How we count the crowd

The crowd numbers on this site are a model of the day built from the cruise schedule. They are an estimate of the shape of the day, never a head count.

The model

1. Each ship brings its double-occupancy guest capacity (two per cabin). Real sailings can carry more or fewer.
2. About 85% of guests are assumed to go ashore.
3. The gangway opens about 30 minutes after the scheduled arrival; guests walk off over the next 90 minutes, most of them early.
4. They come back over the two hours before all-aboard, most of them late.
5. All-aboard is taken as 30 minutes before the scheduled sailing unless we have the line's own time.
6. Adding every ship gives the number ashore at each minute. "Quiet" means under 3,000 ship guests ashore.

What it is not

It is not a count of people in town, on a beach or in a bar. It ignores crew, hotel guests and residents, ships that run late, and how guests split between town, the beaches and their excursions. Use it to pick the quieter hours, not as a promise.

Where the numbers come from

• Calls, times and berths: Nassau Cruise Port's schedule (published through Sat, Nov 28); later dates from CruiseMapper. Checked daily.
• Ship capacity, crew and length: CruiseMapper's ship pages.
• Fares, hours, beaches, bars and excursions: the source named beside each one, with the date we checked it.
• Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Spotted something wrong? Every number has a source, so tell us which one and we will fix it. FAQ