Your favorite thing to do in Nassau

[Ozarkglittergirl]

Considering everything, If we do anything it will be blue lagoon because my granddaughters love to swim and I'd really like to steer them clear of the onboard pool...plus, it will be July and a walking tour does not sound appealing or practical. 3 days of beach activities should be enough swimming.

 

[richmo]

Atlantis is an expensive excursion, so keep that in mind. We found that an Atlantis excursion was kind of unnecessary especially because Castaway Cay is a day on either side of it. But if you don't mind the expense, then go for it.

Staying on the ship is another viable option. It will be considerably less crowded, so you can take advantage of the pools, etc. You can also get off the ship just to walk around the dock area without going thru customs and get back on. Its not a large area to walk around, but you at least get off the ship for a bit.

Also you can go thru Customs and walk around the downtown area which is adjacent to the dock area. You will go thru Customs. There's shopping, the straw market, a Hard Rock Cafe and Senor Frogs, all very close to the docks. If you're a little more adventurous you could walk the Queen's Staircase and the fort...not sure how much the kids would enjoy that though.

 

[dispromn]

I commonly see advice on this board for people to stay on the ship in Nassau and enjoy a less-crowded pool deck. But on our recent 4-night cruise, the pools were just as crowded and unenjoyable on the Nassau day as they were on the sea day. If I had to do it again, I would book a day pass at the Hilton, just to give the kids some time to relax in a pool. Everyone's experience will be different, of course, but I would not count on enjoying a less-crowded ship in Nassau.

 

[Ozarkglittergirl]

I commonly see advice on this board for people to stay on the ship in Nassau and enjoy a less-crowded pool deck. But on our recent 4-night cruise, the pools were just as crowded and unenjoyable on the Nassau day as they were on the sea day. If I had to do it again, I would book a day pass at the Hilton, just to give the kids some time to relax in a pool. Everyone's experience will be different, of course, but I would not count on enjoying a less-crowded ship in Nassau.

I see more and more negative comments about the pools than anything else on a Disney cruise. As a newbie I'm truly grateful to have this foreknowledge. We are going to get off ship in Nassau and do something. Not going all that way just to sit on ship worrying about my granddaughters in a too crowded pool. Thanks for all the insight

 

[hubbard53]

I enjoy Nassau quite a bit. I think the Hard Rock restaurant and bar is a blast! I also enjoyed walking down to McDonalds and having a spicy filet of fish sandwich (yum) amongst the locals. The Margaritaville in Nassau on Paradise Island is one of the best, in terms of atmosphere (service is terrible but service in the Bahamas is bad in general). It is actually quite kid friendly and right on the harbor so watching multi million dollar yachts come and go is entertaining (or was it just the margaritas?). I took my son to straw market for first time and he thought it was awesome! He was haggling over a shark tooth necklace and was thrilled with "getting a steal".

Yes, the conventional wisdom is "stay on the boat" but frankly, Nassau is a lot of fun and those who skip it are missing out.

 

[My2litteprincesses]

Stay on Ship : )

Our next cruise might hire a boat and go snorkeling at a near by island....


Have you been on any other DCL cruises? I would say by far Nassau/Atlantis has been our WORSE itinerary / stop. Atlantis is WAY over priced...

I never said Atlantis was cheap. I said we had a great day and enjoyed the resort very much while we were there in that short amount of time. We actually came home & priced out a vacation at Atlantis - but it was extremely expensive, so we scratched that idea & booked another cruise!
I was contributing my opinion on Nassau & Atlantis for the day excursion. My husband & I went to Atlantis years ago before kids, so I was excited to show the resort to them. It did not disappoint. We all loved it & lunch was included on our day pass.
If you thought it was a miserable time, then that's your opinion!

 

[steves100]

I never said Atlantis was cheap. I said we had a great day and enjoyed the resort very much while we were there in that short amount of time. We actually came home & priced out a vacation at Atlantis - but it was extremely expensive, so we scratched that idea & booked another cruise!
I was contributing my opinion on Nassau & Atlantis for the day excursion. My husband & I went to Atlantis years ago before kids, so I was excited to show the resort to them. It did not disappoint. We all loved it & lunch was included on our day pass.
If you thought it was a miserable time, then that's your opinion!

I never said it was miserable....

Its a RIP OFF. Have you done any other DCL cruises? If you have I doubt you would ever want to go to Nassau again

 

[My2litteprincesses]

I never said it was miserable....

Its a RIP OFF. Have you done any other DCL cruises? If you have I doubt you would ever want to go to Nassau again

Going in 21 days so I'll report my findings then!

 

[nevergirl]

The BEST tour at Nassau is http://trubahamianfoodtours.com/tour_category/food-tour/ I could do that again and again.

SO GLAD to hear this, this is the only thing I've book for Nassau and I'm super excited for it!

 

[Sweetsarj]

We spent the entire day at Atlantis last Tuesday on the Dream. It was wonderful and I can't wait to visit again. I'm so happy I didn't listen to a lot of posters who dislike Atlantis. While we didn't do any of the water slides (kids are little) we never found it to be crowded or not able to find a tube. We did the lagoon beach, Atlantic beach, kids splash area, lazy river and other pools on property.

 

[Sneezie]

We are considering doing the Hilton Day Pass... Question: Are alcoholic drinks included in the $40 credit?

It's not a Disney excursion, it is through resort for a day. The cost is 60 for adults and 30 for kids. This price includes and 40 food and beverage credit for adults and 20 food and beverage credit for kids. The hotel is within walking distance from the port so no having to depend on taxi's getting you back to the port in time with traffic and what not.

 

[nancyjo1998]

We are considering doing the Hilton Day Pass... Question: Are alcoholic drinks included in the $40 credit?

I have heard alcoholic drinks are included.

 

[Sytrace]

As a family, we have done Atlantis beach break and the Glass bottom boat tour. Both were fine and we had a good time.
We were considering staying on the ship this time out but I booked the Graycliff chocolatier tour at a decent hour so we have time to get back on to break the family consecutive Aquaduck ride record.
When I was a CM (a long time ago) I sailed on the Magic and went to Atlantis and did the beach and DIG tour. And walked around downtown in the straw market as well.
And then there was the time I took my kids and Mom on a Carnival cruise to Bahamas and it stopped in Nassau and Freeport. We went to Atlantis but got back on the ship in Freeport after buying a couple of souvies.

If for some reason, the Aquaduck challenge does not happen in Nassau because it is too crowded, we will shoot for CC day to attempt it.
In January/February on the Fantasy we did not stop at CC (propulsion issues) so we had an extra sea day, which meant the record has not been challenged so far. My husband is chomping at the bit to outride my 14 year old.

Have a great time!

 

[Debby7]

Wanting to put in a thumbs up for the Forts and Junkanoo tour. We rode in an air-conditioned mini bus, saw a lot of the town, went to Fort Charlotte, the Queens Staircase, and the Junkanoo Museum which was actually a lot of fun. Got back in time for a late lunch.

 

[TeaBee]

We are considering doing the Hilton Day Pass... Question: Are alcoholic drinks included in the $40 credit?

Yes, alcoholic drinks are included. We had a lovely, lazy day at the Hilton - the photo in my profile is taken from the beach there.

 

[kcdisneymom]

As a family, we have done Atlantis beach break and the Glass bottom boat tour. Both were fine and we had a good time.
We were considering staying on the ship this time out but I booked the Graycliff chocolatier tour at a decent hour so we have time to get back on to break the family consecutive Aquaduck ride record.
When I was a CM (a long time ago) I sailed on the Magic and went to Atlantis and did the beach and DIG tour. And walked around downtown in the straw market as well.
And then there was the time I took my kids and Mom on a Carnival cruise to Bahamas and it stopped in Nassau and Freeport. We went to Atlantis but got back on the ship in Freeport after buying a couple of souvies.

If for some reason, the Aquaduck challenge does not happen in Nassau because it is too crowded, we will shoot for CC day to attempt it.
In January/February on the Fantasy we did not stop at CC (propulsion issues) so we had an extra sea day, which meant the record has not been challenged so far. My husband is chomping at the bit to outride my 14 year old.

Have a great time!

What is an Aquaduck challenge?

 

[Sytrace]

It is a challenge we created in our family to see how many times the kids could ride Aquaduck consecutively on port days (including Castaway Cay)
So far it is 9 on a CC day and 7 on a Nassau day.

 

[LoverDisney]

I Agree, We were just there on April 29th and all you needed was your photo ID, we used drivers licenses. If you want you take passports to get them stamped at the customs building, but I would opt to get the passports stamped and get them back on the ship in the room safe, then go out and tour. A bit more leg work but, I'm one who errs on the side of caution though.

Thanks for the heads up about the passports. Since it is advised to leave them on the boat, will the kids also need ID to get back on or just me?

 

[anna08]

Have done these four -
1. Stay on the ship - would not do again. Bad weather prevented us from stopping at Castaway Cay and we really regretted not getting off in Nassau.
2. Blue Lagoon - swim with dolphins or the beach day - both were great. Would only do dolphin encounter if the kids are not hesitant to get in the water with the dolphins. Beach/swimming area is very nice, not crowded, and relaxing with kids.
3. Atlantis - a big sprawling resort so you'll walk a fair bit. Lazy river is not lazy and our son got separated from us and took us over an hour to find him again so this affected our experience a lot. Had to wait in long lines for lunch and slides. Cost is a definite negative. I would not do this excursion through DCL - felt like we spent way too much time waiting for the group to gather, move and be transported - almost 2 hours.
4. Hilton - just tried this for the first time this year. Very very relaxing. Food, beverages (all kinds), towels, cabana and wifi all included with day pass for us and it was a hit with everyone. Kids made friends in the pool - we brought a beach ball and they played games most of the day. I loved that I could see the ship from the pool.

 

[Napoleon Dynamite]

Stay on the ship and enjoy the empty pool deck and repeat rides on the Aquaduck...

I've been to Nassau more times than I can count..so I treat it as a "sea day". However if you've never been, I would highly recommend the Atlantis Resort with kids those ages.

I think this is such a thing of the past now. Our first cruise the decks were empty, but now I feel like more and more people stay on board. We were just on the Dream this past week, and it was definitely busy on Nassau day!