Nassau??

:minnie:We have reservations for our L & S vacation, leaving on the Wonder Feb. 12, 2009! I have talked to two people who have 2 totally different ideas about Nassau, so I'm trying to get more info. It will only be myself, my husband, & two children 4 & 7. One friend said don't bother going into Nassau, stay on the ship & enjoy, the other friend said don't bother w/ the excursion to Atlantis, but take a cab & go to Atlantis ourselves. I think I would regret it if I went all the way to Nassau & didn't even get off the ship to look! What are some options to allow my family to have a great stress-free time without breaking the bank! Any help would be great!:mickey:

Feb. '09 L & S Polynesian/Wonder:number1:
Apr '06 Grand Floridian:thumbsup:
June '99 Offsite
May '93 Disneyland
Nov. '91 Offsite

We went to Nassau 4 years ago, and flew in and did all of our own excursions. We didn't want to be limited by the cruise. At that time we had an almost 2 year old a 5 year old. We did the Dolphin Encounter which was wonderful! Still love looking at those pictures!:cloud9: Our favorite beach was Cabbage beach by the Atlantis Resort. The one down by the marketplace is Cable beach and not as nice at all. I would get off the ship, and take a taxi to the Atlantis and visit the beach over there, or even take the ferry to the Dolphin Encounter. That's why we didn't take a cruise, because they only put you right near the downtown marketplace area, and there's so much more to Nassau than that! Don't stay on the ship!!! You will regret it if you do! I would definitely stay clear of the pirate museum though. Not worth the money! If you have anymore questions feel free to PM me. :mickey:

People either love or hate Nassau. I think it's something you should see once and after that decide on whether you'd ever do it again.

You don't have to do an excursion, but if you're at all uncomfortable with getting around on your own, an excursion can take away that stress. If you're an adventurous group, by all means, do some exploring on your own.

Exploring on your own:
When you leave the ship, you'll pass through the Welcome Center. On the other side, you'll be met by locals who would love to give you a tour of the island, braid your hair, etc. A firm no is usually all it takes if you aren't interested. This is how many make their living though, so you may be approached quite a bit. From here, you can do a walking tour of the downtown area (a detailed map is given to you by DCL), hire a horsedrawn carriage to take you around, get in a regular taxi and head over to Atlantis or take a water taxi. Regular taxi's drop you at the front door of the Atlantis, while the water taxi drop off leaves you with about a 10 minute walk. You can purchase a ticket on your own that will give you admission to the aquarium, but unless you're on an excursion or guest of the resort, you can't go near the pools or the private beach.

Some people on the shorter cruises (3 nights), like to take advantage of having the cruise ship and pools almost all to themselves. You may want to plan an early morning excursion and then be back on board by lunch time. Just make careful note of the dining hours. If you get back too late, you may end up with some pretty limited lunch options.

I've been to Nassau twice and thought it was dirty and not someplace I really want to go to. We actually booked an overnight room at Atlantis as it was cheaper than the Disney excursion. We had full use of all the facilities at Atlantis-the beach, the water park and the aquarium. We did the water taxi over and a regular taxi back since it was at night. It was about $3 per person each way, plus tip. If you are interested in the website that we got a discount for the room, pm me and I'll let you know who we got it through.

As someone who's been to Nassau 5+ times now, I can confirm that there's really not that much too see. The Queen's Staircase, Bay Street, and Straw Market are alright, but not world class attractions.

Atlantis, OTOH, is a world class attraction. It's like WDW: there's really only one. It's off on its own on Paradise Island and has a completely different feel compared to Nassau downtown. The difference is similar to the difference between International Drive and WDW property.

With a 4 and 7 year old, the excursion to Atlantis would be perfect. I know it's super expensive, but after seeing it, your kids will be begging to go. And doing a day trip off the cruise is much less expensive than taking a longer vacation there sometime in the future.

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Originally Posted by tink179

I would definitely stay clear of the pirate museum though. Not worth the money!

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I would have to disagree, we went with our 2 boys who were 3 and five at the time. They love pirates and were really into pirates of the caribbean. They really enjoyed the museum. That being said, if you are not a pirate fan or have pirate fans in your party avoid the museum.

As others have said, Atlantis is very cool to see, but very $$$$. I believe we paid close to $100 for the four of us to see the aquarium, we were not there that long.

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Originally Posted by Kenny1113

As others have said, Atlantis is very cool to see, but very $$$$. I believe we paid close to $100 for the four of us to see the aquarium, we were not there that long.

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There are now two excursions offered to Atlantis: a brief tour of the grounds and the sea life tanks, and a day-pass that gives you access to all the pools, beaches, and water slides and rides.

The tour runs around $30 pp and the daypass runs $100+ pp.

That $100 may sound expensive, but it's cheaper than having to take a specific trip to Atlantis in the future!

We did the 4 day cruise on the Wonder last February. Our stop to Nassau was quite fun. You basically walk off the ship and into downtown Nassau. It is true that the locals REALLY want to sell you something or braid your hair but they are also really understanding if you reply with a polite "no". As you go through the Welcome Center take a right to go to the straw market. There you will find rows and rows of Bahamian women selling everything from Gucci bags to sharks made out of Coca-Cola cans. My wife loves this place mostly because she loves hagling the pricing. Tip - if you have girls and want their hair braided do not let them do it in the Welcome Center (way too expensive)! Have a great time!!!:D

We did the Atlantis Aquaventure Waterpark excursion. You get full access to everything at the Atlantis...casino, aquarium, beach, etc. It was a NAUSSAU MUST-SEE!

I was curious about this too, It's my first AEP in Mar and we are going on the cruise for part of it and i was so excited about doing it, but then reading about how expensive Nassai is and the haggling etc I am kinda turned off by it. But a cheap Gucci bag hmmmm??????

Our stop in Nassau, we just shopped. My dad hated it. DH and my mom were drunk with shopping. And while I ended up with 2 very nice pieces of jewelry and a cute Fauxch (fake Coach) bag, I could've taken or left it. We had to go back to the ship around lunch time for an appt, so we ate on board. DH and mom were planning to go back out to shop some more but we all ended up just staying on the ship the rest of the afternoon and doing shipboard activities - some of the most memorable, btw.

I was glad we did this, and I know each port has its own bevy of stuff to do, but the ship is so amazing, you might end up wishing you had more time to spend on it!

My DH and DS's love pirate things, but this was a joke! If you loved pirates and were really into them then everything that you pay to walk through this musesum to see is stuff you probably already knew.That's how my family felt. It took us less than 30 min to walk through it sooo expensive for the place! I guess if you don't know much about the pirates than what you see in the movies I guess you should go see it, but don't expect much! We didn't do the aquarium at Atlantis either. We saw the price and we watched how little of time people would go in and then come out and we knew it wouldn't be worth our time. There is other stuff to see and do there that doesn't cost money. If you would've done your research better for this trip you probably would've found that out.



QUOTE=Kenny1113;1810302]I would have to disagree, we went with our 2 boys who were 3 and five at the time. They love pirates and were really into pirates of the caribbean. They really enjoyed the museum. That being said, if you are not a pirate fan or have pirate fans in your party avoid the museum.

As others have said, Atlantis is very cool to see, but very $$$$. I believe we paid close to $100 for the four of us to see the aquarium, we were not there that long. [/QUOTE]

Book an overnight room at the Comfort Suites which is right nextdoor to the Atlantis and owned by the same company. You have full use of the waterpark and it only cost us $200 for the room. It was alot cheaper than taking the Disney excursion and paying $100 per person. The water park was great!

Thanks for all of your posts. I've looked into booking a room, but Comfort Suites & Atlantis is all booked up, so that's out! We still haven't decided what we will do, but I guess we will be deciding soon as we are scheduled to arrive in Nassau on Feb. 13th! We really haven't decided if we're willing to spend the $$$ for the Atlantis excursion, when we can swim on the ship! We might just browse! Any other ideas, please let me know!:confused:

As I said before:

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Originally Posted by MidnTPK

That $100 pp may sound expensive, but it's cheaper than having to take a specific trip to Atlantis in the future!

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Originally Posted by Tink276

We really haven't decided if we're willing to spend the $$$ for the Atlantis excursion, when we can swim on the ship! We might just browse! Any other ideas, please let me know!:confused:

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If your kids were older, then I'd probably push for Atlantis. Considering their ages though, they'll have just as much fun in the pool on the ship. Going to Atlantis just to walk around with young kids, is really a waste. The casino was fun for an hour or two, but unless you want to at least do the aquarium, there isn't anything there that's appealing.

I still vote for staying on the ship and enjoying those amenities.

We tried to take DS into town on our first cruise, she was 4 or 5 at the time, and she was so scared by all the people coming up to her and asking if she wanted her hair braided, we had to take her back to the ship. Since we've been on several cruises, we've done some excursions and stayed on the ship and much prefer the ship. We no longer get off in Nassau anymore.

I'd try a shore excursion, rather than doing something on your own, but I think everyone should at least give every port a visit once.

I say spend the money and do Atlantis.... you may never have the opportunity to go there again. From what I hear it is quite spectacular and the pictures are just magnificent. Create some more memories and see something new.

DH and I have just returned from our cruise (Jan 17 - 20). When we where in Nassua I had booked the beach day at Atlantis, but it was so cold and windy they had closed the beach. So, we went on the aquariun tour instead. This tour took about 2 hours, we got into spots at Atlantis you can not get to without being a guest or being on a booked tour. DH and I thoughly enjoyed this tour and still had time to wander about Nassua when we got back. If your kids are into animals and fish then they would probally enjoy this. Personally I don't care for Nassua, but I wanted to get sone rum for gifts so we waunder a bit. We didn't venture into any of the jewllery stores, but I heard there where some good deals to be had. I think if we go again we may try a histrorical tour. Did I say if? I mean when.