Carnival Dream Port of Call Nassau

[lovetocruise25]

Why does the dream stop in Nassau for 4 hours? I think its a waste of a port of call either make the stop longer or they should stop somwhere else longer. What does everyone else think?

[Cina409]

I agree, I won't be getting off the ship next week in bahamas because you don't have enough time to do mush.

I would have like a private island this trip but I know what I was getting when I booked. I'm still happy and ready to go!

[firefly333]

Why is the sky blue ... what does everyone else think the color should be??

 

No one here will know why Carnival decided to stop for 4 hours.

 

My guess is no one cares to go there, so Carnival decided not to stay long? Logistics, of the port, and how long they could get port time on the current contract?

[mferris77]

Maybe they have to leave by 2pm in order to make it to St. Thomas on time? If they left later they might have to go faster, using more fuel, etc.. I'm sure economics has a hand in the decision.

 

It would be nice if they did a San Juan/St. Thomas/St. Maarten itinerary.

[Tapi]

The distance from Nassau and St. Thomas is the reason why. With that said, I'll take a shortened stay in overrated Nassau, and arrive in St. Thomas early in the morning and enjoy a full day there!

 

Carnival could get a bit more creative with their Eastern Caribbean itinerary, but for some reason, this specific itinerary (Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten) is popular not only with Carnival, but also with Royal Caribbean as well. I guess it's attractive for first time cruisers.

 

In the most part, ships traveling to the Eastern Caribbean need to cover close to 1,000 miles just to get down to those islands, so it means spending more time at sea and less time in port. For "day at sea" lovers like me, the Eastern itineraries are heaven sent! When we sailed on the Liberty in 2008, we spent the first 48 hours sailing down to San Juan (arriving at 5pm), and 2 full days and nights sailing back from St. Maarten.

[lowbass]

The distance from Nassau and St. Thomas is the reason why. With that said, I'll take a shortened stay in overrated Nassau, and arrive in St. Thomas early in the morning and enjoy a full day there!

 

Carnival could get a bit more creative with their Eastern Caribbean itinerary, but for some reason, this specific itinerary (Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten) is popular not only with Carnival, but also with Royal Caribbean as well. I guess it's attractive for first time cruisers.

 

In the most part, ships traveling to the Eastern Caribbean need to cover close to 1,000 miles just to get down to those islands, so it means spending more time at sea and less time in port. For "day at sea" lovers like me, the Eastern itineraries are heaven sent! When we sailed on the Liberty in 2008, we spent the first 48 hours sailing down to San Juan (arriving at 5pm), and 2 full days and nights sailing back from St. Maarten.

 

 

 

I'm not a "day at sea" lover that's why I always look for the most ports in my cruising. I would even make due with just 4 hours in Nassau if I had to. That's enough time to get to the Fish Fry and get something to eat and do a little shopping.

[lovetocruise25]

I will be on the dream in 5 weeks and stopping in nassau for 4 hours just makes me sad. I really like nassau they have some really cool places to see and resorts to visit for the day. But cant do much in 4 hours and everyone who had ever been on a cruise knows ship gets to port at 8:30 am you might be off the ship by 9:30 and back on ship by 1:00 pm at the lastest that just is a waste of a day.

[Tapi]

I will be on the dream in 5 weeks and stopping in nassau for 4 hours just makes me sad. I really like nassau they have some really cool places to see and resorts to visit for the day. But cant do much in 4 hours and everyone who had ever been on a cruise knows ship gets to port at 8:30 am you might be off the ship by 9:30 and back on ship by 1:00 pm at the lastest that just is a waste of a day.

 

If you like Nassau enough to want to spend more than 4 hours there, may I suggest (for a future cruise) one of the short itineraries (3-4 nights) where you arrive in Nassau at 8am and don't leave until the following morning?

[manhar]

First question: For forum members

Why do folks think Nassau is overrated? I'm new to the East carribean cruise and reading about the excursions, it seems theres a lot to do here for the younger folk?

 

Second question for Carnival:

Why waste time stopping here for 4 hours, which is inadequate for any port really? Or does anyone in the forum know of similar short port calls by other cruises?

[Tapi]

First question: For forum members

Why do folks think Nassau is overrated? I'm new to the East carribean cruise and reading about the excursions, it seems theres a lot to do here for the younger folk??

 

- Normally, your ship will be there with a few others, meaning that you'll be sharing a fairly compact tourist area with as many as 14,000 other cruisers on any given day.

- From the moment you walk outside the welcome center, you're mobbed by people wanting to braid your hair, take you on a taxi tour, rent you a scooter, sell you some seashells, paint your portrait, etc, all within the first five minutes of your stay there.

- Nassau actually has a pretty high crime rate, so wandering off the tourist areas isn't recommended.

- Because of its close proximity to the US and the large number of day trippers, Nassau has become very commercialized and Americanized. Many chain stores, fast food joints, and restaurants. Also, if your idea of shopping for local artifacts involves $5 T shirts and tacky souvenirs, you'll be in luck. The place is packed with them.

- If you travel during the winter, get ready for the possibility of less than tropical weather. The Bahamas are technically not in the Caribbean, so they don't enjoy year long balmy temperatures. On our last cruise in December, temperatures hovered around 55F in Nassau.

- Their big claim to fame is the Atlantis, however to enjoy the beach, water park and aquarium, you must pay a hefty price, or be a guest at the hotel or its sister properties.

 

 

Nassau is OK for first time cruisers, and pretty much a mandatory stop on short cruises out of Florida ports (options are limited on 3 night itineraries). However, if I'm spending money on a 7 night itinerary where I can actually see more varied ports in the Caribbean, I would NEVER willingly choose to go to Nassau. Its a waste of money in my opinion...

[Redsfan]

very good point for the post above me...we did our first cruise to Nassau, Half Moon and G.Turk and was not impressed with Nassau..mind you Blue Lagoon is overrated in my mind as we didn't do the Dolphins, and the weather sucked.

 

If able to, I want to travel on the Dream in November and looking at 2 7 day itins with my family...one is the West, one is the East. I want to see St.Mart and St.Thomas, but not thrilled about Nassau to say the least. I think it is a longer stay though, not 4 hours. I guess if the day was nicer I would do the Sheraton Beach Day Pass, but would love another Island other than Nassau to visit. For this reason I would be tempted to do the West, and hop the issues in Mexico subside in the next number of months...

[GeckoGirl]

I also wish they would add some different ports to the Eastern Itineraries, it seems almost every ship goes to St. Thomas and St. Maarten with either Nassau or a private island. While I loved St. Maarten and have enjoyed St. Thomas, I would like to go somewhere else in the Eastern Caribbean from time to time. Almost all the ships out of Port Canaveral, Ft Lauderdale and Miami go those routes.

 

Plus I do not like Sea Days either as I can lay in the sun by the pool at home, so I love cruises with more ports or more time in ports. I like the variety they have in the Western routes as they switch them up a little better. Although almost every one of them goes to Cozumel, but I can live with that cause I love Cozumel, been there 3 times and will go again in a heartbeat, especially to the Tequila Factory Store for the MarMix. Yummm!!

[DGP1111]

Also adding challenge to the shortened visit in Nassau by Carnival Dream is the day of the week . . . Sunday.

Numerous places of business are not opened in the hours soon after arrival.

[near the beach]

I think that they should skip Nassau altogether and just have two ports to visit. Sea days are nice. Of course you can hope a whole lot of people leave the ship and leave the deck less crowded while in Nassau.

[RVman]

We were off the ship by 8 last Sunday and you must be back on by 130. I normally wouldn't have gotten off but some that were crusing with us had never been there.

 

I was glad we did, it was Sunday and the streets were so much different than I had seen in the past. It almost seemed like a diffrent port. I really enjoyed it.

 

We walked around did a little shopping then went to Senor Frogs for a while before returning back to the ship. Overall is was nice, not what I had expected.

 

 

It being Sunday was the key!

[hpreece]

Often times cruise lines will leave the port earlier than necessary because they can not open the casino or shops until they've pulled away from the dock.

-Heather