Nassau - please help, I keep going around in circles!

[Alfiegeorgina]

We are trying to decide on what to do in Nassau. Options are:

Stay on the ship (although unless it is really recommended otherwise, I would like to see a bit of the island)

Private charter for watersports, sightseeing etc

Dolphin Cay shallow water encounter (can't do deep as will have a 3 year old, and will have already done Discovery Cove prior to the cruise to swim with dolphins while my parents babysit her)

Shallow water plus Aquaventure (but have been really, really put off by reviews of Atlantis and Aquaventure being far too overcrowded).

Or any other suggestions welcome.

I keep going round in circles and really cannot decide!

 

[KashasMom]

I never recommend staying on the ship. Things we've done with our daughter and enjoyed:

Walking Tour - http://www.frommers.com/destinations/new-providence/722464. Ended up in town - had lunch and did a quick trip through the Straw Market (daughter was 3 - had stroller)

Day Pass at the Hilton - http://www.resortforaday.com/British-Colonial-Hilton-Day-pass-p/nsnabch.htm. We've done this twice (daughter was 3 and 4). Nice stretch of beach for playing, great pool, and very good food.

Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon - http://dolphinencounters.com/. We just did this last month (11 family members, daughter is 6). This was my daughter's pick for the cruise and everyone loved it. Even a 3 year old would be tall enough for the encounter (not the swim) and I believe 3 and under is free (nice!). We had a great trainer (he was so funny) and we had a lot of time with the dolphin to touch him (his tongue, teeth, etc.), get a kiss from him, and share a hug. If you are in port long enough, you can spend time on the beach. If you book this, you can book it through Shore Trips (https://www.shoretrips.com/). Blue Lagoon will not let you book directly with them if they know you're coming in on a ship.

Enjoy!

 

[mevelandry]

How long is your cruise?

We did a 3 nights cruise, stayed on board at Nassau and it still wasn't enough time to experience all we wanted to do on the ship...

 

[TLPL]

Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon - http://dolphinencounters.com/. We just did this last month (11 family members, daughter is 6). This was my daughter's pick for the cruise and everyone loved it. Even a 3 year old would be tall enough for the encounter (not the swim) and I believe 3 and under is free (nice!). We had a great trainer (he was so funny) and we had a lot of time with the dolphin to touch him (his tongue, teeth, etc.), get a kiss from him, and share a hug. If you are in port long enough, you can spend time on the beach. If you book this, you can book it through Shore Trips (https://www.shoretrips.com/). Blue Lagoon will not let you book directly with them if they know you're coming in on a ship.

For this dolphin excursion. Should we book the 10:30am time slot? And do you recommend booking the super combo to spend time at theit beach after? Is it difficult to get to their meeting place from the ship? Thanks for answering my questions.

 

[JimmyV]

We have done Blue Lagoon and "Catamaran Sail And Reef Snorkeling" and enjoyed the latter way more. We found Blue Lagoon too crowded and "manufactured" if you know what I mean, whereas the reef snorkeling was in open water and felt much more "real".

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We did the Blue Lagoon beach excursion when my DS was 6. It was very nice and not very crowded. We also enjoyed the boat ride to Blue Lagoon. If you do this, I would just avoid the water inflatables. They didn't seem very safe. And the food was not very good so we just ate a snack and then ate a bigger, late lunch when we got back on the ship.

 

[JTBE]

We just had a beach day and our kids and friends loved it. We did it on our own and not through Disney- way cheaper. We went to the beach after breakfast, played in the sand/water for a couple hours, then went back on the boat for lunch. One of the kids has a severe peanut allergy and we felt safer just eating on the ship. We would have felt cooped up if we didn't leave the ship for a little bit and wanted to see some of Nassau since we have never been there. All 8 of us had a lot of fun hanging out at the beach.

 

[FindMeAFishingSpot]

We have done Blue Lagoon and "Catamaran Sail And Reef Snorkeling" and enjoyed the latter way more. We found Blue Lagoon too crowded and "manufactured" if you know what I mean, whereas the reef snorkeling was in open water and felt much more "real".

We have also done the Catamaran and Snorkling and while we did enjoy it, i don't see doing that excursion with a 3 year old. I had a hard time getting on and off the Catamaran in open water and really can't envision doing any of that with a younger child in tow.

 

[bumbershoot]

Or any other suggestions welcome.

What WE enjoyed was the Graycliff chocolate factory tour. That does get booked through DCL (their excursion seems to be different than what you can book on your own, and includes transportation), and we rarely do excursions through the cruiselines, but we were happy to book that way.

It lets you see a bit of the town, it gives you transportation both ways, you make some chocolate, you can BUY some very very good chocolate, and then you go back to the ship to have fun onboard.

 

[dcassetta]

With a little one, I would also recommend Ardastra Gardens. It's a nice little zoo and an easy cab ride from the ship, or I believe Disney has an excursion also.

 

[JimmyV]

We have also done the Catamaran and Snorkling and while we did enjoy it, i don't see doing that excursion with a 3 year old.

Fair enough. This is not an option for a 3 year old. I just stuck that out there for when other people do searches and come upon this thread. I should have noted that earlier, but thanks for pointing that out!

 

[Tzbwilsonfam]

Following. I've considered booking a room at Comfort Suites so we could go to Atlantis, but still not sure. We will have an almost 3 yr old when we sail.

 

[Alfiegeorgina]

Thank you all so much. We have almost decided on passes for the Hilton to use in the afternoon, with a chartered boat and watersports in the morning.

We are preceding the cruise with 1 week at Universal Studios (inc Sea World, Aquatica and Discovery Cove) and 9 nights at the Grand Floridian doing literally every single character meal that WDW offer, all of the parks and waterparks, both Epcot and Magic Kingdom dessert fireworks parties, the pirates and pals fireworks cruise etc etc and ending with an extra night at WDW to experience the Yacht Club and Stormalong Bay (ie manic manic manic) so this cruise is very much for us our chilled and less Disney-fied part (ie we won't use boat time to get character meets etc, we want to do something away from all of the manufactured fun a little too).

For anyone else reading, I also found the Tiki Bikini beach bar on Junkanoo Beach (rated #1 on Tripadvisor things to do in Nassau) and a pirate museum which is supposedly great. For us though, we want to do the boat trip and some chill time as it is nothing like we will have spent the rest of the holiday doing.

 

[starvenger]

I never recommend staying on the ship. Things we've done with our daughter and enjoyed:
Day Pass at the Hilton - http://www.resortforaday.com/British-Colonial-Hilton-Day-pass-p/nsnabch.htm. We've done this twice (daughter was 3 and 4). Nice stretch of beach for playing, great pool, and very good food.

I second the beach day at the Hilton. Did this last year with a 3 and 6 year old. Your little one may consider the walk to be long, but it's perfectly fine for adults.

Food, I was not as impressed as the pp - it's effectively a bar menu - but it gets the job done. I will note that it will probably take at least 30 minutes to get your food over to you so order early, and maybe 10-15 minutes for drinks. Also you cannot reclaim unused food credit, but it can go towards gratuities.

 

[party-of-five]

I second the beach day at the Hilton. Did this last year with a 3 and 6 year old. Your little one may consider the walk to be long, but it's perfectly fine for adults.

Food, I was not as impressed as the pp - it's effectively a bar menu - but it gets the job done. I will note that it will probably take at least 30 minutes to get your food over to you so order early, and maybe 10-15 minutes for drinks. Also you cannot reclaim unused food credit, but it can go towards gratuities.

I'm interested in this as an option for our day in Nassau next week - can you tell me more about pricing? Where did you purchase your passes? Can you purchase a pass day of? Did they provide towels?

Thanks!

 

[Alfiegeorgina]

Thank you that's great. For the pricing you follow the link in one of the first posts and it takes you to where you book.

We are really looking forward to it now! We will have a stroller for our 3 year old in case she wants it.

 

[party-of-five]

Thank you that's great. For the pricing you follow the link in one of the first posts and it takes you to where you book.

We are really looking forward to it now! We will have a stroller for our 3 year old in case she wants it.

Thanks... Used that link but it said it was sold out for our date. On the Hilton site for the Nassau location is lists slightly higher prices but there isn't anywhere to purchase the passes. So I wasn't sure if the link above was legit. Anyways... I sent them (Hilton) an email. Thank you.

 

[starvenger]

Thanks... Used that link but it said it was sold out for our date. On the Hilton site for the Nassau location is lists slightly higher prices but there isn't anywhere to purchase the passes. So I wasn't sure if the link above was legit. Anyways... I sent them (Hilton) an email. Thank you.

I think each reseller may have a quota.

I did use this site: https://bahamascruiseexcursions.com/NassauHiltonResortPass.htm
so you can try that.