Nassau rewards low expectations and a plan. The port area is a gauntlet of shops you can clear in five minutes, and then the real choices start. Junkanoo Beach is walkable and free, fine for two hours in the sand. The better move for families is a day pass at one of the beach clubs a short taxi ride out, where the water turns that impossible bottled-water blue.

History minded travelers can climb the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle in under an hour, and the rum cake samples at the straw market are the souvenir that actually gets eaten. Agree taxi fares before you get in, carry small US bills, and be back at the ship an hour earlier than you think you need. The ship truly does not wait.