Nassau or no?

[aliceismad]

We took the water taxi over to Atlantis and then paid to walk through The Dig, which is a small-ish aquarium. We walked the beach, which at that time had very deep powdery sand, but did not sit there. I have heard that Atlantis cut down the number of "walk-up" items you can pay for, trying to force people to book overpriced excursions through the cruise ships, but I don't know if that is accurate right now or not. Certainly they will let you spend your cash on their food ($$$) or casino. It was neat to walk around the complex and check out the level of detail.

Walking to Atlantis would be tough because there is a large bridge that, from my understanding, is not very pedestrian friendly.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Both of the cruises we've taken have stopped in Nassau, and we haven't left the ship either time. Our next cruise does not stop there and we likely won't look to book an itinerary that does stop there in the future, because it holds zero interest for us.

 

[Miss Bella]

If you haven't been there I think it's worth jumping in a cab and checking out Atlantis. It's not a big expense and only takes a couple hours of your day if that. I can't imagine stopping at any port I haven't been to and not getting off the ship. At least you can say you've seen it.

 

[Herdman]

I envision us getting off and walking around near the port for an hour or two, being back on the ship for lunch, then enjoying the pool, etc. in the afternoon. I think this will satisfy our daughter that she can say she's been there while still spending the majority of our day on the ship.

 

[mdubm]

That is what I have done. No excursions, nothing that requires a cab, or a car, or a scooter, or a boat. Just get off, walk around, do some shopping if you find something that interests you, and then back on the boar.

They do have some interestinf liquor drinks at Pirate Republic too. They have a pirate tour and free wifi as well. We went last year at this time, but the “pirate had called in sick” and the wifi was down, so we didn’t stay long. It has all thr makings to be a great place. We could see it from our porthole on the ship

 

[LAKid53]

I would gladly trade that Nassau stop for a 2nd day at Castaway Cay. Our 1st DCL was a 3 nighter. I had booked an excursion, but cancelled before we left Port Canaveral. Got off, walked around for an hour or so (so my daughter could say she'd visited a foreign country) and got back on board. Spent the afternoon in the spa. We no longer get off ship if there's a stop at Nassau, but use that as a day to relax, get a one day spa pass, etc.

 

[Herdman]

I think we will be doing the same thing - getting off for an hour or so to do a quick look around and so our daughter can say she's been to a foreign country, then back on the ship for lunch and an afternoon of relaxing.

 

[Agardini51]

We just got back from a 5 night disney cruise that had a stop in Nassau. That day was the only day that we were able to get a ticket to the princess and frozen meet and greet. Our kids are only ages 3 & 4, so I think seeing the characters were better for them than doing anything in port. We did leave the ship to walk by the shore and go through the shops. If you dont want to spend the money for atlantis, I would just recommend spending the majority of your time on the boat and getting off for a few hours to walk through the shops and maybe grab a bite to eat in a local eatery there, if you already didnt eat on the boat.

Definitely get off the boat in castaway cay tho. The fact that you are the only boat in this secluded port with no pressure to buy anything is amazing. You can spend a beach day here and fully enjoy it. The beach here is much nicer than the one we went to in Nassau.

My wife and I had previously been to this port before we had kids and all we did was go to the junkanoo beach for the day. It's not the best beach, but if you want to just sit on the beach it's only about a mile walk from the port.

We looked into doing the Atlantis excursion both times, but the first time the value proposition of going to a water park was not there. This is an expensive excursion for only a few hours of a crowded water park. This most recent time we found out that you cannot take a 3 year old to atlantis, at least when booking through disney.

We did notice this time that the vendors aren't as pushy as they seemed last time in the shopping areas. There still are people asking you to buy their stuff in the shops outside, but a simple no thank you is very sufficient. Nassau vendors are not anywhere near the level of pushy as what we saw in a previous cruise stop in Ochos rios, jamaica.