RCCL Blue Lagoon Island Beach Break w. Lunch

[sadiwest]

Anyone who has done this through RCCL please give feedback.  Is this a scheduled return to the ship? They call it a "Ferry" to the island so I'm wondering if this rins regularly and we can return at a different time than the scheduled 5 hour duration.  

 

We're not genuinely beach people and are deciding between thos and staying onboard in Nassau (as many people do). We would probably still go if we could return sooner than 5 hours.

[Toddcan]

We love the beach, but hated this excursion. We did it in March this year. I would avoid it!!

 

There are a ton of ferry's that go there - so when you get off the ship, you find the correct tent where they check your name, and give you a bracelet.  Then you stand in line for 30 minutes or so to wait to board the ferry.  You need to take the same ferry back, since some of them go to other locations (I think), and some go to cruise terminals. However, if you find one going back to the cruise ports, they might let you on early. It's about a 30 minute ride, but the ferry traffic isn't meant to be a come-and-go shuttle type of service. 

 

But the experience on the island is horrible. We arrived late morning, and the beaches were all full. had to stand there and wait for people to leave to grab 2 loungers.   There are hardly any umbrellas so you are at the mercy of the sun. It was overcast that day for us, so it was ok.  

 

The lineups for the lunch were always very long (20 mins at least), so we never did end up eating.  

 

It's a nice enough place (note: there is a strong current that flows through the lagoon).  But, you feel like cattle.

[BecciBoo]

Yes, you can return sooner, they run the shuttle every hour I believe, we enjoyed our day there and the dolphin performances.  It is very family oriented with lots of blow up bouncy water things, if you go across the island there is a cove where the kids don't always frequent that adults would appreciate.  It's on the ocean side though so surf is more aggressive there.  Lunch was good.  This pic shows that beach.  The kiddie toys are in the lagoon, the dolphin stuff is to the left in the pic.  Todd posted at the same time.  We booked our trip through Blue Lagoon so did not go with a Rccl group.  But at that time they were doing the returns every hour.

 

I just looked at our movies and he's right, not many umbrellas, some palapas, but there are lots of palm trees.  

Edited June 28, 2023 by BecciBoo

[BecciBoo]

Tried to post the vid, didn't work.  We left at about 8:00 and had no problem with lines at all.  Never had a line at the lunch place.

 

Alyssa's review on You Tube: 

Edited June 28, 2023 by BecciBoo

[sadiwest]

They actually pushed our departure time back to 1:30 which tells me its going to be even more crowded by the time we go.  Thank you for the information.  

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, sadiwest said:

Anyone who has done this through RCCL please give feedback.  Is this a scheduled return to the ship? They call it a "Ferry" to the island so I'm wondering if this rins regularly and we can return at a different time than the scheduled 5 hour duration.  

 

We're not genuinely beach people and are deciding between thos and staying onboard in Nassau (as many people do). We would probably still go if we could return sooner than 5 hours.

I am a beach person so I always go. I book a cheaper one without the lunch. That has been booking the excursion with stingrays. You don’t have to do the stingrays can just go get a lounger. I did stingrays one time as it was fun but you don’t have to. The lunch is not very good. You can buy snacks and beverage ala carte. The ferry ride is somewhat long and boring. You can go back early as there are regular ferries that only go back to Paradise Island and not all the cruise port. We have walked around Atlantis and checked out shops there. If you are not a beach person I don’t see much reason to go to Blue Lagoon. You can watch the dolphins I guess. 

[Mum2Mercury]

Looking at other people's experiences, it's like we visited different places.  I strongly suspect a big part of it is the time of year in which one visits.  Personally, we are fall cruisers -- off season.  It'd be interesting to hear WHEN the people who experienced crowds were traveling.  

Our experience: 

- The ferry to the island is, as another poster commented, long and boring.  That's not the worst thing, but it does cut into your limited shore time; assume that between your trip out /your trip back, you'll spend an hour on that ferry. 

- We were on the first trip over, so it was fairly crowded -- most people want to get up and out early for excursions.  

- Before we exited, the ferry staff told us they would return to the island twice /gave us the times /told us we could choose our return trip.  Perhaps they only run twice in off season?  

- Plenty of people were on the beaches, but I wouldn't say they were crowded.  

- The middle of the island has trails and shade, but who goes to this island and doesn't want to stay on the beach? 

- If you're particularly prone to burning, perhaps you should wear a long-sleeved rash guard or purchase a pop-up sun shade.  

- I know we had lunch included in the price, but I can't remember any details -- not positive, not negative.  If we had encountered long lines, I think I'd remember.  

- We enjoyed Blue Lagoon and would return -- but we would not pay much to do so.  Having the "empty ship" to ourselves is a fairly close experience.  

Having said that: 

- Nassau is not a pleasant place (for the sake of new cruisers:  Nassau is the city where you'll dock -- Blue Lagoon is a small island some 30 minutes away -- you could potentially visit one or both).  On our last-December cruise my husband and I went into Nassau, and we agreed:  Never Again. Never.  We are not fearful people or difficult to make happy people, but this place is just awful.  

- Why did we react so strongly?  We genuinely felt unsafe as we were herded through a small bottleneck to exit the docks and enter the city -- if anything bad had happened, people would've been thrown to the ground and trampled.  I think seven ships were in port that day, so a multitude of cruisers were passing through that bottleneck.  We left the ship mid-morning, so we weren't in the first-wave crowd.  

- Yes, they are in the middle of construction in Nassau, but it doesn't look like it'll be any better once it's finished.  Again, we will never, never, never go into Nassau again (and we're not the only cruisers who feel that way).  

- We returned to the ship and went up to Windjammer for a drink.  Through the window, we noted that some excursions leave from INSIDE the cruise dock /those people don't have to go out into the city.  We agreed we'd be willing to do that.  The two ferries we saw were labeled Swim With Pigs and Blue Lagoon -- they may not be the only ferries /excursions that do not require entering the city, but they're the two we saw.  

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by Mum2Mercury

[GetToLivin]

If you're not really beach people I'd probably pass on this one. DH and I went because we are beach people, and I wasn't really overly impressed with it. I agree about the cove being nice, but when we were there they didn't have any chairs set up so unless you want to lay on a beach towel, I really didn't see the point of being over there other than to snap a few pics. The main beach was pretty busy with families so, not relaxing for us (it's not a huge beach) but great if you have kids. We mainly spent time at the bar and were absolutely grateful to be there v. in the office, so we still had a nice time, but I'd never go back 😬

[Scottdalfonso]

I'm glad you got a response to this, as we are doing the same thing and wondered the same thing! We wanted to do SOMETHING in Nassau, but not really IN Nassau, so figured this was fine. Read more positive than negative reviews and watched a few videos of it, seems fine for what we want- a few hours on the beach, mostly so our 11 y\o can swim and hang out in the ocean. The plan was do maybe 2 hours on the island then head back to check out the new port area before getting back on the ship. I still haven't seen an definitive answer about just leaving when you want, seems like its probably 1-2 times to leave, otherwise there until the end.  

[sadiwest]

25 minutes ago, Scottdalfonso said:

I'm glad you got a response to this, as we are doing the same thing and wondered the same thing! We wanted to do SOMETHING in Nassau, but not really IN Nassau, so figured this was fine. Read more positive than negative reviews and watched a few videos of it, seems fine for what we want- a few hours on the beach, mostly so our 11 y\o can swim and hang out in the ocean. The plan was do maybe 2 hours on the island then head back to check out the new port area before getting back on the ship. I still haven't seen an definitive answer about just leaving when you want, seems like its probably 1-2 times to leave, otherwise there until the end.  

Yeah. Im leaning towards canceling.  We saw Nassau last year and originally thought we'd stay on board. I know its a port where a lot of people do. 

 

I also dont want to get stuck there in the event we want to leave.  

[Scottdalfonso]

7 minutes ago, sadiwest said:

Yeah. Im leaning towards canceling.  We saw Nassau last year and originally thought we'd stay on board. I know its a port where a lot of people do. 

 

I also dont want to get stuck there in the event we want to leave.  

That's why we are getting off... it seems like so many people stay on, we decided to get off for a little bit. We got the excursion on sale, at a really good price, so figured why not. If we get stuck, we have a kid who will love just checking out the dolphins and sting rays until we go. 

[Mum2Mercury]

1 hour ago, GetToLivin said:

If you're not really beach people I'd probably pass on this one ...

Good advice.  At its heart, this is a beach day.  

1 hour ago, Scottdalfonso said:

... I still haven't seen an definitive answer about just leaving when you want, seems like its probably 1-2 times to leave, otherwise there until the end.  

You definitely cannot leave Blue Lagoon just any old time you want.  You'll be on an island 30-ish minutes away from the cruise port, and you will be dependent upon the ferry for your trip back.  If this is a line in the sand for you, perhaps you'd be happier going to Atlantis; that's a very popular excursion, and -- since you'd be on land -- you'd be able to call a taxi and leave when you please.  However, that would require going into Nassau, which I already said I will never do again.  

 

I suspect the number of times the ferry runs is dependent upon the season; that is, I suspect it will run more frequently in summer /high season.  

[rutgersgirl27]

We took a small boat going, and a large, two level ferry going back. A few cruise lines will offer excursions at a time, so they will offer ferries by cruise line. The ferry ride was really pleasant and we enjoyed the landscape. 

 

We found the beach closest to the dolphin exhibit to empty, with plenty of shade. And we had a great view of the dolphins, which was fun. We didn't really eat, we were with our kids who just wanted to play and swim. You don't have to sit on the beach, you can explore the island. It seemed like there were trails.

 

Was it the most picturesque beach I've ever been on? Not really. Did I get to lay under a palm tree, hear the ocean, and swim in the warm water with my family? Yes. 

[Mum2Mercury]

52 minutes ago, Scottdalfonso said:

That's why we are getting off... it seems like so many people stay on, we decided to get off for a little bit. We got the excursion on sale, at a really good price, so figured why not. If we get stuck, we have a kid who will love just checking out the dolphins and sting rays until we go. 

Note that you can't see the dolphins without paying for that excursion.  

[Scottdalfonso]

6 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Note that you can't see the dolphins without paying for that excursion.  

I've read in many other reviews that you can see them..and a few others...you just can't interact with them. You just have to walk over the bridge.  I've also seen that the side of the island is much less crowded,so I plan on checking that out 

[Mum2Mercury]

1 minute ago, Scottdalfonso said:

I've read in many other reviews that you can see them..and a few others...you just can't interact with them. You just have to walk over the bridge.  I've also seen that the side of the island is much less crowded,so I plan on checking that out 

Maybe it's changed -- I haven't been in Blue Lagoon since before the pandemic.  

[BecciBoo]

2 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Note that you can't see the dolphins without paying for that excursion.  

You just walk over there, you can't see the performances but you can see plenty of dolphin being trained in their pens and I took this video of one just having his own fun. Hope this video can be played.  Couldn't get it to work so I took a still phone photo of the video, he was tail walking.

Just takin a walk.MTS

Edited June 28, 2023 by BecciBoo

[BecciBoo]

As for Nassau itself, there are tons of things to do there outside the cruise port.  Don't know why people feel so unsafe.  We once took the public bus Jitney #10 I think, for $1 or 2 over to Breezes resort we did for a day, we loved it. I think we paid a day use fee about $50, got lunch and free drinks.  And we got to talk to natives on the bus which we enjoyed.  Not everyone who lives there is a criminal.  We've done the hotel across the port from the ship and to Junkanoo Beach and took a boat taxi over to Atlantis, there are many places you can go in there without spending any money even in the hotel lobby and still see some of the aquarium...had a good time in all those places, we never felt unsafe, but having done so much, the last few cruises we did stay onboard.

 

O yeah, you can take a water taxi tour too and see the harbor and go by all the movie stars houses, we did that once.

Edited June 28, 2023 by BecciBoo

[GetToLivin]

13 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

We once took the public bus Jitney #10 I think, for $1 or 2 over to Breezes resort we did for a day, we loved it.

I was looking at Breezes for day-passes, when you were there did they have umbrellas available on the beach? The photos I've been finding show a few palapas but I'm not seeing much in the way of umbrellas

[BecciBoo]

13 minutes ago, GetToLivin said:

I was looking at Breezes for day-passes, when you were there did they have umbrellas available on the beach? The photos I've been finding show a few palapas but I'm not seeing much in the way of umbrellas

This was quite a few years back but I think there were plenty of umbrellas...tons of loungers everywhere and on the beach, it was an older hotel, but they have updated it since then.  We were perfectly happy.  We took kayaks out and paddled around too.  Swim up bar etc. Just looked at reviews, they like it but I see post Covid it is $80 for the day pass..LOL

Edited June 28, 2023 by BecciBoo

[teddie]

7 minutes ago, GetToLivin said:

I was looking at Breezes for day-passes, when you were there did they have umbrellas available on the beach? The photos I've been finding show a few palapas but I'm not seeing much in the way of umbrellas

We did day passes at the RIU through resortforaday.com. It was ok.  Beach, pool, towels, lunch, and liquor all-inclusive.  Next time we will stay onboard, as we've been to Nassau a few times already..

 

Teddie

[Charles4515]

47 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

Don't know why people feel so unsafe. 

They read it somewhere on the internet......

[BecciBoo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSNmqBfwTQg

This You Tube is of the Lobby at Atlantis.  This is a fun walkabout absolutely free to come in here and have lunch etc. tour the village of shops outside the hotel too.  You just take the water Taxi over from the pier.  We enjoyed it.  The Marina has all sorts of high roller yachts docked in it too.  Ones with helicopters etc.  We enjoyed walking around in there very much.

[Mum2Mercury]

4 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

You just walk over there, you can't see the performances but you can see plenty of dolphin being trained in their pens and I took this video of one just having his own fun. Hope this video can be played.  Couldn't get it to work so I took a still phone photo of the video, he was tail walking.

Just takin a walk.MTS 226.88 MB · 7 downloads

This was not true when we visited Blue Lagoon, but that was years ago.  

3 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

... Don't know why people feel so unsafe ... Not everyone who lives there is a criminal ... 

We felt unsafe leaving the pier /entering the city because the crowd was very heavy, and everyone was sort of being pushed along.  After leaving the pier, everyone had to funnel through a bottleneck area and people were pushing and shoving.  The ground was uneven, and the entrance was closed off on both sides, forcing everyone to crowd into a narrow area.  If anything had happened, people would've been knocked down and trampled.  We're only in our 50s, but my husband has some mobility issues, and I was very afraid for him.  It was not a safe situation.  

 

I don't think anyone said criminals.  

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, sadiwest said:

Anyone who has done this through RCCL please give feedback.  Is this a scheduled return to the ship? They call it a "Ferry" to the island so I'm wondering if this rins regularly and we can return at a different time than the scheduled 5 hour duration.  

 

We're not genuinely beach people and are deciding between thos and staying onboard in Nassau (as many people do). We would probably still go if we could return sooner than 5 hours.

You can return at any time. We actually hated the island. The beach is crummy. The water in the lagoon is too shallow.  I suppose if you had small kids it would be ok. But, being older,,, we’ll being down right old, we would never do it again or recommend it.