The Princess Cays Island is a Private Island with over 100 acres of white-sand beachfront access and is one of the Carnival Cruise destination ports.
Our first stop on our Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas was the Princess Cays Island. This Private Island has over 100 acres of white-sand beachfront access, with a portion of the land belonging to the cruise line. It is incredibly beautiful! Ships can’t dock on the island, so you have to take small tenders from ship to shore and back. Immediately we loved how clear and blue the waters are as we took the tender to the island.
While at the island, you will enjoy amazing scenery, lounge chairs and swimming in the ocean without having to fight the crowds from other cruise ships. The temperature of the waters was perfect and we loved how calm the waves were. They have cabana rentals and rentals for tubes and other floating devices. We brought our own tubes with us and were able to use those instead of renting tubes.
The first thing the girls noticed about the island was how cool the sand is. Even though the sun was shining, the coral the beach rests upon keeps the sand a perfectly cool temperature. We loved exploring the island with our feet in the sand.
Since the Princess Cays Island is private and owned by the cruise line, lunch and drinks are included in your cruise price. They served a buffet with an assortment of hot dogs, hamburgers, variety of salads, fruit and desserts. We enjoyed eating outside along the beach.
How we spent our day on Princess Cays Island
We booked the Glass-Bottom Boat Cruise excursion. We headed straight to the boat when we got on the island. This boat ride lasted for an hour and we had a great time! The host of the boat was friendly and entertaining. She told us all about their culture and sang us their national anthem. We saw a lot of different fish, corals, sea turtles and even caught a quick glimpse of a shark!
After our boat tour, we walked around awhile to explore the island. It’s a beautiful island full of colorful buildings, some shops and vendors alongside the beach. You can take many other excursions which will take you on tours of the island if you wish to see more.
Related: Family Travel Adventures
We spent the majority of our time in the ocean, floating on the tubes we brought. The water was a perfect temperature and the waves were very calm and relaxing. We literally didn’t want to leave the water, except to take a break for lunch or drinks.
When we finally did take a break from the ocean, we enjoyed sitting at the bars with frozen concoctions (they have kid friendly ones as well). We enjoyed the live beach music as well.
We had an amazing day at the Princess Cays Island. The only downside to this particular stop was that we had to wait in line awhile to get back on the tender to take us back to the boat. We waited until closer to the end of our time to get in line because we were having too much fun. Had we headed back a little sooner, maybe we could have beat the crowds! If you haven’t already, you can read about our second stop on our Carnival Cruise where we stopped at Nassau and went swimming with dolphins.
Princess Cays looks absolutely amazing. Visiting the Bahamas is definitely on my bucket list. Great post!
Thank you!!
Looks like an amazing and fun trip! Can’t wait to visit 🙂
Looks beautiful and family friendly! I have been on many cruises, and I get it…. You want to stay in port as long as possible (which can mean a long wait to get back on the ship) or tender back an hour early and don’t wait. You must have really enjoyed yourself to choose the former!
what a lovely place! great way to spend some vacation days. the place is beautiful and sounds like you and your family enjoyed it a lot. I hope to get the chance to go there one day
This trip looks amazing! We are working towards saving money for a cruise for next year. I can’t wait to go!
Those beach houses are so cute. My next trip is a beach trip.
I would absolutely love to go on a cruise one day and how wonderful does this look as a stop! Such a beautiful Island.
It looks amazing! I grew up in the south pacific so that blue water brings back so many memories. Im glad you guys enjoyed every minute you had there. Memories you will never forget!
ooo this looks like so much fun! I”m loving all the bright colors and wish I was there now!
Princess Cays looks absolutely amazing. It looks like you and your family had a great trip. What a great vacation.
This looks like a great place to take a vacation. Visiting the Bahamas is definitely be my next trip. Looks like you and your family had a great vacation.
Oh my goodness! This place is breath-taking! Makes me wanna visit the beach again soon.
What an amazing place. Bahamas will be listed as one of my Bucket Lists.
Looks like an amazing and fun trip! I can’t wait to see these place.
Oh my goodness! Princess Cays looks absolutely lovely! That’s amazing that a cruise ship stops at a private island! The girls look like they are really having a wonderful time – who wouldn’t, right?
My hubby and I have been discussing where we need to go on our next trip, and now I know where I want to go!
Wow what an amazing island! It sounds like you all had a lot of fun – great photos!
How fun! I’ve never been to a private island before! It looks like you had an amazing trip. Love how colorful the island looks!
I am craving some sand and sun after your post. The excursions looks fun too.
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Wow this place looks incredibly idyllic. Those bright beach huts are everything! So glad you had such a great time.
I’m going to be visiting the Bahamas very soon! But only Nassau for a few hours as part of a cruise 🙂 But your beautiful pics have still given me a great idea of what to expect. I can’t wait!
looks so lovely, warm and fun! I need a vacay!
A cruise sounds like a wonderful family vacation especially with a private island day trip getaway included. I didn’t realise until last night that cruise ship companies buy entire islands for their guests entertainment and relaxation.
This looks like such a fun time. I have been dying to jetset off to somewhere tropical.
The Princess Cays looks so beautiful! Warm water and a sandy beach is the perfect vacation.
Love it! I am loving the color of the water. I have been dying to visit the Bahamas, never been
That water looks absolutely beautiful! I’m totally jealous. What a great trip to plan with your family!
This trip look amazing! Definitely adding adding this to my bucket list! And I totally adored those little beach houses!!
The view is amazing! Glad to see the kids having fun! 🙂
LOOK AT THE BLUE WATER AND THE BEACH. BREATH TAKING!! I need to plan a trip to the Bahamas for sure!
Looks like a great place to visit. I’ll definitely go here one day with my family. Will be saving this! Next trip to the Bahamas.
Amazing – the water is so beautiful and I am sure it was the most memorable experience. Looks like you had an awesome time.
Oh my, the colour of the water is absolutely swoon-worthy! I need to book a vacation here ASAP! 🙂
I love the Bahamas and this looks like a great reason to take a Carnival Cruise. =)
we go to the bahamas every year – it’s such a beautiful place!
The color of that water!!! So amazing. I’ve always wanted to try a glass bottom boat adventure and now I’m even more determined to make it happen. Thanks for sharing your trip.
That island is so beautiful. I’ve never seen water that color before, who knew that water could be turquoise.
I wish I had known Carnival had their own private island before my hubby and I booked our cruise! We are going on a Princess one in April. The picnic lunch and cute cabanas look so fun!
Wow, what an awesome place to relax! The science teacher in my loves that your girls noted the temperature of the sand. And the Mom in me is impressed you know the reason for it!
I have always wanted to go to the Bahamas. Now that I have read about the Private princess Cays Island, I want to go even more!
Wow how clear the water is! And the beach is beautiful! This is a fantastic vacation for your family 🙂
This trip looks amazing. I am looking forward to going on a cruise in about 6 weeks time.
Bahamas is in my bucket list.
Looks like you guys had so much fun.That water is so inviting
This is so amazing! You’re so lucky to be there right now!
The sun, the sand, the food … ! All of it looks like a pretty good life – vacation or not. I haven’t been to the Bahamas in 25 years, but I can still remember the warmth of the water. Gorgeous!! xo Evelyn, Path of Presence
The Princess Cays Island is a paradise. The water is so pristine and the views are absolutely amazing. What a wonderful destination for family trips!
It looks amazing, the Bahamas somewhere I’ve always wanted to go to – i’ve travelled extensively but never found my way to the Caribbean as yet and it really is on my bucket list !
I have been to the Bahamas but not the private islands. This looked amazing and your girls are adorable!
\i have always wanted to visit the Bahamas and one day i will make it happen its such a beautiful island
This looks like the most idyllic, the most perfect island. Those beach huts and that white sand. Summer dreaming now.
Wow, looks amazing and the water so beautiful. I’ve never been on a cruise but always thought about it. Maybe soon…
Great that they have cabanna for some to stay. Love thw view and the mere thought of relaxing by thw beautiful place.