Blue Lagoon Island Experiences?

[LHARTWICK]

Have much OBC to burn, so we are looking at dolphin swim or encounter at Blue Lagoon Island through CCL (both w/lunch).  I've already done quite a bit of research, including the CCL site, TA, as well as YT videos.  About half of the reviews are very positive about Blue Lagoon Island; remainder are very negative.  The negatives mainly stress how dirty the island is and how disorganized the boat ride to/from the island is. (I also know some people complain about EVERYTHING!) The departure time on the CCL site says 8:00 AM, but reviews indicate passengers don't actually arrive at the island until at least 10:30 AM. Even with the 30 minute ride over to the island, that seems late.  And reviews say it's about an 1.5 hour wait in line to get on the return boat?  Other than the dolphin experience itself, just wanting a nice clean beach day with good facilities, especially shady seats.  Would like to hear from those who have been there recently.  We'll stop in Nassau in September - ship visit is 7AM - 4PM. Thanks in advance!

[oddly excitered]

We were there 2 years ago and found it to be wonderful for a day in Nassau, Boat ride was rough but efficient, lunch was good and the girls poured a great drink!

[LHARTWICK]

Thank you!  I went ahead and booked the Dolphin Encounter.  The YT videos look good!

[Scottdalfonso]

We have had the same experience with reviews...we booked for October, just the regular beach break with lunch. But I don't know that I've ever seen so many mixed reviews for a place before. It's literally love or hate...no middle ground, lol.  We read enough  to realize most of the complaints are about crowds on the boat and the beach when you first get on the island, but I have learned from many of them that you just need to go to the other side of the beach if the one up front is crowded. Also, we are going in October, which I assume may lower the crowd size a little bit. Enjoy your trip!! 

Edited August 2, 2023 by Scottdalfonso

[LHARTWICK]

6 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

We have had the same experience with reviews...we booked for October, just the regular beach break with lunch. But I don't know that I've ever seen so many mixed reviews for a place before. It's literally love or hate...no middle ground, lol.  We read enough  to realize most of the complaints are about crowds on the boat and the beach when you first get on the island, but I have learned from many of them that you just need to go to the other side of the beach if the one up front is crowded. Also, we are going in October, which I assume may lower the crowd size a little bit. Enjoy your trip!! 

Exactly!! Same experience re: reviews.  We will be there in mid September. Our ship is the first to dock the day we are in Nassau, so I'm hoping that helps a little.  Thank you for the info!

[elaine5]

can anyone report back about their experience the past year? 

[LHARTWICK]

9 minutes ago, elaine5 said:

can anyone report back about their experience the past year? 

We were there in September.  Let me know specifically what info you're looking for and I'll try to help.  We enjoyed our day at Blue Lagoon!

[elaine5]

How did you like it? How does the beach compare to Grand Turk or ships' private islands/areas (Coco, Half Moon, Castaway, etc.)? 

Edited January 16 by elaine5

[LHARTWICK]

We did the dolphin encounter and really enjoyed it!  The beach and water are both beautiful!  I really enjoyed the water because it's not very deep, so I could wade out quite a ways and it wasn't over my head.  Food was pretty good, and facilites were super clean, too. I can't speak to Coco or Castaway, but Half Moon Cay is beautiful!  The sand there is the softest, finest, most powdery, and whitest sand we've ever seen.  The water there is also unbelieveable!  IMHO, it's not fair to compare Blue Lagoon Island to HMC.  BL is a much smaller area than HMC. We've enjoyed both locations.  Only negative for us at BL was the boat ride to/from the island.  On the way there, we couldn't hear what the guy was saying over the speakers - way too loud and distorted.....and we were sitting right by a speaker.  On the way back, they played SUPER LOUD music - horrible.

[blueslily]

On 1/16/2024 at 12:00 PM, elaine5 said:

can anyone report back about their experience the past year? 

 

Has the cruise you're going on restarted offering this excursion? If yes, which cruise line? Thanks 

[elaine5]

2 minutes ago, blueslily said:

 

Has the cruise you're going on restarted offering this excursion? If yes, which cruise line? Thanks 

I was just checking Blue Lagoon options when planning a cruise. 

[Scottdalfonso]

On 1/16/2024 at 12:00 PM, elaine5 said:

can anyone report back about their experience the past year? 

Went in October. We just did the beach break, no animal stuff. We enjoyed the beach, especially the smaller lagoon area to the left.  We were still able to walk over and watch the dolphins and sea lions which was neat. Ours included lunch which was more than we expected...it was a burger or dog, a piece of chicken and 2 sides (fries, corn or a small salad I think)  and a drink. Plenty to hold us over.  It was never super crowded, we got seats in the main beach area and then me and my son walked around to some of the other areas while my wife lounged.  Although the boat rides are the thing in question, we enjoyed the ride over and back. The only minor issue we had was standing outside the ship in the sun for about 40 minutes to start the excursion.

[blueslily]

7 hours ago, elaine5 said:

I was just checking Blue Lagoon options when planning a cruise. 

 

Do you mean just asking here about it or do you mean you checked with the cruise line?

[elaine5]

Asking here on CC for late 2024.  Didn’t realize excursions are still Canx after boating incident. 

Edited January 18 by elaine5

[blueslily]

 

Has anyone on any cruise line received any updates? I called Celebrity and they had nothing to report for an update. 

Edited January 20 by blueslily