To Nassau or not to Nassau

[LaceC]

We have booked our next DCL adventure for Sept 2019. It has been 2 years since our last so we are very excited! We are starting to explore our options for port adventures. This will be our shortest cruise to date at only 3 nights and we are considering not leaving the ship when it ports in Nassau. If you have done this what were your thoughts? What was the activity level on board? What did you do? My DD would like to disembark, but we've been to Nassau so many times I'm not certain it is worth it, or that there is anything we haven't done that we really want to do. If you have a must do in Nassau I'd like to hear that as well!!!

 

[Dug720]

I got off once and stayed on once. Not a ton of planned stuff on board - and not the “empty ship” people envision.

 

[mevelandry]

Not much activities during the day on the ship with the exception of the pool and slide but we have spent the AM at the spa (Rainforest) once and it was very nice.

 

[TortoiseTaughtUs]

We stayed onboard, and based on the crowds in the pools and Cabanas it seemed like pretty much everyone else did as well. My son spent much of the day in the club/lab while I read on our verandah and DH napped. It was also Pirate Night, so I took DS to the afternoon deck party/show thing while my husband got a massage.

 

[KVH]

I think it depends on your risk/tolerance levels. Ignoring the business/political factors, RC's recent warning about Nassau does have a large cautionary element that shouldn't be discounted. And State Department's travel advisory is a year old but still in force (level 2 yet). Since you're only there for a few hours, this is where your tolerance for running the gauntlet of vendors comes in. I doubt anything bad will happen but it IS possible. So there's your risk. You'll have to measure how much you want to do any shorex against those levels.

 

[OKW Lover]

This will be our shortest cruise to date at only 3 nights and we are considering not leaving the ship when it ports in Nassau. If you have done this what were your thoughts?

Whenever we are on a cruise that stops at Nassau we don't get off the ship there. There is always plenty to do on board. Our favorite is to schedule a massage (or other spa treatment) that day. Just relax on board.

 

[Fuzzywuzzy]

We have given up on Nassau. I can find obnoxious vendors, peddlers and cabbies much closer to home than the Bahamas. We stay on board and have a little personal time.

 

[nutshell]

Easy. Stay on the ship.

 

[Mto3]

We also did a 3 night and chose to stay on the ship. We spent the morning at the pool/slides and went to the movies and played mini golf in the afternoon (I even got to sneak away to the spa for a bit).

 

[squirk]

The way I see it, Nassau is Nassau, whether you are sailing on DCL, RCCL, CCL, NCL, etc.

Even though you are paying DCL a 25%-40% premium over the other lines, your time in Nassau is exactly the same no matter who you sail with. So why not leverage the ship as much as possible - especially on a short cruise, and especially since you've already "done" Nassau several times - and get as much value as possible (the "Disney difference") for the premium you're paying?

 

[Spiffy MacSpiff]

We usually do a shore excursion or a little exploring in Nassau, but on our last Dream cruise we decided to stay on the ship. It was fine, there are movies and activities enough to keep people busy; check out some recent Navigators online to get a feel for the kind of planned activities that are available. We had a late breakfast and spent a couple of hours on the pool deck in the morning, then after lunch the kids went to their clubs while DH went to a spa appointment and I walked around the ship. There were families doing the Midship Detective Agency thing, playing mini-golf and other games on the sports deck, walking or running laps around Deck 4, playing shuffleboard, etc. Our boys didn't want to leave their clubs, so DH napped and I took my book down to Deck 4 and relaxed in the shade with a glass of wine before it was time to collect the troops and get everyone ready for dinner.

Would we stay on board in Nassau again? Maybe, maybe not, depending on options for excursions. It was definitely not the "uncrowded ship" thing that some people expect or hope for. Plenty of people remain on board, so if you have visions of empty pools and no line for the AquaDuck you'll be disappointed. It's better than your average sea day, though, at least in the morning.

 

[Tasmen]

This is the conundrum we are having this upcoming cruise. Nassau is just one of those ports that doesn't excite us much. We've decided to go off ship, though, as it's a port where a lot of people stay onboard. We are going to just hit the Hilton with a daypass since it is within walking distance of the port.

 

[angie7911922]

We've also been to Nassau several times. Don't really get off the ship anymore, unless there is something specific we want to grab from a store. There isn't a lot to do on board during the day, but my kids enjoy the club, and I sit and stare at the ocean while reading a good book. Not sure if the pirate museum is still there or not, but that was kind of neat a few years ago when we did it. You could try that.

 

[mocodis]

we went to Nassau last cruise and toured Atlantis on an excursion. Interesting to see the shark and turtle aquariums. Nice resort but I am guessing we will stay onboard the next cruise to relax or watch a movie or....

 

[WDW_fan_in_TX]

We just booked our first cruise ever and are going in September 2019. It has a stop at Nassau, so we'll have to see if we're going to get off the ship. We're talking about it because it will probably be our only trip ever to the Bahamas. But we're kind of scared with all that's being said.

 

[Quellman]

If your daughter wants to get off and see and do something, figure out what that something is and enjoy. You only get so many memories with your kids. As for us, we typically stay on the ship at Nassau and really just about all the other ports as well. But to be fair we have a younger child who doesn't qualify for a lot of excursions. Instead, we treat the ship as our floating resort. We did tour San Juan a little during one stop there since it was an embarkation day change. We have never really thought of it as a place we would visit, so took the opportunity to when it popped up. Other than that its just ship time. I'm paying a lot for the my time on board, and I don't need to lessen it.

 

[firstwdw]

We just booked our first cruise ever and are going in September 2019. It has a stop at Nassau, so we'll have to see if we're going to get off the ship. We're talking about it because it will probably be our only trip ever to the Bahamas. But we're kind of scared with all that's being said.

lots of negative posts on Nassau. We just did our first cruise and we wanted to get off in Nassau because we had never been. We had an excellent experience and I'm glad we decided to see for ourselves rather than stay on the ship out of fear and negative posts! We booked a tour through DCL and we loved it!

 

[Dug720]

If your daughter wants to get off and see and do something, figure out what that something is and enjoy. You only get so many memories with your kids. As for us, we typically stay on the ship at Nassau and really just about all the other ports as well. But to be fair we have a younger child who doesn't qualify for a lot of excursions. Instead, we treat the ship as our floating resort. We did tour San Juan a little during one stop there since it was an embarkation day change. We have never really thought of it as a place we would visit, so took the opportunity to when it popped up. Other than that its just ship time. I'm paying a lot for the my time on board, and I don't need to lessen it.

Yes, I have wondered how old the DD is. If she is of age to leave and do an excursion on her own, let her. One advantage of traveling as an all-adult party is people can do what they want. Obviously if the DD is a child, a decision will have to be made.

 

[mevelandry]

lots of negative posts on Nassau. We just did our first cruise and we wanted to get off in Nassau because we had never been. We had an excellent experience and I'm glad we decided to see for ourselves rather than stay on the ship out of fear and negative posts! We booked a tour through DCL and we loved it!

I'm curious: What excursion did you do?

 

[firstwdw]

I'm curious: What excursion did you do?

Hi, We did the Nassau Forts and Junkanoo Discovery Tour. It was fantastic! We were taken by van in a group of about 15 to the Junkanoo museum where we spent an hour learning all about the traditions and festival-the owner of the museum was very entertaining and engaging-it's completely interactive-not a walk around and look at things type place. It's small, in his home actually, but absolutely incredible! We then met our van driver who took us to Fort Charlotte where we had an excellent local tour guide and spent another 45min-an hour there. We got to learn all about the history of the fort and even go in the underground rooms and tunnels. Plus a nice view of the ship from up there. Drove through town and they pointed out all the historic sites, government buildings etc. We did drive through a poor area but that's what the islands are all like and it was good for our teenager, who had never left the USA prior, to see. Van took us to the Queens Staircase and we had some time to explore there. Van dropped us off right at the entrance to the cruise terminal. We were onboard by 1:30 or 2 for lunch. We learned so much about Nassau and felt like we truly visited someplace we'd never been. It is $48 per person through DCL and worth it! We NEVER encountered any pushy locals and we felt safe the entire time. We browsed the stands with souvenirs right outside the cruise terminal and no one was pushy-we purchased a magnet and the girl was very appreciated and pleasant.