Balmoral Island Beach Day

[amandacolorado]

Has anyone done this yet? What did you think of it? Did you do the lunch? How was it? Did you have to pay for the umbrellas and cabanas?

[canadiangal40]

There are actually 2 reviews of this excursion now on the review page where it is sold. The reviews were good. They did not mention paying for the umbrellas, they were there with the chairs. Nothing was mentioned about the cabanas, sorry.

[winddawn]

Has anyone done this yet? What did you think of it? Did you do the lunch? How was it? Did you have to pay for the umbrellas and cabanas?

I was reading on Carnival's website that the umbrellas are for rent. They don't mention the cabanas though.

 

http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/424090

[bobsfamily]

Will know on 9/3...

[lovebelle]

There is also a pretty detailed review on the Bahamas Ports of call page.

[happy cruzin]

Some members of my family just did it last week when we were on the Breeze. They booked it - kinda last minute (2 weeks before) and there really wasn't alot of information. It hasn't been open very long.

 

Evidently is it a "shared" island - half belongs to the Sandals Resort and the other half is Balmoral, which used to be called something else before Carnival took it over and renovated it. They LOVED it - would defintely do it again. We had done the day pass at the Sheraton and they said that Balmoral was MUCH nicer.

 

Very clean, new...tons of chairs and umbrellas all included. They did not mention anything about cabanas. The only "negative" I heard from any of the them was the expense for things like water.

[JaniceB]

Were the prices for water and alcohol similiar to the Sheraton?

[Tithonus]

We went here when it was Blackbeard Cay, on own own. We walked over to the other side, and noticed they were building a fence, apparently to keep the undesirables out of Sandals.

 

We used the beach, ate, drank, and there was even a stingray attraction we did not use. We found it was nice than Blue Lagoon, cause it was an actual beach, with blue water and white sand.

[dettlja]

We have this booked on our 9/22 cruise. I will report back.

 

 

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[TS8213]

We're booking this for our November cruise with the kids. I'm glad to hear that it's getting good reviews!

[happy cruzin]

Were the prices for water and alcohol similiar to the Sheraton?

 

The Sheraton was an all-inclusive so they was no extra charge for drinks (soft or alcoholic) and food. There wasn't a great selection for lunch - as basic buffet but we didn't spend any money there at all once we were admitted.

I will ask my DDIL to stop this thread to give more details since she was actually there! ;)

[nodogkisses]

Were the prices for water and alcohol similiar to the Sheraton?

 

I would imagine that prices were the same as on board the Carnival ships since you use your S & S card to pay for any food and/or drinks. It's owned and run by Carnival I believe.

[bobsfamily]

I would imagine that prices were the same as on board the Carnival ships since you use your S & S card to pay for any food and/or drinks. It's owned and run by Carnival I believe.

That is what I understand. I plan on doing a quick trip to town, grab a few brewskis and flask to take to the island... we are in port from 8-5 and the ferry is at 10am.

[nodogkisses]

That is what I understand. I plan on doing a quick trip to town, grab a few brewskis and flask to take to the island... we are in port from 8-5 and the ferry is at 10am.

 

Sounds like a good plan to me. I'll be in Nassau in October from noon to 10pm and really would have loved to go to Balmoral. But, I also really want to go to the newly opened John Watling's Rum Distillery and they close at 5:00 and I wouldn't be back in time. Funny thing is, I've been to Nassau at least a dozen times and I can't believe I have two new things to do. Balmoral looks amazing and a boat ride there from the pier and back is a fun add on. Have a great time.

 

 

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Edited August 23, 2013 by nodogkisses

[JaniceB]

John Watling's Rum Distillery trip sounds like fun, too!

[mackattk]

I went on this excursion last month (was my first cruise, whoo!) I enjoyed it, but I am so not used to the hot weather, especially in August. The food and water on the private island is ridiculously expensive. Pack some food and water up before you go to prevent paying a lot of money for cheap fried food and $6.50 bottles of water (20oz. bottle of Fuji water). If you want, the walk to the water taxi, there are vendors out in droves selling water for $1 a bottle. Buy some of those if you need to, since you will be paying quite a bit more on the island. Other food was pretty expensive as well, a standard meal was around $14, not including drink. Me and my wife each bought a water and a meal, and regretted it pretty fast, but we didn't really have much of a choice since we were so far away from the mainland. The boat ride took around 25 minutes.

 

We didn't have to pay for the umbrellas, cabanas do cost extra. There is a restaurant with comfortable chairs and couches if you want to stay in the shade, although it won't be quite as close to the water as the cabana. The island was beautiful, and there are a few extra things you can do such as swim with dolphins or stingrays. I did enjoy the boat ride there and back, there are a lot of good sites to see. One that stood out was what looked like an abandoned observation tower, complete with a broken bridge, with only the supports still standing.

Edited September 10, 2013 by mackattk

[Howie411]

So I had to move my review to this thread, so for anyone looking for it. Here it is again.

 

Just got back from a cruise on the Carnival Pride and we did the Balmoral Deluxe excursion. The island itself is actually shared with Sandals, but the areas are separated so while it may be a private island I don't think its theirs. They are doing a lot of construction on their side though.

 

 

Now for some details. When the ship got to Nassau we got off and got a wristband, it had 2 pieces you could pull off to signify we had paid for the deluxe excursion (lunch and drink) After about 10-15 minutes of standing around they walked everyone over to 2 smaller boats. It took about 30 minutes for the boats to get to the island, they were going insanely slow. When we got to the island our boat sat around for 15 minutes while the other boat was offloaded, then we finally pulled up to the dock to get off too. The island was actually pretty crowded when we got there since the Carnival Splendor was in Port that day too and they had a lot of people on that excursion.

 

 

When you get off the boat you can see the dolphin and stingrays to the left of the dock. A lot of folks were hanging around there taking pictures. My wife and I took a few pictures of some Dolphins and then went to grab some seats. We managed to get 2 beach chairs with an umbrella in-between them. The beach itself is nice and very large. I took a quick look at the pool but it was pretty crowded and didn't bother going in it. The ocean area you can swim in by the beach is roped off and goes to about 5 1/2 feet in depth.

 

 

While we were they they had music playing from 1 very large speaker, but it was so loud it was distorted a lot of the time, also they kept trying to talk while they music was playing and it was difficult to understand them. They did play a few games with people such as musical chairs, and some races. There was supposed to be a volleyball game but no one seemed interested in playing.

 

 

The thing that annoyed me the most was the prices on food and drink. Grant it we got the deluxe excursion which included lunch and 1 non-alcoholic drink, but just looking at the menu prices was almost insulting, just a few examples: Chicken Tenders ($12.00), Chicken Casar Salad Wrap ($14.00), Grilled Hot Dog ($13.00), Kids Cheeseburger ($10.00) Drinks were just as bad, most alcoholic drinks were $11, beer between $6 and $8, 16oz soda ($4), Danasi Water ($5.00), Fiji Water ($6.50) All Virgin Frozen drinks $9.50. And on a side note it states a 15% service charge added to all checks.

 

And on a side note mini rant, when I asked for my free drink I asked for the Fiji water and I was told that isn't offered with the "free drink" even though all it states is any "non-alcoholic drink" Your pretty much at the mercy of Carnival on this Island, if you get thirsty at all be prepared to pay up.

There is a bathroom on the island and it was kept very clean oddly enough, and supposedly their was a Starbucks there too but I didn't see it, I can only imagine those prices though.

 

 

When we finally left the island, about 4pm, there was a huge line to get onto the boat heading back to the cruise ship. The people at the end of the line got stuck waiting until 4:30 for the 2nd boat. It only took 15 minutes as they were going at a normal speed to get back to the ship. Though to add insult to injury when they got back to the dock, they dropped us off on the complete other side of the dock forcing us to walk through all the shops/folks trying to sell you stuff.

 

 

Overall I wouldn't go back to the Island. It seems like just a way for Carnival to squeeze extra money out of you.

[scubagirrl]

That is what I understand. I plan on doing a quick trip to town, grab a few brewskis and flask to take to the island... we are in port from 8-5 and the ferry is at 10am.

 

I'm pretty sure that you CANNOT bring your own refreshments to the island. At least this is how it's been in the past, and all other "island" tours in the bahamas.

 

The whole idea of this is BUSINESS and carnival is in the BUSINESS of making money.

[TS8213]

We just got back from cruising and went on this excursion. We brought our own water and many people bought the $1 bottles from the vendors we passed on the way to the catamaran (which took you to the island). I'm sure you could've packed some snacks and no one would've said anything. There were maybe 40 people when we were there, though another Carnival boat came about an hour before our boat left. There were plenty of chairs and umbrellas (all free) to go around. The water was beautiful and the beach was clean. The bathrooms were really clean, too. No one even used the pool when we were there. The music wasn't too loud, but we sat closer to the dock so we were near any speakers. There was a Starbucks (around the corner from the restrooms) but we didn't go in. We didn't buy any food while we were there. We ate a late breakfast (excursion time was 10-2:30) and then a late lunch back onboard the ship. We'd definitely do this excursion again, just for the beach and catamaran ride alone.

Edited November 22, 2013 by TS8213

[KATABQ]

Traveling on Carnival Splendor in March 9. Saw this excursion and am looking for recent experiences. Good bad ugly please. Thanks

[Steve & Kelly]

We just did the Balmoral Beach Day excursion on our New Year's cruise on the Freedom. We don't like Nassau and had planned on just staying aboard that day. However, we heard about this island and decided to give it a try.

 

We got off the ship and lined up. There was quite a big line. They walked us over to another area where we would catch the boats to the island. It was very chaotic. They didn't have enough boats to carry everyone, so we had to wait for another boat to arrive. We were supposed to leave at 1:30, but did not get on the boat until 2:15. They overloaded the boat and we were concerned for our safety. We've never felt that way before on any other excursions. We finally got off the boat at the island at 3:00. So, we lost 1 1/2 hours of beach time.

 

On the positive side, there were plenty of (nice) beach lounge chairs and umbrellas that were included in the price. The beach was very clean and well-maintained. The restaurant/bar area were nice and comfortable.

 

Now, for more negative. We assumed since we could use our Sail & Sign card that the drink prices would be comparable to ship prices. We were WRONG! Most drinks were $11! It was also just about the worst service I've ever experienced. There were 4 people "working" behind the bar. One lady was taking orders and money, then just yelling out the drinks to the two guys working. A younger lady was also back there, but she didn't seem to be doing anything. We waited about 15 minutes for 2 drinks!

 

The transportation was a nightmare. We got bored and wanted to return to the ship. We were told that we couldn't line up because they were taking the Imagination guests back first. Needless to say, we ignored them and got on the soonest boat we could to return. Luckily, we only had to wait in line for about 30 minutes before the boat came. We didn't see another boat approaching, so I'm sure the other people in line had to wait for at least 45 minutes.

 

This was the worst $100 I've ever spent. It wouldn't have been worth 1/2 that price!

:(

[bobsfamily]

This was the worst $100 I've ever spent. It wouldn't have been worth 1/2 that price!

:(

 

Yikes! I was hoping they we get it together but sadly it seems not. It could be such a great option...:eek:

[bigslick1974]

This was the worst $100 I've ever spent. It wouldn't have been worth 1/2 that price!

:(

 

My wife and family were on this excursion from the Freedom over New Years.

 

I ditto the fact that the trip was not worth it.

 

The boarding of the boat shuttles was absolutely disqusting. We also arrived on the island after 3:00(it must have been the same shuttle boat) and lost valuable beach time.

 

Our biggest issue was the fact that we were told by the excursion desk that the excursion was handicap accessible and it was not. My mother uses a walker and she was with us. The only reason why she came was the fact that it was handicap accessible. The step down onto the boat taxi was at least 2 1/2 feet to 3 feet. As a stable adult, I thought that was a very large step. My mother basically had to be carried onto the boat. When we arrived on the island, the step was even bigger - over 3 feet. This was very unsafe especially for my handicap mother. The staff basically lifted her out of the boat. This was very upsetting to my mother and to our family.

 

I did not enjoy the island at all and the service was pitiful. I waited until the shuttle for the Freedom passengers and we left and we got back to the ship at 7:00 PM which was also the departure time for the ship. We also had the pleasure of walking through the streets of Nassau in the dark. What a joy. Walking through peddlers and drug dealers who were harrassing us. Where are the police when you need them.

 

When we got back to the ship, we went straight to guest services and complained about the excursion. I do commend Carnival as they fully refunded us for the excursions. Good on Carnival for that. I don't get why Carnival was trying to push this island excursion so much. I do understand that it is affialted with Carnival, but it is no where in the same calibre as they state that it is.

[Spiralshell]

There are such mixed reviews of this excursion, both here and on the Carnival website, it's hard to know what to think.

We really want at least one beach day on our cruise, but we are traveling with an 8 month old, so anything involving a car/taxi is out because it will be unsafe without a carseat, and impossible to take a car seat with us (everything I have read says that finding a taxi that you can get a car seat into is nearly impossible.)

From all I have read, there are no private beaches offering day passes that you can get to in either Freeport or Nassau without a taxi or bus.

So the Balmoral excursion is appealing -- no car! and the boat ride might be fun for our 4 year old.

But the reviews are mixed. Not sure what we will do....

 

If we do end up choosing Balmoral, does anyone know if you can bring a stroller on the ferry boat? I typically wear the baby in a carrier, but we would like to bring the stroller so we have a secure place to lay him down for a nap.

[megann831]

we're taking our 4 year old and almost 2 year old on this exersion. I'm hoping for the best, but if there are any problems I'll complain and hopefully get a refund. I'm thinking maybe we should have done a day at the Sheraton, I'm not opposed to bringing kids in a taxi w/out carseats, but my husband thinks with the kids we should stick to excursions. I also think going to the Sheraton or some day pass would be easier with kids because if they get tiered or cranky, you can just leave. I would not try to bring a stroller to the beach. Here in NJ I bring my jogger to the beach all the time, its a huge PIA, but doable. I could never bring it on a boat ride. Any stroller small enough to go on a small boat I don't think would work on the beach. I do find it kind of interesting that both posters waited 1 1/2 hours to get on their boat, but then left early. It also didn't waste 1 1/2 hours of their time, since either way they'd need travel time. Maybe if we're waiting 45 minutes just to leave, we'll dead off to the Sheraton and deal with the excursion desk later. We're not going till April so hopefully they solve their issues by then. Another big reason we're going is to avoid hagglers, which I heard even bother you at the Atlantis.