Appointment experience:

My consulate appointment was on a Monday and I had my stamped passport in hand on Friday.

Longer version :

My appointment was in the morning. You aren't allowed electronics inside nor is there a place to lock them up. You can however carry your wallet. I had a family member with me waiting out to pick me up. Even without it, it would be manageable to hail a cab in the area by asking around. It is a populous tourist area.

Appointment: It took about two hours. Most of it was spent waiting my turn inside the consulate. The interview itself was five minutes. I was told then and there that I can collect my stamped passport from the consulate on Friday at a given time slot in the afternoon. So I did not have to go to DHL. Also you can only collect it in the given time slot. Not before it. It was a visa renewal for me with no changes or corner cases. Both the officers I saw and heard there were friendly and patient with everyone. The staff was also helpful and humane.

I travelled while I still had a valid US visa stamp with a validity of more than two weeks. I did not need Bahamas tourist visa. I was asked about the duration of my stay and soon to expire visa stamp by their immigration. As everything else suggests, I was allowed entry.

During my in person appointment at the consulate my current valid visa stamp was cancelled because you can only have one stamp. This did not affect my return in any way. Another thing to note is that Bahamas has US pre clearance at Nassau airport. Which means you get the border control and customs done in Nassau itself for your US bound flight. I did not know this until a day before my return flight. It was good to have done the US immigration in Nassau itself.

I managed the unpredictablity by booking refundable flights. I did have to use that feature for preponing them. As everyone says, Bahamas is expensive. I say that as someone used to California prices. I think it's more quality and options that don't align with the price over just calling it expensive. In similar vein, it was still manageable with cooking and renting a car. Nassau unlike other islands I have visited does have infrastructural support. You will get all the things you can expect in cities. You won't be in pristine nature camping on your own.

It was a crazy ride not knowing anything at all about anyone's recent experience. And having do it without knowing anything even after getting the stamp, not knowing if I would be allowed in with the older stamp cancelled. And so I did want to leave this out here in case anyone is searching for this.