Nassau - excursions on our own

[Dug720]

For the Colonial Hilton day pass, you don't actually get a room, you just get use of their pools and beach and a food/drink credit. Not sure how that translates if using Hilton points.

I know. I was agreeing with @TigerLaw in getting the day pass and referencing @fredandkell who was saying to use points to get a room there. Given that check in is 4pm and rooms are not guaranteed before then, IMHO it's a waste to use points for the room and better to just get the day pass.

 

[SnowWhite2]

Discover some out of the way places, eat great food & learn some Bahamian history and culture--take the Bahamian Food Tour. We had a great time!

https://www.trubahamianfoodtours.com

We did this in Nassau and I highly recommend it. I found it on tripadvisor. It had high ratings.

 

[cscream13]

Another option, if you're a Hilton Honors member, is to cash in some points for the cheapest room at the Hilton - about a 5-10 min. walk from the cruise ship. http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/bahamas/british-colonial-hilton-nassau-NASHIHH/index.html We did this on our last Royal Caribbean cruise after we had to stay an extra day in Nassau because our private island day was canceled. It's a small beach, but very close to the ships and easy to get to, and if you use points, you have a room for naps, showers, etc. There's a pool, a poolside bar, umbrellas, towel service, coffee shop, etc. (It would be v. overpriced to pay for a room here - but when we did it, the points weren't that much - I want to say 20,000 - it was way "cheaper" than paying for 4 people to do an offsite cruise-sponsored beach excursion). Similarly, if you're a Marriott person, you can burn points for Atlantis access.

@fredandkell, did you have any trouble checking in early? As others have mentioned, it seems a little risky to hope you can check in at 9 or 10 am when official check in time is 4 pm. Then again, resorts usually let you use their facilities the day you arrive if your room is not ready yet. I'm interested in hearing more about your experience. I have a lot of Hilton Honors points, so it woyld be nice to use those rather than buying 4 day passes.

 

[fredandkell]

We had no problems checking in early. Our situation was a little unique, because we found out that we were not going to be able to dock on Royal Caribbean's private island and that's when we were told we would be staying in Nassau an extra day, so we redeemed the points the day before we were going to use the beach and at that time they had a ton of rooms still available. Also, I think the important thing to remember here is that we were not redeeming the points for the room itself; we were redeeming them for the access to the beach. The room itself turned out to be a nice perk for the shower, etc. but our main reason for getting a room here at all was simply to be able to get to a beach. From what others have been saying, it looks like we could've paid for a day beach pass, but at the time I did not know that and literally was faced with making a split second decision about salvaging our cruise. On that note I will never choose another Royal Caribbean cruise that purports to go to its private island again, as this was the second time we have missed their private island. I have since heard they have about a 50% miss rate.

 

[amym2]

We had no problems checking in early. Our situation was a little unique, because we found out that we were not going to be able to dock on Royal Caribbean's private island and that's when we were told we would be staying in Nassau an extra day, so we redeemed the points the day before we were going to use the beach and at that time they had a ton of rooms still available. Also, I think the important thing to remember here is that we were not redeeming the points for the room itself; we were redeeming them for the access to the beach. The room itself turned out to be a nice perk for the shower, etc. but our main reason for getting a room here at all was simply to be able to get to a beach. From what others have been saying, it looks like we could've paid for a day beach pass, but at the time I did not know that and literally was faced with making a split second decision about salvaging our cruise. On that note I will never choose another Royal Caribbean cruise that purports to go to its private island again, as this was the second time we have missed their private island. I have since heard they have about a 50% miss rate.

Hmm, interesting since on our Disney cruise we were not able to dock at Castaway Cay, but on our RCCL cruise we docked at their island no problem! Hoping we have better luck at Castaway Cay this December!

 

[mmfox316]

I used to just stay on the ship. However last cruise we did the Blue Lagoon beach day. I really liked it. The food was ok. I believe there was some chicken. The lagoon was nice and calm but we went in early November and the other side of that little island has a small beach with huge waves. It made for great body surfing. However, it did take a little bit to get there and back but I thought it was worth it.