Shore Excursions

The Best Shore Excursions Offered by Cruise Ships in the Bahamas

Most people who take cruises like to go on shore excursions when they reach their destinations. Shore excursions give people a chance to see the sights and enjoy a variety of activities. Depending upon which cruise line you travel with, you may have many different choices of shore excursions for your trip to the Bahamas.

Carnival Cruise Lines has an interesting shore excursion called the America's Cup Racing Experience. This excursion lasts three hours, during which you will compete on one of two teams in a race to the finish line. You will get to sail in the America's Cup Yachts that are available for this activity. There are racing chores to get in on, including trimming the sails and steering the helm. If you'd rather, you can sit back and relax. All in all, it is a fun day.

Carnival also has shore excursions into the city. The Ardastra Gardens, Zoo and Conservation Center are a part of their city tour. The Zoo houses most of the endangered land animals in the Bahamas. The gardens are beautiful with a vast array of flowers and other plants. You will see a trained flamingo performance, and feed parrots by hand. This is all topped off by a tour of the city sights along with a visit to the Straw Market.

Disney Cruise Lines offers shore excursions to Blackbeard's Cay Stingray and Beach Adventure. You get to go to the private island and swim with and pet friendly stingrays. Interestingly enough, the lower age limit for this shore excursion is just three years of age. The whole excursion, which lasts about five hours, includes beach time with snorkeling. Stingray adventures are available with many of the other cruise lines as well.

Royal Caribbean touts their dolphin experience shore excursion as the best Nassau trip they offer. You are allowed to see the dolphins up close, pet them, and feed them. This all takes place in the location where Flipper, from Universal Studios' 1996 movie resides.

Other great adventure shore excursions offered by Royal Caribbean are the glass-bottom-boat tour and a trip to Predator Lagoon where sharks and barracuda can be seen. Another interesting shore excursion offered is a tour of Fort Charlotte. That is where the Pirates of Nassau Museum is located. This is a great trip for kids.

Holland America Cruise line offers numerous shore excursions in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. One is the Eco Lagoon Kayak Adventure. An island guide takes you along Bone Fish Lagoon to observe the protected habitat of various species of tropical plants and trees. Because you will be kayaking on the lagoon, it is considered a strenuous activity and you can only go if you are in excellent physical condition.

Many of the shore excursions are similar on all the cruise lines. For example, the dolphin experience is not strictly a Royal Caribbean trip. If you want to go on a specific shore excursion, you can go online and find out if your cruise has that excursion. If it is important enough to you, you might even want to change to a different cruise to get the shore excursions you want.