Excursions with kids on Carnival Pride- Canaveral, Nassau, Freeport?

[highbridge5]

I was just checking out the KSC site. Honestly, we probably could make the 7:30 departure, but my kids might not like the 10hr day. I like the flexibility of doing it ourselves and setting our times. What was theri policy if you decided to leave earlier? It sounds like there is a lot to see there, but just in case someone gets really tired and wants to call it a day. Thanks!!!!

 

Here is what my roll-call buddy reported about the Carnival excursion-

 

We had a guide on the bus to KSC. We did get there before the Center opened to the public. It seems like Carnival has a special arrangement with the KSC. When we arrived, our guide walked us around the missile area, until it was time for the 9AM IMAX film about landing on the moon. Then our whole bus went together with a KSC guide on another bus for the Close Up Tour. After the tour we had time on our own. We spent a little time in the museum and then took a bus back to the main area to do the Take Off launch simulation where we saw you. Then we went to the bookstore and took the bus back around 3PM. It looked like there were 4 Carnival buses going to the Space Center that day. I know Carnival offered a few different types of excursions there. When it was time to return to the boat, we could take any one of the buses back.

 

I thought it was worth it, but would have preferred a later start time!

 

Nancy

 

It sounds like there might be buses to take you back at various times in the afternoon. This is a good question for the shore excursion desk on the ship. I was on the port side of the ship. There were at least 4 or 5 KSC buses waiting at 7AM to take people over. This is probably not something that you have to worry about it selling out.

 

I waited until we were on the ship to arrange KSC. I wanted to know what the weather was going to be like before I committed to a day of being in and out of the outdoors.

 

hb5

[Smithkids5521]

Are you doing the dolphin enocounter in Freeport through Carnival or another tour operator? My DD (17) wants to do a dolphin thing, but I am afraid my little ones might be scared and I hate to spend that much money for my kiddos to freak out.

 

I know it is really pricey ($116 per adult and kid) but we are going to do the one through Carnival... only because the day is so short in Freeport (7-2pm) and the description of the excursion says it takes about 3.5 hours and it is a bus ride and boat ride to get to the facility...I am scared we would miss the ship and be stuck in Freeport! :eek: I have been showing my kids videos from You Tube of what to expect- maybe if you show them ahead of time what they will do with the dolphons, they'll get excited for it and not freak out...:)

 

Take this opportunity to experience an amazing close encounter with Dolphins.

On this exciting excursion you will:

• Enjoy the Dolphin Experience at UNEXSO on Grand Bahama Island.
  
• This educational and interactive encounter begins with a short bus ride to the UNEXSO facility in Port Lucaya.
  
• Take a 20-minute boat ride through the beautiful canal systems of Grand Bahama Island or along the South Shore of the island (depending on weather) to arrive at Sanctuary Bay, a natural 9-acre lagoon and home to fourteen Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins.
  
• Learn about these dolphins while they splash and jump around you and then step onto a 3 foot deep submerged platform where you will pet, kiss and hug a dolphin.
  
• Photographers will be on hand to capture your interactions with the dolphins.
  
• After your dolphin encounter, you can take a dip in the facility’s pool, enjoy lunch or a snack, or browse the gift shop, before heading back to your ship.
  

Note: All ages are welcome. A parent or guardian must participate in the program with children under the age of 16. All participants will receive a complimentary t-shirt. Tanning oils and excessive amounts of sunscreen are not permitted. For the safety of the dolphins, please remove jewelry. Photos of your dolphin encounter are available for purchase after your program. Lunch/snacks are available for purchase at the Dive In Bar & Grill.

[mykidsrock76]

I know it is really pricey ($116 per adult and kid) but we are going to do the one through Carnival... only because the day is so short in Freeport (7-2pm) and the description of the excursion says it takes about 3.5 hours and it is a bus ride and boat ride to get to the facility...I am scared we would miss the ship and be stuck in Freeport! :eek: I have been showing my kids videos from You Tube of what to expect- maybe if you show them ahead of time what they will do with the dolphons, they'll get excited for it and not freak out...:)

 

 

The You Tube videos are a great idea. I think my middle child would be okay. The little guy might freak out, but the video may prepare him for it. The oldest wants to do the swim, so we could do the encounter while she does the swim, I think. I was thinking the same thing about booking through Carnival. We're not there very long and I would HATE to miss the ship. Plus, it does not seem like there is much else to do there. Thanks!!!!!

[highbridge5]

I know it is really pricey ($116 per adult and kid) but we are going to do the one through Carnival... only because the day is so short in Freeport (7-2pm) and the description of the excursion says it takes about 3.5 hours and it is a bus ride and boat ride to get to the facility...I am scared we would miss the ship and be stuck in Freeport! :eek: I have been showing my kids videos from You Tube of what to expect- maybe if you show them ahead of time what they will do with the dolphons, they'll get excited for it and not freak out...:)

 

Take this opportunity to experience an amazing close encounter with Dolphins.

 

On this exciting excursion you will:

• Enjoy the Dolphin Experience at UNEXSO on Grand Bahama Island.
  
• This educational and interactive encounter begins with a short bus ride to the UNEXSO facility in Port Lucaya.
  
• Take a 20-minute boat ride through the beautiful canal systems of Grand Bahama Island or along the South Shore of the island (depending on weather) to arrive at Sanctuary Bay, a natural 9-acre lagoon and home to fourteen Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins.
  
• Learn about these dolphins while they splash and jump around you and then step onto a 3 foot deep submerged platform where you will pet, kiss and hug a dolphin.
  
• Photographers will be on hand to capture your interactions with the dolphins.
  
• After your dolphin encounter, you can take a dip in the facility’s pool, enjoy lunch or a snack, or browse the gift shop, before heading back to your ship.
  

Note: All ages are welcome. A parent or guardian must participate in the program with children under the age of 16. All participants will receive a complimentary t-shirt. Tanning oils and excessive amounts of sunscreen are not permitted. For the safety of the dolphins, please remove jewelry. Photos of your dolphin encounter are available for purchase after your program. Lunch/snacks are available for purchase at the Dive In Bar & Grill.

 

Please post a review (here on this thread or on the Bahamas board or family board) if you decide to do this.

 

This is the one I really wanted to do. I went looking several times but it was not listed for Freeport before my sailing. It showed up on the shore excursion brochure once I was on board and subject to a 25% penalty to cancel Atlantis's one.

[a6h73]

Can you post the link to where you read you have to have a 2 night min at the comfort suites....Cause I have a room booked for our cruise in Mar and I did not see that...Thanks

 

 

We are in Nassau on March 25, a Thursday. When I went to CS online to see if rooms were available, they say that a two night stay is required for this date.

[a6h73]

You might think about renting a car at Cape Canaveral (about $40 for mid-size). Merritt Island http://www.fws.gov/merrittisland/ and Canaveral National Seashore http://www.nps.gov/cana/index.htm are very good options for children, and a lot less expensive.

 

While this next idea won't help OP, the Art of Sand may be of interest to others. http://www.artofsandus.com/

 

Blue Lagoon in Nassau is lovely. The beach is closed on Thursdays but the various encounters and swims are open and less expensive than Atlantis. The ferry ride is very nice. The water color is incredible. The location of the ferry going to Blue Lagoon is within walking distance of Atlantis. We wandered through the free areas the last time we were there. It's worth seeing.

 

 

I'm interested in this car rental option - primarily becuase we have 4 kids (ages, 2,2,4 and 6) and 6 adults and it seems like it would be nice to have the freedom to come and go easily. Are these places better than taking the shuttle to cocoa beach?

[highbridge5]

I'm interested in this car rental option - primarily becuase we have 4 kids (ages, 2,2,4 and 6) and 6 adults and it seems like it would be nice to have the freedom to come and go easily. Are these places better than taking the shuttle to cocoa beach?

 

I did not have much luck finding rental cars for Port Canaveral when I was researching from the ship. I tried major sites like Travelocity and Expedia and put in both Port Canaveral and Melbourne and all I got was Orlando airport cars. Again today I tried and I still got Orlando airport.

 

I have seen posts from people who rented cars in PC so I know that it is possible. You might try posting on the Disney or Carnival boards to see if someone can give you a company and phone number.

 

There might be more information on the ports of call boards. In particular, there is a guy whose thread is entitled "I work In Port Canaveral" and he has been answering Port Canaveral related questions for several years. If there is an answer to the rental car question, it is bound to be in his thread somewhere...

 

Apparently the "original" thread has been closed. Here is his current thread. Ask away.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1119114

 

hb5

[highbridge5]

Someone was nice enough to extract out of Preston's thread a summary of all the info and collect it in categories.

 

I am cutting and pasting the car rental section here because it includes links and phone numbers etc. Some of this seems to be related to the cheapest way to get from the airport to the port to get on a ship.

 

 

Car Rental

All agree that the cheapest option is to rent a car one-way from the airport, drive to the port, drop luggage/family off at port, drop rental car off and take rental car shuttle back to the port. Repeat in reverse for your post-cruise trip back to the airport. Hertz, Budget, Thrifty, Avis & Enterprise, all have drop off locations and free round trip shuttles very close to the port (companies are listed in order of closeness to the port). These four places are open on Sundays and their port shuttles start early in the morning until the afternoon.

 

Look here for car rental coupons and discount codes:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=558119

 

Enterprise Car Rental is now located in Cape Canaveral where Hertz once was

Address is:6211 North Atlantic Avenue, Cape Canaveral 32920

Phone number is 321-866-0324

fax number is 321-866-0325

http://www.enterprise.com/

They have 4 shuttles to and from the port - open at 7AM and closes at 6PM - they are opened 7 days a week.

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO TELL THEM YOU ARE OFF THIS BOARD OK?

Their hours are Monday to Friday 7:30AM to 6PM and Saturday & Sunday 8AM to 4PM

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

 

Available Enterprise Coupons and Enterprise Promotion Codes:

10% off standard weekly rates Enterprise Coupon ALSTENW (Coupon does not work at Airport Locations)

Free Double Upgrade at Neighborhood locations Enterprise Coupon ETC8DUP [Exp. 12/18]

Get a free upgrade on your next rental at Enterprise.com

 

Avis car rental has agreed to meet or beat prices per Bob Fink

Located at 6650 North Atlantic Avenue

Cape Canaveral, fl 32920

321-783-3643

www.aviscapecanaveral.com

Their email is now working so you can email Avis with any questions or problems.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON AVIS FOR DISCOUNT

 

http://www.kellsport.com/kellwoodtravel.html

 

ALSO THRIFTY CAR RENTAL IS ALSO NOW ACCEPTING DOLLAR CAR RENTAL CARS AND THEY NOW HAVE A DROP OFF FEE of $45.00.

 

 

THRIFTY/DOLLAR CAR RENTAL

6799 NORTH ATLANTIC AVENUE

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA 32920

321783-2600

 

BUDGET CAR RENTAL (sister to Avis Car rental)

8401 ASTRONAUT BLVD (AKA AS A-1-A)

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL 32920

321-784-0634

GM is Pat Chambers

 

HERTZ CAR RENTAL

8960 ASTRONAUT BLVD

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL 32920

321-783-7771

 

UPDATE 11/10/2008

NATIONAL CAR RENTAL HAS CLOSED LOCATION HERE IN COCOA BEACH AND MERRITT ISLAND TO MELBOURNE AIPORT AS OF NOVEMBER 30, 2008

[mjkacmom]

At Port Canaveral, we did an excursion from NCL to a hotel with a pool, beach, restaurant, and bar, and it was nice. I think $60 per person (just DH and I). Next time, I think we'll just take a shuttle to Cocoa Beach by Ron Jon's. I might look into surfing lessons for my older kids.

 

In Nassau, one time we did the day pass at the Hilton, and the next time we booked a room at Comfort Suites, and took the 2 oldest for the day (wouldn't do it with little kids - it's HUGE!).

 

Next time, I'm thinking $100 day room at the Sheraton for 4 of us, and $25 day passes for the other 5 (travelling with 5 children and my parents). I think we'll split up in FL, because ds12 would love to go to the Space Center, dd14, not so much.

[Grannycb]

There is a good deal of information at the Port Canaveral website: http://www.portcanaveral.com/cruising/groundtransport.php

[happy_feet]

We are in Nassau on March 25, a Thursday. When I went to CS online to see if rooms were available, they say that a two night stay is required for this date.

 

 

I didn't get that message, maybe because its during March Break:confused:

[NYteacher]

I know a lot of people are getting the Tropicana Juicy Rewards points for the $50-$300 OBC from NCL (I am one of them).

 

While I was looking around their site I saw that some of the reward options were for discounts at KSC. I thought it cool that maybe somebody could use the rewards twice on the same trip.

 

I also want to add that we did the Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon based on Scubagirl's recommendation and it was fantastic.

[a6h73]

Follow up on the excursion thread with kids....

 

One of my kids will be three in June- we sail in a couple of week. Does anyone know if I need to bring a car seat if we were doing the Cocoa Beach shuttle in Port Canaveral, the dolphins at Blue Lagoon in Nassau and an Our Luyuca resort in Freeport? Are these all accessible by shuttles that do or dont have room for car seats? I'm typically safety minded, but I dont want to drag a car seat around if there is no where to attach it.

[crusinmama06]

Please post a review (here on this thread or on the Bahamas board or family board) if you decide to do this.

 

This is the one I really wanted to do. I went looking several times but it was not listed for Freeport before my sailing. It showed up on the shore excursion brochure once I was on board and subject to a 25% penalty to cancel Atlantis's one.

 

We did this one, do you want me to pull out my review? I know its floating around here somewhere. ;) I did the Blue Lagoon one twice and the Unexo one once. The Unexo was with the kids. So that one relates more to this board.

 

...now where did I stick that review.....

[crusinmama06]

Follow up on the excursion thread with kids....

 

One of my kids will be three in June- we sail in a couple of week. Does anyone know if I need to bring a car seat if we were doing the Cocoa Beach shuttle in Port Canaveral, the dolphins at Blue Lagoon in Nassau and an Our Luyuca resort in Freeport? Are these all accessible by shuttles that do or dont have room for car seats? I'm typically safety minded, but I dont want to drag a car seat around if there is no where to attach it.

 

The Cocoa Beach shuttle, we've needed both. If it's just a mini van, then yes, you would need a car seat. We did a cocoa beach shuttle and it was a mini van. But then we did a Cocoa Beach shuttle and it was a full sized bus - so then we didn't need a car seat. It's very hard to tell in advance. Depends on cruise line and how you are booking it.

 

The dolphins at Blue Lagoon, our excursion for that was a water tender - so no car seat.

 

Our Lucaya resort - we took a taxi, so we took our car seats. :) What was funny was on the was back from Our Lucaya, when we walked out to hail a taxi, a limo driver offered to take us back to port. He had seat belts in the limo too, so we still needed the car seat. He charged us the same. But the kids thought it was awesome to ride back to the ship in a LIMO. :D

 

Hope that helped.

[tomsgirl3]

Wow- your itinerary sounds almost identical to mine- I'll be on the Pride in August with a 4 yo and 7 yo- we're also doing the dolphon encounter in Freeport, and will probably end up staying on the ship for Port Canaveral... but in Nassau we'll be doing BlackBeard's Cay for the Snorkeling with the sting rays. Have you thought about this for your Nassau day? They have the beach also, but you can snorkel (the water is shallow- about thigh deep or so) with the sting rays. It looks like so much fun.

If you search on You Tube for Black Beard's Cay or Nassau Sting rays you can see what the day would consist of...

 

Have a great time!!!

Take care,

Diana :)

I would love to snorkel with the sting rays! So would my girls...but DH has reservations about them that I can not talk him out of! I really can not explain...

 

I think because of the shallow water it would be a great intro to snorkeling for our young one!

 

Enjoy!

[Violets Mommy]

We did the Blackbeard's Cay tour with our kids last year in Nassau and they loved it. My youngest son is still leery about snorkeling in deep water, and the stingray portion of the tour was perfect for him. Carnival stopped offering it as one of their available excursions, but it's available through a private tour operator: http://bahamascruiseexcursions.com/BlackBeardsCayStingrayTour.htm

 

This looks interesting. How much did it cost?

 

Nevermind. I found it. Just looked over it.

 

But what kind of transportation is used to get there? Just thinking about carseat situation.

[crusinmama06]

This looks interesting. How much did it cost?

 

Nevermind. I found it. Just looked over it.

 

But what kind of transportation is used to get there? Just thinking about carseat situation.

 

No car seat! It's an island, so no car seat...lol. The transport is by boat. Here is my review from our trip there....I'll just post it...

 

 

 

Activity Level: Moderate

Duration: 4.5-5 hours

Price: Adult: $49 (ages 10 and up) Child: $39 (ages 3-9)

Ages: 3 And Up

 

First let me start by saying that this place is the MOST beautiful place ever, better than Castaway Cay {ducking...lol}...better than any beach anywhere. And we've been to alot of beaches.

 

At 9:45 we were to meet in Diversions (on Wonder) to meet with the Crew Member to take us to Nassau.

 

By 10am, we got off the ship as a group and met up with Tyrone from the Stingray Tour. A short walk through the port building and out the other side to the boat.

 

We boarded the boat for a 20 minute ride to Blackbeards Cay (had to turn around for a family who missed the boat but still arrived in about 25-30minutes.

 

 

Arriving at the dock....

 

 

 

There are two sides for swimming....the swimming area WITHOUT the stingrays....

 

 

 

...and the stingray enclosure area

 

 

 

They provide the mask, goggles and vest - no charge

 

 

 

And they provide the squid....

 

 

 

to feed these guys (who are debarbed)

 

 

 

You can leave the water as much as you want. The area is shallow. My 4 year old felt safer on dry land. (funny cause SHE was the one who wanted to swim with the rays)

 

You can come and go as you please during the stingray feeding times. They are every hour. They also serve lunch (included with the excursion) - the choices were hamburger/cheeseburger/pizza, bag of chip and a soft drink.

 

For $10 you can hold the stingray and get a professional picture taken with it. For $10 you can get your arrival photo of you and your family at the dock. For $17, you can do a combo package and get both.

There are restroom facilities here - very clean.

 

You can get the kids hair braided and buy some local items set up on a table.

 

My kids were a little freaked out by the rays. Some other kids had NO problems. They were all happy on the regular beach side. The one with no rays. That is until a Wild ray - complete with barb swam into the area and freaked them ALL out of the water....lol.

 

We would NO DOUBT book this excursion again. The beach was better than Castaway Cay. It truly had a "deserted island" feel to it.

[Violets Mommy]

No car seat! It's an island, so no car seat...lol. The transport is by boat. Here is my review from our trip there....I'll just post it...

 

 

 

Activity Level: Moderate

Duration: 4.5-5 hours

Price: Adult: $49 (ages 10 and up) Child: $39 (ages 3-9)

Ages: 3 And Up

 

First let me start by saying that this place is the MOST beautiful place ever, better than Castaway Cay {ducking...lol}...better than any beach anywhere. And we've been to alot of beaches.

 

At 9:45 we were to meet in Diversions (on Wonder) to meet with the Crew Member to take us to Nassau.

 

By 10am, we got off the ship as a group and met up with Tyrone from the Stingray Tour. A short walk through the port building and out the other side to the boat.

 

We boarded the boat for a 20 minute ride to Blackbeards Cay (had to turn around for a family who missed the boat but still arrived in about 25-30minutes.

 

 

Arriving at the dock....

 

 

 

There are two sides for swimming....the swimming area WITHOUT the stingrays....

 

 

 

...and the stingray enclosure area

 

 

 

They provide the mask, goggles and vest - no charge

 

 

 

And they provide the squid....

 

 

 

to feed these guys (who are debarbed)

 

 

 

You can leave the water as much as you want. The area is shallow. My 4 year old felt safer on dry land. (funny cause SHE was the one who wanted to swim with the rays)

 

You can come and go as you please during the stingray feeding times. They are every hour. They also serve lunch (included with the excursion) - the choices were hamburger/cheeseburger/pizza, bag of chip and a soft drink.

 

For $10 you can hold the stingray and get a professional picture taken with it. For $10 you can get your arrival photo of you and your family at the dock. For $17, you can do a combo package and get both.

There are restroom facilities here - very clean.

 

You can get the kids hair braided and buy some local items set up on a table.

 

My kids were a little freaked out by the rays. Some other kids had NO problems. They were all happy on the regular beach side. The one with no rays. That is until a Wild ray - complete with barb swam into the area and freaked them ALL out of the water....lol.

 

We would NO DOUBT book this excursion again. The beach was better than Castaway Cay. It truly had a "deserted island" feel to it.

 

That sounds like fun. I'll let DH know about this.

[a6h73]

Cruisinmama- thanks for the photos- they really bring it to life!

 

You said that you had done both dolphins on Nassau and Freeport- which did you like better? I searched for your review but couldnt find it. We did the Nassau one a few years ago and liked it but I'm open to doing it in Freeport if its just as good (its cheaper there I think).

 

Also, I know this was a point of discussion, I just found out that the blue lagoon beach on nassu is closed on Thursday becase of an exclusive deal with Carnival (and possibly other cruiselines...). I know people had wondered why on earth you couldnt book a beach day there on Thursdays- but I just read they had a special deal with the cruiseline and that made it add up.

[crusinmama06]

Cruisinmama- thanks for the photos- they really bring it to life!

 

You said that you had done both dolphins on Nassau and Freeport- which did you like better? I searched for your review but couldnt find it. We did the Nassau one a few years ago and liked it but I'm open to doing it in Freeport if its just as good (its cheaper there I think).

 

I sat down and retyped my entire review on Saturday and when I hit submit reply, the computer gremlins took over and my entire post disappeared. So I walked away before my computer had a tragic accident.

 

So, trying again....

 

Freeport -- we did the excursion called Dolphin Close Encounter -- booked through the cruise line (which was Carnival at the time). My youngest was 2 and we chose that excursion because Blue Lagoon's age minimum was higher. At Freeport, they had babies on the excursion (as young as 6 months old)

 

So we got off the ship and were led down the pier to a small tender type ferry boat (so no car seat needed for this excursion). The first stop - an outdoor plaza/mall type place for a little pit stop - shopping. It was a marina which according to the Unexo web site is the "shopping mecca of Freeport" (yeahhhhh, ok) About 45 shopping minutes later we were on our way to the island/area that was Sanctuary Bay.

 

They told us to leave our "electronics" at the top of the platform. The water is about 3 feet deep. When you step into the water with the dolphins, you are standing on a wide shelf. You can hold the kids. They take the pictures. But you can take a disposable waterproof or digital waterproof with you.

 

They direct you on how to touch the dolphins. You enter the water in pairs. The dolphins will kiss you (they take the picture). The dolphins perform all kinds of "behaviors".

 

The platform looks like a floating pool so you will be sitting on the outside edge of it, waiting your turn. The dolphin WILL be instructed to splash you, so warn the kids in advance. My kids knew it was coming.

 

On their web site, they say they have a pool now that you can swim in. They didn't have that when we were there.

 

Blue Lagoon and Unexo are the same in my mind. I didn't really like one over the other. Unexo had the birds ;) And Unexo welcomed ALL ages. So for families with young children, thats the way to go.

 

 

[crusinmama06]

While I am posting my past reviews, might as well throw Atlantis on here and the "secret to doing Atlantis" - when you BOOK AN EXCURSION TO ATLANTIS - don't book through the cruise line. First check the price of booking a room AT ATLANTIS for the day you are coming in (not a day pass, they are $110pp and are limited in availability and not guaranteed)

 

Check the rate to book a room at Atlantis AND then check the rate for the COMFORT SUITES PARADISE ISLAND next to ATLANTIS, guests at comfort suites share the ammenities with Atlantis. So if you are a guest at CS, then you can use the pools, water slides, beach at Atlantis.

 

Rooms at Comfort Suites may be $250 divided by a family of 4 = $62.50 -- a taxi to Atlantis is $5pp from the pier, very simple. A cruise line excursion to Atlantis is over $100pp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam82]

Do the Blue Lagoon in Nassau. We just did it through Carnival last week. It was $65 per person and worth every penny. The boat picked up and dropped off right at the cruise ship pier, so there was no need to take a boring and expensive taxi ride to Paradise island. If you do it on your own, you have to go to paradise island to catch the boat and they have very limited departure times. The crew was great and they gave us an awesome harbour tour on the way back. There were bars on the boat and at the beach. The beach area was beautiful and was the perfect environment for small kids. We didn't do the dolphins as we'd done them before. However, the dolphin area is cool and you can see them swim right on the beach and do tricks for free.

[Smithkids5521]

I would love to snorkel with the sting rays! So would my girls...but DH has reservations about them that I can not talk him out of! I really can not explain...

 

I think because of the shallow water it would be a great intro to snorkeling for our young one!

 

Enjoy!

 

My hubby had the same reservations- the whole Steve Irwin thing...but these sting rays have had their barbs surgically removed, so no chance of something like that happening...

 

Go to You Tube and look for Nassau sting ray snorkel- maybe if you show your DH what occurs there you can convince him ;)

 

The shallow water is exactly why we choose these excursions- great for the under 5 year old crew! :)

 

Take care,

Diana :)

[a6h73]

Since I started this thread, I thought I'd post back on what we did. I went around and around on options. I posted a long review on the Carnival board, but in short, we did:

 

Port Canaveral- husband and older son went to Cocoa beach on shuttle (unplanned). They had fun going in water and walking around. I stayed on ship with napping toddler. I had fun reading quietly!

 

Nassau- Blue Lagoon with dolphins then Blue Lagoon beach. This is by far the best beach I've seen. Loved it. You have to book beach through Carnival on Thursdays though. We booked dolphins directly then just migrated over to beach.

 

Freeport- Rain delay left us with only 3 hours. We took shuttle to Our Lucaya/Radisson and went on free beach and shops there. I think Deadmans Reef is best reviewed option for Freeport but weather in AM ruled that out. The beach at Our Lucaya was windy but nice- soft sand, kids loved it. We grabbed an empty chair but spent all our time in the sand and water.