Shore Excursions-- Nassau -- Any Suggestions??

[CougGuy]

1/8 -- I was hoping to get more input on this thread as I need to make some decisions in the next couple of days.....

Getting psyched for our Feb WDW/Cruise and am trying to plan out some shore excusions. Looking at the DCL web site for Nassau, I see they have a "dophin encounter". I remember seeing some negative comments about this shore excursion and am wondering if it's worth the money. Can someone who's done it provide some feedback? The idea of going to a 5 minute 'petting zoo' for dolphins doesn't much appeal to me. Is the "dolphin swim" a better option?

If not that excursion, I'd like some advice on what to do in Nassau. We will have our two kids with us and my wife and I are not much into gambling. The Alantis pool/beach sounds cool but I've heard you don't get access to it with the DCL tour/excursion. I thought about reserving a room for the day just to get spend it at the resort but don't know if that would be worth it or not. Again, if someone has done this and has feedback, I'd appreciate knowing.

Is the boat dock close enough to the town & shops that we could bring the kids into town for a short visit then (easily) back on board and then head out on our own?

 

[hydster]

that is for sure! Hubby and I left the kids with the grandparents while we went diving in the morning. It was somewhat of a ripoff but not too bad! We then went back to the ship and got ready to take the kids on the glass bottom boat! It wasnt even worth the time or money to us or the kids but we paid so we went! Our kids were bored about 10 min into the thing and so we sat up on the top of the boat and watched them throw bread to the fish so they would swim around the boat. There are some places to shop not far from the boat and the straw market is there with your typical tourist junk but nothing really worth looking at. We wandered around while the inlaws took the kids back to the ship and found some neat stuff to look at but definitely nothing the kids would have liked to look at. If I had to do it again I think I would get off, go to the straw market, and then head back to the boat and pretend it was a sea day! It was fun to see but only for a little while and you are there a LOOONNNGGG Time! We did the Dolphin Encounter in Freeport and it was awesome! I have some pictures of it that I could post somewhere if you are interested. It was about 10 min in the water with the dolphin and you get to touch them and interract with them a little bit. We all felt (inlaws included) that it was worth the price just to get to touch and see one of those amazing creatures up close! The only thing we have experienced better than that was Stingray City in Grand Cayman. The water was FREEZING at the Dolphin place in Freeport but we still had a really good time. They have the dolphins swim past you and they put on quite a show not far from you. If you want an hour with them or you want something extremely one on one then this probably isnt for you...but seeing them up close was fun!!
Hope this helps some!
Heidi

 

[obsessed]

I am planning my July cruise on the Wonder and plan to do the Dolphin Swim in Nassau with my DH, and DS's 14 and 8. I have found it for $145 through Dophinswims.com and the same price through shoretrips.com. There is no children's price available. Swimming with the dolphins has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl, and my entire family gets to dream with me!
The last time I got a chance to see the Disney excursions, the swim was not on it. If you have more information, I would love to see it.
If you decide to go, I would love to hear how you felt about it, any tips you have before I go. Thanks and Have Fun!