Pearl Island excursions - buyer beware

[lorenni]

We did the Pearl Island beach excursion this week in Nassau. It was underwhelming to say the least.
The description on DCLs website states that the Island offers the following: fresh water showers, changing rooms, toilets, free water sports.
In fact, there is no running water on the island. Only one beach shower head and it did not have water. The bathrooms each have two stalls (one of which even locks!) - maybe that’s the “changing area”. The toilets stopped flushing an hour after we arrived. There was no running water in the sinks.

There are water sports available. Limited number of life vests so kids may need to wait a bit (life vests are required). A number of the paddles (for kayaks and SUP) have rough broken aluminum edges - not ideal for SUP with shaky balance.

The beach is about 40 yards across total and there is no seating on the beach. Swimmers must be on constant watch for errant kayaks and SUP (and the aforementioned sharp edged paddles!) All beach chairs are on top of the walkway and most have no shade access.

Due to a watercraft issue, our tour also stood ok the pier for 45 minutes after disembarking - and ended up on a type of vessel other than the one described.

Port Adventures was lackluster in their response and denied being responsible for updating the description on their website. (I know they don’t run the tour, but they certainly do manager their own website content.) Happy to answer any questions.

 

[Doingitagain]

We did the Pearl Island beach excursion this week in Nassau. It was underwhelming to say the least.
The description on DCLs website states that the Island offers the following: fresh water showers, changing rooms, toilets, free water sports.
In fact, there is no running water on the island. Only one beach shower head and it did not have water. The bathrooms each have two stalls (one of which even locks!) - maybe that’s the “changing area”. The toilets stopped flushing an hour after we arrived. There was no running water in the sinks.

There are water sports available. Limited number of life vests so kids may need to wait a bit (life vests are required). A number of the paddles (for kayaks and SUP) have rough broken aluminum edges - not ideal for SUP with shaky balance.

The beach is about 40 yards across total and there is no seating on the beach. Swimmers must be on constant watch for errant kayaks and SUP (and the aforementioned sharp edged paddles!) All beach chairs are on top of the walkway and most have no shade access.

Due to a watercraft issue, our tour also stood ok the pier for 45 minutes after disembarking - and ended up on a type of vessel other than the one described.

Port Adventures was lackluster in their response and denied being responsible for updating the description on their website. (I know they don’t run the tour, but they certainly do manager their own website content.) Happy to answer any questions.

So sorry you had this experience! In the past, Port Adventures has been responsive when we had issues. You can continue to try to express your concern even if you are off the ship. Since hold times are so long, maybe try the Contact Us form on their website?

 

[Ol Goof]

Thanks so much for that info! tells me all I need to know! going to enjoy the beautiful ship instead.

 

[lorenni]

Thanks so much for that info! tells me all I need to know! going to enjoy the beautiful ship instead.

This was the first time we had disembarked in Nassau in years! We will definitely go back to staying on the ship when in Nassau.

I will say the port excursions we have done in other ports have all been good-to-great.

 

[JTlikestheDuck]

If you book a non-Disney port excursion in Nassau, everyone in the party needs to be vaccinated. There were a couple of families complaining to guest services on our cruise last week that they did not know this thus had to cancel their excursions. With the nursery still be closed, this can be an issue.

 

[Dug720]

If you book a non-Disney port excursion in Nassau, everyone in the party needs to be vaccinated. There were a couple of families complaining to guest services on our cruise last week that they did not know this thus had to cancel their excursions. With the nursery still be closed, this can be an issue.

They hadn't really read the "Know Before You Go: Port Adventures" then. It's very clear in there -

"Tour Protocols and Vaccination Status
Fully vaccinated Guests who wish to disembark the ship while in a port of call can do so without purchasing a Disney Cruise Line Port Adventure. Guests who are vaccinated and wish to disembark the ship with unvaccinated children will need to purchase a Disney Cruise Line Port Adventure. All Guests are required to adhere to local laws, regulations and protocols, including those related to health and safety, in place at the destination." (bolding mine)

Now more than ever it's important to read all of that information and not just check off that you have.

 

[JTlikestheDuck]

They hadn't really read the "Know Before You Go: Port Adventures" then. It's very clear in there -

"Tour Protocols and Vaccination Status
Fully vaccinated Guests who wish to disembark the ship while in a port of call can do so without purchasing a Disney Cruise Line Port Adventure. Guests who are vaccinated and wish to disembark the ship with unvaccinated children will need to purchase a Disney Cruise Line Port Adventure. All Guests are required to adhere to local laws, regulations and protocols, including those related to health and safety, in place at the destination." (bolding mine)

Now more than ever it's important to read all of that information and not just check off that you have.

Completely agree. My thoughts were how could you not know, protocol rules are different from state to state/city to city here never mind a foreign country. You have to stay on top on the information.

 

[ichoose2believe]

So sad to hear. We were on the Dream last month and wanted to get off in Nassau. We originally booked Pearl Island but it was canceled by Disney and we decided to book Blue Lagoon. Blue Lagoon was pretty enjoyable and had plenty of seating. Sounds like they need to work on a few things at Pearl Island.