NCL Bahamas Excursion Question

Hello!

My husband and I will be heading to the Bahamas in October aboard the Gem. We sailed her last year for our honeymoon to the Caribbean. We had planned to do the sea lion swim in St. Thomas but our itinerary changed due to all the hurricane damage. I was super stoked to see that Nassau has a sea lion excursion as well! It's at the Blue Lagoon Island. I looked on my NCL and I don't see that as an excursion. Has anyone done this that can give some feedback? From looking at their direct site, it doesn't look like you have access to the beach afterwards (although I could be misreading it). I was hoping NCL did it as an excursion for the added insurance of getting back to the boat. Could that excursion maybe be added later? Thanks for any help!

I did a Blue Lagoon sea lion excursion from the NCL Jewel, but that was back in 2012. We did have the ability to hang out at the beach that day, but it may just have been because (long story short) things got all confusing and we ended up there several hours before our actual scheduled time to swim with the sea lions. I have heard that NCL may continue to add excursions, so there's a possibility it will show up. It's a really beautiful place and I enjoyed the animal interactions. I would highly recommend it!!

So I do see this on their website: "FREE BEACH ACCESS To All Guests Participating In Animal Programs"

Thank you so much! I must have missed that. I saw that a beach day was part of their add ons so I assumed it was more money. I'm very excited, glad you enjoyed it!

We just did the sea lion excursion last weekend. You definitely have access to the beach. We did the 10:30 excursion, which was done by noon so we had two hours to enjoy the island before heading back on the 2 o'clock ferry. We had some drinks at the bar and then walked around. It was a nice day.

Even though we booked directly (our NCL cruise didn't offer the tour either), we were able to get dropped back off at the cruise port. So we only had to pay for a taxi to the ferry terminal on Paradise Island but not on the way back.

I thought the sea lion encounter itself was pretty short. I was expecting more of an orientation/information session before the interaction but they basically just asked if we had any questions. Some more background about the sea lions would have been nice. I did the encounter while my husband got an observer pass and was able to take some pictures of me, although at a distance. I bought a few of the pictures that the photographer took too.

I'll post some pictures of our day after I get them uploaded.

Thank you so much! I must have missed that. I saw that a beach day was part of their add ons so I assumed it was more money. I'm very excited, glad you enjoyed it!

There is a separate beach day pass that you can purchase without doing one of the animal encounters. I believe the beach day pass includes the buffet lunch. You don't need to purchase a beach day pass to use the beach though if you're already doing an animal encounter. You just have to pay for your own food/drinks.

Oh, I forgot to ask what your hours in port are. If you're booking directly, you need to make sure you're leaving enough time to get to the ferry terminal and back to the ship afterwards.

Jennie, my profile picture is one that was taken with the sea lions that day! It was late November (I think it was actually Thanksgiving day) and sooo cold and windy. I was surprised we didn't get wetsuits and the water was kind of icky. BUT it was still awesome.