Port Rating:

After we left that beach we did some shopping and ate lunch on Paradise Island and then took a cab back to the port at Nassau. Both cab drivers were colorful characters who were as interested in entertaining us as they were in transporting us. We paid $4 per person there and back, which seems to be the going rate, and was quite reasonable considering it was a fifteen minute ride and came with an impromptu educational tour given by our driver.

I had heard about Junkanoo beach, and read a couple reviews of it that said it was a nice, peaceful beach near where the cruise ships dock. Well, the second part was correct, but the beach itself was a disappointment. When I saw it I was very glad we had taken a cab to Paradise Island. Junkanoo reminded me of a commercial ship yard, with large cranes and industrial ships docked around it. It was not a pretty beach, though the water was still the same clear blue as the other beaches. We didn't spend much time at Junkanoo, and instead went shopping for some souvenirs at the Straw Market. Again, the vendors were very pushy, which I'm sure is par for the course at such destinations, but it had the opposite of the intended effect and made us leave the market faster than we probably would have.

It wasn't awful, but when I start planning my next cruise, I will be looking for one that does not have Nassau on the itinerary.