Nassau- stay on ship or get off?

[prettyNpinkpumps]

Hi! My husband and I will be on our first cruise, Oasis, sailing out October 20. We will be stopping in Nassau on the 21st from 7:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. I am just wondering if we should get off the ship or just stay on? I've heard from many people who have been to Nassau that they were not impressed. Also, with such a short time frame, I feel like our excursion choices will be limited. Any advice is appreciated :) Thanks so much!!

[scubagirrl]

Hi! My husband and I will be on our first cruise, Oasis, sailing out October 20. We will be stopping in Nassau on the 21st from 7:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. I am just wondering if we should get off the ship or just stay on? I've heard from many people who have been to Nassau that they were not impressed. Also, with such a short time frame, I feel like our excursion choices will be limited. Any advice is appreciated :) Thanks so much!!

 

 

If you do your homework, I'm sure you'll find something fun to do in nassau.

 

Snorkeling

Seqways

Historical Tour

Ardastra Zoo

Local Food

Shopping

Beach Day

Beach Bar... etc. etc.

It's best to form your own opinions...

[jerrya72]

If you've never been there I would get off the ship otherwise you'll never know what you missed. I'm looking forward to my first trip there next March. I just googled nassau and found ton's of interesting things.

[denamo]

We did a ship's excursion that was a tour of the town. This was our first time to this port and wanted to get a feel for it. I have no problem recommending the one we did. We too were on the Oasis. Tour took us over to Atlantis. Glad we had a chance to see it in person.

 

We typically do private excursions, but this one was good.

[united4life]

We did a ship's excursion that was a tour of the town. This was our first time to this port and wanted to get a feel for it. I have no problem recommending the one we did. We too were on the Oasis. Tour took us over to Atlantis. Glad we had a chance to see it in person.

 

We typically do private excursions, but this one was good.

 

Can i ask the name of the excursion was through Royal Caribbean? What was the price and size of the group. Im on the Allure in November and still kinda stumped on what to do for the short time in port. Atlantis seems like an overpriced place.

 

thanks!

[prettyNpinkpumps]

Thanks everyone! :)

Scubagirl, if you see this: When is the straw market open? We will be in port on a Sunday...

[scubagirrl]

Thanks everyone! :)

Scubagirl, if you see this: When is the straw market open? We will be in port on a Sunday...

 

Strawmarket will open around 9am/9:30 on Sunday.. a little delayed due to church.

[prettyNpinkpumps]

Thank you!!

[Christisrisen]

Check out Blue Lagoon- we've been there once and loved it-headed there again in a few weeks. Beautiful place!

[TGHRS]

First Cruise!!! Get off the ship!!!

This will be our 11th stop in Nassau. Not our favorite port by any stretch of the imagination but, I am still planning to do something and get off the ship. We threaten to stay on the ship every stop, but we don't. We get off, find something to do, and have fun.

Scubagirrl posted this on another thread. http://www.********.com/nassau.html

It is a walking tour of Nassau. If you are in good shape and want to hit the major stuff for nothing I would take a hike!

Have fun in Nassau...We are trying to decide where to go for conch fritters.

[TGHRS]

The website didn't show up correctly.

 

http://www.********.com/nassau.html

[TGHRS]

So the original link must be blocked. Where I found it was...

 

http://www.bahamas-treasures.com/

 

And look for the walking tour. It looks very well put together and enjoyable. All of the past trips I have taken have hit most of these spots.

[Anthomaniac]

we did the walking tour on our first stop in may and it was fine. That being said, I am perfectly fine not heading into town when we are there in november, i will probably book a scuba/snorkeling/water activity of some kind...

 

Mel

[simplelife]

We're just back from Carnival Ectasy 5 day sailing - we had ports in Key West, Nassau, and Freeport. We had been to Nassau before so we used it as an additional relaxing sea day between the other two ports. This was great for us as our cheif aim on the cruise was relaxation. However, if you want a more active day, I'm sure there is something to do, particularly if you like watersports. I would find an excursion privately once you dock - o- our tablemates had pre-booked a catamaran snorkel excursion and it was cancelled due to not having enough people sign up (Apparently they are not doing the group excursions unless they are full)

[GradUT]

We were on the Ecstasy in May and did the excellent walking tour to which TGHRS has provided the link. It took us just about 2 hours and we really enjoyed seeing the architecture of the city. Some notes about the tour:

 

1) Be sure to go into the Public Library (formerly a jail). The staff were very friendly and glad that we had stopped by to see this building. Walk to the top floor for good views.

 

2) The directions on the map indicate that you can freely enter the grounds of the home of the Governor General. We were stopped by a guard at the entrance and told otherwise. However, when I showed him the printout of the walking tour and where we were headed, he allowed us to walk through the grounds provided we stayed on the marked walking path.

 

3) The best view of the Governor General's home is from the street below looking up at the statue of Columbus and the house.

 

Also, don't worry about being hassled by vendors if you are out on your own. A couple people asked us if we wanted tours when we got off the boat and another man asked us the same when we were at the Queen's Staircase. A polite "No, thank you" was sufficient.

 

If you do this first thing in the morning, you'll have the rest of the day to relax on the ship while everyone else is out doing their (pricey) excursions.

[tfm1134]

Check out Blue Lagoon- we've been there once and loved it-headed there again in a few weeks. Beautiful place!

 

This is what we are doing. If you have never been there than I would say to leave the boat and check it out. We went 22 yrs ago so wouldn't think about staying on the ship. On the other hand, my MIL has been many times to Freeport and plans to stay on the ship when we dock there