Nassau Bahamas
We have made it to our second full day on our cruise which was also the day we visited Nassau, Bahamas. We docked in Nassau about 7 am, but Stefanie and I decided that we were going to have a lazy morning. The ship opened up for disembarking at 8 am, but we had a later breakfast and ventured off the ship around 9 am. The only thing on our agenda for the day was to pick up a few souvenirs for our family members and browse the local area.
We accomplished just that while we visited Nassau by visiting the local stores, Straw Market, doing some exploring on our own and so much more!! It wasn’t quite as good as Coco Cay, but it was still very fun to see! When you arrive into the port there are hundreds of “locals” trying to get you to hire them for the day. They all offered a cab ride, horse drawn carriage rides and so much more, but all of course came with a price. Just remember that the original price they state can often times be bartered down to more “reasonable” price. But we politely declined all of their offers because we had our own agenda for the day.
After you make it through the first part of town there are then few blocks of shops, but I strongly suggest the straw market because you can barter for a lower price. We did take advantage of a free necklace that we could pick up at one of the local stores because we had been given a coupon. They of course are hoping that you go into the jewelry store and spend money, but we just collected the freebie and browsed for a couple minutes and made our way to the next store. We had to visit De Sol and pick up a coloring changing key chain for my daughter and Stefanie picked up a few items for her kids as well.
But then we were off to explore Nassau a little more and went off the beaten path to see the more “local” side of things. They had some gorgeous flowers, churches and so much more to see that it was a lot of fun just to have the day off.
After we explored to our hearts were content we went back into the more “touristy” areas and did our shopping, watched the action of the port and even grabbed a bite to eat. I picked up a conch shell for our shell collection for just $3! The vendor also had Puffer Fish for $20 and Starfish for $5, but I decided I only needed one of them for our collection.
After that we ended up at the fountain area to watch the activities around us, then we decided to live on the wild side and grab a bite to eat. We stopped at a local “bar” of sorts and ordered Conch Fritters. We finally received our order and they were different. The few pieces of conch we had were very rubbery with a few pieces of crunchy bites mixed in. They were a lot of breading a lot like a cross between a funnel cake and hush puppie dough things with bite sized pieces of conch meat that was rubbery (like a scallop) with crunchy pieces (a lot like a water chestnut would) but I couldn’t say what the crunch was. I’m not sure I would eat it again, but it was a good experience.
We then headed into the Straw Market and I picked up a t-shirt and a gorgeous Turquoise bracelet for under $30 total. All in all it was a great day in Nassau! But I would strongly suggesting shopping the Straw Market first because you can barter for a lower price than their asking price. Then browse the local shops for things you didn’t find or just as a fun way to spend your time. Bring lots of smaller bills as well so then you have the full power of bartering on your side!
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This trip was provided by Tours4Fun and Cruise4Fun but all experiences and opinions are my own.
Shasta says
My husband and I took this same trip for our honeymoon last year. It was so much fun!
Heidi says
It was a fun trip!