I was excited for my first visit to Royal Caribbean's new beach club in The Bahamas, but a few things jumped out as surprises about this new offering.
I think the Royal Beach Club Paradise Island is poised to become easily the best thing you can do in Nassau. It's a high quality, limited capacity, beach offering exclusive to Royal Caribbean cruisers and it includes everything you'd want.
I tracked this project since its early inception, but a few things about my day weren't what I expected. After all, this is a shore excursion, and there are differences you should be aware of compared to any other shore excursion or a visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Here are a few surprises and fun observations I made while at Royal Beach Club Paradise Island.
Yes, the pools are heated
The number one question I've been asked since visiting the Royal Beach Club is about the pools.
Fear not, all of the pools are heated within the beach club. In fact, every beach club going forward will have heated pools.
Royal Caribbean recognized early on that having heated pools would be beneficial during the winter months, as The Bahamas can get warm, but not necessarily hot.
Combine that with strong breezes that are common for a barrier island that the club resides on, and having warm water is a good idea.
There's a mailbox to send postcards
A simple, yet fun idea was to include a mail drop on the island.
This beach club is not only in The Bahamas, but located within the country's capital of Nassau. So mail service is possible since the beach club isn't located on a remote island, as CocoCay is.
The mail drop claims someone comes once a day to check it.
Since you probably don't travel with postcards and international postage, they will sell you it at the nearby stand. It costs about $4 to buy and send a postcard.
This can be a fun souvenir to send home and get later, or to share FOMO with friends and families that didn't come on the cruise.
There are very few power outlets, so bring a power brick
Maybe it's just me, but I wanted to capture all the moments from my day. I think a lot of cruisers do too.
However, there's basically no power outlets to recharge your phone later.
The only power outlets I could find were in the cabanas that are available to rent. I could not find power outlets at any of the bars or restaurants.
I recommend bringing a portable charger with you (like this one for just $20) so you won't run out of battery. (This link contains an affiliate link that costs you nothing extra, but I make a small commission)
You need to bring photo ID with you, even if you're just going to the beach club
Unlike a visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay, you need to take photo ID with you off the ship.
Royal Caribbean doesn't need it, but you'll need it before getting back on the ship.
When it's time to head back to the ship, the ferry will drop you off in the Nassau cruise port. Even if you bypass all the shops and attractions, you need to show ID and your SeaPass card in order to get back on the pier and eventually the ship.
You could bring a passport, but a driver's license will work too. The port just wants to confirm you are who your SeaPass card claims to be.
The fritters don't have conch in them because it's not sustainable
In the name of research, I sampled everything on the menu at Paradise Grill. When I got to the "Fire Engine Fritters", something tasted different about it.
As it turns out, there's no conch in them.
I spoke with Royal Caribbean Vice President Food & Beverage, Linken D'Souza, and he said Royal Caribbean made the decision to not include conch because it's not a sustainable food.
The cruise line is very sensitive to environmental needs and being a part of solutions to protect the waters their ships visit.
The fritters weren't bad at all, and I thought with the "crack sauce" it came with had really good flavor.
Royal Caribbean hid security cameras in the lights
Maybe only I appreciate this level of "cruise nerd", but Royal Caribbean actually hid their security cameras so it doesn't take away from the tropical vibe.
An executive pointed out that they wanted the club's theming to really evoke a fun and tropical experience. Seeing hardware like a security camera detracts from it.
So if you pay close attention, the bottom of the lights on poles have a fisheye security camera that I would have never noticed until it was pointed out to me.
You can't use your SeaPass card to pay for anything in the beach club
I'm so used to CocoCay that I was a little surprised when I learned my SeaPass card wouldn't work on the island.
All the bars and souvenir shops take credit card, cash, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
In addition, it's a good idea to bring cash for tipping.
