Help with Excursions: Port Canaveral, Nassau, Cococay

[SoKatriotic]

Hi all,

 

I need some guidance in the area of excursions. My boyfriend and I are taking our first cruise in December. Our stops are Port Canaveral, Nassau, and Cococay. I guess I have questions about all three but any advice is appreciated!

 

Port Canaveral: We are Disney World regulars so we are looking to do something a little different. We're thinking Kennedy Space Center but we're confused about the variety of tour options. Any insight on this? We are in Port Canaveral on January 1st. Historically, is that excursion an option for that day?

 

Nassau: The activities that strike our interest are snorkeling, jet skiing, a historic tour of the area, and visiting the straw market. Realistically, could we do a combination of a couple of those activities within a day? Any suggestions on excursions to book for just two people? Is there a beach we can snorkel from if we bring our own gear or do you need to take a boat to go to snorkel locations? Is the December/January timeframe even an okay time to snorkel or should we be looking at more land-based activities given that it won't be super super hot then?

 

Cococay: We are thinking of renting a beach bed. Is this a good way to spend a day here? Can we snorkel from the same beach where the daybeds are located? Any alternate suggestions?

 

We are very new to this so any information is appreciated! Thank you!

[Clarea]

With regard to Nassau, the straw market is about a 10-15 minute walk from the ship. It would be easy to do the walking tour and straw market in one day.

 

On this trip, I'd do my snorkeling at Coco Cay.

[mets123]

For the space center, check their website to see if they are open and what their hours are. My recommendation is to rent a car and drive yourself their. It is still probably cheaper than going through the cruise line. And then you could do something else for a while, maybe stopping at Cocoa Beach?

[Merion_Mom]

For the space center, check their website to see if they are open and what their hours are. My recommendation is to rent a car and drive yourself their. It is still probably cheaper than going through the cruise line. And then you could do something else for a while, maybe stopping at Cocoa Beach?

According to their website, they are open every single day of the year, always opening at 9 a.m. Closing times vary.

 

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com

[maryjaden]

I would do the snorkeling and jet ski at Coco Cay and a historic tour and straw market at Nassau. There is a pirate museum in Nassau that has some nice displays and history of pirates in the Bahamas. It takes about an hour to go through and only costs $13 if that's something that would interest you.

[BEENSAILING]

Hi all,

 

I need some guidance in the area of excursions. My boyfriend and I are taking our first cruise in December. Our stops are Port Canaveral, Nassau, and Cococay. I guess I have questions about all three but any advice is appreciated!

 

Port Canaveral: We are Disney World regulars so we are looking to do something a little different. We're thinking Kennedy Space Center but we're confused about the variety of tour options. Any insight on this? We are in Port Canaveral on January 1st. Historically, is that excursion an option for that day?

 

Nassau: The activities that strike our interest are snorkeling, jet skiing, a historic tour of the area, and visiting the straw market. Realistically, could we do a combination of a couple of those activities within a day? Any suggestions on excursions to book for just two people? Is there a beach we can snorkel from if we bring our own gear or do you need to take a boat to go to snorkel locations? Is the December/January timeframe even an okay time to snorkel or should we be looking at more land-based activities given that it won't be super super hot then?

 

Cococay: We are thinking of renting a beach bed. Is this a good way to spend a day here? Can we snorkel from the same beach where the daybeds are located? Any alternate suggestions?

 

We are very new to this so any information is appreciated! Thank you!

 

We were on a cruise (the Anthem) with these ports this past New Year's eve. We had rain and winds and adjusted port times - the winds were too strong for the ship to have us go to Coco Cay (a tender port until they open the new dock and finish the island construction. ) We had extra time on ship time in Port Canaveral because of winds and heavy rain. At the Space Center we opted to buy the excursion through Royal with a guided tour and we were able to get into some of the buildings before the facility opened to the public. (Glad we had umbrellas.) Re day beds at Coco Cay - yes - you can snorkel from there. There is a tram which will take you to the day bed area and BBQ area from the dock. If you do a rental on Coco Cay and the ship does not go there you will be refunded by Royal. At Nassau the straw market is a easy walk from the pier. Past the market is the Hilton Hotel and past that is a beach where you can enjoy the sand.

[BillOh]

Hi all,

 

I

 

Cococay: We are thinking of renting a beach bed. Is this a good way to spend a day here? Can we snorkel from the same beach where the daybeds are located? Any alternate suggestions?

 

We are very new to this so any information is appreciated! Thank you!

 

 

Snorkeling on the western side of the island is pretty good, I will scuba dive there, hopefully again, next month. While we love spending our day on those day beds, the snorkeling on that side is not great. I do find the jet ski tour on Coco Cay worthwhile. I think this will be our 10th visit to Nassau, and this time we are trying a new beach day option on Pearl Island, I'll report back in late September how that went.

[BillOh]

For the space center, check their website to see if they are open and what their hours are. My recommendation is to rent a car and drive yourself their. It is still probably cheaper than going through the cruise line. And then you could do something else for a while, maybe stopping at Cocoa Beach?

 

 

There is one advantage to the ship's tour there. They get priority access to the Atlantis Shuttle, no waiting in line there. (At least our excursion did) I just hope you don't get the brain dead moron guide we had. "Someday this Orion Capsule will land men on Saturn" or "The Apollo 1 crew died because they didn't have the escape rocket. "

[Ourusualbeach]

There is one advantage to the ship's tour there. They get priority access to the Atlantis Shuttle, no waiting in line there. (At least our excursion did) I just hope you don't get the brain dead moron guide we had. "Someday this Orion Capsule will land men on Saturn" or "The Apollo 1 crew died because they didn't have the escape rocket. "

 

Those answers sound as bizarre as some that you get by calling Royal, maybe he worked as a phone rep. with Royal before changing careers.:D

[John&LaLa]

Kennedy is the place to go. Since only two of you, do the ship excursion. Renting a car not cost effective.

 

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