If your cruise is stopping in Nassau on Tuesday, May 12, there’s one important thing you need to know before you start planning your day ashore.
The Bahamas is going dry.
Well, temporarily dry.
As part of The Bahamas’ general election day, alcohol sales will be prohibited nationwide during election hours, which are scheduled from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. That means if you’re planning to spend the day in Nassau, you may want to adjust your expectations a bit.
And by “adjust your expectations,” I mean if your entire port day was built around getting absolutely destroyed at Señor Frog’s and providing free entertainment for everyone else as you stumble back to the ship with vomit on your shoes, you’re going to have to save that charming little performance for another time.
May 12 is not your day.
This Isn’t Just a Nassau Bar Thing
This alcohol ban isn’t just some random rule at one bar or one beach club. It applies during election hours across The Bahamas, and that includes Nassau.
It also includes Royal Caribbean’s new Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, which is going to be a very important note for anyone sailing on Utopia of the Seas that day and planning to visit the beach club.
Yes, even the all-inclusive-style beach club experience is expected to be impacted. If your perfect day involved a pool chair and a steady parade of frozen drinks, you may want to mentally prepare for lemonade.
Still refreshing.
Which Ships Are Scheduled to Be in Nassau on May 12?
According to the Nassau cruise schedule, three ships are scheduled to call on Nassau on Tuesday, May 12:
- MSC Seaside
- Utopia of the Seas
- Caribbean Princess
So if you’re sailing on one of those ships and Nassau is on your itinerary that day, this is your friendly little heads up.
MSC Seaside passengers heading into Nassau should expect bars and restaurants ashore to be impacted during the election hours. Caribbean Princess passengers should expect the same. Utopia of the Seas passengers have the added wrinkle of Royal Beach Club Paradise Island being part of the conversation, since alcohol service there is also expected to be suspended during the ban.
No ships are scheduled to call on Freeport that day, so this is mainly a Nassau issue for traditional cruise port calls.
Cruisers Were Already Caught by Surprise Once
This is not the first time cruise passengers have run into this.
On April 30, during advance polling in The Bahamas, some cruisers were surprised to find out that alcohol sales were shut down during the day. That included passengers visiting Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, where some guests had purchased passes that included alcoholic beverages.
As you can imagine, finding out after the fact that your “unlimited open bar” experience has been downgraded probably didn’t go over especially well.
Royal Caribbean reportedly issued refunds in the form of onboard credit to affected guests, but the bigger issue was the lack of warning. Nobody likes surprises on vacation unless the surprise is a free cabin upgrade, a random onboard credit, or discovering the buffet actually has crispy bacon.
A dry beach club day? Not usually high on the list.
What About Drinking Onboard?
The ban applies to alcohol sales in The Bahamas during election hours. Cruise ships are a different situation, so passengers should check with their cruise line for exactly what will and won’t be available onboard while docked in Nassau.
In most cases, cruise ships can operate under their own rules once you’re onboard, and there is no anticipated change to alcohol sales onboard.
And if you’re visiting Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, keep an especially close eye on communications from Royal Caribbean. Since the beach club is in Nassau and not a private island like Perfect Day at CocoCay, guests should expect the May 12 restrictions to affect alcohol service there during the election window.
And for anyone who was planning to become the unofficial dockside entertainment by 3 p.m., consider this your official notice: the show has been postponed.