nassau fort and junkanoo discovery

[bfamilyx4]

has anyone ever done this excursion through disney before? we are going on our first cruise in next month and thought about doing this excursion. we've never been to nassau before so we thought we'll explore just a bit. it will be me, dh, dd4 and ds3. tia

 

[Ziemba]

We didn't do the excursion through Disney, but we did visit the fort while we were in Nassau last year on another cruise. We walked to the fort, and went up the Queens staircase, which is right next to the fort. It is only a 10 minute walk, and it's through a pretty safe part of town. The fort is free, as well as the staircase, although locals will be around wanting to tell you about it for a small donation. When we went, the watertower was "closed for renovation". It looks as though it has been closed for a few years... I guess you used to be able to go up the elevator of the tower for a quarter and see the town. The view is pretty good from the fort though, you can see most of the town, Atlantis, and all the cruise ships docked in port.

 

[Ziemba]

I just remembered... there are 2 forts in Nassau... we visited fort Fincastle. It is about 5 blocks east and 3 blocks south of the ship. I'm not sure if the excursion you are looking at is for Fincastle or the other one. We were also able to walk to Pirates of Nassau. It's a museum near the Straw Market. It was interesting, kind of a walkthrough with a couple of real artifacts at the end.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We didn't do an excursion but we did walk to Junkanoo Beach ourselves with our 3 kids...took about 10-12 minutes to walk there. here's some pics and a 1 minute video of the beach there.
Locals were friendly and the restrooms were clean.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loveysbydesign/media/junkanoobeachnassua.mp4.html

 

[bfamilyx4]

I just remembered... there are 2 forts in Nassau... we visited fort Fincastle. It is about 5 blocks east and 3 blocks south of the ship. I'm not sure if the excursion you are looking at is for Fincastle or the other one. We were also able to walk to Pirates of Nassau. It's a museum near the Straw Market. It was interesting, kind of a walkthrough with a couple of real artifacts at the end.

the disney excursion takes you to fort fincastle and fort charlotte and the junkanoo museum. but at $144 for the family i don't think we'll do it. we'll just probably visit those places on our own. can you walk there from the ship or do we need to take a cab?

 

[bfamilyx4]

We didn't do an excursion but we did walk to Junkanoo Beach ourselves with our 3 kids...took about 10-12 minutes to walk there. here's some pics and a 1 minute video of the beach there.
Locals were friendly and the restrooms were clean.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/loveysbydesign/media/junkanoobeachnassua.mp4.html

thanks for sharing the video! it looks like the beach is very close to the ship! is it free the use the beach or is there a fee?

 

[Minniemoomoo]

We did this with my parents and we loved it. The museum is wonderful and is family run. They are very nice folks and very helpful.
We loved the forts as well. We did feel a little rushed in the forts as time is limited.
We would do it again through Disney.

 

[loveysbydesign]

thanks for sharing the video! it looks like the beach is very close to the ship! is it free the use the beach or is there a fee?

I actually wished I had taken a better, longer video but I was too busy enjoying myself
The beach is free, we just walked there with no problem. I had youngest ds in the stroller since the road you walk along is very busy. there is a small daiquiri hut and I think you can rent chairs if you want them. One lady did offer us a handmade necklace to buy and I said no, she never asked again. i actually wished I had bought it since we didn't see her again.

 

[Ziemba]

the disney excursion takes you to fort fincastle and fort charlotte and the junkanoo museum. but at $144 for the family i don't think we'll do it. we'll just probably visit those places on our own. can you walk there from the ship or do we need to take a cab?

We only went to Fincastle, and that is definitely walkable I think it was about 5 blocks down and 3 deep. The 5 blocks down is a nice walk around the storefronts for the most part. The 3 deep brings you past the Hospital and more residential area. I believe Fort Charlotte is probably a little far to walk, and you may want to get a cab, or look into jumping onto one of the Jitneys.

 

[Lita]

Any recent reviews of this excursion through Disney?

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[ArmchairDetective]

We took this excursion on the 3/16 Dream sailing through Disney. It was fun. It's a great way to see Nassau, via private bus, and visit the forts, museum and staircase. I will say the best part was the museum. Be sure to bring tip cash for the driver and the various tour guides as they basically ask you for tip money. We tipped all the guides a couple of bucks and threw the driver $10 as he was prompt and drove us right up to the fort entrance. They do RUSH you through the fort tour, though, so you barely get to read any of the tour information.

You do get to bypass a lot of the hagglers. The tour felt safe and we felt it was fair for the price.

 

[Donna3271]

We did this with my parents and we loved it. The museum is wonderful and is family run. They are very nice folks and very helpful.
We loved the forts as well. We did feel a little rushed in the forts as time is limited.
We would do it again through Disney.

We did it too! The couple who own the museum are lovely. My kids loved the forts as well, and I believe we walked the Queens Staircase. It was fun. We've also been to Nassau over 10 times so we were not into going to Atlantis again.

You are right… it was a little rushed, but all the stops were quick, so it held my kids attention. Adults may want to peruse the forts more. They were really intriguing.

 

[Lita]

Thanks for the feedback! We leave next Sunday on the Dream and we have this booked. Can't wait!

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[Donna3271]

Thanks for the feedback! We leave next Sunday on the Dream and we have this booked. Can't wait!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Lita,
It was a good tour especially for kids. They will love the glitzy costumes in the Junkanoo museum, and the forts are cool.

Atlantis is a lot of walking, and in my opinion, you can do water activities at Castaway Cay…. so a good way to see some history.

Also, a PP is correct, they do pander for tips at the Forts (not aggressive), so having a few bucks on hand is great. They also have a little shop there (cold water, snacks etc…)

 

[diznymom]

We did it through Disney. We were very disappointed and wished we had not done it. The forts do not have much history to them. They were built in anticipation of an attack, which never happened. One was used as a jail once. That is all of the history.

The Junkanoo exhibit is in a tiny house. If you Google this, you can see pics of all there is to see (not much).

 

[dawminatrix]

we did this in November 2012 with our 5 and 6 year olds...we had a lot of fun at the junkanoo house. felt a little rushed through forts and staircase, (we enjoy exploring)...but we walked away with good memories of it.