Ques about Key West and Nassau excursions with little kids

[disneybaby31]

We are going on a 5 night Magic cruise in the bahamas with a 2.5 year old and almost 5 year old. How many which excursions should we do:

- for Key West, I was looking at the glass bottom boat or the butterfly conservatory. Would you recommend these or should we not do an excursion? Can we just get off the boat and walk around?

- For Nassau - I was thinking of the Atlantis Beach Day /Aquarium. Is that worth doing or should we skip Nassau all together.

For many excursions they say for all ages but don't list a price if you are under 3. Does that mean m 2 year old is free?

Thanks much!

 

[kcashner]

Yes, in most cases kids under 3 are free. I wouldn't pay to book thru DCL at Key West. It is easy to do excursions there on your own, and then you aren't stuck with an advance committment. There is a small aquarium right by the port. There is also a pirate museum (depending on interests of 5 year old.....)

For Nassau, I recommend staying on the ship.

 

[DisneyOHFan]

For Nassau, I recommend staying on the ship.

I agree. We don't get off the ship in Nassau either.

 

[Poly-Anna]

We have an upcoming cruise that includes Key West and Nassau. We are not booking anything at Key West - we're just going to maybe do the butterfly conservatory on our own, walk around or take the trolley that stops at sights and go to the Southernmost point.

We went to Atlantis on our November cruise and really liked it. Our DS is 8 so we were able to do just about all the waterslides and the not-so-lazy river, however there is a great splash area for little kids that has a really nice zero entry pool area and slides and stuff for little ones. My DS even enjoyed just hanging out there. There is also the Aquarium at Atlantis as well as the beach and many different pool areas. We enjoyed it so much that we are doing the DCL Aquaventure excursion again on the next cruise. It is pricey, but how often are you going to go to Atlantis? We probably would never go except for on a cruise. Whatever you choose you'll have fun!

 

[nannylori]

First,find out which pier you will be docked at-Mallory Square puts you right at town,but the Outer Mole means you'll have to take a quick trip on the Conch Train to town-no big deal,just the difference between walking off or taking a little ride which your children will like anyway.
The Aquarium is small & doable in under an hour.
The Butterfly Conservatory is at the other end of Duval, but you can flag down a pedi-cab,which will be a fun way to get there. Again,you can be in & out of there in about an hour.
There is a State Park/beach near the ship-Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. There is a civil war fort there(re-inactment encampment this weekend). There are no waves & the water is clean, and bright blue & green,a real Caribbean experience. There are always pelicans diving for fish just off shore-it's a great kids beach,but there is alot of coral running down the middle of the beach,so water shoes/sandals are necessary.
There is no pirate museum-Pat Croce moved it to St. Augustine,I believe.
Any other questions about KW,let me know-I live here.
Take Care.

 

[joannalh]

Kids under three can go, and are free-you don't need a ticket for them. I have one child under three, a five year old and an eight year old. I have no experience as we've never cruised before, but we're going to do the Atlantis Beach day-ie. Aquarium, lunch, beach. I couldn't justify the extra cost of the water park.

 

[Silverfox97]

We just went on the Magic in Oct with our DD 4.5 on our own. We bought a ticket package on line that included the Butterfly Conservatory and Hemingway house and saved us a buttload of money. We walked the island and had a great time. Docked at Mallory Square, walked to the Butterfly Conservatory, then to Southernmost Point, then to the Hemingway House, then we grabbed a key lime pie, stopped at Starbucks and a few shops and back to the boat (we had main dining). Had to do different, the only thing I would do would be to rent bikes, and put DD in a kid seat on the back like we do at home. The walking was fine, however, DD got tired after the Hemingway House and we could've seen more on bikes.

Those 2 places were great for her - we have cats, so she loved the Hemingway house, and she also loved loved loved the Butterfly House.

I am very glad we did it on our own and not thru DCL. Saved a ton of money and got the 2 places we wanted.

ETA: DD was free at both places. 5 and under free at Hemingway House, and they let her in free at the Butterfly house as well

 

[ros]

We loved the Butterfly Conservatory on Key West. We walked there with 5 kids ages 15-3, went to the Southernmost Point, then walked back to the Aquarium on Mallory Square. Although the aquarium was small, their talks were great! We learned all about conch and touched them in a touch tank, saw the shark feeding frenzy, and learned all about sea turtles. We did these excursions on our own with no problem. Have a great time!!

 

[disneybaby31]

Thanks for the tips! Sounds like we should just do key west on our own. I am still debating whether to check out Atlantis or just stay on the ship....

 

[bethann77]

another option you may want to think about in Key West is the trolley tour. If you get your tix directly from the trolley company, you can get on and off at any stops you may want to visit. If you book thru disney I believe you have to stay on the whole time. They do have space for a stroller too.