Taking my first cruise in April. If you stay on-board when the ship visits a foreign port, like Nassau, is the ship relatively empty where you can do things that otherwise might be super crowded? Same question for Castaway Cay. If you have to be on board at 5 pm, does it benefit you to get back at 2 to have the ship relatively empty?
We stayed onboard in Nassau (except for about 30 minutes to see the market that is right there) while on the Dream in 2015. It was slightly less crowded, but not significantly so. Many people don’t get off, especially in Nassau as the port area is a bit dicey.
I am not sure about Castaway Cay, we stayed on the island as long as possible, it was amazing.
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Exactly. Used to be that the ship would be relatively empty in Nassau, but no so much anymore.
A cannot imagine giving up Castaway just for a relatively empty ship. Castaway is one of my primary reasons for cruising DCL. It’s heaven on earth.
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Thanks for the insight. We may get off in Nassau just because it will be my sons’ first time in a foreign country, but going there isn’t a big draw, so I only see us staying off the boat for an hour or so. I guess I do need to see how close it is to Atlantis. That may be a nice side trip, but not to get a day pass to swim. I was there in May one year and the water was chilly!
We got off the boat for the same reason, my daughter and son had been to Canada but since we drove there, she said it didn’t count. So we got off, took a picture, browsed the market and bought a Christmas ornament, then headed back to the ship. Atlantis looks fun, but for us the cruise was part of a long trip that involved WDW, Sea World, and Universal tickets as well as the cruise, so I didn’t want to spend another penny. 
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Castaway Cay is also the Bahamas, so also a foreign country. 
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Do they stamp your passport?
No passports aren’t stamped. My kids still have empty passports. We didn’t even take our passports off the ship.
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That makes me a bit sad.
I think it has to do with departure and return ports being the same that you only go through customs when you leave the ship back in the US.