Rick and I were so happy to find ourselves back in the Caribbean to escape the freaking polar vortex that took over Colorado in mid-January!

We made a little trip down to Miami and then onboard The Freedom of the Seas to head to the Bahamas for the weekend.

We’ve been to the Bahamas a few times together and debated whether or not we’d even get off the ship when docked in Nassau. I started looking at things to do there and came across a Nassau Rum Tasting Tour that sounded like a lot of fun.

I personally enjoy rum, especially from Jamaica, and figured this would be a neat way to see more of Nassau and learn about its culture – especially its drinking culture!

If you’re thinking of doing a rum tour in Nassau, read our review of our experience with Island Routes!

Review of our Rum Tour of Nassau

Our highlight reel:

This tour is about three hours and is billed as a walking tour, but the walking is pretty minimal in my opinion. The tour starts at John Watling’s Distillery, then we stop at Graycliff, a speakeasy, and the Pirate Republic Brewing Company.

Our tour included transfers, but honestly? They weren’t needed. It was actually a bit confusing on the day of our tour as it simply said pickup at the cruise ship pier. The pier is huge!

It took a few phone calls and phone tag to figure out where to go and meet our bus driver. We did get it sorted but when we were dropped off, we both said we could have just walked to the distillery on our own – as many of the others on our tour did.

Another couple said they booked through Viator and the transfer was not included. I’d recommend that route, especially if you have service or GPS enabled while there. At the end of the day, it was fine. But then we were supposed to get a ride back to the cruise ship pier but we were only a block away. I think we could walk it!

Highlights of the Nassau rum tour:

• Pirate history: We learned about the Bahamas’ history of piracy and pirates, and even stopped at a pirate-themed brewery! Had we not had so many rum drinks, we would have stayed to sample some of their brews.
• Rum history: We also learned about the history of rum in the Caribbean and on the islands. How it’s made, the different types of rum (ones for mixing and ones for sipping), and how it was transported.
• Rum tasting: Obviously the highlight of the tour was all the rum we got to drink. Paging, Captain Jack Sparrow! The tour included three cocktails, one made with coconut rum, a rum runner, and a rum punch, as well as five tastings of straight rum. The tastings are small, but we definitely felt buzzed after this tour.
• Food tasting: The tour also includes a few food tastings! We had wings with our coconut drink, we sampled some chocolates, rum cake, and conch fritters.

This was definitely a fun way to spend the morning in Nassau as we did the 10:30 a.m. tour, but don’t expect this to be a full meal as it concerns the food tastings. These are very light bites as the focus is on the rum tasting portion.

Tour guides

Our main tour guide was a woman named Net and she had a new employee, Jason, shadowing her on our tour. The guides were friendly, fun, and engaging. We were able to get to know them and ask questions and they made sure to keep our group safe and together as we walked to each stop.

Group size & pace

This was a small group tour and we had about 10 people on our excursion. We always had enough room to spread out without it becoming hard to hear our guides.

The pace was pretty slow for this tour. We started at John Watling’s Distillery and spent maybe up to an hour there before walking a few blocks to the chocolate factory. We spent the least amount of time there and then moved on to the speakeasy for our actual tasting and mixology session where we made our own rum-based cocktail. This was another spot we spent I’d say at least 30 or 45 minutes at before our last stop which was also only a few blocks away.

Booking information

Here’s a rundown of what you need to know to book this rum tour.

• Duration: 3-hour tour (I’d estimate we spent about 30 minutes to an hour at each stop)
• Distance: Less than a mile, walking tour
• Days offered: Daily
• Times: 10:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m.
• Price: $109 per adult (with transportation)
• Meeting point: Varies based on transportation option but the tour starts at John Watling’s Distillery
• Tickets: Buy tickets online 

Tips for the Nassau rum and food tour

• Wear comfortable shoes: You will be walking on this tour and Nassau doesn’t exactly have amazing sidewalks.
• Bring water: Stay hydrated! You’ll be in the tropics and drinking quite a bit of rum. Be sure to balance that out with some water.
• Bring an umbrella or jacket: We almost got rained on during our tour so prepare for the tropical weather!
• Tip your guide: Lastly, like we always say, if you enjoyed your tour be sure to show your appreciation to the guide.

Do you enjoy food and drink tours when you travel? Tell us what you think in the comments!