hang gliding....LOL).

Also, would you recommend an excursion on Castaway Cay or just enjoying what there is to offer in activities available without booking an excursion? What did you find the most enjoyable?

 

[ljtraylor]

Definitely considering the Blue lagoon Dolphin encounter or swim for our cruise excursion in December... We are traveling as a party of 8 and not everyone will want to do the encounter... If you choose the Beach day option, can you still observe dolphins? Can you watch your family members do their encounter from the observation area? or do you have to reserve the specific observer package in order to do that? would love mores specifics from folks who have done this. thanks

 

[ChicosWife]

We did the Atlantis Beach Day, in Nassau, which didn't include the water park and it was GREAT! We were able to relax by the water, while our kids played and swam. With that, you get pretty much full access to all of Atlantis (other than the Aquaventure Water Park), but did include the underground artifact "museum", which had a lot of cool stuff.