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What to do in Nassau if we don't book a shore excursion?

chenj78

By chenj78,
in Bahamas

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riclop

riclop

Posted
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Looking for suggestions on what to do in Nassau if we decide not to book a shore excursion. We will be on the Allure and only docked from 7a-2p. The day before is embarkation day where we also have Mamma Mia booked. The show runs over two hours and I don't want to get the kids up early to make a shore excursion. Suggestions on what we can do in our own? What is near the dock? Any beaches close by or an easy taxi ride?

 

 

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Stay on the ship and relax.

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Artemus

Artemus

Posted
Posted (edited)

There is a new Margaritaville which just opened on Paradise Island, which is where Atlantis is. You could taxi/water taxi over there and party like a Parrothead for a couple of hours.

The new Margaritaville is on the water down near the bridges.

Edited by Artemus
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Clarea

Clarea

Posted
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Playing on walking to the Pirates museum and Hard Rock Cafe. Is this doable in the short amount of time we are in port?

Should be no problem. Hard Rock is closest, just a couple of minutes walk after you get through the terminal area. Pirates museum is 5-10 minutes farther than Hard Walk, and I'd give yourself 60-90 minutes to spend there depending on how much reading you want to do.

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Sky616

Sky616

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Playing on walking to the Pirates museum and Hard Rock Cafe. Is this doable in the short amount of time we are in port?

 

Took us about 75 minutes to go thru pirates museum and I read almost everything so plenty of time to do both.

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cot427

cot427

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I'm always disappointed with Nassau. Someday I'll learn to just stay on the ship. I found a Segway tour that receives good reviews....so we might try that for the next cruise.

 

I feel the same way! And the past 2-3 times I've went, I've said before I sail, oh I'm not getting off in Nassau this time. And every time, I get off.

 

When will I finally just stay on the ship!? I'm sailing NCL Escape in September and we are there from 12-7 (awful hours) so I'm thinking that'll be the perfect time to start! I say that now...

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abisha

abisha

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Hubby and I took the water taxi over to the Atlantis Marina. It was very nice over there...there were shops and restaurants, etc.

 

When getting off the ship and out to the "vendor" area, there's a kiosk booth to purchase the water taxi tickets (I think $4 each way per person). they will direct you where to go for the water taxi. It was about a 5 minute or so walk down the street to the pier.

 

The water taxi ride was interesting and amusing ...you get a humorous narrative from one of the workers on the taxi. You get let off across the street from the Atlantis. It's about a 10 minute walk to the marina area (signs will direct you).

 

We walked around the marina..checking out the yachts (some very swanky), taking pictures and poked around in the stores. We also found a way (looked like an under ground tunnel) with a ground entrance and elevator that led into one of the lobby areas of the Atlantis hotel where you can also walk around and take pics, etc. I also found an Atlantis gift shop to get some souvenirs (pricey, but just got something small on it that said "Atlantis" on it).

 

I think we were gone for only a couple of hours or so, but it was a nice way to spend some time in Nassau and do something a bit different and laid back.

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3happyferrets

3happyferrets

Posted
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Interactive Pirate Museum.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

 

I laugh when reading this only because of our experience with it. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the museum, but it freaked our children out when they were little. I can't say why because we live in Orlando and take them to parks, but we got stuck in there with two toddlers SCREAMING at the top of their lungs because the Pirates scared them so much. Then we went to the hard rock and were sat by the topless picture of Janice Joplin. Then on way back to ship I had to take my little girl to the bathroom and the hair braiding lady followed us into the bathroom trying to convince me to braid her hair! Just freaked out my baby even more! Just not a good day in Nassau, lol. This was years ago, but we still laugh about it. We did take them to the sting ray experience on the island that has Sandals on it one time. My daughter loved it, son, well, not so much. Really, there's stuff to do that many people love, we've just been there so much I'd prefer to stay on the ship, but it's a popular port for a reason.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
tootsiebit

tootsiebit

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This is early out for me, but I am making a folder of our itinerary when we finally sail the Eastern route on our next cruise.

I already have Key West under control, because we are just gonna hang out and stroll around and spend the day on island time...

 

At Nassau, I am thinking we might like to take the water taxi over to the Atlantis marina area and just take in the area for a couple of hours and then head back to to town area and look thru the market and maybe see the Queen's Staircase, and then find a place to sit and have a couple of drinks before getting back on the ship. Is all of this doable? If not we will probably just not do Atlantis, and do a walking tour around Nassau...Any thoughts? oh an maybe some recommended places to grab some good food would be appreciated too..

 

And then Freeport, it looks like we may just get off and shop the Straw Market and visit a bar/restaurant type establishment...Any suggestions here would be great...we won't stay off the ship too long and will enjoy more ship time, but thought since we have never been, we should at least touch our feet on Freeport...LOL

 

Thanks ahead of time for any and all suggestions !!!

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mathdad

mathdad

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The major straw market not at Port is at least a taxi drive. I don't

Remember if there's much stay market stuff at Port. There are souvenirs and food vendors.

 

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shelbytennis

shelbytennis

Posted
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This will be my wife and I 4th time in Nassau, but 1st with our kids (ages 15, 13, 11, 5, 4 and almost 2). Tentatively, we plan on having breakfast aboard the ship and then heading out for a walk to let the kids see the Queens staircase and fort fincastle, them heading to the ferry to spend some beach time on cabbage beach and let the kids experience one of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean. We always make the walk down to the far end away from the crowds. Then take the ferry back and let them do some shopping at the straw market (have always found that late in the day you can bargain more since they're about to close up shop). Before we get back on the ship we'll probably hit up a local restaurant for a couple drinks and some local cuisine. We actually enjoy Nassau unlike a lot of others who say stay on the ship. Different strokes for different folks I suppose...

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KyBBQlady

KyBBQlady

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We were just in Nassau. I wish we had booked something through the ship. I felt very unsafe. We had paid a deposit for a day pass at the British Colonial Hilton but we didn't even go. I'm sure there may be some nice areas in Nassau but we sure didn't see any. Even traveling in a group we just didn't feel safe. We were in Freeport the day before and traveled on our own using local transportation and never felt nervous and we completely enjoyed the day!

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