Nassau stop next month. Excursions or stay on the ship?

[jeffy169]

Hi! My wife and I are doing a land and sea trip for our anniversary next month with a 3 day sailing from Port Canaveral to Nassau and Castaway Cay. I have been looking at Nassau port reviews and what not following Disney's new possible acquisition approval of Lighthouse Point and the Bahamian government taking the money they pay the major cruise lines and putting toward upgrading their port. We are trying to decide if we want to spend the day on the ship or do some exploring or an excursion while in Nassau. It seems like it gets pretty crummy reviews and can be a dangerous port to explore on our own. Can anyone shed some light on Nassau for me or give me some input? I know Disney excursions would be best and safest but my wife is overly paranoid about dangers while traveling so I'm trying to get as much info as possible before we make a decision. Thanks in advance!

 

[cmph]

Do you live in an urban area? I don't personally find it that much worse than other urban areas I have lived in (in the US), but if you are coming from rural small-town America, it's likely to seem a bit shocking. The "overly paranoid about dangers while traveling" part would seem to indicate that you're going to enjoy yourselves more on the ship. I don't know what exactly the Bahamian government is going to do to improve the area, but it isn't going to happen overnight, so what that means to you will depend on when you are cruising, too.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Because we have been there several times on past cruises; we stopped going into Nassau and stay on the ship.
However if it was my first time in Nassau; I would definitely get off the ship and explore. And if you're nervous about safety sign up for a Disney excursion.
On our first cruise we did an excursion that toured the city. The second time we just explored/shopped on our own.

 

[jeffy169]

Thanks for the input! Much appreciated!

 

[Oliviaxxx]

I went on a cruise about two years ago. We have never been to Nassau before. We didn't expect it to be as rough as it was. We ended up getting resort day passes at British Colonial Hilton Nassau. I think it was about $65 dollars per person. Price may have changed. You get to use the oceanfront pool, the beach chairs and umbrellas, towel service, and at the time you got a $40 food credit to use at the oceanfront grille. The resort was about a 5-minute walk from the boat. We didn't feel uncomfortable walking there because it never really strayed too far from the touristy areas. We would do it again if we ever cruised there before.

 

[Joe Brig]

We did the Blue Lagoon segway tour and it was fun. Another time we walked on our own, we cut it short because we didn't feel safe. Staying on the ship is an option, but its not as fun as a sea day because there isn't as much going on.

 

[nutshell]

You’re already in a short cruise and I think Nassau is garbage. I’d stay on the ship!

 

[MomOTwins]

I stayed on the ship both cruises we docked in Nassau--with a 3-day cruise, we wanted to maximize our ship time, and the excursions seemed too expensive, and we are cowards about the whole crime thing. However, I always love reading Disney Tourist Blog's reports, and here is one they did about exploring Nassau on their own on a Disney cruise that actually makes it sound pretty appealing, with lots of lovely photos, as a counterpoint:

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/3-night-bahamian-disney-cruise-line-report-part-2/

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi! My wife and I are doing a land and sea trip for our anniversary next month with a 3 day sailing from Port Canaveral to Nassau and Castaway Cay. I have been looking at Nassau port reviews and what not following Disney's new possible acquisition approval of Lighthouse Point and the Bahamian government taking the money they pay the major cruise lines and putting toward upgrading their port. We are trying to decide if we want to spend the day on the ship or do some exploring or an excursion while in Nassau. It seems like it gets pretty crummy reviews and can be a dangerous port to explore on our own. Can anyone shed some light on Nassau for me or give me some input? I know Disney excursions would be best and safest but my wife is overly paranoid about dangers while traveling so I'm trying to get as much info as possible before we make a decision. Thanks in advance!

Our philosophy when we travel - if it's the first time we've ever been there, we take a basic city excursion, to get the lay of the land. Then we decide, on subsequent visits, whether we want to get off the ship again.

Personally, I don't advise anyone who's never been to a specific port before to not visit at least once, and make up your own mind about it.

 

[rcchello]

If you are thinking of going somewhere in Nassau on your own, I would suggest pre-planning your route. The Hilton and the Bahamian Cooking restaurant would be easy and quick walk. The Queens staircase and Adastra gardens are doable but take longer. You can take a boat over to Pleasure Island for a reasonable care roundtrip and walk to the Atlantis or a Cloister that was moved from Europe. There is a YouTube video that will show you how to Get to a free beach next to the Atlantis, if beaches are your thing.

The thing most people don't like is the crowd of hawkers near the exit from the port, just say "no thanks not interested" and keep walking. In about 3 minutes no one else will bother you.

 

[Laura from France]

Hi everybody, is some people here that do the excursion to Atlantis? I am wondering if I book for the day pass Aquaventure in Atlantis. Thanks

 

[KashasMom]

We've never felt threatened or harassed in Nassau. The touts may annoy some people but as mentioned just say "no, thank you" and move on...or ignore them. We've done the day pass at the British Colonial a couple of times - we really enjoyed the pool and beach - food was good too. We've been to Blue Lagoon on our own but knew our way around logistically. We've also done a walking tour - https://www.frommers.com/destinations/new-providence/walking-tours - which was so fun but given your wife's nervousness I wouldn't recommend. I would never stay on board anywhere especially somewhere I've never been before. I like to get off the ship and look around and make up my own mind about a place. I'd suggest getting off the ship - and at the minimum - walk through town maybe through the straw market and come back to the ship.

 

[MushuHill]

I hated Nassau, but then again I was raised in a small town. We had a few people come up and offer us drugs (my husband is a police officer) NOT gonna happen. We had people come up and try to put homemade jewelry on me. The beach was covered in broken glass and I was afraid of walking on it. We did go into a little restaurant, eat conch fritters, and talk to local officers on their lunch break (that was pretty neat). I wish we had stayed on the boat. Our cruise also went to Key West that port was a blast and would defiantly recommend a cruise that stops there.

 

[AgentMama]

I agree with PrincessShmoo, I would at least get off the first time traveling to a new place and make my own mind up about whether or not I wanted to visit there again. For our family, cruising is as much about the ports as the ship, we want to see everywhere we're stopping. Good luck with whatever you chose!

 

[skullsplitter]

The 3 times we've stopped at Nassau we've always left the ship. We've not had any issues with crime, etc, but my older son was uncomfortable with the vendors being in his face. There are some things to walk to there at least once. Listen to your gut. If you start into a part of town that your instincts are warning you about, just turn around and head a different way.