What to do in NASSAU, ST. THOMAS, & TORTOLA?

Since this will be our (mine and my adult son's) first time in any of these ports, it would be so appreciated if you could share some ideas with me. I am not interested in snorkeling or seeing any animals in captivity.

I have read so many people say they hate Nassau and they just stay on the ship. I read that they have a day pass at the Hilton in Nassau, maybe that would be a good place to go?

Do you ever feel unsafe in any of these ports? Any areas to avoid? Any and all tips are welcome. :)

While you will get some info here, the forums you want to check out for tons of info on those ports is the Caribbean ports of call forums. Here is the link for you:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

Since this will be our (mine and my adult son's) first time in any of these ports, it would be so appreciated if you could share some ideas with me. I am not interested in snorkeling or seeing any animals in captivity.

 

I have read so many people say they hate Nassau and they just stay on the ship. I read that they have a day pass at the Hilton in Nassau, maybe that would be a good place to go?

 

Do you ever feel unsafe in any of these ports? Any areas to avoid? Any and all tips are welcome. :)

We have been to St. Thomas twice and love it. First time we did a tour of the island that included Blackbeards castle, great tour. Second time we did a tour to St. John's which included a ferry ride. Also, great.

From what other's have told me Nassau is not such a great port. Although, my Sos did got to Atlantis and enjoyed that, however he said it was expensive.

In Nassau, as long as you stick to the downtown area and don't go wandering into neighborhoods or off the "beaten path", you'll be fine. Junkanoo beach is walkable, if you don't want a pool. Lots of folks do the Hilton thing, too. Shopping is right across from the dock.

In St. Thomas, going to St. John is fabulous! The most gorgeous beaches are there...water that is so clear, it's almost invisible..and body temp....so it's a strange sensation....to not really see or feel the water! Absolutely top-notch! It is a bit of distance, so I would recommend a ship's excursion there, if you decide to go....

If you do the Hilton in Nassau it is before Junkanoo (actually right next to it) and a short 10-15 minute leisurely walk.

How old is your son?

in St. Thomas, you can do an excursion to St. John (trunk bay is gorgeous and has great snorkeling). we did that the first time, second time we bought tix on our own to Blackbeard's castle. its a fun little place to see and tour and you have use of their swimming pools with your day pass. its an easy walk downtown and then back to the ship (i recommend taxi to get there tho).

Nassau is a dump, we stay on the ship. We may consider the Atlantis for the casino next time we are stuck stopping there. Everyone goes there, taxis are readily available. British Colonial Hilton is supposed to be decent, and walking distance, you can get day passes on http://www.resortforaday.com Usually includes a food and beverage voucher.

Tortola doesnt have much. i recommend an excurison to Virgin Gorda to see the Baths.

We traveled with our 5 & 2 year old. In St Thomas we took the ferry over to St John and spent the day at Trunk Bay! It was beautiful.

We did a half day sail over to Jost Van Dyke from Tortola, and it was the highlight of our vacation! However, I've heard the beaches on Tortola are great, so our next visit we will stay on the island :)

We did get off the ship for about an hour in Nassau, but we personally did not care for it. We wanted to do the Blue Lagoon excursion but it was sold out before I looked much into it.

You really can't go wrong on the islands, have fun!

While you will get some info here, the forums you want to check out for tons of info on those ports is the Caribbean ports of call forums. Here is the link for you:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

Thank you for your help :)

We have been to St. Thomas twice and love it. First time we did a tour of the island that included Blackbeards castle, great tour. Second time we did a tour to St. John's which included a ferry ride. Also, great.

 

From what other's have told me Nassau is not such a great port. Although, my Sos did got to Atlantis and enjoyed that, however he said it was expensive.

I never thought about Blackbeard's castle, could be an idea. I'll have to looking into that and St. John's.

As for Atlantis, I'm not interested in it. Looks very busy and too pricey for what you get. Though I could be totally off base. LOL

Thanks! :)

In Nassau, as long as you stick to the downtown area and don't go wandering into neighborhoods or off the "beaten path", you'll be fine. Junkanoo beach is walkable, if you don't want a pool. Lots of folks do the Hilton thing, too. Shopping is right across from the dock.

 

In St. Thomas, going to St. John is fabulous! The most gorgeous beaches are there...water that is so clear, it's almost invisible..and body temp....so it's a strange sensation....to not really see or feel the water! Absolutely top-notch! It is a bit of distance, so I would recommend a ship's excursion there, if you decide to go....

Thank you for the advice about Nassau. If we do go to The Hilton, we would probably walk, as it seems pretty straight forward. Shopping is always a must in port for me, at least a quick peek.

Definitely going to check out St. John's now, it's been mentioned twice. Sounds absolutely amazing the way you described it. Thank you for the advice. :)

If you do the Hilton in Nassau it is before Junkanoo (actually right next to it) and a short 10-15 minute leisurely walk.

Thank you. It looked like it was pretty close. I love the beach, but I also like having a pool. :)

How old is your son?

He is 24. Why do you ask? :)

in St. Thomas, you can do an excursion to St. John (trunk bay is gorgeous and has great snorkeling). we did that the first time, second time we bought tix on our own to Blackbeard's castle. its a fun little place to see and tour and you have use of their swimming pools with your day pass. its an easy walk downtown and then back to the ship (i recommend taxi to get there tho).

 

Nassau is a dump, we stay on the ship. We may consider the Atlantis for the casino next time we are stuck stopping there. Everyone goes there, taxis are readily available. British Colonial Hilton is supposed to be decent, and walking distance, you can get day passes on http://www.resortforaday.com Usually includes a food and beverage voucher.

 

Tortola doesnt have much. i recommend an excurison to Virgin Gorda to see the Baths.

Sounds like it could be a toss up between Blackbeard's castle or St. John's. Will have to see how my son feels about it.

I've heard a lot of people dislike Nassau, that's too bad. Thanks for including the link. I think The Hilton might be the right choice for us.

I have heard some good things about Jost Van Dyke in Tortola, but I don't yet know enough about it to decide. The Baths sound good too, but a lot of people say they are almost too busy to enjoy? Did you have that experience?

Thank you for your help!

He is 24. Why do you ask? :)

Sorry, missed the adult part! Several hotels have day passes, Melia, Breezes, RUI, Sandals, Atlantis... There are free walking tours online, including a rum distillery. I believe there is a Segway tour of a snorkel excursion (Stuart's Cove). Nassau can be fun, but it's best to plan ahead and just not wander around the port.

We traveled with our 5 & 2 year old. In St Thomas we took the ferry over to St John and spent the day at Trunk Bay! It was beautiful.

 

We did a half day sail over to Jost Van Dyke from Tortola, and it was the highlight of our vacation! However, I've heard the beaches on Tortola are great, so our next visit we will stay on the island :)

 

We did get off the ship for about an hour in Nassau, but we personally did not care for it. We wanted to do the Blue Lagoon excursion but it was sold out before I looked much into it.

 

You really can't go wrong on the islands, have fun!

Another vote for St. John's in St. Thomas, so that might be where we head.

JVD does get a lot of people saying it was the highlight of their trip, so maybe we'll do that since it's our first time there.

What exactly didn't you like about Nassau? Sorry you missed the Blue Lagoon, what is that? Thanks for your help! :)

Sorry, missed the adult part! Several hotels have day passes, Melia, Breezes, RUI, Sandals, Atlantis... There are free walking tours online, including a rum distillery. I believe there is a Segway tour of a snorkel excursion (Stuart's Cove). Nassau can be fun, but it's best to plan ahead and just not wander around the port.

Sounds like some great ideas, I'll check them out. Thanks! :)

We did Blackbeard's Castle in St. Thomas earlier this month and we loved it. The website said they were closed the day we were there but we took a chance and took a taxi there. It turns out they were open. Tour was great, and we spend the rest of our time at the 1829 Bar at the bottom of the castle. The bartender, Johnny, was friendly and personable and the bar had a cool breeze and very tasty drinks. :)

when we did Virgin Gorda we were one of the first ship excursions to arrive. we were able to walk thru the caves without crowds. coming back was more crowded. you can just walk one way and exit at the other end, but we came to see the caves so we wanted to go round trip. there is a nice beach on both ends of the caves. its nice to do once, we wouldnt go again. while very interesting, it wasnt as cavey or large as we envisioned.

We kept it simple when we went to those ports. We paid for tours with the people waiting at the port. The most we paid for was $25 for a 2-3 hour tour. We hit Lindbergh Beach in St Thomas for a couple hours. Also spent a little time shopping. We had people in our group that didn't want to snorkel etc and I wanted to see the islands more than anything.

the first few blocks of nassau are definitely trashy. not a good image. i havent been further than that but i've read about the beaches you can spend 30 to a lot more and they say they are great. so if you want the beach u should be ok

the staircase and other historical things are supposedly good. we spent 2 or 3 hours buying tshirts and got back on board. was hot as heck there. how do people stand it in summer when we died in december

Another vote for St. John's in St. Thomas, so that might be where we head.

 

JVD does get a lot of people saying it was the highlight of their trip, so maybe we'll do that since it's our first time there.

 

What exactly didn't you like about Nassau? Sorry you missed the Blue Lagoon, what is that? Thanks for your help! :)

As we were walking through the port area of Nassau I had a woman yank my hair insisting to braid it. If she had been trying to get my attention I missed her because I was holding my 2 year old and shuffling along with the crowd. So when she yanked my hair it sent a wave of panic over me, and made me very uncomfortable. My husband brought us right back to the ship after that happened!

Blue lagoon is an excursion with NCL, I think you take a boat ride to an island and have a beach day, there's dolphins, etc. It sounded like something my 5 year old would have loved but I missed out by waiting. Happy sailing, I know you'll have a wonderful time!

I am not a Nassau fan and have read negative articles, embassy warnings, travel advisories, and the like for years. I have only done one excursion there and usually I have taken a taxi to Atlantis for lunch.

It really boils down to the fact that I don't see the beauty in this city and I am not comfortable there.

I do like/enjoy the Atantis. I spent a land vacation there and never left their property. Employees there advised against leaving the property due to crime but I just attributed that to the likely hood they wanted you to stay there and spend your vacation dollars :-)

I'm fully aware crime is everywhere, including my hometown. I still travel and try to stay informed as to where I am traveling. I avoid certain things/areas but, of course, there's no guarantees.

Here's one of many articles regarding crime info in Nassau. No, I won't rent a jet ski there, nor use an ATM! No, I am not paranoid, but it's a known problem in many articles that I have read in recent years. http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2016/07/articles/caribbean-islands/us-embassy-issues-warning-about-crime-in-nassau/

Since this will be our (mine and my adult son's) first time in any of these ports, it would be so appreciated if you could share some ideas with me. I am not interested in snorkeling or seeing any animals in captivity.

 

I have read so many people say they hate Nassau and they just stay on the ship. I read that they have a day pass at the Hilton in Nassau, maybe that would be a good place to go?

 

Do you ever feel unsafe in any of these ports? Any areas to avoid? Any and all tips are welcome. :)

In Nassau the distillery is a short walk and lots of fun! :) I blogged about it below-

http://thecheerfulcruiser.blogspot.com/2016/07/nifty-nassau-activity-visit-john.html

The Sightseeing tour is popular in St. Thomas- I wrote about our experience here-

http://thecheerfulcruiser.blogspot.com/search?q=st+thomas