Nassau/Staying onboard - is there enough to do?

[Aimeedyan]

I have no interest in visiting Nassau again so we planned to stay onboard. If it were just me, I could lay in the sun and read for hours but we have a 2 year old (who may not be potty trained by then...).

Besides the pool, what kind of activities might be happening that would be engaging for a toddler? We will be on the 4 night Dream in mid-Sept

 

[nancipants]

Our son is 2.5 and JUST potty trained, but we have a pool at home so I'm not counting on that to hold his interest (especially if it's crowded). I made a mental list of all the activities to try on sea days.

- Nemo's Reef (I imagine our son will want to spend all day here)
- Aqua Lab (if potty trained - ditto to the above) (although not sure if this is also on the Dream - we're on the Fantasy)
- mini golf
- shuffleboard
- open house at the kids club (definitely taking advantage of this as much as possible)
- nursery time for an adult break
- seeing a movie (we are planning to watch Lightyear since he's obsessed with Buzz and this will be his first theatre experience)
- on-demand TV in the stateroom for downtime (he is also obsessed with Spidey and His Amazing Friends)
- mid-ship detective agency (obviously he won't "get" this but I think he'd have fun watching the pictures)
- seeing characters
- any sort of craft activity
- dance parties

 

[Clarkson U]

I have no interest in visiting Nassau again so we planned to stay onboard. If it were just me, I could lay in the sun and read for hours but we have a 2 year old (who may not be potty trained by then...).

Besides the pool, what kind of activities might be happening that would be engaging for a toddler? We will be on the 4 night Dream in mid-Sept

They may have any sort of cartoon type movie playing on funnel vision on deck. Often times they are older movies that resonate better with toddlers.

Also great time to go try out goofy golf on the sports deck with a toddler or have fun letting them shoot baskets on top of your shoulder with a ball. Also i would get some nursery/club time for toddler on that day.

Or go get a sweet treat and let thek
Enjoy something special. So much to do - only question is where to start!

 

[OKW Lover]

What will your son do on sea days? Just treat Nassau the same way. Pretty much all the ship services are open while in Nassau with the exception of the shops.

 

[Aimeedyan]

What will your son do on sea days? Just treat Nassau the same way. Pretty much all the ship services are open while in Nassau with the exception of the shops.

That was really my primary question (though I neglected to actually ask it - ha!) - are there just as many organized activities/options on board on port days as sea days (movies, crafts, games, etc). Or are offerings super slim/unavailable because most people are not on the ship.

It sounds like we will have some good options! And maybe if we can get to 100% potty trained, we'll have even more!

 

[Barbydoll8]

I've been on these short cruises many times (work time constrictions) so we don't get off the boat. Nassau day has quite a bit of activities on the boat. CC day however does not. There are things to this day don't get me wrong but there are far more daytime activities on Nassau day than CC day.

 

[Clarkson U]

I've been on these short cruises many times (work time constrictions) so we don't get off the boat. Nassau day has quite a bit of activities on the boat. CC day however does not. There are things to this day don't get me wrong but there are far more daytime activities on Nassau day than CC day.

Completely agree. Often times a Nassau day feels like a day at sea. A CC day tilt feels like a port with most onboard activities being turned off until after 2 or 2:30 pm.

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

I think most repeat cruisers don't really get off the ship on Nassau. Nassau is pretty much one-and-done unless you're doing something special or have a specific excursion in mind. I definitely consider it to be mostly just a day at sea. It's mostly just tourist traps. Plus most of the ship's staff is still onboard, so it's easy to keep things open

Castaway Cay however, is actually mostly staffed by people from the ship. They only really keep a skeleton crew on the island. They don't really have enough people to keep everything on the ship open AND staff the various venues on the island.