Opinions Please: 3 Night Cruise Day At Sea vs. Nassau

[DISNEYMAGIC2005]

We haven’t done a 3 night cruise yet and are adding on to the end of our WDW trip. We originally had the double dip to castaway booked but school schedule came out and we would return to late so now I can’t decide which one to choose.
August 21st with stop in Nassau and Castaway August 22nd with day at sea and Castaway. Thanks for your help and opinion!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We haven’t done a 3 night cruise yet and are adding on to the end of our WDW trip. We originally had the double dip to castaway booked but school schedule came out and we would return to late so now I can’t decide which one to choose.
August 21st with stop in Nassau and Castaway August 22nd with day at sea and Castaway. Thanks for your help and opinion!

Well, since I've been to Nassau, I'd opt for the sea day over Nassau. But I don't do 3 night cruises.

Not saying "don't go to Nassau", as I firmly believe you should visit a port before you decide not to go there again, and not rely on someone else's saying "don't go there".

 

[braysmommy]

We would pick a sea day of Nassau.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

What do you normally like doing? Makes a difference. What kinds of activities?

 

[spiders]

If you've never been to Nassau then I'd do Nassau. I'd also consider just missing a day of school and sticking to your original plan. It's not the end of the world.

 

[MiataMx-5]

I'd stay home before going back to Nassau.

 

[DISNEYMAGIC2005]

Kids are 6 and 7. We normally wouldn’t do a 3 day cruise but it’s the only thing that fits in our schedule that isn’t completely over budget as of now. (They really do go up as time passes)

Kids love the beach and kids club and water slides and Mickey and seeing new places but I was also thinking that maybe while others are in port it would give us more time to explore the ship.

We have only done the smaller ships so not sure how much we will be able to cover but want to see as much as possible.

Thanks everyone!

 

[spiders]

Nassau certainly isn't in the running for most beautiful places you can visit. To say you'd rather stay home, though is just exaggerating. Sure, okay for you personally -- okay, whatever...but for the majority, no. All the Dream does is go to Nassau. Outside of Castaway, I'm assuming it has to be the most visited port by DCL. They wouldn't go to Nassau as much if it really sucked as much as some people would have you believe.

 

[MomOTwins]

I'd do the 22nd because it is on the Fantasy, which we preferred to the Dream for several reasons (e.g., the shows, the satellite falls area, the different kids club areas). I think the difference of ship would decide it for me. I'm agnostic about sea day vs. Nassau day because I've always stayed on the ship on Nassau day anyway on three nights--with a three day cruise, you don't have a lot of time to enjoy the ship if you go ashore both days, and the ship has lots of fun pirate night stuff on Nassau day starting in the early afternoon.

 

[cvjw]

Just stay on the ship instead of getting off in Nassau. Make it your own sea day. That is what we are doing on our upcoming dream cruises. We won’t get off the ship except for maybe castaway cay.

 

[DISNEYMAGIC2005]

Thanks everyone! Gonna look over the suggestions tonight!

 

[rere101399]

Basically most people consider Nassau a sea day so itinerary wise these two cruises could be considered the same in that case. Is there a distinguishing factor between the ships that would matter to you? The Fantasy has the Aqualab, which is an extra splash area for all ages and great for hot days. The Dream has the Vanellope themed sweet shop vs the one on the Fantasy is unthemed...if you’re crazy about WIR this might matter. Also, the Dream used to have the Disney Infinity room in the OC which my kids loved, although I had heard it’s going away soon. The Dream has the Beauty and the Beast show and the Fantasy has Aladdin. Is one of the dates better for you than the other? Those are the things I’d look at...

 

[bakerworld]

Kids are 6 and 7. We normally wouldn’t do a 3 day cruise but it’s the only thing that fits in our schedule that isn’t completely over budget as of now. (They really do go up as time passes)

Kids love the beach and kids club and water slides and Mickey and seeing new places but I was also thinking that maybe while others are in port it would give us more time to explore the ship.

We have only done the smaller ships so not sure how much we will be able to cover but want to see as much as possible.

Thanks everyone!

Definitely no Nassau - LOL - you don't want to spend the day trying to explain to the kids why all those people are hawking everything from rides to old cloths.

 

[SamFaniam]

Kids are 6 and 7. We normally wouldn’t do a 3 day cruise but it’s the only thing that fits in our schedule that isn’t completely over budget as of now. (They really do go up as time passes)

Kids love the beach and kids club and water slides and Mickey and seeing new places but I was also thinking that maybe while others are in port it would give us more time to explore the ship.

We have only done the smaller ships so not sure how much we will be able to cover but want to see as much as possible.

Thanks everyone!

Since you mentioned going to the beach, if your ship has a port stop in Nassau there are many nice beach options, including doing a beach day pass or a Disney excursion. If you decide to treat the Nassau stop like a sea day, the ship will be less crowded than on an actual sea day. On an actual sea day, there will be more scheduled events on ship hostedby the cruise staff. Both ships have the Believe show, the Dream also has Golden Mickeys and Beauty and the Beast, while the Fantasy has Frozen and Aladdin.

 

[pezgirlroy]

Just because I always feel like I have to , we had a wonderful stop in Nassau. We did the Discover Forts and Junkanoo tour. The couple that ran the Junkanoo tour were amazing. We did this with my parents, and 8 year old and 3 year old daughter. My husband was signed up for a Disney scuba adventure. He was the only one. They still ran the tour and he had an amazing time.

 

[DisneyAndrew]

My family chose not to get off at Nassau on our one cruise to there. However, I would still pick the itinerary that has it, and here's why: other people do get off the ship. This makes the ship less crowded than it would be on a sea day with every single person still on the ship and vying for activities. Although Nassau isn't nearly as popular of a stop as Castaway Cay, therefore not as many people go into the port, it is still nice having some time on the ship with a reduced number of guests.

 

[Rob1872]

Our first DCL cruise was 3 night on Magic with a sea day and a Castaway Cay day. We liked it very much. One thing to consider if you say that you will make Nassau a "sea day"; I'm not sure that the ship will have the same number of activities on a Nassau day as they would schedule on a true sea day.