first time cruising

Hi!

My husband and I are going on our first cruise in a few months to the Bahamas on RCI and wanted to know if you can just get off the ship and walk around by ourselves to explore or should we buy an excursion? Our stops are Port Canaveral, Nassau, CocoCay and Key West.

Thank you for your help.

Hi!

My husband and I are going on our first cruise in a few months to the Bahamas on RCI and wanted to know if you can just get off the ship and walk around by ourselves to explore or should we buy an excursion? Our stops are Port Canaveral, Nassau, CocoCay and Key West.

Thank you for your help.

You certainly can get of the ship in any port of call and do whatever you want to do. Explore on your own, book a private tour, book and excursion through the ship - whatever you want. The ship based excursions will always be more expensive but carry the guarantee that you will not miss the ship should there be to a delay in returning to the ship.

But your itinerary is pretty low key in terms of excursions. Port Canaveral and Key West are both FL ports of call and low risk in terms of foreign based traffic, etc. But Cape Canaveral, Universal, Disney World all are options depending on time in port at Port Canaveral. I'm sure the ship will sponsor tours. Key West is probably just as easy to do on your own.

CocoCay is RCI's private island and IMO best seen on your own wandering around - not much of an excursion base there. Nassau would be the only "foreign" port and if you want to see something in particular, maybe best on a first cruise to look at something sponsored by the ship.

Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for your reply! I know you can just get off the ship in Key West and walk but can you do that in Nassau and Port Canaveral or do you have to take a taxi to go exploring on your own?

Thanks for your reply! I know you can just get off the ship in Key West and walk but can you do that in Nassau and Port Canaveral or do you have to take a taxi to go exploring on your own?

Hi there, and welcome. Port Canaveral is actually not a port stop; it is the name of the pier near Orlando where you will be getting on your cruise. You can decide to do something there before or after your cruise if you like.

There is seldom a need for "excursions". Get a guidebook...libraries have them, if you don't want to buy one...read up on your ports! The more you know, the more you'll get out of your time ashore.

Ship's excursions are costly, and crowded, most of the time. And totally unneeded, in most cases...especially on US soil! Lordy! Do some research...save a bundle and have a blast!

Coco Cay is RCI's private island...it's a beach day...no excursions needed. Get off the ship...find a lounger, and have a great beach day! Lunch is served on the beach...you can come and go at will.

Hi there, and welcome. Port Canaveral is actually not a port stop; it is the name of the pier near Orlando where you will be getting on your cruise. You can decide to do something there before or after your cruise if you like.

Depends on the itinerary. Ships out of Baltimore and Cape Liberty do have ports of call at Port Canaveral. :) OP didn't say what ship or itinerary so they may very well have Port Canaveral as a port of call - or - they could be departing from there. Maybe they will clarify.

There is seldom a need for "excursions". Get a guidebook...libraries have them, if you don't want to buy one...read up on your ports! The more you know, the more you'll get out of your time ashore.

 

Ship's excursions are costly, and crowded, most of the time. And totally unneeded, in most cases...especially on US soil! Lordy! Do some research...save a bundle and have a blast!

 

Coco Cay is RCI's private island...it's a beach day...no excursions needed. Get off the ship...find a lounger, and have a great beach day! Lunch is served on the beach...you can come and go at will.

...or do as everyone else does and get all the information you could possibly need on the internet! :rolleyes:

Depends on the itinerary. Ships out of Baltimore and Cape Liberty do have ports of call at Port Canaveral. :) OP didn't say what ship or itinerary so they may very well have Port Canaveral as a port of call - or - they could be departing from there. Maybe they will clarify.

Yes - I beg your pardon, you are absolutely right. Looks like it might be an 8 night on Grandeur out of Baltimore. :)

Thanks for your reply! I know you can just get off the ship in Key West and walk but can you do that in Nassau and Port Canaveral or do you have to take a taxi to go exploring on your own?

You can walk anywhere-you just might not get very far.

As far as the ports are concerned, As someone else pointed out, Port Canaveral is a departure port so there will be no excursions. However, if you fly in the day or two before, you will have some time to explore.

Do some research. I would start with the ships excursions for each port. That will give you a good idea of what is out there at each port. Then, you can decide for yourself whether you want to go it alone or with a ship's excursion.

Just remember one very important thing-the ship will not wait for you if you are late (ships's excursions, though, are an exception). If you go off on your own and lost track of time, you could get back to an empty pier.

Yes - I beg your pardon, you are absolutely right. Looks like it might be an 8 night on Grandeur out of Baltimore. :)

No worries - I thought it might be. :) Living in between Baltimore and Port Liberty we have been on itineraries from there that have those ports of call.

You can walk anywhere-you just might not get very far.

 

As far as the ports are concerned, As someone else pointed out, Port Canaveral is a departure port so there will be no excursions. However, if you fly in the day or two before, you will have some time to explore.

 

Do some research. I would start with the ships excursions for each port. That will give you a good idea of what is out there at each port. Then, you can decide for yourself whether you want to go it alone or with a ship's excursion.

 

Just remember one very important thing-the ship will not wait for you if you are late (ships's excursions, though, are an exception). If you go off on your own and lost track of time, you could get back to an empty pier.

Incorrect. Sea my post #6. Port Canaveral definitely is a port of call on several RCI itineraries. I have been on one of them.

You can easily explore all of these ports on your own.

To get ideas I would visit the ports of call section on Cruise Critic.

Keith

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

For Port Canaveral I suggest you take a ship's excursion to either Disney World or Universal studios. They are not close to the pier -- i.e. -- not within a 10 or 15 minute taxi ride.

Coco Cay -- RCI's private island -- no your own thing there. There will be a free BBQ.

Nassau -- you can walk around on your own.

Key West -- also a port you can walk around on your own.

Thanks to all of you who posted your reply! We are leaving out of Baltimore and going with a AAA group, I thought this would be better since this will be our first time cruising. I look online every day to find out answers to my questions, don't want to bug the travel agent, have to meet with her 2 weeks before the cruise which isn't until April but want to find out more details before then. I'll probably be asking more questions , I'm glad I found out how to use this site!

We always take an excursion in Nassau. We don't walk around the pier and take a taxi to Cable Beach or the Ardastra Gardens and Zoo.

Hi!

My husband and I are going on our first cruise in a few months to the Bahamas on RCI and wanted to know if you can just get off the ship and walk around by ourselves to explore or should we buy an excursion? Our stops are Port Canaveral, Nassau, CocoCay and Key West.

Thank you for your help.

Some will say yes, some will say no.

...or do as everyone else does and get all the information you could possibly need on the internet! :rolleyes:

cb looooves her guidebooks!!!;):D

Thanks to all of you who posted your reply! We are leaving out of Baltimore and going with a AAA group, I thought this would be better since this will be our first time cruising. I look online every day to find out answers to my questions, don't want to bug the travel agent, have to meet with her 2 weeks before the cruise which isn't until April but want to find out more details before then. I'll probably be asking more questions , I'm glad I found out how to use this site!

In Port Canaveral, maybe also consider renting a car for the day? Since you are with a group, find two other couples to share a van? Drive to a wildlife area or Orlando or Disney or the spaceport or wherever suits your interests...

For Nassau I recommend a tour. The rest you can do on your own, just do your homework. Find out what interests you in each port. For some renting a car may be the answer so you can get where you want to go.

If you posted ship and date we could give you a link to the roll call for your cruise. On the roll call a lot of times there are private tours that are being worked out by fellow cruisers, and they are less expensive and small groups.

Trip Advisor is your friend. :)

Thanks to all of you who posted your reply! We are leaving out of Baltimore and going with a AAA group, I thought this would be better since this will be our first time cruising. I look online every day to find out answers to my questions, don't want to bug the travel agent, have to meet with her 2 weeks before the cruise which isn't until April but want to find out more details before then. I'll probably be asking more questions , I'm glad I found out how to use this site!

cb looooves her guidebooks!!!;):D

I love checking out guidebooks for an upcoming cruise or trip. Your public library should have at least one or two for the areas you're visiting. If I really like one, I'll try to find the latest edition to buy to take with. I'm guessing you're going with an Auto Club group. You can get free guidebooks from them.

Also google each port. You'll find many tourism sites. Lots of good info that you can look through and get ideas for what to do in port. Hopefully your group isn't one that everyone has to stay together and do the same thing. That would drive my hubby and I crazy. I think that's one reason we've never joined in on any private excursions discussed on the roll calls on this site. I'm pretty good about gauging what we want to do.

I can't imagine why you need to talk to your travel agent. If you've booked your cruise and requested the type of dining you want, that's what the TA is for (and to help with any possible problems but usually you shouldn't have any). Instead, go on the website for your cruise line and read the FAQs and find the info about your specific ship. Any questions not answered by the website, ask on the Royal Caribbean area of this site.