Cruising/Bahamas Tips

[reefs4life]

Hey guys, so for spring break I'll be going on a Norwegian cruise for 7 days aboard their Jewel to the Bahamas/Florida. I've never cruised before and I have never been to any of the destinations we will be stopping at. If anyone has been to Port Canaveral and Nassau/Great Stirrup Cay Bahamas and can give me any pointers on what I should do (besides seeing all the reefs :lol_large) please share them with me. Also, any tips about being on a cruise are also welcome. Thanks in advance, Fortunato

 

[Brando457]

If you drink, you're allowed a 24 pack of water on the boat per person. What we do is we stress some of the plastic and remove the center bottles and fill them with alcohol. We then use a hair dryer to reshrink the plastic and bring it on board. Alcohol is EXPENSIVE on board and this will help lighten the load.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

Your gonna have a great time. As mentioned alcohol is expensive i ran up a 1500 bill just in alcohol but it was worth it. Im pretty sure you can sneak on a bottle or 2 put it in ur suitcase not carryon i snuck on 2 and all was well.

 

[Mike389]

I have successfully snuck on two bottles of liquor.. They do not go through your stuff.. And if they found the alcohol they will just discard it

 

[skene]

When on the beach... if a guy goes up to you asking if you want to smoke... refuse.

 

[albano]

When on the beach... There are usually 'locals' selling fresh fruit... If you throw a handful into the water near your GF , she will be surrounded by a hundred jumping/thrashing fish...have your camera ready!

 

[20gallonreefer]

On my cruise last April some of our suitcases were missing so we went down to the main desk to get them and they were holding them because they were searched for suspicion of alcohol... There was only a shampoo bottle in there or something along the lines of that. I guess they check now if they see a bottle in the x-ray machine.

I have successfully snuck on two bottles of liquor.. They do not go through your stuff.. And if they found the alcohol they will just discard it

 

[lfsmarineguy]

If you're around the Cruzan Rum distillery at one of the ports, they sell those small flat bottles that can easily be tucked into the waist of your pants or cargo pockets. You could easily carry enough by yourself to cover your needs for the rest of the trip.

 

[fishman1069]

When on the beach... if a guy goes up to you asking if you want to smoke... refuse.

Why? Lol

 

[Tonyscoots84]

Cause some are undercover and you will get locked up n u dont wanna get locked up there

 

[arnaldolex]

I. Just. Came back on monday from the bajamas the boat will dock downtown u should do t he booze cruise I loved it but its about 5 hours for 60 it includes snorkeling dinner and all the booze u can drink if u wanna eat a nice meal for cheap big platters hit up thefish fry bus cost 125 ewch way and go to the anchorage I had red snapper conch rice mash potatoes and mac and cheese my girl had a decent plate and drinks for 43 $ cheapest and most satisfy ing meal on my whole vacation

 

[skene]

Why? Lol

:lol2:

Ever wondered what it's like in a Caribbean prison...?
Whenever you head down there next to find out... send me a postcard.

:p

 

[Imbarrie]

There are no entrapment laws in the Bahamas.
In America if the law were to approach you and offer you drugs they could not then arrest you due to entrapment laws.
This does not exist in the Bahamas, besides the weed in Nassau is garbage. Bimini brown is like homegrown.
It is the white powder that funded Bahamian growth.

 

[fishman1069]

Lol i havent been there in 15 years but when i did go i partied my ass iff down there. The trick was to get everything thru The bellhop at the hotel I never been on a cruise tho, so i cant comment on that

 

[skene]

 

[reefs4life]

Thanks for all the useful tips guys!! Definitely going to try sneaking alcohol on board, spent enough on the trip itself and excursions.

As far as excursions I chose:
Kayak Tour at Manatee Bay in Port Canaveral
Snorkeling some sunken ship at the private island Great Stirrup Cay
And for Nassau I might do something at Atlantis
I'm only posting these so when I get back I can post some feedback on them and they can be of reference to anyone going on the same cruise.


Arnaldo, where did you book the booze cruise? I am trying to book everything before I go just to be extra safe.

Alfie, do they really sell that kinda stuff?? I might just get it done lol jk jk but I thought you liked my girlfriend, why make that suggestion? LOL

And skene, if I could be like Captain Jack Sparrow I don't think I'd care about Bahamian prison LOL

 

[Josh]

In Nassau you can get a day pass for Atlantis, that's a good plan.

Also if you want to spend some cash you can be one of the few people from the cruise that reserve a spot at Dolphin Cay in Atlantis where you can swim and play with the dolphins. Not many people can do it since it has limited admission and when the cruise ships dock a lot of people go to Atlantis trying to do it. Book early!

Best local food in Nassau is at the Fish Fry.

 

[reefs4life]

In Nassau you can get a day pass for Atlantis, that's a good plan.

Also if you want to spend some cash you can be one of the few people from the cruise that reserve a spot at Dolphin Cay in Atlantis where you can swim and play with the dolphins. Not many people can do it since it has limited admission and when the cruise ships dock a lot of people go to Atlantis trying to do it. Book early!

Best local food in Nassau is at the Fish Fry.

My girlfriend and I really want to do the dolphin thing, we were actually going to do it in the DR this past summer but the rest of our group didn't want to. Unfortunately in the Bahamas it's so much more than the DR and we've decided not to splurge that much since we also have a summer vacation to look forward to. This is just an anniversary/valentine gift to each other.

Anyways, about Atlantis, I was looking to go there but there are different packages and I can't tell if the one with the beach pass is even worth it or if I should just get general admission. They also have some package with their cool waterpark included but neither my gf or I like waterparks very much so I don't think we'll be getting that.

I also saw something about a Blue Lagoon Beach Day which caught my interest as well for Nassau but I'm a bit iffy about it, some of the reviews aren't that great.

And I guess I should try this Fish Fry place, Arnaldo mentioned it as well so it must be a good spot worth trying.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

The beach pass and general admission is not worth it. Take a taxi anf go a few blocks down tell him to take u to the public beach close to the resort. And you can get coconuts and they give u a small bottle of liquor to add to ur drink of choice (20 bucks for 5 refills). I spent the day there rather then giving atlantis my money lol

 

[jcs11236]

I stayed at Atlantis 10 years ago. Beautiful place. Tons of sea life and the manta ray was beautiful to see. There's were hammer heads and a ton of other fish/sharks. Don't really remember but I do remember being very impressed at the time in my life. First vacation I went to without my parents. Everything there is super pricey so I can only imagine the day pass being a rip off. I seen in the commercials that they expanded it so it might be worth it now If you are allowed access to all the water activities and rock climbing
Whatever u do I am sure you will have a great time
Enjoy