Bahamas with a baby and young kids

[AandBmom]

I've been reading lots on the Port boards about Bahamas, but I haven't found much about bringing young children there. I'm hoping someone here on the family boards has been to Bahamas and can offer suggestions.

 

Our cruise has us in each port for a day. I'm overwhelmed about making a plan for my family (DH, myself, sons 5yrs and 7yrs and an infant).

 

I've pretty much ruled out Atlantis (too expensive and we live near Marineland so we can see aquariums anytime). Also, we have waterslides on our ship and with my kids being so young the ones on the ship are plenty big enough to keep them amused.

 

I'm considering doing one beach day and one day of looking around and seeing anything interesting. We will shop a little but my guys get bored easily shopping. We will likely only stay in port a few hours given the ages of our kids. We may grab a light snack or drink in port but it makes most sense to us to eat meals on the ship.

 

Which port would be better for a beach day and which one is better for exploring? Is one port easier to manage with a stroller?

 

I've been able to find some suggestions for things to do in Nassau (the Ardastra Zoo, look at the Forts and the staircase, etc). I can't seem to find as much info on Freeport. Is there a kid friendly resort in Freeport that would be a good place to hang out and use the beach/pools for part of the day?

 

Any suggestions anyone can offer would be much appreciated.

[Mack2]

We took the kids to Ardastra Gardens... it was a wonderful time.

 

We had actually missed the Marching Flamingo show (since we hired a cab driver to take us there), but we got to feed the lory parrots, and we ended up meeting one of the flamingo trainers, who let the kids walk around with the birds... it was REALLY cool.

^^^ those 3 were my pictures (kids were 8,5, and 3)

^^^ Not mine... taken from Google images.

 

 

I thought it was a great time... We're going back to Ardastra later this year when we'll be aboard the Oasis.

 

Edit:

One thing I did have to tell the kids was to not grab at the birds or chase the things around... The birds will go to them if they don't make sudden movements. Had to remind them that the birds would be too scared of the kids if they were grabby.

[mama_2_boys]

We are going to walk over to Junkanoo beach (about a 10-15 min walk from the pier) for a free beach day. I have a 2 yo and a 4 yo. If you are interested there is a lot of info on this beach on the Bahamas board.

[Cafabi]

We took DS to Nassau when he was 2 1/2. We really enjoyed Ardastra Gardens. We even took our stroller on the jitney bus. I don't remember which stop, but the driver and other riders were happy to point it out. It was only a short walk from the bus stop to the Gardens. We also went to the straw market and got a neat turtle toy made out of a coconut shell. We did a glass bottom boat tour through the ship that was fun and had narration about history, celebrity homes, etc. One of our favorite things was the library near the pier. It is housed in a former jail. There is a good view from the top.

We skipped Atlantis, too.

[nlt46]

We too enjoyed Ardastra Gardens. We liked the flamingoes and the parrots. My husband was picked to march in the flamingo parade. (Oh NO!) But that was because there weren't many kids in November when we went. This time we are doing the Blue Lagoon with the dolphin encounter. One could just do the beach.

 

Nancy