Balmoral Beach

[LindseyButlerWilson]

Has anyone done the Balmoral Island Beach excursion in Nassau? I am going on a family cruise for Thanksgiving and this will be the port on Thanksgiving day. I want to do something that everyone in my group can enjoy. A beach day seems safe. Any reason to avoid this one? It's very reasonably priced and sounds like fun.

[dwightnwynonia]

Yes we did it last September the beach and grounds are very nice. Food and drinks are pretty high. On the trip there the shuttle boat was over crowded but we would do it again

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Forums mobile app

[TPFKAH]

We went here when it was still Blackbeard Cay. Cost us $5 each to get the guy to take us over from Cable Beach. Nice beach, and had some drinks food and stuff. They may have taken over the other side of the island, which used to be part of Sandals.

 

I can only imagine what it's like now that they have refurbished it.

[1959kar]

 

 

 

my family was there in January of this year, I found the place a wonderful beach to visit, yes the food was a tad expensive but we found it tasty

Edited August 8, 2014 by 1959kar

[evandbob]

Cable Beach is another wonderful stretch of sand in Nassau.

[Lovefuninthesun]

I think the blurb about the excursion said you could use your sign and sail card there -- true? TIA

[dulcimergirl]

I went there with my Granddaughter late May. We were not impressed, and I sure thought it a huge waste of money. Not very pretty, no fish to see when snorkeling, and the only thing decent was the pool..

Food was just ok, but expensive.

The two separate restrooms were not enough, and with only two stalls in them, it was standing in line for one for several minutes.

I feel very sorry for folks that do an all inclusive Sandals trip. It being right next door. I don't recommend it at all.

Yes, there is a small beach, and blue sky, but its not worth it in my opinion.

[dwightnwynonia]

I think the blurb about the excursion said you could use your sign and sail card there -- true? TIA

 

Yes you can

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Forums mobile app

[Luluwa]

Food expensive drinks ok and all goes on your sign and sail account. Pretty beach, enuf room and chairs. But the boat to and from the island is scary too many people and creaky boat. Maybe they've made improvements since we were there in January 2014.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[OCruisers]

Good to hear some good things about Balmoral Beach. Past reports have all been so negative.

[lettienets]

I was there in late April on a Carnival Splendor excursion that included lunch which was a choice of hamburger, fries and soda or I think a wrap or sandwich. There were other things you could purchase.

I thought the beach was beautiful. There were lots of sunbeds and umbrellas. Two bars.

The boat ride over was a big ferry boat type with two levels. Kind of like the ferry at Half Moon Cay. Wish we were there longer. The whole place was really clean.

[moobear67]

I was there in May. Boat ride over was very nice, not overcrowded. Neither was the beach or pool. We did the dolphin swim while there. What's nice about this excursion is that if some in your group want to do the dolphin swim and some just want to sit on the beach, you can all go over to the island together and at least spend part of the time together. It was very new and clean, and they are still building the cabanas in the dolphin swim area. Not worth renting a cabana however, for the small amount of time you are there. Plenty of shady areas/tables under the pavilions for those in your group who'd rather sit and relax with a good book out of the sun. Food is very expensive...$3 for a snack size bag of chips....but the best "bang for your buck" would be the Starbucks frozen drinks, which are close to what you would pay in a regular Starbucks, and fill your stomach up better than a small bag of chips. The excursion is a half day. We went in the morning, and were back on the ship for a late lunch.

[Spaniel Lover]

We did the "Balmoral Island Beach Day" excursion last September during a cruise on the Carnival Conquest... and it was the highlight of the cruise for us. I really enjoyed it.

 

Here's a picture of the little beach resort on Balmoral island. It was paradise.

 

 

I spent a LOT of time in the water there. It was warm and wonderful.

When I wasn't in the water, I was in a lounger... under one of those umbrellas.

 

 

The sand and the water and the weather were great... but you can get that on a lot of shore excursions. Three other things took this from being just another one of many enjoyable tropical shore excursions, to being an exceptionally good one:

 

• It was a private beach on a private island, so no locals were on the beach to bug you. No beggars, no one selling sunglasses, no one offering to braid your hair. Just a nice day on the beach, enjoying the sun and the water.
  
• Roaming waiters were ready at any time to run and get you a drink or some food from the restaurant and bar behind you. There was no need to get out of your lounger... they'll bring it to you.
  
• No cash required! Just show them your sail-and-sign card... and any food or drink purchases will show up on your onboard account... just like ordering something from a bar on the ship.

With all that said, however, there was one little thing about this shore excursion that bugged me. Directly behind us, near the bar and restaurant, they had a DJ playing tunes over loudspeakers that could be heard along the entire beach. None of the music was really the kind of stuff that this 56 year old guy would ever choose to listen to, if given the choice. And the problem was... there was no choice. There was no where you could go on that beach to escape it. In between the music (much of which was in Spanish... which was really odd, since we were NOT in Mexico or a Spanish-speaking country) was a whole lot of DJ chatter and several loud games (musical chairs, tug-o-war, etc.) to involve the crowd. To me, it was just annoying to listen to on a beach that should have been quiet and relaxing. But it was only annoying... it did NOT ruin my day. I still had a great time!

 

Back to the positive things about this shore excursion... no bus ride involved! It's on a private island. To get there, you just take about a ten minute walk from the cruise ship to a little dock nearby... where you board a boat that takes you to the island. The boat ride was something like a half an hour long. I enjoyed it, because we started chatting with a real cute couple from Mississippi that had a couple of cute kids... including an especially chatty young girl (four years old perhaps) that provided a lot of entertainment during the boat ride. I liked them so much that I just followed them when they got on to the island and I sat down a few loungers away from them on the beach. People watching is always fun on a cruise, and this cute little family was a lot of fun to watch. Anyway, it was a great shore excursion, and a great day.

 

You can read more about our cruise on the Carnival Conquest at http://www.jimzim.net/CarnivalConquest.html

[jreichow1972]

We did Balmoral in January and all of us thought it was a huge waste of money. Time wasted we will never get back. Rocky beach, miserable boat ride to and from, expensive crappy food and beverage, DJ blasting music and of course the jerks who yell at you for looking at the sting rays and dolphins. Don't even point your camera in that direction to take a picture of the sunset on your way out with your phone cause they will all scream at you.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Kimberlyr22]

Just did Balmoral on Thursday, and based on the replies here and my research prior to our trip, the excursion is hit or miss.

 

One major note - we were the only ship in port, so this excursion wasn't packed.

 

We had a fantastic time - my stepson and I swam with dolphins for an hour and then did pictures with them ($70/cd - only photo option). My husband did the beach day with lunch. The staff said he could come with us to the dolphin side and watch, but he wanted food so went to the beach side. He loved the food (cheeseburgers and fries) and bought a bucket of beers with s&s card ($49/six beers).

 

After the dolphins, we joined my husband, bought some lunch ($15-$18/person), and played in the ocean for another hour before heading back to the boat.

 

The beach is rocky - but $5 water shoes from Walmart takes care of that issue. Everyone at the excursion was pleasant. It takes a little patience to get there - my 13 year old stepson looked miserable by the time we got to the island, but he has zero patience. By the end of the excursion we couldn't get him to stop talking about the dolphins. If you're just looking for beach time, there may be a better option, but if your group is looking for different options (dolphins, sting rays, etc) balmoral is a great option.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited August 11, 2014 by Kimberlyr22

[cv322]

I hated it. I was on a B2B Splendor cruise 12/27/2013-1/12/2014 & had pre-booked Balmoral for both legs of the cruise. After doing the excursion the first cruise, I cancelled the 2nd one as soon as I got back on the ship.

 

We were the last ship to get to Nassau that day...and, aside from the fact that it took well over an hour to load the excursion boat to get there...when we DID get there....there were many excursions from other ships already there...we had to walk to the very end of the right side of the beach to get a chair :(...and that wasn't a quick walk.

 

The ocean was so incredibly shallow...that I had to walk out the length of a football field (where the ropes were)....and the ocean still just came up to my thighs.

 

The food was nothing to rave about...we had a coupon for a drink (watered down & awful), and a coupon for lunch...which was like a McDonald's.

 

I would never recommend this excursion.

Edited August 11, 2014 by cv322

[shakes1616]

Question about sign and sail cards in Balmoral. Do your drinks on Balmoral count for the Cheers program? Are they included or do you get the 25% discount? Is it completely separate from the drinks you get included in the Cheers program? Thanks!

Edited August 14, 2014 by shakes1616

[ryanpatricksmom]

It was a one and done for us.

[shakes1616]

I just found the answer to the Balmoral Cheers question I asked. For anyone else interested the answer is "No" :(

[cruisingmom12]

Cruised to Nassau June 2014 and decided to do a beach day/ stingray excursion. This was very disappointing and a huge waste of money...drinks and food VERY expensive, no activities...very boring. Will never do Balmoral again.

[sgttami]

I am not one to post negative reviews very often.

 

In this case, SAVE YOUR MONEY! It was beyond pathetic.

 

Without getting into details, SAVE YOUR MONEY!!

 

Went this past February while on Splendor.....did I say

 

SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!!!