Nassau Questions

[aurora21]

I am a first-time cruiser and will be going on the Wonder as part of the Land and Sea vacation. I am curious about some things at Nassau.

First, has anyone been on the Historic City Tour? Is it any good? I have this fear that it's a bunch of us crammed into a bus zooming by as the driver shouts facts back at us.

Also, I was hoping someone could tell me about the shopping and straw market. What types of things do they sell? Is it worth going to?

 

[Cruisin]

Hi Aurora21

I just wanted to be the first to welcome you to the DISboards.


I have been to Nassau many times but actually prefer to stay on the ship. I have been off the ship but can't help you too much. We did a tour of Atlantis.
The shopping area is well within walking distance of the ship. Never have been to the Straw Market either.

Anyhow, have a good trip, when are you going

 

[aprilgail2]

The straw market sells a bunch of touristy type junk....one booth has the same as the next. I didn't find it enjoyable at all. If you choose to get off the ship in Nassau (which I wouldn't recommend) go to Atlantis.

 

[wayneg]

We got off the ship for about 1 hour, walked around straw market and a few streets then back on the ship. This was 1 hour wasted, it is a dump. Stay on the ship.

 

[musicgirl]

Now, I have a little different view from some of the others.
We've been twice. Both years, we've done excursions. This past year, we also went into Nassau.

We did the Blue Lagoon excursion and had a wonderful time. Clean, clear water with a shallow inlet. Perfect for little kids. We did our very first snorkeling and loved it.

This year, we did the catamaran sail and snorkel. This was great. And not so long that we didn't have time on the ship. We went back, ate, showered and then went into Nassau.

Now, one of the reasons I like to go on cruises is to experience different cultures. I love the ship, but I probably could be a lot less sea sick at an all inclusive resort. You don't have to spend all day on Nassau. We went for an hour or two.

It was very hot, and yes the booths had alot of stuff. But I also found a beautiful ornament that is one of my favorites. At least go and experience it. It may remind you just how lucky you are to live where you do. I do feel bad for the people who live there. I think it is very important for our children to experience as well. They need to see how some people live.

 

[wayneg]

Hi musicgirl
Maybe I didn't give Nassau a chance but all we got was hassle from locals near the port. I am not easily intimidated but it was too much for me. I find being sociable encourages you to spend your dollars instead of hassle. I do not know much about the Island coming from UK so do not want to knock it too much. If you want to let your children experience other cultures I can recommend parts of Africa and Bulgaria where they welcome foreigners.

 

[inkkognito]

After 35 Disney cruises, we usually just stay on the ship now. But quite a while back (I think it was our first trip to Nassau), we did the island tour because we wanted to do something sponsored by Disney to simplify things. We were, indeed, loaded into a van, but our driver was a real character and made it very interesting and enjoyable. There were stops at major attractions such as the Queens Staircase and the fort, and inbetween he shared the history of Nassau and also some interesting facts about daily life. If the tour is still the same, I would recommend it. Hopefully someone who has done it more recently can confirm or deny.
The Straw Market is like a flea market on steriods, with items like straw bags, beach towels, t-shirts, etc. If you can stand aggressive merchants, then go for it. If not, stay away! If you buy something, be sure to drive a hard bargain as they will quote high first. Since they all have the same merchandise, you can always walk away if you are not happy with one vendor and get the same item somewhere else.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[HooKooDooKu]

If you like boat rides, I'd suggest the Historical Harbor cruise. They put you on a typical 40' boat and sail around the harbor and tell you about the things you see. I recall that it's not very expensive, and as long as you don't expect alot, it's fun. You even get a pretty good advantage point to take a picture or two of the Disney Wonder. It's sort of like the historic tour, but you're not crammed in a mini-van; there's space to get up and move about.

 

[S. C.]

We have been to nassau twice. first time was on a carnival cruise in 1996 we did walk around town and do some shopping. At that time it seemed every few feet was someone asking to braid my hair, i always said a polite no thank you and kept walking. if you do walk around be very careful crossing the streets as traffic seemed to always be in a hurry. carnival cruise line told us which stores to go to and the ones NOT to go to.
This year in july we were there on a disney cruise. We had pre booked on our own to swim with the dolphins at blue lagoon so we just got a taxi over to paradise island and caught the ferry to blue lagoon. After the swim we went back to the ship, and after showering and lunch decided to stay on board.


Here is a link for Q&A forum bahamas....just scroll down. Hope this helps.
http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=frm&s=927093444&f=278097554

 

[nickglover]

We went on the historical city tour in November and we thought it was worth $22 and tips - we were in a mini van and went to the Queen's Staircase, two forts, and drove by some shacks and some very nice residences and then out to Cable Beach and back to town, with our driver providing information as we drove. The view from the forts is very nice, and you can see the ship from one. What I enjoyed the most about the tour was just driving by places and observing daily life, such as school kids in uniforms in the playgrounds, shopkeepers, etc. - it gives you more of a feel for the island than just shopping or snorkeling.

I would recommend the tour, but don't look for much else than mentioned above. It is only about 2 1/2 hours. We started at 10 am and then had lunch on the ship and then took a taxi to Atlantis.

 

[gshoemate]

We went on our first cruise in Novemeber and even though we didn't do any excursions, we did go to Nassau to walk around the shops. Since we were the first ship of the day to dock, when we got onto Nassau all the locals were there waiting. You will get asked many times if you need a taxi and asked many time if you want your hair braided, all you need to do is say no thank you and keep walking. Once you get away from the main building and into the shopping area, not to many people will bother you. We took our Navigator with us and mostly went into the shops that were listed in it. We didn't buy much but I am glad we got to see the island. We were there for about 2 hours then went back to the ship. I agree, watch the traffic, it seems very congested and they drive very fast.

 

[hydster]

We loved Nassau when we went last year! We had 3 kids and 2 grandparents with us and had a fun time. We did the glass bottom boat tour through Disney's excursions and while it was "cheap" compared to others we felt it was a huge waste of money and time and wished we had just done our own thing from the beginning. When we got back to the ship we snagged our own taxi and had him take us on a "native" tour of the city. It was ALOT of fun and very inexpensive for the 7 of us. We then stopped at the straw market and it is pretty much tourist junk but it was fun to barter with the locals. We found if you were a little forceful they would leave you alone on the hairbraiding and taxi's but you do have to have a pretty forceful NO. We thought the people were very pleasant and nice and it was fun teaching our kids how to barter to get what they wanted. We thought it was a good learning experience for our kids to see that not everyone in the world lives in a huge house and not all of them are well off. That is one of the major reasons we choose cruising is for our kids to experience many places in a short period of time while still getting to have fun and learning take place. We may do Atlantis if we get back to Nassau but for us just being there was fun.
I know we are in the minority especially on this board but we did enjoy Nassau and would definitely get off the ship again.

Heidi

 

[reggit]

We did the city tour in 98. When we took it we traveled in mini vans. It gives you view of the place but is nothing spectacular.

If it is still around there was a small marine park (again 98) that was very good. It had a underwater viewing area. I would recommend the park over the city tour.

 

[mm126]

Can anyone tell me what time you have to be back on the ship in Nassau before it leaves. We are going on the Blue Lagoon excursion and are thinking about taking the first ferry back in order to allow time for the Pirate Museum. Is this possible?

 

[HooKooDooKu]

I seem to recall that the ship doesn't leave Nassau until midnight and that in general you have to be back on board 30 minutes to an hour ahead of time.

So unless they are locking up the ship at night fall now, you can stay out until at least 11 o'clock at night. I've been out that late to get a cool night time picture of the ship by walking over to the other dock at the port.

 

[jlp651]

aurora21
this is our first cruise too...and just like you I'm a little worried about getting off the ship...having never been to Naussau I would like to take a look around...but I dont want to deal with the locals...So, I reserved the dolphin encounter...it says it takes up to 4-7 hours...which is enough time to do something we have never done before and take a look at the land...usually when BF is doing something new..we would spend the entire day looking at the history and the straw market -sometimes the boy needs to be put on a chain!!! Honeslty, I think anyplace can be as great or as terrible as you want to make it to be...
I'm hoping we'll get back to the ship!!!

 

[awatt]

Don't know if you're interested in the beach/ocean. if so go to British Colonial Hilton,a short walk from the pier. You can get a day pass for $10 or $15. Beach is clean and quet. There's a pool and outdoor restaurant too. No vendors on their beach. It was a wonderful day and I'm glad I got off teh boat to enjoy it.

Our experience shopping in Nassau has been good. Some of the shops have some lovely things and we've never felt harassed.

 

[currycook]

Hey, unlike some, we always enjoy the straw market. Yes, for many American's its a bit too "third worldish". But it is how many parts of the world trade. They do have some "junk" but they also have some real great items there. For instance they sell some great artistic and authentic wood cravings at great prices. Also some simple but very nice and authentic native Jewelry . Please understand the straw market is just a small part of Nassau, but so often one only sees negative reations to it. I think many enjoy it and it represents a real part of much of the third world.

 

[musicgirl]

Wayneg, if someone would adopt my family (there are only 3 of us) and take us to Bulgaria and Africa, I would go in a heart beat! Any takers? I guess the need for"cultural experience" is the teacher in me.

I agree with currycook. There is alot of "stuff". I was fascinated watching the carver. Had it not been so hot, I would have liked to stay a little longer with just my sister. We are the shoppers, I'm not a very good bargainer however. If the price is right, I just walk away.

There were so many straw purses, but we looked carefully and my niece found a very nice one that didn't look "junkie" for lack of a better word.

And gshoemate is right, once you get past the main entrance, there are not so many people bothering you.

I loved one lady in a store who was singing a folk song and her little kids were dancing with her. It was sweet.

I did feel bad for the little kids selling the whistles. What a hard way to grow up. If you do want to buy one, just make sure its not the one that they play on! They play them and then try to hand you it to buy.

 

[Little Twin Stars]

Originally posted by hydster
We thought it was a good learning experience for our kids to see that not everyone in the world lives in a huge house and not all of them are well off.

Hi Hiedi, very good ideas! I am sure you are a creative mom
How old are you kids?