Stay onboard vs. Nassau on 3 night cruise?

[lenshanem]

I'm wondering if people just skip getting off at Nassau and just stay onboard on the 3 night cruise? It just seems you have so little time to enjoy the stuff onboard and Nassau just doesn't appeal to me much with the kids...

 

[dizneefreak29]

I've only been on one cruise and we did get off at Nassau and are glad that we did! We went to Ardastra Gardens which was very cool. Then we paid a visit to the Straw Market and went into a couple of stores. We weren't sure when (and if) we would get there again so it was nice to at least take a quick tour.

 

[tuckermom]

If I had it to do over again, I would stay on the ship....Maybe go to the straw market , but no big excursion. Looking back, I think it would have been the best time to enjoy the ship.

 

[momof2minnies]

Personally speaking and for the rest of my family- we can't believe Disney makes this nasty place a stop. I will probably get slammed for this but it needs to be said. It is dirty, a dead dog lie in the road, police officers riding emaciated virtually hairless horses, cars bumper to bumper with natives yelling at each other, wheels screeching- I know they are a poor country but how about docking elsewhere. You are constantly harrassed as soon as you cross the dock- followed down the road by several people begging you to buy their services. This was not our idea of the FAMILY feel Disney portrays.
STAY ON THE BOAT!

 

[Kim&Chris]

We'll be going on the 3 day next year. Based on posts I've read, your best bet is to stay on the ship and enjoy the Wonder. However, alot of people report having a great time on Cable Beach.

 

[kbkids]

We're going in October - kids are 7 and 4 - and we don't plan on getting off the ship. We're be staying onboard to enjoy the activities with fewer crowds, then get off at Castaway Cay to enjoy the beach.

 

[clten]

Last time we cruised on the Wonder, we didn't get off, hoping to enjoy some quiet time around the pool while everyone else was off in Nassau. Let me tell you, it was crowded on the ship. I don't think anyone got off the boat or if they did, they didn't spend a lot of time in Nassau. My personal feeling is that it isn't the best port call and if I'm not in the mood to go to the Straw Market, it isn't worth getting off the ship! Cable Beach is okay and the overpriced beach day on Paradise Island has a nice beach but why bother when you'll be in Castaway Cay shortly and have a phenomenal beach day.

 

[lenshanem]

How much time would it eat up to just get off and walk thru the straw market? Do you have to go thru any time eating security or anything? (Sorry, I've never been on a cruise!)

 

[magicmyway]

We were on the four night cruise this past August. We stayed on the ship and our kids went to the lab and club and my husband and I had the Adult pool to ourselves. We did go to Naussau in 91 on our Honeymoon...not impressed.

 

[clten]

How much time would it eat up to just get off and walk thru the straw market? Do you have to go thru any time eating security or anything? (Sorry, I've never been on a cruise!)

You can walk from the ship to the straw market without a problem, just a 5 minute walk, if I remember correctly. How much time security is going to take depends on the number of people waiting to leave (they have to swipe everyone's kttw card to know you are off) and get back on (again they swipe the card to know you are back and you have to go through security screening - metal detector and packages xray'd which can slow things down).

 

[inkkognito]

Granted, we've done 43 Disney cruises so I've been in the Nassau area a lot. But for probably 90 percent of them, we never get off the ship. If it's your first time, I would get off just for the experience. But once you've seen it, I personally think it's much more relaxing and enjoyable to stay on board and pretend that it's a day at sea.
Barb

 

[logan1_2000]

3 days is too short. Thats why we've never done a 3 day cruise. And after the 20 total hours of driving to and from the port last week, not looking to have a short vacation in the middle of those two treks.

Stayed on board in Nassau on 2 Wonder 4 night cruises, by the way, so certainly would do so in a heartbeat on a three

 

[becky7953]

I also wasn't that impressed with Nassau. I would stay on board and enjoy the ship.

 

[wonderfan]

I also agree with the majority -- we traveled on our first cruise in Feb 05 -- while we did get off the ship to say we visited Nassau (even seeked out the place to have our passports signed for the fun of it) -- I will not go back anytime soon. We were off the ship for a total of about 1 1/2 hours and then got back on and had an awesome day on the ship.

I too thought Nassau was filthy, pushy, smelly, scary, etc. etc.

 

[zeke11]

I can understand everyone's viewpoint on this.

But one thing to keep in mind.

A tropical beach is an awesome place! White sand, aqua green warm water, beautiful fish to see. Kids especially seem to love playing on the beach.

I realize that a 3-day cruise on the Wonder gives you a stop at Castaway Cay. But what if, for some reason, your cruise can't stop at CC? It has happened. Not the majority of the time, but it has. Or if the weather isn't cooperative on CC day? Rain, thunderstorms, etc.?

We have taken the Blue Lagoon excursion from Nassau. Yes, we had to walk through the pier, etc., but we survived it. And you know what -- we were glad we did! We had the loveliest beach day!

And we did NOT get to go to CC. So if we had stayed on the ship at Nassau, well....we would not have been to a single tropical beach over our cruise. I can't even begin to say how much fun we had at Blue Lagoon and how much our kids loved it.

So this is just something to consider! Would you be totally dissatisfied and disappointed if your 3-day cruise turned into 3 days on the ship - no beaches?

Kris

 

[disneygatorfan]

The ship is amazing, and there are lots of things to keep you and the kids occupied, but there are some great beaches in and around Nassau.

Keep in mind, there aren't many structured adult and family activities when the ship is at port... compared to days at sea that is. I don't have children, so I can not comment on the kids clubs. When the ship is at port, there is the spa, the pools, the movies, and sunning on the ship, which is all great, but sometimes it's fun to get to do something too.

Sure, there isn't much appeal the the "city" Nassau, but the beaches and water are nice. I think you will enjoy a beach excursion, and staying on the ship equally.

 

[3redheads]

We did the land/sea and were on the ship for 3 days and did get off the boat in Nassau. We did the Dolphin Encounter and loved it! Maybe you can find an excursion that interests you and try that. That way, you will be with tour people who normally deal with the cruise ship passengers. You're not just wandering.

Kim

 

[ericamanda01]

Personally speaking and for the rest of my family- we can't believe Disney makes this nasty place a stop. I will probably get slammed for this but it needs to be said. It is dirty, a dead dog lie in the road, police officers riding emaciated virtually hairless horses, cars bumper to bumper with natives yelling at each other, wheels screeching- I know they are a poor country but how about docking elsewhere. You are constantly harrassed as soon as you cross the dock- followed down the road by several people begging you to buy their services. This was not our idea of the FAMILY feel Disney portrays.
STAY ON THE BOAT!

I totally agree. DH and I thought it was very un-disney from our first cruise. We did get off the ship on our second cruise just so DH could smoke a cuban cigar, but we were only off the ship for an hour or so. It was not a stop we look forward too. Next time we won't get off the ship at all. It reminded us of Tijuana Mexico.

 

[jlowejd5]

Our first cruise, we had a spa appointment mid-morning, so that put a crimp in what we could do as far as excursions. But we got off and wandered through the straw market and bought some little $3 trinkets. It was kinda blah.

Second cruise, we did the Atlantis aquarium tour. And they're right, it is a lot of walking, but the longest walk was the four or five blocks from the water taxi up to the hotel itself. Boo. It was fun, though, but it pretty much killed the whole day. But that cruise was a 4-day, so we knew we had a sea day to do the ship.

When we go back in March (324 days, but who's counting?) it's a 3-day on the back end of a land/sea. We've already decided we're going to stay on the ship and just relax. I figure a flight down, and four plus days going flat-out at WDW is going to be pretty tiring. But if it's followed up by a day lounging on the Wonder and a day lounging on CC? Well, that's a pretty sweet way to end the week.

 

[seakat]

We just returned from the 4/10 Wonder 4 nite cruise. We did get off at Nassau and I agree with those who think Disney should find a different port. I have been to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Cancun, St Thomas, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Nassau is just not in their league at least not if all you do is walk off the ship. Might be worth taking an excursion but we heard that Blue Lagoon was not impressive. We did not want to spend another $100 for family of 4. However, now that I said all of that, I think we would have been disappointed if we had not had any day at the beach. We loved CC, but it was second and you have no guarantee of getting there. We stayed off the ship for 1-2 hours and it was very crowded on board when we got back on.
Anyone just walk to a beach? How far was it? Would you go there again?