Crystal Palace Beach Day

[justacruisin]

Has anyone done this Royal Caribbean excursion? If so, can you tell me if there is fair to good snorkeling off the beach?

[scubagirrl]

There no good snorkeling off the Wyndham beach./ Actually, it's a small manmade lagoon. BUT... you can wander next door to the Radisson and check out a small area on the west side.
Still.. this is not great snorkeling, just a few fishes in the coral.
For good snorkeling, you'll need to access the sea gardens by boat.

[justacruisin]

To Scubagirl: Thanks for the information. It seems from reading posts that, as you say, there really isn't any good snorkeling from the beach in Nassau.

[CAT GIRL]

I'm also wondering about this excursion. The information is that it's a
6 hr and 30 min tour. Is it far from the ship? Would there be a
problem in catching a cab on our own to get back to the ship? Could we
go to the hotel on our own and pay a fee to use the facitlities. RCL
is charging $42 per person. I would probably only want to stay there
for 2/3 hours and and wondering if I could do it cheaper on my own.
Thanks for any info.

CAT GIRL

[royal girl]

I've been to Crystal Palace a few times on vacation, and you can easily hop aboard the city "bus" shuttle that goes back and forth from the straw market (where the cruise ships are) right to the front door of the Crystal Palace for $1. I have NEVER seen anyone check for ID to see if you are a guest there or not. Honestly, the beach is not that great there. But the beach at the Radisson (next door) seemed nicer.