Dawn cruisers, what was your favorite Nassau excursion?

[ally10169]

We have the Pearl Island Snorkeling one booked but after finding some info on it over on the Ports of Call/Bahamas board I don't know if I want to keep it. What excursions did you really enjoy in Nassau? Anyone do the Stingray Encounter? Was it good? I have tried using the "Find" feature to look this up but it is not working at the moment.

Thanks!

Allyson [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

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Till our 10th annivesary cruise without the kids!

[debjo]

Allyson...
My husband and I just returned from our DAWN trip 5/02/04. We ended up having a full day on THURSDAY in Nassau and a half day on FRIDAY on the Private Island due to bad weather. We were elated! For NASSAU, we pre-booked the ATHOL ISLAND SNORKEL. It was wonderful. The "Dive-In" Staff was very friendly, helpful, and informative in their instructions while we were sailing on the boat that left the NASSAU pier to take us to the ATHOL ISLAND area for our snorkel. There was a narrative tour while we sailed to our snorkeling spot. The boat was half under shade and half in the sun, so everyone had the seat of their choice for the trip. The back of the boat had steps/ladder on either side down into the water off the back. We snorkeling in water 10-12 feet deep off a coral reef. There were many types of coral, although not as colorful as when we snorkeled in Bermuda. What was colorful were the abundant varieties of fish...many "parrot" fish of several types. The time that was alotted in the water was more than enough. In fact, my husband and I got tired and came back to the boat about ten minutes before we had too. It was by far the best snorkeling experience we've had in three cruises.

Because we had extra time in NASSAU, we were able to partake of the noted carriage tour with the horses wearing their straw hats. After asking several coachmen what they charged...it seems that the "going" rate is $10 per person for a tour that lasts about 1/2 hour. It was a relaxing way to see NASSAU and get a feel and flavor of the area before we ventured off on our own to do a bit of shopping.

We highly recommend the ATHOL ISLAND SNORKEL!

Debjo [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

P.S. Just noticed that it is your 10th anniversary on your cruise. Have you booked one of the anniversary packages. We used the $79 anniversary package and found it to be a great value for the money...especially with the dinner in LeBistro included.


[img]http://www.cruisemates.com/animated/Boatwht.gif[/img]
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;4;25;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]   Until the NORWEGIAN DAWN 2004 (Can't Hardly Wait But Still Wishing I Was Going On The NORWAY Instead!)

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00bfff&cdt=2004;5;23;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]  NORWEGIAN MAJESTY 2004 Bermuda Bound Again!

QE2-Bermuda 2003
PACIFIC PRINCESS-Bermuda 2002
REGAL EMPRESS-New England/Canada 2001

[ally10169]

Hi Debjo,
Thanks for the input. Sounds like you really enjoyed the Athol Island snorkel. I like that it left you some time to explore Nassau a bit. The Pearl Island one is 5 hours long (includes a lunch) and would leave us no extra time to do any looking around or shopping. I will have to consider this one!

And yes we have booked the Honeymoon/Romance Package. It seemed like a really good deal with the Le Bistro dinner/wine included. I am really looking forward to our meal there!

Thanks again!

Allyson

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Till our 10th annivesary cruise without the kids!

[debjo]

[B]For Allyson...[/B]
So glad to be of assistance. Even though our PRIVATE ISLAND and NASSAU days got flipped around (allowing us a full day in Nassau instead of 1/2 day), I still think that with the 3 hour ATHOL ISLAND SNORKEL, you'll be able to enjoy a bit of NASSAU afterwards before you have to get back on the DAWN by 1:00 pm. Just double check your "Freestyle Daily" when you get to that day in your cruise.

You'll really like the $79 Anniversary Package...it IS WELL WORTH THE $$$. The only thing that we didn't care for were the canapes that were delivered to our cabin on Wednesday around dinner time...the smoked salmon, cavier, etc. wasn't to our liking. The "cake party" and "free 6x8 photo" were great. We met in the STAR BAR by CAGNEY'S STEAKHOUSE on Deck 13, which some couples had trouble finding and were late and didn't get their picture taken. Don't forget to wear something nice if you care about the picture...some people showed up in shorts and pool cover-ups.

HAVE A GREAT TIME AND ENJOY BEING PAMPERED!

Debjo [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

[img]http://www.cruisemates.com/animated/Boatwht.gif[/img]
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;4;25;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]  Until the NORWEGIAN DAWN 2004 (Can't Hardly Wait But Still Wishing I Was Going On The NORWAY Instead!)

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00bfff&cdt=2004;5;23;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img] NORWEGIAN MAJESTY 2004 Bermuda Bound Again!

QE2-Bermuda 2003
PACIFIC PRINCESS-Bermuda 2002
REGAL EMPRESS-New England/Canada 2001

[vijoge]

We took the "Honey, I want to go jewelry shopping" excursion and it was great. Expensive, but great! I plan on doing that one again. Funny, it's been offerred on every ship and every port we've been to.

RCI Majesty of the Seas 06/05/2000
RCI Enchantment of the Seas 12/09/2001
Carnival Conquest 12/01/2002
Norwegian Dawn 11/30/2003
Norwegian Star to Alaska 6/26/05

Life is too short to be unhappy!