A cruise to Nassau in the Bahamas was my first cruise experience. It was 1967. It was spring break my senior year in high school, and a group of classmates banded together to persuade our parents to part with $100. Way back then, that $100 covered a chartered bus from south Georgia to Miami, a night in a hotel, and a 3-day cruise to Nassau on the Eastern Cruise Line's Bahama Star. We even took along two carefully-selected chaperones, whose primary responsibility was to look the other way. We had four high school girls in an interior cabin that was smaller than some walk-in closets I've seen on today's cruise ships.
Although the ship was certainly no where as nice as those launched since then, and Nassau is not the most exotic place I've traveled to in the past 45 years, that senior trip cruise did get me hooked on cruising and international travel.
Many Caribbean cruises include a stopover in Nassau in the Atlantic Ocean, and there are still those 3-day cruises like the one I went on, although the ship has long since retired. (But not immediately after our group disembarked.)
Nassau in the Bahamas (c) Linda Garrison
We do the short Bahamas cruises as often as we can. (Living near a port makes it a little too easy)
My faorite things to do in Nassau is the Sting Ray Swim. Nassau’s is not nearly as well known as the famous ‘Sting Ray City’ in the Caymans, but having done both more than once, I’ve come to prefer the one in The Bahamas because you can actually SWIM around with the rays there, as oppoosed to standing in the water and watching them.
Have been going to Nassau since before I was born (Mom went in December, I was born in March). While the island has had its ups and downs there is much to recommend it as a place to visit for your first trip out of country, or returning for a short vacation. Few things are more relaxing than the view from Traveler’s Rest while sipping on a Banana Daquiri and munching on a grouper platter.
I should visit Bahamas because many people are going to the Atlantis Bahamas Hotel as the first family hotel destination in the World and some relatives had told me that the hotel is a beauty.