Nassau - what to see and do

[WDWLVR]

Nassau is a stop on Disney's 3 and 4 day cruises. What are your favorite things to do? Disney excursions or on your own. Share it here with your fellow cruisers!

****** UPDATED 5/17/09 ******
This post has been updated to include many reviews that are not posted on this thread from the past year on the main cruise forum. Click on the links to see specific reviews. If you would like a review that you have posted on the boards or in a trip report included in this listing, please PM one of the moderators on this forum to have it added.

Thank you!

Lisa

Atlantis - , **, **, ** , **, **, **, **

Ardestra Garden / City Tour - ** , **, **, , **

Barefoot Sailing Cruise Snokling - **

Blackbeard's Cay - **, **, With pictures, **

Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter - **, , **, **, **, **

British Colonial Hilton - **, **, **, **,

Cable Beach - See Wyndham Hotel information

Caribbean Queen - **, **

Casino - **

Catamaran Sail and Snorkel - **

City Tour - **

Coach Store - **

Comfort Suites - **, **, **, **, **, **

Diamonds International - **

Dolphin Encounters - **, **, **, **, Excursion website, With pictures, **

Forts and Junkanoo Tour - **

Free Beach - **

General Info - **

Glass Bottom Boat - **

Graycliff Cigar and Rum Tour - **

Hard Rock - **

Jet Skis - **

Nassau Garden Tour / Flamingos - **

Paradise Island - **, **

Passport Stamp - **

Pirate Museum - ** , ** , , **, **, **, Excursion website, **, **, **

Public Beaches - **,

Sandals Resort - **

Sea Lion at Blue Lagoon Island - **

Segway Tour - **, **, **, **, **, **, **, **, **, **

Starbucks - **

Stingray Adventure - ** , **

Stuart's Cove Scuba - **

Stuart's Cove Snorkling - **

Tortuga Rum Cake Factory - **, **

Thrill Boat Ride - **,

Walking Tour on Own - **, **

Water Taxi - **

Wyndham Hotel - **, **, **

 

[marathonmommy]

Nassau is a stop on Disney's 3 and 4 day cruises. What are your favorite things to do? Disney excursions or on your own. Share it here with your fellow cruisers!

Oooooohhhhh... please let me know. Please tell me what you would recommend for a family with a somewhat wild 2 1/2 year old and a 6 year old. Should we just stay on the boat? I need to know quickly . . . we leave in a few days!

 

[aprilgail2]

Nassau is my least favorite place to go, in fact I am just fine with not going there again. If the ship I was on ever did go there again I would just stay on the ship or go to Atlantis, other than that-nothing to see here, move along. Straw market was the same thing every aisle, pushy people and I was there with my 3 year old and 77 year old mom yet for some reason the person outside the straw market though we might be interested in the drug he was tryingto sell us...not sure why LOL!

 

[WDWLVR]

Haven't been back to Nassau since 2003 but what we did then and enjoyed was going to Atlantis. We did this on our own grabbing a cab right by the pier. Make sure you agree on a price before getting in and you will most likely be sharing the cab (van) with others.

Once at Atlantis we stopped and bought wristbands that let us go around the grounds and through The Dig which is the onsite aquarium. The Dig is a lot of fun and the grounds are beautiful - what you would expect at Disney or out in Vegas. We were able to cover it all in the morning and be back on the ship for lunch. With this option we weren't able to use the pools, but it worked for us.

 

[Regina]

I'll never forget my first sailing on the Wonder. We chose to stay on the ship while at Nassau. A ship's officer asked us how our day was. When we said we didn't visit the island he replied "ah, so you had a great day."

I don't want to give Nassau too hard a knock. We have visited several times since then and enjoy the market at the terminal. They don't swarm you with hairbraiding/taxi rides unless you leave the building. (Can you guess, we rarely do that.)

 

[thompsonfamily]

I have to agree, the straw market was full of the same thing and pushy people.

We did the Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter. It was wonderful. Our boys 13 & 8 really enjoyed it. There was a lot of interaction with the dolphins and it was really cool! I would highly recommend it to everyone!

Kim

 

[Lindy Loo]

We got off the boat and went to Atlantis on our own. DD 4 was happy to stay in club. We got a taxi from the port to the hotel $4 per person each a way. We paid $25 or $29 per person to do the Dig and look around the pool areas etc. We had fun in the casino etc, had a snack and a few pina coladas.

we went back to boat after 4 hours, DD didnt want to get out of club, so we went and had a look at staw market and then Senor Frogs, for an hour.


Glad we did it, here are some pictures.

The luc

The lucky chair by the casino !

the outside of the hotel

The water chutes ( which we didnt go on)

 

[LindaBabe]

Last time, I took the number 10 bus and walked up to Ardestra gardens. It was a cheap outing ($2 rt for the bus and $12 for the "zoo") and resulted in my favorite photo of the trip - me with a parrot on my head and a cockatoo on my hand.

The bus is a "jitney" - more like a large van than the city buses you're used to in the United States. You need exact change in American dollars - when you get in you tell the driver where you want to get off and give over the money.

Traffic goes in the "wrong" direction, so remember to cross the street. You want number 10 (Cable Beach) going left to right as you stand with your back to the straw market to get to Ardestra, and the reverse to get back. It's about a 15 minute uphill walk to the gardens from the bus stop.

I remember being a little scared coming back because I was afraid the bus wouldn't come, but, of course, it did ;-)

 

[b&j's_mom]

We went to the public beach in nassau. Down the beach from Atlantis, I think. It was very beautiful and there were only a couple of vendors. We would go back there again.

 

[Lesley Mahler]

I'll never forget my first sailing on the Wonder. We chose to stay on the ship while at Nassau. A ship's officer asked us how our day was. When we said we didn't visit the island he replied "ah, so you had a great day."

I don't want to give Nassau too hard a knock. We have visited several times since then and enjoy the market at the terminal. They don't swarm you with hairbraiding/taxi rides unless you leave the building. (Can you guess, we rarely do that.)

If you don't get off the ship, what do you do???

 

[LindaBabe]

Sleep, Swim, Spa, Lay in the sun, EAT

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

We walked from the port to the British Colonial Hilton. For $15 each adult (the children were free), we used their private beach. We could have used the pool and facilities too. No vendors, just peace and relaxation. We could even see the Wonder at port from the beach. It was great! When we had enough fun in the sun, we just walked back to the boat. We highly recommend it!

 

[glassslipper2004]

We were on the Wonder going to Nassau at the beginning of December. We decided to just walk around - bought some pretty blanket/shawl type things in the straw market, and then followed the Passporter's guide suggestions for a walking tour. The best part, by far, was the Pirates of Nassau museum. I thought this was about as nice as the one in Salem, MA, except that there were a lot more pirates in this area, so it made a bit more sense. There was a costumed character in the museum that gave us a great tour of part of the exhibition, complete with posing some super pictures.

From there, we walked around a little bit, kind of scary (probably would not bother with this part with kids), up to the government building, the fort, and down the Queen's Staircase. Back to the boat in time for a mediocre lunch at the end of the seating at Triton, then had a wonderful afternoon on the deck, sunning and enjoying the pool.

For our next trip, I'd rather do something involving water -- either taking a stingray or snorkeling tour, or the Atlantis option -- but the Atlantis one bugs me because it seems like you'd be looking at things you couldn't enjoy.

Any thoughts on whether the Disney stingray event at Castaway Cay or the stingray trip from Nassau would be better for us, with two kids, 7 and 8 years old?

 

[jburns]

I can't comment on the Disney or Nassai Stingray experience but I did a similar thing at Discovery Cove in Orlando and it was AWESOME. I'm sure the kids would love it as much as my wife and I did. The rays are very friendly and playful... it's quite the experience to say the least. I have a picture I took underwater of one coming towards me and it actually looks like a cute animal. Great times.

My wife, Son (2 years) and I are travelling the Wonder this Feb and we've been wondering what to do in Nassau. It all comes down to taking a tour or doing it ourselves. From what I've been reading it sounds like everything is fairly close... am I right?

J

 

[dlf246]

or the Atlantis option -- but the Atlantis one bugs me because it seems like you'd be looking at things you couldn't enjoy.

Does that mean you cannot pay to do the aquatic things at Atlantis?

 

[OceanLvr]

Well, after traveling to Nassau several times, my vote is to stay on the ship and enjoy it. We are not gamblers, so the casino is not interesting for us. Last cruise in October, we stayed on board until about 4pm, got off the ship and walked to the Hard Rock Cafe, had a drink and went back to the ship - time in Nassau about 1.5 hours. This ship is much more fun. I would agree with the other posters - pool, spa, EAT!!! Stay on the the ship.

 

[GreatDaneMom]

We've been in Nassau twice. First time we walked around and did the Straw Market. It was an interesting experience for one time but not something I'd care to repeat. The pushy vendors and hair braiders were a little overwhelming to us.

Second time DD(12) and I did the ship's tour to Ardastra Zoo and the historical tour of the City. She enjoyed the zoo and I really enjoyed the history. Afterward we shopped in the building right by the ships. We enjoyed this day in Nassau much more and would always book some type of excursion when docking there in the future. It just wasn't a good port to walk around in on our own and I'm not big on sailing that far just to stay on the ship. I really want her to get out and experience new things.

Cheryl

 

[MCourtney]

Just got back on the 2/15 Wonder.... had our pic taken in front of Anna Nicole's former house......I know, I know... but we had to see it!!!!

 

[marathonmommy]

Just got back on the 2/15 Wonder.... had our pic taken in front of Anna Nicole's former house......I know, I know... but we had to see it!!!!

Ooooh. Please post. I know, I'm pathetic, too. Was it a mob scene around there? I'm assuming it must be a "hot spot" since you were able to find it. Did you have to pay a native to show you where it was?

 

[MCourtney]

Keep in mind I went before the hearing over the body, so it is probably much more of a mob scene today. We were at Atlantis, and we wondered... where is the house? So I ask the bartender, and he tells me its on Eastern Road. DH (who didn't cruise with us this time) and I were married in Nassau, and have vistited several times and know parts of the island pretty well. For some reason, our visits there usually coincide with a death of a famous person, but that is another story for another day. Okay.. back to Atlantis. I don't know the Eastern Road area. I find a great doorman (Perry) who finds us a cabbie (Mr. Gary) who knows where the house is. This process took about 10 min., although I suspect most of the cab drivers know where the house is by now. It was about a 15 min. ride to the east from Atlantis. I have never been to this side of the island....and was quite impressed. Mostly residential, and quiet. Nice neighborhood. Would move there tomorrow.... but then I am biased towards that island anyway. .

Mr. Gary knows almost where he is going, and checks with a housekeeper walking down the road to make sure we are on the right path. Sure enough, we turn left and there is the house. Media from the AP, Fox, NY Daily News and several British press were there. The house is on a hill, overlooking the ocean, but there is a road (Eastern Road) between the house and the ocean. The house is also on a corner, so there is a road on the western side of the house and on the front side of the house. The media had a small step ladder they let me climb up so I could see over the wall , and no I didn't see anyone. Did see a nice 7 series BMW, black in the driveway. Spoke with the media for a bit..... they are set up on the waterside, across the street from the house, under a tent. Hanging out in chairs, with their laptops, and awesome views.... just waiting for someone to show up. The guy from the NY Daily News offered to take a group shot of us with my sister's camera (mine died as I was in the middle of taking pics ). And then off we went. I asked Mr. Gary a lot about the immigration offical (resigned the day we got home) and a few other things. He was great. Took us back to the boat. Total cab time about 1 hour.. 3 people in cab ..... not cheap, $50. Glad I did it because whether I win the lotto tomorrow or retire in 30 years as planned, that neighborhood is high on the list of places to consider. So there's my story