Blue Lagoon Questions

[windham depot]

I remember it being fairly accessible, but your issue is going to be with timing. The last ferry leaves the island at 4pm. Ferries leave at 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m so you won't make the 1:30 ferry and since you have to be back on a ferry at 4pm it really wouldn't be worth it. I'd choose BCH or something else that will be more convenient for accessibility and the time you're in port. Hope that helps!

 

 

Thank you very much for the info and your opinion. I appreciate your help, Blue Lagoon sounded like it might be more fun for my DH but, BCH sounds like less of a hassle for both of us.:):):)

[scubagirrl]

Thank you very much for the info and your opinion. I appreciate your help, Blue Lagoon sounded like it might be more fun for my DH but, BCH sounds like less of a hassle for both of us.:):):)

 

Accessible as in the crew would phsically pick up DH and help him onto the ferry and then again off the ferry. There are 3 steps, (a moveable box) and a narrow walkway getting onto and off the ferry.

 

Crew is willing and able... but your DH would have to be ok with being "handled". There's no way a chair or scooter would be able to enter and exit the ferry boat.

 

Once on the island, there are amenities for the handicapped. Contact them directly so that they can assist you properly.

 

BCH would be a good alternative, but there is no handicap ramp or amenties for the beach. There's about 3 concrete steps going down to the beach. I've never seen either a chair or scooter on the property.

 

The pool area is totally accessible.

[windham depot]

Accessible as in the crew would phsically pick up DH and help him onto the ferry and then again off the ferry. There are 3 steps, (a moveable box) and a narrow walkway getting onto and off the ferry.

 

Crew is willing and able... but your DH would have to be ok with being "handled". There's no way a chair or scooter would be able to enter and exit the ferry boat.

 

Once on the island, there are amenities for the handicapped. Contact them directly so that they can assist you properly.

 

BCH would be a good alternative, but there is no handicap ramp or amenties for the beach. There's about 3 concrete steps going down to the beach. I've never seen either a chair or scooter on the property.

 

The pool area is totally accessible.

 

 

So the beach at BCH is not wheelchair or scooter accessible? No I would not be comfortable with be "handled" and I doubt my husband would like me being carried either. I guess we're going to have to do more research. Do you know of any of the resorts that offer day passes that have handicap access to the beach? Maybe I'm asking for to much here. Thank you for your help Scubagirl, you are always so helpful and know so much about the Bahamas.

[scubagirrl]

So the beach at BCH is not wheelchair or scooter accessible? No I would not be comfortable with be "handled" and I doubt my husband would like me being carried either. I guess we're going to have to do more research. Do you know of any of the resorts that offer day passes that have handicap access to the beach? Maybe I'm asking for to much here. Thank you for your help Scubagirl, you are always so helpful and know so much about the Bahamas.

 

 

Sorry, but I don't know much about chairs or scooter accessibility on a beach. Most beaches have some sort of "step down" from the walkway to the beach.

 

How would a scooter or chair traverse the sandy beach? I'm just not knowledgeable on the subject.

 

Sheraton has less of a "step", and 3 very nice pools.

[windham depot]

Okay Scubagirl, Thank you, I appreciate all your help

[gram2trips]

So the beach at BCH is not wheelchair or scooter accessible? No I would not be comfortable with be "handled" and I doubt my husband would like me being carried either. I guess we're going to have to do more research. Do you know of any of the resorts that offer day passes that have handicap access to the beach? Maybe I'm asking for to much here. Thank you for your help Scubagirl, you are always so helpful and know so much about the Bahamas.

 

Scooters & power chairs will not go in sand, at least my husbands won't. Can u use something like a rollator?? Sorry not much help.

[serene56]

I am now starting my research into Nassau. We are cruising in February with a 5 year old.

 

BlueLagoon is looking spectacular for me. and booking it interdependently is a must. (cant believe the cruise lines is charge 79.00 for the same exact things that you can buy yourself for $45.00.

 

Now the cruiselines come with the transportation round trip.

 

How much will it cost me round trip if I book in myself?

 

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there are 4 ships in port that day-- how crowded will this place be?

[kg03or]

I am now starting my research into Nassau. We are cruising in February with a 5 year old.

 

BlueLagoon is looking spectacular for me. and booking it interdependently is a must. (cant believe the cruise lines is charge 79.00 for the same exact things that you can buy yourself for $45.00.

 

Now the cruiselines come with the transportation round trip.

 

How much will it cost me round trip if I book in myself?

 

-

there are 4 ships in port that day-- how crowded will this place be?

 

You will love it! It should cost about $5/person to get to the ferry terminal by taxi. On the way back you can just stay on the ferry and it will take you back closer to the ships so you won't have to pay for a taxi on the way back unless you choose to get off at the ferry terminal. There were 4 ships in port when we were there as well and it definately was not crowded. If you book independently you can go earlier and have some time there before cruise ship passengers arrive (cruise ship passengers got there around 11). When we were there there was just barely a shortage of lounge chairs - we were there during spring break. Your 5 year old will love the beach/lagoon and seeing the dolphins and sealions! Hope that helps and hope you love it as much as we did! The only advice I keep on giving is to go as early as you can! You'll never want to leave; we wished we had more time there!

[serene56]

Did you pay the extra to "see" the dolphins and sea lions?

 

we are also doing seaworld this week so its not a big deal here. BUt if she "see" it she will want it.

 

same with the water toys- (although the water is too deep for her there.

 

 

is this a MUST book a head of time tour?

 

Last time we went to the Bahamas in February it was 52 degrees.

[kg03or]

Did you pay the extra to "see" the dolphins and sea lions?

 

we are also doing seaworld this week so its not a big deal here. BUt if she "see" it she will want it.

 

same with the water toys- (although the water is too deep for her there.

 

 

is this a MUST book a head of time tour?

 

Last time we went to the Bahamas in February it was 52 degrees.

 

We just did the beach day and were able to see both the sealions and dolphins. Right when you get off the ferry the dolphins are right there - when we were there one of the dolphins was even throwing a football up to us. There was no extra charge to see them (although I didn't believe this before we went either haha). If I did it again I'd definately want to do a dolphin encounter though so it will definately be something they would remember. Some water toys are included with the beach day as well - I floated around in an innertube for a while. Also the water is very shallow. I'm 5'8 and it was never above my waist. Which also helped it to be warmer. We were there last March and it was a beautiful day so hopefully you have good weather too!

 

From what I understand, you pretty much have to book an animal encounter in advance, but you MAY be able to just do the beach day by going to the ferry terminal and paying there. If you book in advance you obviously have to pre-pay and there were no refunds unless your ship actually doesn't make it into port. The only real way to book it and be able to cancel would be to book through the ship and cancel if the weather's not great (assuming Disney has a reasonable cancellation policy). Hope that helps!

[Pongo500]

Help please, we booked the dolphin encounter yeah!! We are arriving on the Pride and want to do a little shopping. I know we have to take the 4pm ferry back to dock. Is there any thing within walking distance of the dock. My guess it will be dark by 5.

 

Thanks!!

[jessrose18]

i think this blue lagoon review deserves a "bump";)

[melodystrother]

sounds like my kind of relaxation.

[Crusin Karen]

I have one more question. We will be the only ship in port and we plan to go to Blue Lagoon. Can I book the beach day when I get off the ship? Or do I have to pre-book it? TIA!

[hkolln]

I think we'll be doing a beach day here while in Nassau on Monday the 28th. Is it worth purchasing the food along with the beach day? Thinking we'd probably want lunch while there. Thanks!

[BahamaMamas]

I booked the dolphin swim through NCL at 10:30am, which I'm assuming means you depart from the ship at 10:30am (since another dolphin swim option on another island was 8:30am and disembarkation is at 8am so I doubt that means the swim program starts at 8:30am, although I guess it still is possible).

 

I'm wondering if you can board a ferry to blue lagoon at an earlier time with no extra charge to take advantage of the island earlier? If not, what is there to do for a couple of hours not too far away from the ship?

 

Also with at 10:30am start time, that means I'd take the 2pm ferry back to the ship. Does that allow for any time to explore Nassau at all, maybe grab a quick bite to eat? The ship sails at 5pm.

[girlscruise2011]

I wanted to do the Blue Lagoon Beach Day for my trip in October but we don't dock until 10am and didn't want to wait until the 12:30pm ferry over but now reading this and seeing that we may be able to catch the 10:30am ferry with the Carnival excursion I'm hopeful that I may be able to do it after all. I'm definately going to give Blue Lagoon a call to find out if this is true. One of our group was going to book the Dolphin Encounter through Carnival but it would definately save her some money if she could book directly through Blue Lagoon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this could work.

[linerode]

Blue Lagoon is one of our favorites in Nassau. Beautiful water, has never been crowded when we were there, great beach and calm water. The food is good for a beach and the island is very relaxed. It is really a 'tropical paradise' that you might picture. We love to lay in the hammocks and watch the water. You can't go wrong going to Blue Lagoon.

[jnmcruise]

we just did blue lagoon last week on the Pride.. it was about a 35 minute ride over and there were very few people there except for our full boat.. 2 more boats (i assume the 1 and 2pm boats) came to drop more off.

it never did seem full or busy.

We loved it.

so relaxing and only wished we had brought some snorkling stuff to look around. Plenty of big water toys for the kids and plenty of area for the 'couples' to be alone to do our thing! We also had a neat little tour of the millionairs homes on the way back to the dock. Food was average. Burger, bbq chicken thigh, salad was ok. I liked it my gf didnt. Just eat before you go. We will be going again if we make it back to Nassau

[girlscruise2011]

Just an FYI. I just called Blue Lagoon and if you book directly through them, you cannot catch the boat over with the Cruise people. You have to go directly to their ferry. Thats too bad because with the time we dock, we won't be able to go to Blue Lagoon unless we book through Carnival for the extra $35. Not sure if its worth it...I may just do the BCH, as we originally planned..

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

Went to Blue Lagoon this past June when I sailed Carnival Dream.. I booked it thru Carnival and got the package that included lunch. My family & I had such a great time here, it was a highlight of the cruise!! The ferry ride over was nice, about 45 minutes long but there was a bar on board that served pretty cheap drinks! Once we arrived, we got a nice spot on the beach with two lounge chairs & a hammock. I was cruising with my son who was 21 months old at the time, he absolutely loved the water here. So warm, calm, shallow and clear!! We walked over to the dolphins and sea lions and got to watch them & take pictures. A nice lady who was working there & feeding the dolphins even put on a little show just for us, which was super neat! The lunch was pretty decent - your typical beach BBQ fare.. Chicken legs, rice, salad, and burgers. Drinks at the beach were a bit pricey, but nothing different from the cruise line and very strong! The whole property is super clean & well kept. I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a nice relaxing beach day. They had inflatable slides on the beach, as well as inflatable water crafts in the water (for an additional fee). There was a stand for parasailing as well. They weren't pushy by any means. Really enjoyed myself here! :D

[mapltc]

I just checked the blue lagoon website and it said the All Inclusive Beach Day is now $54. RCI is charging $59 for this excursion, including lunch. I'd say the cruise lines have figured this out and would prefer to have people booking through them. The only drawback I see is that if we do it on our own, we might have longer time on the beach and get there before the crowd. Our ship is in port from 7 am to 3 pm. If we catch the 8:30 ferry and get there at 9:00 we'll have 4 actual hours at BL and not a total of 4 hrs. for the excursion.

[Mommie2two]

My family and I really want to do the Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon (on our own not the cruise excursion), but we are only in Nassau from 7a-2p. I saw that the first ferry back leaves at 1p and that seems to be cutting it close. HOwever, Carnival has the same dolphin excursion. So, will we make it back in time?

 

Donna

[girlscruise2011]

My family and I really want to do the Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon (on our own not the cruise excursion), but we are only in Nassau from 7a-2p. I saw that the first ferry back leaves at 1p and that seems to be cutting it close. HOwever, Carnival has the same dolphin excursion. So, will we make it back in time?

 

Donna

 

If you are sailing with Carnival and doing the excursion with Carnival then I would think that they have it timed that you will get back to the boat on time. The cruise ships have their own boats that leave at their time but be careful, my niece went last week and the 3:30 ferry with the cruise ship left at 3:20 so she had to wait for the last ferry at 4pm to head back.

[AmativeDame]

If you are sailing with Carnival and doing the excursion with Carnival then I would think that they have it timed that you will get back to the boat on time. The cruise ships have their own boats that leave at their time but be careful, my niece went last week and the 3:30 ferry with the cruise ship left at 3:20 so she had to wait for the last ferry at 4pm to head back.

 

When I was at blue lagoon on Sept 28th, Carnival was actual using a tour service for their ferry - not the island ferry (at this time RCI tours is using the island ferry). They (the Bahama Queen) came at a specific time, about a half hour after we arrived and left as a specific time (3:20). Carnival was leaving after 4 so this might have been behind that. It seemed to me that they had chartered out the tour boat for this reason (since their times did not far comfortably within the established ferry times.)

 

Mommie2two, from what I saw that day, the difference with booking a dolphin swim with carnival is you'd be going back on their boat which would leave in time to get you on the ship (since carnival passengers are not waiting on the BL ferry). Bahama Queen only had carnival passengers so they were not stopping anywhere to delay them unlike blue lagoon's ferry. I did find the ferry to be a bit slow - because it does have to stop at the ferry terminal before it heads to port. The ride back took somewhere between 45-60 minutes. It is all going to depend on how many people are on your ferry and are getting on and off. I would give Blue Lagoon a call and talk with them, there were two dolphin swims that day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They would be able to tell you when the first encounter starts, when it ends and when the closest ferry you would be able to get on would be. I see no reason why you couldn't make it though.