A Few Hours During Your Cruise Port Visit to Nassau

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A cruise port visit to Nassau is listed as one of the top cruise ports where people choose to stay on the ship.  One reason is likely that many cruise itineraries include this port.  For those who are frequent cruisers, they may have a “been there done that” mentality.

I love cruising but I have never stayed on the boat for an entire cruise port. I always want to go explore if only for a couple of hours.  That’s exactly what we did during our most recent cruise port visit to Nassau in the Bahamas.

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We have been to Nassau before but it had been since…2011.  Our kids were younger and we splurged on the Dolphin Discovery at the beautiful Atlantis Resort.  It was very pricey but we treated it like a once in a lifetime family experience and I’m glad we did. Here’s a little walk down our memory lane.

This trip we didn’t feel the need to take an excursion or go over to Paradise Island and walk around the jaw-dropping spectacle that is Atlantis.  We decided to stretch our legs and walk around Nassau.

Of course, I had done a little research ahead of time and picked out a few things that I thought we would enjoy.  My husband loves craft beers and I learned that there was a small brewery featuring their own craft beers.  I had also heard of a free public beach within walking distance of the cruise port that was a great spot to take pictures of all of the ships in port.  And…although it’s very pricey and touristy, a quick stop at Señor Frogs is always fun.  The atmosphere is rowdy and the view is lovely.

So, we walked off the ship armed with Google Maps and set out to explore the town.  It was quite early in the morning (around 9 a.m) so we didn’t pack our full beach gear.  We decided that we would just spend some time walking along the beach, take some pictures, and wander our way back toward the port stopping as we liked along the way.

Nassau’s Junkanoo Beach

After winding our way around along for about 20 minutes we found Junkanoo Beach.  My first impression… there’s a reason this beach has “Junk” in the name.  There was trash everywhere.  Overflowing from the cans.  Trash in the water. Trash at the shoreline.  It was actually heartbreaking.  Brian kept telling me to keep it together but I was so upset and I felt angry.  Being at the beach, staring out at the ocean…it’s my favorite place in the world to be and this was just sad.

We took some pics of the boats in port and picked up some of the plastic bottles and headed back away from the beach.  Brian knows that I can get pretty mopey about these things and although he wasn’t happy about the state of the beach either, he didn’t want it ruining the rest of our day.  And…I’m pretty sure that he was worried he wasn’t going to get his craft beer I had promised. 🙂

To be fair, there could’ve been a big beach party the night before.  There could have been winds that took the trash from the cans.  There could have been many reasons for the state of this beach but gosh…why didn’t the cans have lids?  Why did it feel like no one cared? I warned you friends, I worry about EVERYTHING! Also to be fair, we have been to other beaches in the Bahamas that were gorgeous.  I’m truly hoping that we just hit Junkanoo on a bad day.

How You Can Make a Difference

If you care about the oceans as much as I do, there are several companies and organizations that are trying to help.  This is one, 4ocean.com, I hope that you will check them out.  Everyone can do their part.  And, if you hate plastic water bottles as much as I do please consider the HydroFlask which I’ve traveled with for the last couple of years.  Love it!

I also just ordered a collapsible one to try called the Que Bottle.  It’s not super insulated like the HydroFlask but I’m intrigued by its ability to collapse into a smaller container.  I’ll give it a thorough testing and update y’all on that one.

OK…PSA is done.

Cruise Port Visit to Nassau – Next Stop Señor Frogs

To be honest, Señor Frogs-Nassau is a complete tourist trap.  It’s obviously not an authentic Bahamian establishment.   But, it’s not a bad place to spend an hour and it has a great view.  There are also several little photo-opp spots that are fun, even if they are “super touristy”.

I think that it’s ok to act like a tourist sometimes.  It’s vacation and…when you’re there…you ARE a tourist.  So, go for it! As long as you’re respectful, I don’t think there is anything wrong with doing the occasional super-touristy thing.  

For my fellow planners in the group here is a bit of budget information. Señor Blog Frogs opened at 11 .m. Brian and I each ordered one drink and shared chips and salsa.  Our bill was $24.34, plus tip. So, not horrible, but definitely not your typical drink price in the Caribbean where a beer can sometimes be as low as $1.

One bit of warning regarding Señor Frogs if you are bigger partiers than we are.  The cruise rumor is that more people miss the ship because they have too much to drink at Señor Frogs than any other port. If this is true, my guess is that it’s a bit deceiving.  You can literally see the ships in port from Señor Frogs so maybe people just get a little too relaxed thinking there is no way they couldn’t make it back in time.

Cruise rule #1 friends – Don’t miss the ship!

Cruise Port Visit to Nassau -Pirate Brewing Company

This little microbrewery was very close to the cruise port and had a token toothless pirate waiting outside to greet you.  Once inside, the Pirate Brewing company was fairly small but quite nice.  There was a long bar, a handful of tables and a little gift shop.  Brian ordered a flight of micro-brews and I took some pics and checked out the humorous merchandise.  We also enjoyed the air conditioning and wifi!

If you are walking around during your cruise port visit to Nassau, I would recommend a quick stop at Pirate Republic Brewing Company.

Let me know if you have had a cruise port visit to Nassau and how you spend YOUR time.  I’d love to hear from you.  I’m sure we will be back again on another cruise adventure and looking for new things to do.

To read more about our adventures on The Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas check out my St. Kitts post and my St. John, USVI post.

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Happy Travels!

Jillian