Nassau Help

[Disneybridewifemama]

I know this comes down to personal preference, but I'm looking for some insight from others because I am so torn.

This will be our 4th Disney cruise, first on the magic and first time to Nassau.
I have heard so many awful reviews of Nassau and people have me concerned about safety, especially taking our nine year old daughter with us. My original plan was to get off the ship, visit the local free beach (junkanoo??) and then stop by hard rock for our magnet collection and then head back to the ship early to enjoy the semi-empty ship.

But now I'm second-guessing myself because we have friends who went to Atlantis for a week and loved it so much. But is doing a short day trip there worth it? everything seems SO expensive through port adventures. They said the prices were much cheaper for them as resort guests. (like the dolphin snorkel $89 compared to the $200+ from dcl)

or is it best to stay on the ship all together for safety reasons? How concerned should I be?

I'm SO torn on what to do and hoping some people have some personal reviews to share!
thanks in advance!

 

[mevelandry]

IMO, it's preferable not to venture by yourself...

... especially if you are nervous about your safety (you are supposed to enjoy your vacation, not stress out about it).

While it's a bit more expensive, there are some great excursions that you can do through DCL and Atlantis is one of them.

It's always the safest way to go.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Junkanoo beach is kinda gross. We've been once and never intend to return. The pirate museum is fun for little ones. Kind of campy, but fun. We did the Atlantis dolphin excursion our first time at Nassau when our kids were 10, 8 & 8 and they loved it. When they were 14, 12 & 12...well...they stay on the ship in the Edge/Vibe now

Safety isn't so much of a concern if you stay out of the far back alleyways and on the main road. Nassau is more than a bit grungy, but it's safe enough downtown for shopping and whatnot.

 

[Ryanabland]

I will add to this because I have a similar question.

We were thinking about taking the walk to the Queens Stairway and fort. Seems like YouTube videos show this as a well-traveled route from the cruise terminal. Has anyone had experience on this little “on-your-own” activity?

 

[dcassetta]

I will add to this because I have a similar question.

We were thinking about taking the walk to the Queens Stairway and fort. Seems like YouTube videos show this as a well-traveled route from the cruise terminal. Has anyone had experience on this little “on-your-own” activity?

This is in the common tourist area, you'll be fine.

 

[dcassetta]

I know this comes down to personal preference, but I'm looking for some insight from others because I am so torn.

This will be our 4th Disney cruise, first on the magic and first time to Nassau.
I have heard so many awful reviews of Nassau and people have me concerned about safety, especially taking our nine year old daughter with us. My original plan was to get off the ship, visit the local free beach (junkanoo??) and then stop by hard rock for our magnet collection and then head back to the ship early to enjoy the semi-empty ship.

But now I'm second-guessing myself because we have friends who went to Atlantis for a week and loved it so much. But is doing a short day trip there worth it? everything seems SO expensive through port adventures. They said the prices were much cheaper for them as resort guests. (like the dolphin snorkel $89 compared to the $200+ from dcl)

or is it best to stay on the ship all together for safety reasons? How concerned should I be?

I'm SO torn on what to do and hoping some people have some personal reviews to share!
thanks in advance!

If you want a less expensive beach day than Atlantis, but not directly on the public beach, I would recommend day passes at the Colonial Hilton. Walking distance from the ship, and they have a nice beach and pool area.

 

[mevelandry]

If you only want a beach day: Blue Lagoon is great. (it's an excursion)

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

I will add to this because I have a similar question.

We were thinking about taking the walk to the Queens Stairway and fort. Seems like YouTube videos show this as a well-traveled route from the cruise terminal. Has anyone had experience on this little “on-your-own” activity?

We did this and it was a lot of fun. Our son loved Fort Fincastle. He kept trying to imprison his sisters in the cells...

The roads aren't marked very well with signs and whatnot, but it's an easy and safe walk. At the top of the steps before the Fort there're a host of souvenir hawkers. DD2 got her much loved 'Bahamas' purse there.

 

[oumagic]

We will be in Nassau December 30 and we are doing a DCL excursion: Catamaran Sail and Reef Snorkeling (N14) and I plan to give some feedback on the forums since I have not seen too much online. I was interested in Atlantis, but the teens were lukewarm on the idea and the only way we would have spent that money is if they felt it was something they just absolutely had to do.

 

[starvenger]

If you want a less expensive beach day than Atlantis, but not directly on the public beach, I would recommend day passes at the Colonial Hilton. Walking distance from the ship, and they have a nice beach and pool area.

I’ve done Colonial Hilton and it’s quite nice. A bit quiet but that’s not a bad thing. 10-15 minute walk at most so zero worries for OP grabbing that Hard Rock souvenir before boarding.

 

[cpfolk]

We recently sailed on the Dream and had similar concerns. I waited to book until we boarded, thought I would wait to see how the weather looked before laying out the amount of cash.

We chose Blue Lagoon VIP beach day, and it was awesome. I would return without hesitation. The only downside is the travel time - 35 minute ferry, but the views from the boat are lovely.

We passed one of the catamarans at the dock as we boarded our ferry, and I was shocked by the number of people they pile on those boats. If you are at all a person who needs her space, you won’t have any. I couldn’t do it.

 

[firstwdw]

We just did our first cruise last month. We signed up for a great, reasonably priced tour through Disney Cruise Line. $48 per person. There were about 14 in our group. We went to a small but very fun, hands-on, interactive museum about the Junkanoo festival in the Bahamas. We then had a tour of Fort Charlotte-really cool underground rooms and everything with an informative tour guide. The van driver pointed out important buildings etc as we traveled from place to place. We visited the Queen's Staircase with the tour and were back to the ship for a late lunch. I'd say it was 2.5-3hours total. I had also read horrible reviews of Nassau but never felt unsafe. Yes, we saw some run-down areas and poverty etc while we were traveling in the van. However, we really enjoyed learning about the culture and history and the locals we met were all great. We never experienced any pushy vendors that you read about. Great tour for older kids and teens, It's called Nassau Forts and Junkanoo Discovery Tour. We figured we'd get our beach time at Castaway Cay.

 

[FSU Girl]

Nassau is not my favorite place, the last time I was there I stayed on the ship. But getting to Atlantis on your own is super easy. We paid $4 to a taxi to get dropped off there. You can walk around certain parts of the hotel free of charge, where some parts require either buying a package or being a guest. Look into buying the dolphin experience or pools directly through Atlantis and compare the cost to what Disney is charging. I'm pretty sure Atlantis is an expensive hotel so I'm not sure if the price difference will be all that much, but I'm not 100% sure since I've never bought any of that. We just hung out at the hotel in the free parts and went to the beach that was free for everyone.

Since it'll be your first time there I think it's worth exploring a little bit. You could go to Atlantis for a few hours then head back to the ship for lunch and pool time.

 

[ElenaRN]

I had the total opposite opinion of Junkanoo Beach than pp. My family and I had an awesome time there 3 years ago. The beach & water were both very clean. We rented some beach chairs and got really delicious jerk chicken for lunch w/ some frosty beverages for the adults and smoothies for the kids. We only planned on staying 1-2 hours and I think we were there almost 4.

We had heard varying reviews but decided to give it a shot since at the time the kids were kinda small for Atlantis and we didn't want to spend too much $$.

Also just know that many people don't get off the ship anymore at Nassau so it might not be as empty as you think.

 

[littledebbie335]

While parts of Nassau can look a bit rough around the edges, remember that this is a city that relies on tourism for their main source of income, so they're not trying to scare the tourists away. DH and I did not feel uncomfortable at all, but we also live in Maryland and frequent both Baltimore and DC. Sometimes I get the feeling that the people who are most uncomfortable in Nassau are people who do not spend much time in densely populated areas.

I never felt unsafe, but there are a lot of people trying to peddle goods to you; just ignore them and keep on walking. I know that sounds mean/rude, but my husband tried to tell a woman that he wasn't interested in the bracelets she was selling, and she somehow managed to get one on his wrist, at which point he felt obligated to pay her for it. I think he felt a bit like a sucker, but hey, that woman probably needed the $5 more than we did! We considered it a way to support a local entrepreneur and moved on with our day.

We opted to explore on our own and took at taxi to Atlantis, where we walked around and looked at the sea life in the aquariums. It was much cheaper to do this on our own than through Disney, but still thought it was a bit expensive, and this was kind of a one-and-done for us. We spent the rest of the day walking around the tourist area. The pirate museum was fun, though, and we also stopped by the Pompey Museum of Slavery and Emancipation, which is about the history of slavery in the Bahamas. While I realize that isn't a light/vacation-y topic, I always try to do something historical when I visit a new place, and the museum was very well curated and worth the admission price (obviously not super kid-friendly). I was unimpressed with the Straw Market, but also knew what it was going into it (a giant room full of trinkets with people heckling you the entire time).

One issue we did run into was that my phone wasn't working very well. I paid for an international day pass, but often the connection was too slow to be usable. I couldn't even get Google Maps to load, which was frustrating, because we hadn't picked out a place to eat lunch ahead of time and ended up just picking a place at random because we were right in front of it (and getting increasingly hangry). I highly recommend downloading a map of the tourist area ahead of time so that you can access it without an Internet connection, and if you plan on eating off the ship, maybe make a short list of places that seem interesting.

I agree with a PP that the ship seemed pretty crowded that day.

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

I had the total opposite opinion of Junkanoo Beach than pp. My family and I had an awesome time there 3 years ago. The beach & water were both very clean. We rented some beach chairs and got really delicious jerk chicken for lunch w/ some frosty beverages for the adults and smoothies for the kids. We only planned on staying 1-2 hours and I think we were there almost 4.

We had heard varying reviews but decided to give it a shot since at the time the kids were kinda small for Atlantis and we didn't want to spend too much $$.

Also just know that many people don't get off the ship anymore at Nassau so it might not be as empty as you think.

This makes me feel better to hear a good review of Junkanoo! We were really trying to save on excursions for this stop. do you happen to have any photos you would want to share of junkanoo?

 

[Disneybridewifemama]

Junkanoo beach is kinda gross. We've been once and never intend to return. The pirate museum is fun for little ones. Kind of campy, but fun. We did the Atlantis dolphin excursion our first time at Nassau when our kids were 10, 8 & 8 and they loved it. When they were 14, 12 & 12...well...they stay on the ship in the Edge/Vibe now would you mind sharing when you went to Junkanoo?

Safety isn't so much of a concern if you stay out of the far back alleyways and on the main road. Nassau is more than a bit grungy, but it's safe enough downtown for shopping and whatnot.

We will be in Nassau December 30 and we are doing a DCL excursion: Catamaran Sail and Reef Snorkeling (N14) and I plan to give some feedback on the forums since I have not seen too much online. I was interested in Atlantis, but the teens were lukewarm on the idea and the only way we would have spent that money is if they felt it was something they just absolutely had to do.

looking forward to your review, thank you! have a great trip!

I’ve done Colonial Hilton and it’s quite nice. A bit quiet but that’s not a bad thing. 10-15 minute walk at most so zero worries for OP grabbing that Hard Rock souvenir before boarding.

I was looking into this! thank you for the recommendation!

 

[pascalspal]

The last time we went to Nassau and got off the boat we went to Blue Lagoon and LOVED it! We did the sea lion swim encounter. It was very clean and well run, only a short boat ride away from the port. I highly recommend. We left shortly after our swim but they had a private beach that you could enjoy. Boats ran back to the port every half hour if I remember correctly.

We also just love not getting off the ship and just enjoying some less crowded time at the pool/slide!

You cant go wrong! I wouldn't be worried about getting off of the ship, but like travel anywhere be mindful of your surroundings!

 

[Dug720]

Has anyone done N97 - Snorkel and Beach Adventure? It sounds intriguing, but I'm not sure. I'll be cruising in Feb - and while I live in NYC and don't get cold easily, I'm not sure how the water would be.

 

[kylaura]

We did the day pass at the Colonial Hilton this past spring. It was an easy walk and felt safe. Decent beach, pool and food. I would do it again.