Key West and Nassau with a 8 mth old baby...what to do?

[sherry7]

I'm hoping for some suggestions please. Our cruise is only 12 days away. I've procrastinated far too long, and I have no idea of what we're going to do in Key West and Nassau.

 

Our baby will be almost 8 months old, she's pretty easy going and will easily take a nap in her stroller if needed. We've never been to Key West or Nassau before. I would really appreciate any suggestions of good excursions with a baby. Thanks. :)

[Mack2]

The Butterfly Conservatory in Key West is pretty neat.

 

http://www.keywestbutterfly.com/

 

Great place for the kids...

 

Nassau, I like Ardastra Gardens... but you might be able to get away with doing Atlantis...

[onthelake]

Key West has the sight-seeing tram which is a nice way to see the town. It is also an easy walk around town. In Nassau, lots of folks go to Paradise Island and buy a day pass or get a day room. We have never done that but if you search this thread you will find info and prices.

[HaveKidsWillTravel]

Hi there, when we went to KW with our 4 year old we loved just walking the busy streets. We had our stroller and because we walked all the way to the Southern Most Point to take pictures and back she sat in the stroller and walked some of the way.

 

We did some shopping and went to Ernest Hemingways house as well.

 

Have a great trip!

[williamsk]

Hi- Just wanted to add, don't forget the beaches. Typically cheap compared to other activities and my daughter loved playing in the water and sand. There is a small beach in Nassau not far from the market.

 

In Key West my daughter (around 18 months) also liked the hemingway cats. There is also a beach on Key West with a ton of picnic tables. Emily is almost three and recently brought out a seashell from that trip and told me she wanted to put it back. When I asked her why, she said she wanted to go on the big boat again :)

[lolakat]

We got a day pass to the Sheraton in Nassau with our 2 yo. It allowed use of the pool/beach as well as use of the room for the day for $99. It was nice b/c our DD used the room to nap. I would recommend it. You can get a cheaper day pass to the British Colonial Hilton which is closer to the port but does not include use of the room.

 

I KW I would agree with using the tram and just walking around the shops etc. Might be a little cool for the beach there right now. I've never been to the butterfly museum there but my 3yo DD loves our local one.

 

Have a great trip.

[p3sgirl]

Love the suggestions. Are there any bike tours that have seats/carriers for babies attached in Key West?

[Kingisacruiser]

Depending on how long you will be in Nassau, you can go to Atlantis. You won't have to pay for the baby because he is under 3. I took my 3 kids and Nassau was on of the stops. My youngest at the time was 18 months old and he loved it (He's been in pools since 6 mos). We put floaties and a water diaper on him and in we went to the pools. There is also a section that is soley for little kids and you can play with the baby in that area as well. I took the baby to that section and he loved sitting in the water (I think its called zero entry), so we sat right at the edge, but it wasn't deep anyway.

[Tapi]

Ooops, got to this thread a little late. We just returned from this same itinerary 2 weeks ago. All I have to say is that these two ports are very stroller friendly. You can check out our full review on the Carnival Fascination Review page.

[sherry7]

I originally started this thread, so I figured I'd update it now that we're back from our cruise. :)

 

In Key West, we bought tickets to the Old Town Trolley (baby was free). You could stay on for the entire 90 minute tour circuit, and you could get on and off at any stop. We had her stroller with us, and the driver had us store it at the front of the trolley. We got off at the Ernest Hemingway house, and toured through that. Eh, it was okay, but in retrospect I wish we had went to one of the ship wreck museums instead. There really wasn't much to see there other than an old house and a ton of cats. Olivia (the baby) got excited when she saw the cats, since we have 3 at home. :) There were lots of steps throughout the house, so we parked the stroller on the front porch and carried the baby. We also got off at the Southern Most point stop, and walked around for about an hour or more.

 

We had a very short day in Nassau, since we had to be on board ship at 2:30. This definitely wasn't enough time to justify the expense of doing the water park at Atlantis. We took a water taxi to Atlantis ($3 per person, one way). One of the boat hands stored the stroller on top of the boat for us. Olivia loved the ride over, and giggled and smiled the whole way. :) Atlantis was about a 10 minute easy walk away from where the water taxi docked. Once we got there, there was plenty to see for free including the aquarium, shops, lobby, etc. If you're taking the water taxi, leave yourself plenty of time to get back, since they don't leave until it is entirely full. I was glad we had eaten a big breakfast on the ship, since the price of food at Atlantis was very high.