Staying onboard at Nassau... Not what it used to be?

[Liver Lips Mcgrowl]

There are many articles around the web that talk about staying onboard while at Nassau to take advantage of a less crowded ship/pool deck... But they're all very old articles. I'd like to hear from folks that have sailed more recently. I've heard that Nassau is not the "window of opportunity" that it used to be, and that the majority of people on the ship do not leave. What's your take? Thanks

 

[wilkeliza]

If you are seeing a ton of older articles telling you to do something then chances are a thousand other people saw the same articles. So once it makes it to several blogger posts it loses the value. Sure it may still be lower crowds but it isn't going to be the ghost town it use to be.

 

[Dug720]

Even in 2013 it was not a ghost town or remotely close to empty on Nassau day.

 

[Liver Lips Mcgrowl]

How bout another question along the same lines: What has been your experience on the pool deck area during Nassau? Was it annoying? Was it thinned out enough that you could relax and enjoy?

 

[chaseg03]

There are many articles around the web that talk about staying onboard while at Nassau to take advantage of a less crowded ship/pool deck... But they're all very old articles. I'd like to hear from folks that have sailed more recently. I've heard that Nassau is not the "window of opportunity" that it used to be, and that the majority of people on the ship do not leave. What's your take? Thanks

We like to do the water slides at Atalantis. It is sort of pricy though. It's not worth getting off the ship is your not doing any excursions IMO. Its impossible to walk through Nassau and not get asked questions about buying stuff or somebody asking for money. It has a high crime rate. Do an excursion, it's well worth it.

 

[slykrab]

It can be busy- my first time in Nassau in summer 2014 the ship was crowded! But earlier this month (March 2017) it was pretty empty. I noticed from meet threads and FE groups that we had a lot of first time cruisers this month so that's probably why.

All this to say that it can be crowded--but it depends on the passenger demographics. More first time cruisers may get off than repeat cruisers.

 

[SDJEL]

We have been to Nassau twice. The first time we got off the boat and really did not enjoy ourselves. It was dirty and crowded and everybody is so aggressive about trying to get your money. The second time we stayed on a nice quiet boat. My daughter enjoyed the chance to actually swim in the pools and we had deck chairs right up front.

 

[chaseg03]

It can be busy- my first time in Nassau in summer 2014 the ship was crowded! But earlier this month (March 2017) it was pretty empty. I noticed from meet threads and FE groups that we had a lot of first time cruisers this month so that's probably why.

All this to say that it can be crowded--but it depends on the passenger demographics. More first time cruisers may get off than repeat cruisers.

That has always been the case with my March cruises. I went march 13. Very full of non CC members.

 

[clten]

It is hit and miss. If there are a lot of return cruisers, the ship tends not to be that very quiet "have the ship almost to ourselves" kind of experience it once was. But we have found that there are a lot of people who like to get off the ship for at least a little while. And they all tend to get off in the morning and are back on the ship for lunch. So we find mornings on the open decks quieter than later in the day so take advantage of that. And if you want to be one of those that at least gets off the ship -- do it in the afternoon.

 

[Vijoge]

We geocache, so we generally get off long enough to hunt a few caches, at least. The people hawking their wares can be annoying, but I've never felt unsafe in Nassau.

 

[fairfax]

The last time we got off the ship in Nassau, we witnessed two locals get into a fistfight which freaked my kids out. Now the only one who gets off the ship there is my husband, to get beer

 

[wilkeliza]

Oh I forgot sometimes with a Nassau stop I'll run off for a Dr. Pepper. Found some in the market the first time we went and ever since even if we are staying on board I'll take the 5 minutes to go buy a few cans haha.

 

[chaseg03]

The last time we got off the ship in Nassau, we witnessed two locals get into a fistfight which freaked my kids out. Now the only one who gets off the ship there is my husband, to get beer

We saw a group of guys peeing right by our ship, it's weird place.

 

[Micca]

Anytime we've been on a short cruise (3 or 4 days) I've always wished we had spent more time on the ship rather than do the stopovers. Maybe that notion fades after you've done numerous cruises but I'm not there yet. I've been to Nassau a time or two (not on a cruise) and it was ok.

 

[ludari]

Sailed in November and in Nassau my friend stayed on board while I went on a scuba diving excursion. She said it seemed like no one got off the ship.

 

[melissajx3]

Earlier this month on the Magic we stayed onboard in Nassau, there were definitely people on board, but we were still able to get a decent spot at the adult pool. Our day at sea there were way more people at the pool, so it definitely made a difference!

 

[HeatherLassell]

I've gotten off the ship in Nassau both times I've been there. My first trip we walked around, went shopping, grabbed Starbucks (I got an awesome "You are here" Nassau mug), we went by the Pirate Museum but decided not to go in ONLY because a very large group of school children were just going in. We took pictures all around Nassau with all the pirate statues we could find! Then we had a great lunch at Sharkeez and used the free wifi to check in and post some pictures on FB. Oh and pictures at Senor Frogs! Second trip was almost the same (different friend with me) but same experience with the locals.

Sure when you first leave the ship there are people asking you to come take tours, taxi's, to buy stuff...it really isn't a big deal. I said "No thanks" more times than I can remember and that was that. Once we said no thanks they would move onto the next person. They are just trying to make money. I went in and out the straw market fast though cause I didn't like at all how aggressive they were in there. But no issues anywhere else. And if you like to barter you might enjoy the straw market.

ETA: The first cruise was Oct 2012 and I remember a lot of people getting off the ship with us in the morning. Most recent was just in January 2017 and while there was a decent amount of people who left the ship it wasn't as many as the 1st cruise. People are constantly saying "DON'T GET OFF THE SHIP" so it's definitely making the Nassau port day more crowded on the ship.

 

[boymom18]

We just cruised for our first time in March and we chose not to get off in Nassau and the ship was still pretty full. The pool wasn't as crowded but still crowded. It's much less crowded on the far at Castaway.

 

[KashasMom]

Disappointed but not surprised to hear that so many people stay on the ship. For our upcoming Dream cruise I was considering staying on board (since it really amounts to a 2 day cruise) but not if there's not going to be any pool space! We've never had the hassles that other people seem to or maybe we can just ignore them more easily. A simple "no thank you" seems to work and then you're on your way! And we've never been afraid! We've been to Nassau too many times to count (both land vacation although many years ago and cruises). We've done the Fommer's walking tour (which was a lot of fun), a day at Blue Lagoon, and a few times we've done the day pass at Hilton (nice pool!).

 

[Tractortom]

We were at Nassau a year ago with a different cruise line. We got off, walked through the gate area and out to the main street. Looked around a little bit, went to the Pirate Museum, which was OK, but kind of overpriced in my opinion. Stopped at the new micro-brewery and had a couple beers which cost the same as the beers on the ship. I decided to go back to the ship, my wife wanted to go to a store for something... I had to give her the "situational awareness" briefing about pickpockets, traffic on the wrong side of the street, being accosted by bums, and the whole deal. I got on the ship and she was back within about 30 minutes. We have a better time on the ship than at Nassau.

Tom in Okeechobee, FL