Another morning of waking up somewhere new! I woke up while we were docking in Nassau and quickly headed up to deck 10 for some pictures.
I didn’t realize it but we were in for a treat. The Disney Dream was in port at Nassau the same day and was coming in just behind us. I was completely amazed to see the captain turn the gigantic ship all the way around and back in to the dock. Talk about some parking skills!
Nassau is not a super popular port so many people choose to stay on-board and take advantage of the ship’s many activities. For us, we didn’t see the point of cruising somewhere and not getting off the ship to see it. Plus it was our kids’ first chance to set foot in a foreign country (we didn’t count Castaway Cay). So we knew we wanted to get off the ship but we also knew we didn’t want to just wander around the city and market. We also weren’t interested in going to Atlantis; we could go to a water park anywhere. We wanted to see some of the sites of the city. We looked at all the excursions and looked for one that seemed interesting but was also relatively short and cheap. We figured that was a good compromise – we’d get to see some of the area but still get some extra time on the ship.
We settled on the Ardastra Gardens and City Tour. My kids love anything related to animals and we figured the city tour would give them an introduction to another country. Our excursion wasn’t until after noon so the boys had time to play basketball, swim, eat, and (of course for JB!) meet some characters. Our excursion meeting point was O’Gills Pub. We waited there for a little bit, got our excursion stickers and instructions, and then headed off the ship. There were some cool photo ops on the pier.
Our group was led to the driver who would give us a tour of the city and take us to the zoo and back. He drove us around the streets of Nassau, narrating as he went. He would tell us facts about Nassau and then grin and say “I love my country” after each statement. He definitely had some interesting commentary as he took us to our first stop, Fort Charlotte.
As far as I can tell, the fort was an unscheduled stop. It was not mentioned in the excursion description and entrance to the fort was an additional cost (as was a tour). There just happened to be a market set up outside the fort and the driver parked at the far side of the parking lot so we were forced to walk through it. The driver was clearly friends with some of the women selling their crafts and souvenirs, so this all felt like a setup to get us to buy things from them. There was little in the way of instructions from the driver and we were basically told to come back “when we were done”. The lack of a clear meeting time and the fact that the van looked exactly like about 10 other vans in the parking lot had me slightly worried that we would somehow end up left behind at the fort. Despite the unusual circumstances of the stop, we decided to take the brief tour and explore the fort. We just stayed near some others from the group, figuring the driver was less likely to leave a dozen people behind than 4.
Fort Charlotte is the largest of three forts in Nassau. It was built in 1789 and named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III. As my youngest would say, “Fun fact!”: Charlotte, NC (our hometown) is also named after the same Queen Charlotte. The boys thought that was cool. The fort has a moat (with no water), dungeons, and 42 cannons. It is on top of a hill with a nice view of the harbor. We could see the Disney Magic and Dream from there! The boys thought it was cool to see the cannons and go in the dungeon. It ended up being a fun stop for us.
Despite my concerns, we did find the van again without a problem and then made our way to the Ardastra Gardens, Zoo and Conservation Center. We were given a definite meeting time here so I was much more relaxed as we set out to explore the zoo. The zoo is small but nice and is best know for its “world famous marching flamingos”. The enclosures were fairly open and the zoo was laid out nicely for good viewing of the animals. We were lucky enough to see a white peacock roaming the grounds and another peacock fanning its feathers.
RB’s favorite part of the zoo was feeding the rainbow lorikeets. At specified feeding times, you are allowed to go into the enclosure and feed apple slices to the lorikeets. The staff showed us how to put the apple in your hand and hold your arm for the lorikeets to land on. They then hop down your arm to eat the apple out of your hand. It definitely took a bit to get used to the feeling of their tiny little claws on your arm (JB did not love it) and they could sometimes accidentally take a little nibble on your finger while trying to eat the apple. But it was worth it and a fun experience to see them up close like that.
JB’s favorite part of the zoo was the flamingo march. By this point it had started to rain a little but the viewing area at the Flamingo Arena was covered so we settled in a few minutes early for the show. Hearing about the “world famous” trained flamingos beforehand, I was expecting a little bit more – maybe some choreographed moves to music? I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting but it was really just the flamingos marching in together as a group and following directional commands from their handler as they ran around the circle in the arena. Still neat to see but just not quite as amazing as I had expected.
But the best part was that after the show you were allowed to go into the pen and stand on one leg amongst the flamingos. JB jumped at this opportunity, despite the rain and mud.
After the flamingo march, we had a little bit more time to kill and just wandered around the grounds a little longer. Probably the most unique animal we saw was the capybara, the world’s largest rodent. He was huge! On the way out we had one last unexpected bird encounter. The macaws that hang out near the exit both talk and do tricks! We heard one saying good-bye as we walked by and then he showed off for us, first hanging from his perch by his beak and then grabbing on with his feet and hanging upside down.
All in all, we thought this was a good excursion and were glad we did it. It felt like we were at the zoo a little bit too long (I think we had about an hour and forty-five minutes) but that was probably because it rained part of the time we were there. We probably would have enjoyed some more leisurely exploration of the grounds if the weather had cooperated the whole time we were there. But we accomplished exactly what we wanted to with this excursion – we got to explore a little bit of Nassau and introduce the kids to a new place.
We got back to the ship around 3:30 and there was plenty more fun to be had before the day was done. Tonight was Pirate Night! JB and I immediately headed to meet some of the characters in their pirate outfits and RB and Blair went to relax at the pool.
After some quality time with the pirate characters, JB went back to the room to rest and RB and I went to the show. The show was a comedian that night instead of a musical and RB enjoyed it every bit as much as the musical. Michael Holly performed a very family-friendly comedy and juggling show. RB thought he was hilarious and laughed the entire time. This was also a new experience for him (a live comedy show) and it was fun for me to get to see it through his eyes.
And the night still wasn’t over! The Pirates In the Caribbean Party was on deck 9 between dinner seatings. The show featured the Disney characters in their pirate costumes and an ambush by real pirates! But fear not – Mickey Mouse saved the day, zip lining down to the stage to defeat the attacking pirates. It was a cute, family friendly show that ended in a fantastic fireworks display. Being in the middle of the ocean and watching fireworks from the deck of the ship was definitely a unique experience!
After the fireworks we headed to dinner at Lumiere’s, where they served the pirate menu. The Shutters photographers were in the MDRs that night to snap photos of everyone with their pirate bandanas.
After a long day packed with fun activities, we headed back to our stateroom to find that a pirate monkey had left some gold chocolate coins for us.
