Nassau without an excursion

[JM_97]

We are thinking about not doing any excursions in Nassau to save some money. We looked at a few but the more we think about it, the more we are considering skipping one. My question is what can you do in Nassau without one? They are some interesting ones but nothing really sticks out

 

[kimj88]

We were thinking along the same lines as you, but considering just staying on the ship. I have heard that there isn't much to do (unless you do the dolphin swim stuff like that but that ends up being pricey)

 

[stsomewhere]

Walk to the Queen Anne's staircase. You can pay a guide at the bottom to tell you the history, It is very interesting. Otherwise just look it up before you go. There is a small fort at the top of the staircase. I think it was $4 a person to go in.

 

[TRTRguy]

We also walked to the queens staircase and went in Fort Fincastle. The fort was a couple dollars each and gave a nice view.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Bay street is great for shopping; the
walking tour starting at the Queen's Staircase/Fort Fincastle and so on (see the attached map DW made for one of our tours). There's the brewery and the pirate museum within walking distance, or you can catch the bus to Cable Beach. There's quite a lot to do.

We tried Paradise Island shopping and were underwhelmed. $50 t-shirts. Enough said there.

Do some reading in tourist books & websites. Nassau has a lot to do, but don't forget that the Bahamas is effectively a 3rd world country so the infrastructure can be somewhat shabby.

 

[DCL_Wonder]

We are thinking about not doing any excursions in Nassau to save some money. We looked at a few but the more we think about it, the more we are considering skipping one. My question is what can you do in Nassau without one? They are some interesting ones but nothing really sticks out

IMHO, there are quite a few fun and inexpensive things to do in Nassau on your own. I recommend checking out Junkanoo Beach. It's a safe & short (10-15 minute) walk from the ship and the beach has a fun vibe. It's not CC, but it's worth a visit. Be sure to stop by Marhall's Famous Bahama Mama stand on the beach for a drink. From the beach it's a short walk up a hill to the John Watlings Rum Distillery. Beautiful grounds, free tours with a great bar. After that, it's a relatively short stroll to the Governors Palace which the former King Edward VIII fixed up after he abdicated his crown and was assigned the governorship of the Bahamas in the early 1940's (to get him out of Europe). From there, your close to the shopping district which leads pack to the port.

Enjoy!

 

[npatellye]

We always go to Junkanoo Beach, have lunch, go shopping with the kids, and then head back. That usually makes it a full day for us.

 

[chamberlain]

My husband and I are on a cruise next January and I thought for our Nassau day we would walk to Queen's Staircase but now hearing about Junkanoo Beach and other options DCL Wonder gave it sounds like we have more inexpensive options to choose from. We've been to Atlantis and Greycliffe so were looking for a more unstructured time in port. Thanks for the info!

 

[vetrik]

We were planning to stay on the ship, but it ended up being such a beautiful beach day we walked to Junkanoo Beach. Everyone had fun, it was free (we didn’t pay for any loungers or umbrellas), we were able to say we saw Nassau (first time there), and we still had the majority of the day on the ship.

 

[JM_97]

I think we'll go to John Watlings Rum Distillery, head to Junkanoo for a few hours and then make an alcohol run for the room on the way back

 

[ludari]

I believe most passengers prefer to stay on the ship in Nassau but as an avid scuba diver they had some great dive spots.

 

[wishuponastar1984]

We did parasailing on our own. I had read that if you get off the ship and walk along the pier towards Senor Froggs then you will come along some parasailing boats. Sure enough, there they were and we just handed over the cash and signed some forms. There were 4 groups of 2 on the boat. Some of the folks had coordinated via their shore excursion desk. They were on another ship, not Disney Wonder and told us they paid $120 per person. We paid $80 pp, so quite a big difference. I didn't see where Disney offers this as an excursion in Nassau. After the parasailing there was a big pirate ship at the pier that we paid $2 (yes that is right two dollars!) per person to walk around and get a few pictures with folks dressed like pirates and then a tour of the ship. The 9 year old thought it was cool. We then walked in the straw market for some souvenirs and were back on board before Cabanas closed for lunch.

 

[KashasMom]

We always get off the ship. We loved this walking tour - https://www.frommers.com/destinations/new-providence/walking-tours. We really saw a lot of the town. You can stop along the way for a coffee/drink/snack and also include the Pirates Museum towards the end.

 

[only hope]

I borrowed a guidebook from the library, researched, and planned a walking tour. We walked past many historical buildings and I had printed the info for each place so we knew what we were looking at. The staircase is beautiful. There’s also (or at least there was many years ago when we went) a decent zoo with free roaming flamingos. There’s the casino of course, and a post office somewhere that has neat stamps to buy. There’s tons to do. Borrow all the books your library has on the subject and make your own itinerary. We went twice within a few years, only once on DCL, and after the second time I felt I didn’t need to see Nasseau again for a long time. But if you’ve never been, there’s enough to fill the day.

 

[Riss]

My family went in Sept. 2018 and got off the boat and did some shopping. We also found this tour guide, there was a group of them with cans, and my parents decided to take it. He had us on a tour and around parts of Nassau in around 2 hours and for 6 adults and one almost 3-year-old, they probably paid him around $200 or something? I’m pretty sure it was less than $300. I didn’t think the tour was that bad and he did tell us some of the history and took pictures of all of us for us.

But we literally found this guy by accident. He was one of the guys just standing there waiting for tourists as we were looking around shops. I was initially apprehensive about it but all in all, it wasn’t that bad. And yes, the van fit all of us and was air conditioned.