Ahoy there Ashley and welcome to planDisney!
As a seasoned sailor on the seas, I hope that I can bestow upon you some nautical knowledge ahead of your voyage this spring. Once of the things I really enjoy doing on any cruise is taking advantage of the
Port Adventures that are available to really add an extra bit of enrichment to any expedition!
It sounds like you're heading to sunny Nassau for your
Blue Lagoon Island Dolphin Encounter (N21), and getting there is almost a whole adventure in itself! On my last visit, once we disembarked from the ship the duration of the entire experience counted the travel time along the pier which may be around 15 minutes or longer depending on the speed of the folks in your dispatched group and the berth where the ship is docked in the Port itself. From there, you can anticipate another ride on a ferry boat that took us just under half an hour each way; we found that estimating an hour on either end of the experience just for travel was a good way to conceptualize the amount of time that we had actually spent on the island.
In my opinion, the lengthy ride out was worth it as
Blue Lagoon Island definitely lived up to its name. The views were simply breathtaking with the contrast of the sand against the azure waters of the ocean pools and when we went, it was nice to experience slightly smaller crowds there compared to
other attractions in Nassau. While offerings are subject to availability and change without notice, in my experience we had just about 2 - 3 hours to enjoy the activities and leisurely surroundings of the island. I definitely recommend snagging a hammock if there are any available - I rank it among my Top Ten Best nap locations I've experienced while sailing the Caribbean!
You'll be happy to hear that with all of the Port Adventures I've taken over the years, we've only been late on the return to the ship twice. In both cases, since we were booked directly with Disney Cruise Line they knew exactly which guests were missing and stalled the departure until everyone was safely back on board. (The same unfortunately, cannot be said for guests who try to "risk it" by booking their excursions independently, and I've also seen my share of folks wistfully waving from the pier as we pull away!)
One more thing that you might want to be aware of is that the Dolphin Encounter staff will be in charge of taking any photos or video footage which will be available for an additional fee following your session, as you won't be allowed to take any yourself. On our visit the packages that they offered were at about the same cost of what we spent on a ticket for the Port Adventure itself - just a heads up!
Please feel free to head back aboard planDisney to ask any more questions you might have for your upcoming expeditions on land or at sea,
I'm always happy to help lend my Tips and Tricks to fellow travelers.
Wishing you all the best on your upcoming aquatic adventures!
Prince