Nassau excursions for thrill seeking 9 year old

[Missy E.]

Hi everyone! We are planning a land/sea trip this coming December with our 9 year old daughter! This trip will be our first Disney Cruise! We have 4 nights on the Dream stopping at Castaway Cay and Nassau and 3 nights at Universal. Our 9 year old daughter loves fast water rides, boats, coasters, etc. I’m thinking of doing a simple beach day at Castaway Cay but would be open to booking an excursion at Nassau! Any suggestions for a fun, active excursion that we would all enjoy? Would it be possible to combine one “active” excursion with one that offers a more “historical” tour of the area!? Thanks in advance!

 

[Lovewinnie]

We have done the Atlantis Aquaventure. Good mix of slides, pools, river rapids, lazy river. We had a lot of fun. We never made it to check out the other stuff included or the beach

 

[Missy E.]

Thank you! I was looking at that one! Did you do the full day or half day? It’s definitely a bit cost prohibitive to do the full day.. but I did see that we could book the same excursion outside of Disney for less through Viator. You found Atlantis worth the price? How do the slides and rides compare to what’s on Castaway Cay?

 

[Rob1872]

I didn't associate Nassau with "thrill seeking", and I didn't have the budget to do the Atlantis waterpark. If it is your first Disney Cruise, then I'd suggest making a 2nd sea day and spending the day on the ship. It would be a quieter opportunity to do the Aqua Duck, the Midships Dective Agency, do the mini-golf a few times, book some time in the sports simulator, etc.

 

[lklgoodman]

CC only has 2 slides, I wouldn't consider them thrilling for a 9yr old. There are no rides at CC. You can pay extra for things like a boat excursion, bikes, and parasailing.

 

[MausFan]

You can also get to Atlantis on your own via taxi, and buy your tickets there. I'm not sure what the overall savings will be. We took our kids for one day when they were 7 and 10. The oldest was totally up for the tallest of the water slides and blitzed by the adults that were hemming and hawing. The water park is amazing though...pls check out their website. It's nothing like a standard water park. We spent all day there. If you have an adventurous daughter, she'll love it. (There's a very long "lazy" river as well, that picks up speed and isn't so lazy.).

CC is fun and there's plenty for kids to do outside of the excursions. If your daughter made friends in the club, she'll want to hang out with them as well. We used to do a mix of club and family time when our kids were younger.

Enjoy Universal as well...you'll have a great time, especially if she loves coasters.

 

[Lovewinnie]

Thank you! I was looking at that one! Did you do the full day or half day? It’s definitely a bit cost prohibitive to do the full day.. but I did see that we could book the same excursion outside of Disney for less through Viator. You found Atlantis worth the price? How do the slides and rides compare to what’s on Castaway Cay?

We booked through Disney. It was our first cruise and I didn’t want to book independently in case there were issues. We only had the fullday option on our cruise. We stayed longer at Atlantis than on castaway. My son was 9 that trip and loved both locations but were different experiences. There are quite a few posts on disboards about booking a room at comfort inn which can be a cost savings.

 

[Missy E.]

You can also get to Atlantis on your own via taxi, and buy your tickets there. I'm not sure what the overall savings will be. We took our kids for one day when they were 7 and 10. The oldest was totally up for the tallest of the water slides and blitzed by the adults that were hemming and hawing. The water park is amazing though...pls check out their website. It's nothing like a standard water park. We spent all day there. If you have an adventurous daughter, she'll love it. (There's a very long "lazy" river as well, that picks up speed and isn't so lazy.).

CC is fun and there's plenty for kids to do outside of the excursions. If your daughter made friends in the club, she'll want to hang out with them as well. We used to do a mix of club and family time when our kids were younger.

Enjoy Universal as well...you'll have a great time, especially if she loves coasters.

This is really helpful! Thank you! She loves water slides! We typically take a yearly trip to the Wisconsin Dells for the crazy, huge water slides but are skipping it this year in lieu of this trip! I was hoping to work a water park day into the cruise and this sounds like a good fit! The last time we went to Disney our daughter was 5 and we went to Disney World ! We wanted to go to Universal on that trip but she would have been too short for a lot of the rides! This time around I’m hoping the age is perfect! We finally hit the coveted 54 inches for coasters with her!

 

[Lovewinnie]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/atlantis-using-the-comfort-suites-trick-it-works.3662215/

 

[MausFan]

This is really helpful! Thank you! She loves water slides! We typically take a yearly trip to the Wisconsin Dells for the crazy, huge water slides but are skipping it this year in lieu of this trip! I was hoping to work a water park day into the cruise and this sounds like a good fit! The last time we went to Disney our daughter was 5 and we went to Disney World ! We wanted to go to Universal on that trip but y hit the coveted 54 inches for coasters with her!

Hitting the right height is a big deal...the 7 year old was limited for that reason, but it's all for safety, so it makes sense. The tallest slide is daunting, but ridiculously cool...imagine landing in an aquarium, and then you go down one more slide. There are pyramids, etc. in the park. The only caution I have is what I mentioned re the lazy river. Unless it's changed, it picks up speed and you need to be prepared and either be in a two seater with your child or keep a close eye on them.

 

[Lovewinnie]

Hitting the right height is a big deal...the 7 year old was limited for that reason, but it's all for safety, so it makes sense. The tallest slide is daunting, but ridiculously cool...imagine landing in an aquarium, and then you go down one more slide. There are pyramids, etc. in the park. The only caution I have is what I mentioned re the lazy river. Unless it's changed, it picks up speed and you need to be prepared and either be in a two seater with your child or keep a close eye on them.

Just to clarify you are describing the “Current” ride. There is also a true lazy river.

 

[MausFan]

Just to clarify you are describing the “Current” ride. There is also a true lazy river.

You are probably correct...I really don't remember the name.

 

[Lisa F]

I did a snorkel excursion with blue hole water sports with Basil Taylor.

It was great, we were on a small little boat and he took us to a couple of spots - it was a pretty sporty boat ride out to both of them. I am a single mom and did it alone with my 9 year old son. It was a ton of fun, great snorkeling and a beautiful day and felt a bit off the beaten cruise path with how small the boat was (I think maybe 8 people total? maybe 10 at most - there is a picture of him on his boat on the website).

 

[Missy E.]

For those that have responded, if we are purchasing a water excursion, how predictable is the weather in Nassau in December? Is it generally hot? We would be in Nassau around December 18th. I would hate to purchase an excursion and it be chilly!

 

[cvjw]

My sister and her family took a cruise on the dream last December. It was right around the 15th. They were in jackets in pics from Nassau and castaway cay. She said it was too cold for her family to get in the ocean.

 

[cvjw]

Double post!

 

[Lovewinnie]

We cruised in 2017 the end of first week December. We had great weather. We were coming from the midwest. We got in the water at Castaway Cay and I don't remember the water temp being too cold. Also had great weather while at Atlantis too. The only time I remember wearing a sweater was in the MDR for dinner
I'm pretty sure you can check historic temps on Weather.com

 

[Missy E.]

We cruised in 2017 the end of first week December. We had great weather. We were coming from the midwest. We got in the water at Castaway Cay and I don't remember the water temp being too cold. Also had great weather while at Atlantis too. The only time I remember wearing a sweater was in the MDR for dinner
I'm pretty sure you can check historic temps on Weather.com

Great thanks! We are coming from the Midwest as well! Chicago is nice and freezing cold by December! We would find 70’s pretty amazing that time of year!

 

[Lisa F]

here is a website that lists average water temps:

https://www.bahamas.com/faq/average-water-temps
it can get down in the lower 70's in January/February but that is about as high as it ever gets up here in MA so we're used to it.