Bahamas will cut off monetary incentives for major cruise lines

[mcd2745]

There's nothing wrong with the Island. They just need to get their citizens to stop harassing tourists. In my opinion that's the biggest turn off to visiting any of the islands in the Bahamas or Caribbean. Not in the Caribbean, but I'll also include Italy. The harassment at the Italian ports is the worst I've experienced.

Agreed. They might be best served using the $12 million to hire police or a security team to keep the vendors away from the cruise passengers and giving them a better overall sense of security.

 

[hubbard53]

There's nothing wrong with the Island. They just need to get their citizens to stop harassing tourists. In my opinion that's the biggest turn off to visiting any of the islands in the Bahamas or Caribbean. Not in the Caribbean, but I'll also include Italy. The harassment at the Italian ports is the worst I've experienced.

travelers have ever-increasing expectations and ports need to understand that - i was more adventurous in my youth but as I've gotten older and experienced more ports, cities, accommodations, etc. I find myself more discerning and less tolerant of sub-par destinations. For instance, I'd rather stay a week at the Rome-Cavalieri Waldorf than briefly visit a few italian ports with harassing vendors, scammers, etc. As for the Caribbean, the subpar ports and lack of reasons to leave the ship make us vacation more in places like Destin, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, etc. We still like to cruise but we find our US-based beach vacations to be more relaxing and accommodating.

 

[cruiser21]

Your original statement was that you wouldn't visit a Communist country. They're still ostensibly Communist.


It does make much more sense for the Bahamas to invest that money locally. If they manage to do that.

Not to beat a dead horse but I never brought up visiting Russia or China. Someone decided to to make a giant leap.

 

[mousefan73]

There is no requirement to call on the port it is registered. (All 4 Disney ships are registered in Nassau, and the Dream is the only one that makes consistent stops there)
The only requirement for a foreign flagged vessel (Leaving from the USA) is to visit a non US port. There are certain exceptions such as Porto Rico, cruises to nowhere, weather issues, etc.

If a vessel were to permanently disembark passengers at a different US port from where they embarked then they would need to visit a distant foreign port.

See the Passenger Vessel Service Act for more info.

What I meant was can Bahamas decide who gets their flag? And if so, could a requiremen be such a ship needs to dock in its „ home port“. ? Nothing with US laws. But Bahama‘s

 

[mousefan73]

Double posts. Phone is craaazy

 

[southerngirl528]

The biggest problem for Nassau is you are bombarded the second you get off the ship. To just get to the front of the port, you have at least 10 people try to sell you something. Many of them are very pushy and follow you around. Many people know that and don't want to deal with it. None of the tours really seem that interesting, especially if you cruise to other ports. Now that I know my fare is going up, I won't be getting off in Nassau again.

While it doesn't make me necessarily happy to agree with this, (because I wish it were not so), but this has EXACTLY been my experience over the years. And though our cruises rarely include the Bahamas, when they do, I simply do NOT get off the ship. For those that enjoy it, that's wonderful! But what apathetic describes has been my experience and it is awful IMO. WHY would I subject myself, my kids or little ones to such a gauntlet? Ugh.

 

[mevelandry]

Agreed. They might be best served using the $12 million to hire police or a security team to keep the vendors away from the cruise passengers and giving them a better overall sense of security.

I've seen a lot of policemen in the port area last week. The vendors were less intense than they usually are... I don't know if there's a correlation.

 

[mmmears]

Kind of off topic, but I didn't realize it was so bad in the Bahamas. We didn't get off the ship last time we docked in Nassau, and the previous time we had a DCL excursion but that was years ago. I am pleased to share that on our Norway/Iceland/Scotland cruise this summer we didn't see a single vendor or have to walk through any kind of gauntlet when leaving the ship. It was wonderful. I realize it's because of the different economic situation in those countries, but it's something to consider if you want to travel overseas.

 

[jrabbit]

Double posts. Phone is craaazy

and it's not a camera

 

[bobbiwoz]

We thoroughly enjoyed our day at Colonial Hilton and would do it again. I enjoy time in a pool, and a ship’s pool is not that refreshing. We also have enjoyed snorkeling and Atlantis and Blue Lagoon both by ourselves and with our extended families, usually with DCL as my DH is loath to book independently, but he will sometimes.

Years ago we spend a week in the Marriott, maybe at Cable Beach, and I was very annoyed with all the vendors on the beach selling mostly the same kinds of jewelry.

I was last on Nassau in January and through Disney we, a friend and I, were in a taxi like vechicle which brought us to a rather unusual sea shell throne and showed us a few other lesser visited places. I will never forget the commentators “put down” of Bahamanians who are “too lazy” to grow crops for instance. I was even more put off by her continuous talk that we need “wealthy Americans” to come visit more. I noticed on another DCL Cruise since, that this tour was not offered.

I do not know what the answer is for them, but our other DCL shore excursions experiences as well as our own day trip to the Hilton have given us many happy days. Our first DCL Cruise stopped in Nassau in November 2004.... I took a DCL snorkel excursion and enjoyed it a lot!

I have met a couple on one DCL Cruise who have made friends with a private tour guide and every time they dock they contact him. They speak glowingly of the experiences he shows them and the food places he takes them to.

In my experiences the shore excursions, except the one in January, have been good ones.

The shell throne... by caves that were definitly pirate hide outs.

 

[jrabbit]

Kind of off topic, but I didn't realize it was so bad in the Bahamas. We didn't get off the ship last time we docked in Nassau, and the previous time we had a DCL excursion but that was years ago. I am pleased to share that on our Norway/Iceland/Scotland cruise this summer we didn't see a single vendor or have to walk through any kind of gauntlet when leaving the ship. It was wonderful. I realize it's because of the different economic situation in those countries, but it's something to consider if you want to travel overseas.

I think that I have only been on 3 cruises that stopped in Nassau. The first time was our first cruise (DCL first year) - and my thoughts were "Toto, we are NOT in Kansas anymore!" We got off of the ship and thought that a horse drawn carriage ride through town would be nice ... NOT!! It was a race through town to kick us off and get the next suckers on. We then walked around a little and headed back to the ship - we had enough!!! That was an eye opener!! On the flip side, it has made traveling to the other islands in the Caribbean and Mexico "more tolerable" - or at least not a big ole surprise. We have been prepared for "whatever" wherever we now go. Second time in Nassau, was a glorious 85 degree day spent by the adult pool and up on deck 10 (Magic or Wonder - I forgot which ship) with not very many people onboard. And the last time there was spent in the water park in Atlantis. I understand that there are some nice beaches and snorkeling (Blue Lagoon?) but I really don't ever need to take a cruise that stops in Nassau again.

RE: Street Vendors - never engage. Just ignore and/or say no. Keep walking, don't slow down! Some people are more than willing to barter with these folks, otherwise they would not be doing this. And I am OK with the vendors - they don't really bother me, and it's way more real than EPCOT. When we were in Cartagena, Columbia we took a walking tour of the old town. There were many tours from the ship that stopped in this area. There were street vendors that followed our group, but didn't try to disrupt us. Once back on the ship I couldn't believe the Very High Number of people that were complaining to DCL about the street vendors, and how Disney should make them leave while DCL was "in town" .... All I could do was SMH after all this is their livelihood.

Now about the Gauntlet - boy howdy, on our last cruise we had to deal with this at 2 of the ports. In Saguenay & Baie Comeau the entire town turned out for our arrival - and I have never shaken so many hands as I left the ship. These people were WAY excited that we were there. They thanked us for coming, offered us free blueberry pie (Saguenay) - delicious and some awesome chocolates upon our return at the end of the day (Saguenay again). And entertainment while we left the ship for the day and when we returned that afternoon. In Baie Comeau the schools were out and the English speaking kids were helping with tourism that day. Just saying not all ports are like in the Caribbean. Oh yea, John Charles noted that there was not a Diamonds International affiliated store in sight (like in every port in the Caribbean and Alaska)

RE: Street Vendors in Italy ... Been there twice in the past 10 years - and I don't remember being hassled at all by street vendors in the port areas - and we did our own excursions in every port (meaning we used public transportation - not a tour company). So we walked out of the port area and back on our own. The only places that I remember street vendors were in Florence (on a land vacation) and they never hassled any of the tourists, and in Pisa where they were somewhat "aggressive". What bothered me most was the "Fisherman's Wharf" vibe the street vendors brought to the Field of Miracles area of Pisa (the Tower, the Church, the Baptistery, the Cemetery.

whoa ... looks like someone was "chatty Cathy"

 

[KashasMom]

We thoroughly enjoyed our day at Colonial Hilton and would do it again. I enjoy time in a pool, and a ship’s pool is not that refreshing. We also have enjoyed snorkeling and Atlantis and Blue Lagoon both by ourselves and with our extended families, usually with DCL as my DH is loath to book independently, but he will sometimes.

Years ago we spend a week in the Marriott, maybe at Cable Beach, and I was very annoyed with all the vendors on the beach selling mostly the same kinds of jewelry.

I was last on Nassau in January and through Disney we, a friend and I, were in a taxi like vechicle which brought us to a rather unusual sea shell throne and showed us a few other lesser visited places. I will never forget the commentators “put down” of Bahamanians who are “too lazy” to grow crops for instance. I was even more put off by her continuous talk that we need “wealthy Americans” to come visit more. I noticed on another DCL Cruise since, that this tour was not offered.

I do not know what the answer is for them, but our other DCL shore excursions experiences as well as our own day trip to the Hilton have given us many happy days. Our first DCL Cruise stopped in Nassau in November 2004.... I took a DCL snorkel excursion and enjoyed it a lot!

I have met a couple on one DCL Cruise who have made friends with a private tour guide and every time they dock they contact him. They speak glowingly of the experiences he shows them and the food places he takes them to.

In my experiences the shore excursions, except the one in January, have been good ones.

The shell throne... by caves that were definitly pirate hide outs.

View attachment 360517 View attachment 360519

We LOVED our days at the Hilton. Their pool is amazing - no comparison to Disney's ship's pools! We also did Blue Lagoon on our own as well as a great walking tour. We did the Cable Beach thing a few times many years ago. We've always had a great time. We don't have the issues that others seem to have with vendors/touts that others have. Might be that I lived in a country with some of the worst touts in the world so I am able to navigate through them all very well.

I would never stay on the ship just because too many people already do! I hope that they are able to transform the port to entice people to explore and spend. Falmouth was able to do it. I'm sure the Bahamas can as well.

 

[yowcruiser]

Kind of off topic, but I didn't realize it was so bad in the Bahamas. We didn't get off the ship last time we docked in Nassau, and the previous time we had a DCL excursion but that was years ago. I am pleased to share that on our Norway/Iceland/Scotland cruise this summer we didn't see a single vendor or have to walk through any kind of gauntlet when leaving the ship. It was wonderful. I realize it's because of the different economic situation in those countries, but it's something to consider if you want to travel overseas.

Well, we had a nice welcoming/departure committee in Scotland - but yes, no vendors to go through!

 

[mmmears]

Well, we had a nice welcoming/departure committee in Scotland - but yes, no vendors to go through!

Yes we had Scottish dancers in the lobby of the Magic and a group of bagpipers on the dock as we were leaving, which was such a nice touch, but not one issue in any of the ports we visited. We've had issues with extremely pushy peddlers in Italy, but weren't on a cruise.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Agreed. They might be best served using the $12 million to hire police or a security team to keep the vendors away from the cruise passengers and giving them a better overall sense of security.

If the port could get a section of the area to be "don't approach the tourist" free zone and let the passengers just walk and go through the shops, the government might discover more people getting off the ships and just strolling, looking, and buying something. Cozumel is irritating, but not as bad as Nassau.

 

[rcchello]

I wonder if they will do like Falmouth, Jamaica. In Falmouth they built a large outdoor mall at the port where you could buy everything and not get hassled. They had guards at the gates to keep out anyone but tour buses and shop people. Very few people ventured into town on their own so the only people who approached you were offering tours. If Nassau upsets you, Falmouth would really get to you.

The mall area does good business selling local products and tourist stuff.

 

[mcd2745]

I wonder if they will do like Falmouth, Jamaica. In Falmouth they built a large outdoor mall at the port where you could buy everything and not get hassled. They had guards at the gates to keep out anyone but tour buses and shop people. Very few people ventured into town on their own so the only people who approached you were offering tours. If Nassau upsets you, Falmouth would really get to you.

The mall area does good business selling local products and tourist stuff.

I like the set-up at Falmouth also (Costa Maya seemed similar as well). Problem is, the immediate area around the port in Nassau is already developed and congested. I imagine it would be hard to enclose much of that area.

 

[cruiser21]

Yes we had Scottish dancers in the lobby of the Magic and a group of bagpipers on the dock as we were leaving, which was such a nice touch, but not one issue in any of the ports we visited. We've had issues with extremely pushy peddlers in Italy, but weren't on a cruise.

The pushy vendors are in Mexico, Bahamas, Caribbean, Italy and Greece. Portugal and Spain weren’t too bad, but if you sit in an outside cafe they will come by and try to sell you stuff while you’re are trying to enjoy a meal.
I’ve never been harassed by vendors in Northern Europe, Canada and Unites States.
Italy was by far the worst especially Naples.

 

[slg]

Never been harassed in Portugal. Italy was terrible.