Okay, so I know I am WAY early asking this as my honeymoon cruise isn't until October, but my fiance and I are super excited!
Neither of us has ever spent time in Nassau or been to Castaway Cay. We were looking at the list of excursions and there are so many of them we can't decide. We definitely want to do some snorkeling, but other than that not too sure. For those of you who have been, what excursions would you suggest for both Nassau and Castaway Cay? We are on kind of a tight budget, but realize that this is one area we might have to drop some cash for. What have you liked or not liked at both places? Is snorkeling better to do at Castaway Cay or Nassau? Is the cost of the Atlantis Aquaventure (or whatever they call it) worth it? Are there better things to arrange on our own rather than relying on the cruises options?
Thanks for any help you can give us!
Snorkeling on Castaway Cay is cheap (free if you bring your own equipment) but go early in the day. As the day wears on, a lot of silt gets kicked up.
On Nassau I have done the Sting Ray Excursion and the Swim With the Dolphins excursion.
The Sting Ray I was not thrilled with. The excursion itself was good. You take a launch out to an island, they have the rays in a fenced in lagoon area, they give you snorkel gear, and you swim with them. There are LOADS of them, all over the place. It is nothing like encountering them in the wild, where if you see one or two while snorkling it is a good day. You cannot turn around without bumping into one. When you feed them, they know what is comming, and will push against your legs to get to the food.
Thats the good part.
So now you have been swimming with the rays for a hour or so. You get out of the water, walk down to the end of the island to turn in your ticket for lunch and get an overdone hamburger and a can of soda. You eat that, and then .... now what ? There is a beach, and an (overpriced) bar, and an (overpriced) gift shop. You are stuck there for another 2 hours or so. The launches back to the ship do not leave for another two hours at least. If felt that we wasted a lot of time that could have been spent either exploring Nassau or on the ship (we were on a 3-day cruise on this trip). We DID take the first excursion out, and while we were there, the second one came in. I guess they could have swam with the rays and taken our launch back, but they would still be getting back just before the first dinner seating.
Swim with the Dolphins was not cheap, but it was very good - nothing like riding on a dolphin. It is an excellent facility. Much the same as with the stingrays, you do your 'program' (they have swims, encounters, and other things that are cheaper) and then are free to wander the island. They have a snack shop (if you can, wait to go back to the ship - it is $$$), gift shop, animal displays, and a nice beach. However, unlike the stingray encounter, they have tenders going back to the ship every 30 to 45 minutes. You can go back to Nassau when you want to. We had plenty of time to look around Nassau, visit the shopping (tourist trap) center, eat some fresh young coconuts, and still get on the ship with plenty of time to shower, change, and make dinner.
As for Atlantis, I have heard that it is a lot of fun. It is basicly a waterpark - but a nice one. I have avoided it, only because we were looking to do things I can't normally do (like ride dolphins). A tip that I hear a lot of people do is they book a room at the hotel across the street (I think it is a Holiday Inn - someone will confirm or correct me). If you stay there, admission is included in your room. Depending on the number of people in your group, a room can be cheaper than admission to Atlantis. Some people check in, get their passes, and check out all at the same time. Others check in, us the rooms to store a change of clothes, go the Atlantis, come back to the hotel, change, and then check out. If you do this, you are on your own though. Not part of an 'offical' excursion.
-dave
