What Nassau excursions do you recommend? Avoid?

[hygienejean]

We are looking to do an excursion in Nassau. We have a total of 16 people. 6 of them are little ones. Ages 7,5,3,2,2,1.

What excursions do you recommend for us? Any that you loved?

Any of them turn out to be real stinkers and not worth the $$

They sound great on paper but I have this fear that the one I pick will be dirty and a real bomb. Positive outlook I know! The last time my DH and I were in Nassau, we did this Pirate Museum tour.... We were the only ones on the tour and it was so lame. They kept taking us through these rooms as the enacted some sort of play. Painful! We laugh about it now but we were a little nervous being alone in that Pirate museum thing...Could have been kidnapped or something. You understand why I don't want to revisit anything like that!

Thanks Dissers for your help!

 

[ashman]

My wife and I did the Dolphin Excursion and had a blast. May be a bit much for the 1 year old but the other children would most likely enjoy it if they like that sort of thing.

 

[UGAFan0829]

I second the Dolphin Encounter. It was a lot of fun!

 

[hygienejean]

Anything beyond the dolphin encounter??? (It looks a bit pricey...) How was the Stingray excursion? How about the Blue Lagoon?

Thanks!!!

 

[shmora]

The dolphin encounter you can book on your own and we saved alot of money. I have four kids so I had to cut corners also.

Lorra

 

[DancingBear]

bump

 

[sln88]

I am really stumped about Nassau.
I have read positive reviews about the pirate museum, so I thought we could take ds 8 and 11 there, but now this post says it is lame?

Atlantis sounds nice, but we just went to Seaworld last year, so would rather do something different. We live in Wi(home of the waterparks), and there are 5 of us, so I am thinking the Atlantis water park is a waste of $.

I will not pay the $$ for the dolpin excursion- too pricey for me.

DH and I would like to go snorkeling and leave the kids behind for part of the day, but I want them to at least be able to see what Nassau is like.

No shopping! No straw market!

so, any recommendations on a decent snorkeling trip? Is the snorkeling in Nassau any good? It must be better than Castaway Cay, right?

Any beaches worth going to? Some place to let the kids have some sort of experience?

I think we should make a sticky post for each island and people could say what they did and if it was any good or not.

 

[alanapapa]

My DW, DD11, DD6, & I took the Historical Tour and we were impressed. The drawback was that they advertized "Air Conditioned tour Buses" and what we got were mini-van taxis, with questionable A/C. We sometimes had problems hearing the guide/driver. We all learned something about the islands and enjoyed the 2 hours or so, even in the heat and humidity of July. We wanted some sort of excursion for the girls since it was our first time (maybe only) in Nassau. Later while the girls were in the Club/Lab my DW & I walked around the Straw Market and did a little shopping.

 

[logan1_2000]

Stay on the Wonder. No one will hassle you to buy their crappy trinkets or drugs. No one will nag you to braid hair. The ship will rarely be less crowded, the better to enjoy the mickey slide, the pools, the sunshine, play ping pong w/o 20 knots of breeze just from the ship's movement, and ice cream and pizza (i hate the pizza on board, but some kids like it) and pluto's and maybe a movie, and a clean bathroom always close by and dont have to worry about your wallet. Day at sea w/o the crowds, the adults can get spa ressies if they like.

thus, the best nassau excursion is no excursion.

second best is doing cable beach, if it is beach weather, on your own, inexpensively, just take a cab or even a bus to the wyndham, bring your own towels from the pool, and use of the wyndham's pool, beach access, and lounge chairs is no charge (they hope you'll buy food & drink or gamble while you are there). do a search on wyndham or cable beach to find threads with details.

 

[swandiverpatt]

We took the Historical Nassau tour and enjoyed it greatly.

 

[markey]

Don't stay on the ship. Experience what another culture is like. Experience people who have no steady income, be polite and you will probably, in most cases get the same in return. Be alert to any situation, just like in cities in this country. We are taking the snorkle tour this time in the pm and will be visiting the straw market and shopping in the am. This will be our 3rd trip, and while Nassau is no St. Thomas in beauty the water is a beautiful blue to enjoy. Nassau last year, not a scheduled stop, but due to hurricanes went there instead of GC, has cleaned up the dock area since 2000. We have gone on the historical tour, Atlantis casino and also to the zoo/flamigo place. A taxi ride is nice and you can have your own private tour. Everyone has their on opinion on Nassau but we would not miss the experiences on any ports. People rave about Cozumel, last year 2 people tried to sell my husband something to smoke and we are in our late 50's, probably thought our generation never stopped. My point is that you can find good and bad at every port, but you should experience how other people also live.

 

[HeelMD]

Hate to say it, but I agree with logan. Not the best city we have ever been to although we have not been there as part of a DCL port of call. If you want to do Atlantis, I recommend getting a room for the day at the Comfort Suites; Paradise Island which gives you full priviledges at Atlantis (the Atlantis excursion does not). There are a lot of opportunities in Nassau to be ripped off and definitely DO NOT buy any jewelry there no matter how good of a deal you think it is.