First Cruise. Non Disney. Nassau Excursions.

[ScoutN]

I will be taking my first cruise ever this upcoming Fall on Royal Caribbean. It was booked a matter of days ago and I am looking for advice on Nassau Excursions that will not break the bank. The person I am cruising with has been there several times before but all Line sanctioned excursions are a bit pricey.

What items do all of you seasoned seafarers feel are reasonably priced as well as safe and free of shady items. I have heard nothing but "DO not leave the designated areas." How does this factor into non Line arranged excursions?

 

[ChuckElias]

To be honest, we usually don't get off the ship in Nassau. There's not too much there that we really feel a huge urge to see. I know some people are big fans of Atlantis. If you look through the Excursion Review thread that's pinned to the top of the forum, there might be some Nassau excursions for you to think about in there.

And here are a couple of threads that talk about Nassau port days:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/nassau-port-day.861851
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/getting-to-atlantis-from-nassau.862178

Hope that helps a little.

 

[deanaandrich]

My husband and I love the snorkeling in the Bahamas.

 

[ScoutN]

To be honest, we usually don't get off the ship in Nassau. There's not too much there that we really feel a huge urge to see. I know some people are big fans of Atlantis. If you look through the Excursion Review thread that's pinned to the top of the forum, there might be some Nassau excursions for you to think about in there.

And here are a couple of threads that talk about Nassau port days:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/nassau-port-day.861851
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/getting-to-atlantis-from-nassau.862178

Hope that helps a little.

Thanks, I will read through those tomorrow. Depending how I like Nassau on this one will decide if I book a three day Dream trip before the year is out!

 

[ChuckElias]

Thanks, I will read through those tomorrow. Depending how I like Nassau on this one will decide if I book a three day Dream trip before the year is out!

Does this mean that if you don't like Nassau, you won't re-book? Or does it mean that if you don't like Nassau, you will have to book a longer cruise with different ports of call?

In any case, I would advise you to re-book SOMETHING while you're still onboard. Even if you don't particularly like Nassau, your experience on the rest of the cruise is likely to be phenomenal. If you re-book while still onboard, you receive a 10% discount off the published rates AND you get an on-board credit from the cruise line. AND you don't have to pay as much of a deposit to hold the reservation. So there's a lot of incentive to book your next Disney cruise while you're still on your current Disney cruise.

If you decide at some point in the future that you really don't want to take the cruise that you reserved, you can cancel the reservation and get your full deposit back -- as long as you cancel before your "final payment due" date. It's a no-lose situation.

 

[ScoutN]

Does this mean that if you don't like Nassau, you won't re-book? Or does it mean that if you don't like Nassau, you will have to book a longer cruise with different ports of call?

In any case, I would advise you to re-book SOMETHING while you're still onboard. Even if you don't particularly like Nassau, your experience on the rest of the cruise is likely to be phenomenal. If you re-book while still onboard, you receive a 10% discount off the published rates AND you get an on-board credit from the cruise line. AND you don't have to pay as much of a deposit to hold the reservation. So there's a lot of incentive to book your next Disney cruise while you're still on your current Disney cruise.

If you decide at some point in the future that you really don't want to take the cruise that you reserved, you can cancel the reservation and get your full deposit back -- as long as you cancel before your "final payment due" date. It's a no-lose situation.

This one is on Royal. I have a chance to do a three day DCL in December as of right now. Stops at CC and Nassua as I am sure you know. I have read poking around here that DCL provides plenty to do in port like Nassau on the ship if you do not get off. If I don't see Nassau as all that then I will definitely venture into what Dream offers on ship while at port.

Just have to figure the item out for the Fall cruise that goes through there.

Thanks for your input btw!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

There's a public beach near Atlantis on Paradise Islamd that's nice. A taxi ride over is a few dollars a person. We've done that before when we didn't want to splurge for Atlantis.

 

[ChuckElias]

This one is on Royal.

Duh, I missed that part of your original post. Sorry. It makes total sense now.

So now, my suggestion is to book the Disney cruise, regardless of whether you like Nassau or not. If you don't like Nassau, just stay on board and treat it as a sea day. You'll still get Castaway Cay, which you'll love.

(And P.S. -- my old advice still applies: re-book your next Disney cruise while onboard your 3-night in December.)

 

[FlyTriPacer]

The wife and I did the Ardastra Gardens/Zoo and we had a very enjoyable time in 2011 when we did the 3-night Dream cruise. I was going to do it again when we're in Nassua 32 days from now (4-night Dream) with the kids, but the wife wanted to try something else. We're doing the semi-submersible boat trip this time. I don't remember what we did in 2006 when we were in Nassau, but we got off of the ship (Regal Empress - a grand ole ocean liner) then too. While probably not the nicest port of call, we get off the ship everytime. Enjoy!

 

[ScoutN]

Seriously, thank you for all of the input. Venturing into this section had me looking at the entire photo thread. Calling this weekend to see what I can do for booking a Dream ride in December! That was not the initial intention

 

[fredrickr]

I will be taking my first cruise ever this upcoming Fall on Royal Caribbean. It was booked a matter of days ago and I am looking for advice on Nassau Excursions that will not break the bank. The person I am cruising with has been there several times before but all Line sanctioned excursions are a bit pricey.

What items do all of you seasoned seafarers feel are reasonably priced as well as safe and free of shady items. I have heard nothing but "DO not leave the designated areas." How does this factor into non Line arranged excursions?

I might also suggest that you check out cruisecritic.com. There are forums for destinations, Cruise lines, just about anything that you can think of. Since this will be you first cruise, see if there is a "Meet & Mingle" set up for your cruise. Its a great way to meet your fellow cruisers, and on RCCL there are usually some nice gifts at the M&M, but you have to sign up in advance.

 

[ScoutN]

I might also suggest that you check out cruisecritic.com. There are forums for destinations, Cruise lines, just about anything that you can think of. Since this will be you first cruise, see if there is a "Meet & Mingle" set up for your cruise. Its a great way to meet your fellow cruisers, and on RCCL there are usually some nice gifts at the M&M, but you have to sign up in advance.

Thanks! I will look into it for both cruises!

 

[shoppingnut]

When you check in for your cruise before boarding they will give you a daily itinerary of what is going on that day which will list all the different events. Since you won't be able to get into your stateroom until about 1-1:30p you should head upstairs and have lunch. Usually by the time you've eaten lunch the rooms are ready. I know someone who did the dolphin experience tour in Nassau and said they loved it. I'm going there at the end of this month and we're deciding on our tour now.

I can tell you one thing about taking a tour from the cruiseline and that is if you tour is late getting back to the ship for whatever reason, maybe your bus broke down and they sent a new one to get you, the ship will wait for the tour to get back before setting sail. I was recently on Celebrity's Alaskan cruise and in Victoria a tour came back at 12:05a, the ship waited even though we were to sail at 12a and this was because the tour was through the cruiseline. However, if you are on your own with some guy off the street, what happens if his bus breaks down, who's coming to get you and the ship will leave. Also, all the tour operators have been vetted by the cruiseline so they are safer than going on your own. However, going over to Paradise Island by watercraft is easy and not something you need to do as a tour, but make sure you leave plenty of time to get back to the ship.

On RCCL you can book onboard for your next cruise and get on board credit, just like Disney. If you don't know when you want to sail, that's not a problem because you can do an open booking and when you see a cruise you want to take, you just apply your open booking to it.