Questions about Short Port Times

[DIS_Ag]

DISers,
I've been lurking for a few months in prep for a Wonder cruise in November. It will be #2 for our family and we are very excited. Our itinerary has stops in Nassau and Key West, but we only in each for a short time. W are only in Nassau from 7-12 and Key West from 9-12:45. Here are my questions:

1.) Do we have enough time in Nassau for the Blue Lagoon Dolphin encounter?
2.) Would you recommend that for a 3 and 5 year old or are they too young?
3.) Same questions about the seaworld semi-submarine adventure?
4.) Any other recommendations for for little ones on a short time frame in Nassau?
5.) What would you do in Key West with only about 4 hours?

Thanks for all the help.

 

[dcassetta]

DISers,
I've been lurking for a few months in prep for a Wonder cruise in November. It will be #2 for our family and we are very excited. Our itinerary has stops in Nassau and Key West, but we only in each for a short time. W are only in Nassau from 7-12 and Key West from 9-12:45. Here are my questions:

1.) Do we have enough time in Nassau for the Blue Lagoon Dolphin encounter?
2.) Would you recommend that for a 3 and 5 year old or are they too young?
3.) Same questions about the seaworld semi-submarine adventure?
4.) Any other recommendations for for little ones on a short time frame in Nassau?
5.) What would you do in Key West with only about 4 hours?

Thanks for all the help.

1. If I recall correctly, the first boat back from Blue Lagoon didn't leave until 1 PM. I would not book this on your own, only as a Disney excursion, if they offer it.
2. Have not done this with kids, but the ones we saw there seemed to be enjoying it.
3. No experience
4. We really enjoy Ardastra Gardens, a pleasant little zoo and just a short cab ride from the port.
5. Key West is a nice walkable town, and I would recommend the butterfly Conservatory.

 

[mevans9066]

We're on the wonder too in Nov and after deciding on a date realized the whole itinerary had really short port times! We're on the Nov 13 out of galveston and while I love the time we get at CC, it's our first Disney cruise and it seems kinda hard to decide what to do with our 6 and 9 yr girls in nassau, especially since I keep reading it's not safe to do anything on your own! And we're only there till noon! While we honeymooned in nassau at Sandals, our girls have never been there so we don't want to stay on board and not get off at all! The half-day at Atlantis aquadventure seems fun but too expensive for barely 4 hrs of water park fun and we have passes to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor and do Waterpark all the time at home! We're looking at the Semi-sub tour possibly or just finding a local beach to go to or day pass at a hotel with a pool but not sure where to look to find that info. And honestly not booking thru the ship always makes me apprehensive but we've gone off on our own in mexico before. We can start booking port adventures Aug 30th so we need to decide fast!

 

[dcassetta]

For a short day in Nassau, if you're looking for a beach, I would recommend a day pass at the Nassau colonial Hilton. The Hilton is a very short walking distance from the docks where the cruise ships come in. So, you wouldn't have to be concerned about transportation.

 

[mevans9066]

Awesome thanks for the tip! Any idea if that's something I need to set up ahead of time with the hotel or you can show up and buy passes the day we dock?

 

[dcassetta]

There are four ships in port that day, so you might want to consider pre-booking. But, I would guess it would be OK waiting until that day to decide. Obviously if it's raining you might decide to stay on the ship.
http://www.cruiseportschedules.com/...amas/Nassau_Bahamas_Cruise_Port_Schedule.html


http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/ba...ssau-NASHIHH/attractions/cruiseship-info.html

 

[mevans9066]

Thanks for the links! !

 

[jpeppers]

Blue Lagoon is very appropriate for kids that age but I don't think I would get off the boat for an excursion with that little time. I think it was at least 45 minutes each way to get there by ferry, might even have been more when you figure in the time for meeting up and walking to the boat plus chances are it will be to cold to swim that early in the day in November.

 

[DIS_Ag]

We are on the same cruise so see you there!

We really wanted to do Blue Lagoon, but decided 4 hours was going to be really tight and that an early morning after the fireworks (they are the night before) wasn't going to be fun. We are signed up for the semi-sub now which I think my 5 and 3 year old will love.

 

[TXTransplant]

It was always my understanding that if you book an excursion through Disney, you don't have to worry about having enough time to make it back to the ship. If Disney is offering an excursion, then you will be able to make it back to the boat and it will not leave without you. With that said, if port arrival time is 7 am and departure is noon, it might be an early morning and a rushed day.

We did the dolphin encounter at Atlantis, booked through Disney. We enjoyed it very much and I would recommend it, as long as you can book through the DCL website.

In Key West, if you just want to do a trolley tour or a museum, there really is no need to book through DCL. If you dock at the Navy Pier, the tram DCL provides drops you off right in the middle of everything. We were right in front of the Shipwreck Museum, which is what we had planned for the day. We had time afterwards to walk around, get ice cream, and window shop, and still be back to the ship about 45 min early. If you want to do something like snorkeling in Key West, though, I would definitely book that through DCL because of the time issue.

 

[mevans9066]

Oh fun, we'll be shipmates!! This is our first Disney cruise! Me and my husband have always cruised Carnival but this is our girls first cruise ever! They are over the moon excited to get on the biiiiigg boat! My friend just got back from nassau on carnival and did the Semi-sub tour and her pics and video I saw look fun! Her teenagers enjoyed it too she said! In key west we'll just walk around, eat some key lime pie and maybe do the little aquarium we read about! Once we noticed the really short port times we looked at changing dates but none really worked for us so we stuck with the 13th! Wanted to take advantage of the Wonder while back in texas!! See ya on the boat!! In 88 days!!!!!!!eeeeeek!

 

[DIS_Ag]

That was basically our plan too. It's not the ideal itinerary but we couldn't pass up the chance to sail an hour from our house.

 

[mevans9066]

We'll drive down to Galveston probably the night before as soon as girls get out of school Thursday, we're coming from
Ft Worth, how about yall?

 

[DIS_Ag]

We live in Houston, so just driving down the morning of. We both grew up in Fort Worth and still love it there. Let me know if you need any recomendations for the drive or in Galeveston.

 

[mevans9066]

We live in Houston, so just driving down the morning of. We both grew up in Fort Worth and still love it there. Let me know if you need any recomendations for the drive or in Galeveston.

Can you make the awful houston traffic go away! Lol!! I thought DFW had bad traffic but pretty sure houston is worse! Our drive to Galveston for our cruise back in april was awful! We went the morning of, so this time we'll go the day before! Ever stay at the Harbor House? I read where you can watch the ship dock early that morning if you're staying there. My kids would think that was neat to watch the Wonder pull in to the terminal!

 

[DIS_Ag]

I've never stayed at the harbor house but have heard good things. It's right in the middle of Fisherman's Wharf which has a bunch of restaurants. Also, the Strand is about 4 blocks away and has a bunch of cool shops and places to eat.