This story is about me but the lessons reinforce what you’ve heard for a long time; do not book shore excursions from the cruise lines. On September 4th, we showed up at the Port of NYC fully aware that we would get diverted from Bermuda due to Katia. Sure enough, we were put on a FL/Bahamas itinerary – the identical itinerary offered by the Norwegian Jewel. Without having the ability to get to my third party shore excursion providers (I always recommend for my travel guests), we booked a Disney excursion for Port Canaveral and a Wyndham Cable Beach day pass for Nassau.
So, here is how our two cruise line provided shore excursions played out. We were escorted onto a bus (one of three large coaches) that didn’t have enough seats for us for the the Disney trip, and the price was a little steep as was expected.
Wyndham Cable Beach Nassau
Nassau was another story and not a pleasant one. After debarking the Norwegian Gem, we waited outside the ship in the scorching heat for 45 min past the meeting time. Initially, there was absolutely no indicator of where to assemble for the tour. After asking ship personnel, we were told where to wait. Question: why do we need to wait near the ship went we have to get out of the port and why so long? We were eventually escorted through the port up to where a minibus picked us up for transfer to Cable Beach which was fantastic. Questions: why did we have to wait for 45 minutes for an already brief day trip. The ship staff had no explanations for the delay nor did they seem to care in the slightest bit. Once we boarded the minibus, we were greeted with wonderful air conditioning and a pleasant driver. The day at Wyndham Cable Beach resort was great but could have been even better if I could have booked via my preferred channels to save, time, money and frustration.
