Nassau - excursion or do your own thing?

[abcdfoster]

Going on our first cruise TOMORROW!!! So excited! Did not book any excursions and thought we'd do our own thing. What do you think? Considering the snorkeling excursion maybe. What do you do on your own? Is the hilton a good thing to do? All these questions! And whatever we end up doing will be just fine, I'm sure. Just want some experienced recommendations. Thank you!

 

 

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[lostone65]

We did the Hilton in December. I wouldn't recommend it. The beach waiter assigned to us was horrible. Took over an hour to get our 4 out of 5 in our party's food (sandwiches) and another 45 minutes to get the 5th persons food which were nachos with squeeze cheese. We had to walk up to the bar each time we wanted drinks because thexwiater disappeared. He over charged us (by 30.00) and added an auto 15% tip. I complained when we left to management and they followed up with an e-mail. But the experience left a bad taste in my mouth. There were only 5 other people in the beach that day as the weather wasn't great. We are normally not complainers and very generous tippers for decent service.

The beach is nice, the loungers comfortable and the guys in the towel hut very friendly. The grounds are beautiful.

 

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[1kaper]

Its really hard to say, a lot depends on you.

 

We did the Hilton and we very happy with it (my only complaint is the beach loungers were a little run down and some of the sun shields were broken). BUT - it is a very low key, quiet laid back type deal. That's great if you just want to sit back and relax with some peace. If you are looking for a fun, party place, this is not it.

The bonus is that it is within walking distance so no cabs and I think its a pretty good deal for $60 ($65 if you walk up I think), you get the day pass and $40 in food or drink.

 

You can see some pics of the resort and details here if you want

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2003101

 

You may want to check out this thread for other options

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1874672

 

Sorry, I can't help with other excursions but personally, if I am not going through the ship, I am going to know what I am doing ahead of time and check out all the reviews I can. Tripadvisor is really helpful.

[407dm]

We did the british colonial Hilton and were very happy, nice beach, pool, good drinks, beautiful grounds and easy to walk to. It is close enough that we still had time to do some shopping and we feel that we got our money worth.

[MUTailG8]

Going on our first cruise TOMORROW!!! So excited! Did not book any excursions and thought we'd do our own thing. What do you think? Considering the snorkeling excursion maybe. What do you do on your own? Is the hilton a good thing to do? All these questions! And whatever we end up doing will be just fine, I'm sure. Just want some experienced recommendations. Thank you!

 

 

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There's nothing to do in Nassau other than Paradise Island and if you're not a gambler there's nothing to do there other than the water park. I would book an excursion.

[BigAlexC]

I was just there in Feb via the Sensation. We did our own thing and had a great day. We walked to Junkanoo beach and hung out at the Bikini Tiki Bar. Fun spot, right on the beach. Good service, great drinks and reasonably priced. We then walked to John Watlings Rum distillery. Self guided tour for free which ends at the bar with free rum samples. They also had a 3 drink for $21 special. All handcrafted cocktails and very good. We then walked back to the ship and through the straw market where we picked up souvenirs. After dropping everything off on the ship we caught the water taxi to Atlantis ($4 per person) where we explored the property. Took a cab back to the boat when we were finished. Great, cheap, fun day!

[GradUT]

We did a self-guided walking tour and saw some really interesting things. It was a nice way to spend a couple of hours in Nassau.

 

Click on "Walking Tour" to the left of the page on this link:

http://bahamas-treasures.com/

[IPlayWithString]

When we were there back in June of last year, we did our own thing as we didn't want to do any excursions. We walked around, did a little shopping and hit the Pirates of Nassau museum which my son (who was 9 at the time) loved. :) We spent probably a good 4-5 hrs just walking around and doing the museum (which isn't that big, but my son kept insisting we go back to certain parts, etc).

[mts315]

I am thinking of doing this self guided walking tour from Frommers...

 

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/new-providence/722464

 

 

It appears to hit all the major tourist spots. Also, Watling's Distillery is across the street from #13, St. Francis Roman Catholic Church and it appears that the Fish Fry is right down the street on the way to #14, British Colonial Hilton.

[disneymarie]

We spoke with a tour fella off the ship dock. Minor ally would walk on by but for $20 a piece we saw soooo much. I could have skipped Atlantis as there is nothing inside you can do.

 

We went to a rum cake factory, the Fort and Queen Stairs, toured the market at the fort, by the port, saw the poor areas and rich, still had enough time for the beach. I was surprised how hot it was in early May.

 

It was with Tommy Bahama, about 2 1/2 or 3 hrs. He kept us together from hustlers in market areas, explained so much of the island. Locals were protesting because they were not allowed to gamble.

[OCruisers]

Going on our first cruise TOMORROW!!! So excited! Did not book any excursions and thought we'd do our own thing. What do you think? Considering the snorkeling excursion maybe. What do you do on your own? Is the hilton a good thing to do? All these questions! And whatever we end up doing will be just fine, I'm sure. Just want some experienced recommendations. Thank you!

 

Seems OP left TODAY!

LuLu

~~~

[trini_ras]

Good read, thanks