Caribbean Cruise - Nassau Sights and Attractions

Since we were in Miami, we found we could book a short 4 day Bahamas cruise cheaper than the cost for 3 nights’ hotel and food. Since it was our first cruise, we were excited even though it was a very basic cruise. My wife did all the planning for this trip while I was fighting forest fires. She wasn’t aware that if we went to Miami I would have to drive to Key West to check that off my list. Unfortunately, the cruise she found had Key West as one of its ports. So we visited Key West twice on the same vacation. There were two other ports, one was Nassau which I was excited to visit since it was the capitol of the Bahamas, and the other was an island owned by Royal Caribbean. I had little interest in an island “paradise” created for relaxing and water sports but my wife was excited so I played along. It turns out the western Caribbean is as boring as I always suspected. Without topography the islands are flat, un-interesting places surrounded by great beaches and underwater activities.

The eastern Caribbean has always been of more interest to me as these islands have mountains. A cruise out of Puerto Rico going south east is the way to go next time. So, my recommendation is that if you are in Miami and this may be your only chance to ever take a cruise, find a cheap one and “experience a cruise”. They are amazing ships and a few days on a boat your first time is a worthy excursion…no mater where you visit.

You know there is nothing to do in Nassau when all the shore excursions are water activities or outside of town. Nassau is a totally lame port city to visit cruising. I’m really shocked when I read all the reports about how people had a good time here. I believe it is because they haven’t traveled much. Paying $30 for an aquarium that has fewer things to see than the one down the street (and I live hundreds of miles from the ocean) is not how I would spend my money and time on vacation. Here are a few of the things we saw:

You can easily walk around town but the shops are full of nothing most would find worth buying. I can say this based on what I’ve seen people carry back on the ship over several cruises and many ports. There are several colonial structures around but nothing that spectacular.

This is suppose to be a good museum but after taking some pictures outside with some crazy worker and getting the feeling this was an overpriced tourist trap, we continued on.

A nearby fort built in 1787 offers a little history here but it’s not all that interesting compared to many others elsewhere.

I would swear a majority of people that visit the island get whisked to this amazing mega resort and they only leave when it’s time to go home. It has its own beach and lagoon, restaurants, an aquarium, casino, golf course and many other amenities to keep people there from realizing they just came a long way to an island with nothing on it. Luckily, most are there to lie on the beach, go into the pool and try activities they otherwise would never do at home. It’s worth a visit if you are at port and worth a stay if you are into those kinds of vacations.

What can I say about an island completely controlled by the cruise company? Parts of it were nice like a giant bar-b-cue where you can eat till you drop. Unfortunately this happened to one guy whom they gave CPR until a coast guard helicopter took him away! It’s a bit creepy when the band continues to play island music and the majority people continue on as normal in the buffet line as a guy lie dying next to the buffet. We took a kayak ride out to some reefs but spent most of the afternoon just relaxing and eating.

The photos and what we saw are on the Southern Florida page.

Caribbean Cruise from Miami

Nassau

Pirates of Nassau Museum

Fort Charlotte

The Atlantis Resort

Coco Cay Island

Key West