Atlantis Aquaventure

[artman10]

We just booked this excursion for our trip on the Sky Dec18.

I have read older posts about taking a taxi for a few bucks. Is this true? How did that process work? Where do you go? Price?

 

Anyone recently do this?

[ibcnusoon]

My daughter did this recently but she took Carnival's transport. They had transportation available in the morning and then starting about 1:00 pm and every 1/2 hour until 5:00 pm was transport back to the ship.

 

Why spend money on a taxi?

[artman10]

My daughter did this recently but she took Carnival's transport. They had transportation available in the morning and then starting about 1:00 pm and every 1/2 hour until 5:00 pm was transport back to the ship.

 

Why spend money on a taxi?

 

We read that it gives you more time at the waterpark.

 

Which is why I was curious and asked.

[gatorsfam]

We just booked this excursion for our trip on the Sky Dec18.

I have read older posts about taking a taxi for a few bucks. Is this true? How did that process work? Where do you go? Price?

 

Anyone recently do this?

 

Done this several times.. I think it was $3pp fixed price ea. way. Easy as walking out of the port to the taxi stand and you're on your way..

 

If you don't care for the water park at Atlantis, you can still walk through the beautiful lobby, see a lot of the aquarium there. If you want beach time but don't want to pay the extra, there is a public beach just down a bit - Cabbage Beach - lots of transportation to/from there as well.

 

Don't do the water taxi... takes too much time IMO

[ibcnusoon]

We read that it gives you more time at the waterpark.

 

Which is why I was curious and asked.

 

Aqua Adventure doesn't open up until 10:00am, I'm guessing the pools open up earlier??

 

The free shuttles started leaving the dock about 9:00 or 9:15am. Like I said, the last shuttle back to the ship is at 5:00pm, and 5:30pm was all aboard, and 6:00pm was sail away.

 

Anyway, it's $4 per person to take a taxi there if you want to arrive before the slides open and before the Carnival shuttles start at 9:00 a.m.

[mjkacmom]

Just did this (booked through NCL), and they got us their very quickly - about 45 minutes before the slides even opened, plenty of time to grab a lounge and take a swim.

 

If you do not book a day pass (aqua, beach, or aquarium), you will not be allowed in the lobby - just the casino and marina. If you want to see the aquarium without paying, you have to do it at night.

[Infiniti820]

We just booked this excursion for our trip on the Sky Dec18.

I have read older posts about taking a taxi for a few bucks. Is this true? How did that process work? Where do you go? Price?

 

Anyone recently do this?

 

I just did this on the 11/3 sailing of the breakaway. Waterpark opens at 10am- we arrived at Atlantis about 9:40 with the tour bus and buses start back at 1:00 and run every half hour. If you take cab- fixed rate is $4.00 per person, however if it's 2 people only - the flat rate is $11.00. I would just take the tour bus - we had to be back on the the ship for 5:30 and had plenty of time to see everything.

[artman10]

Thanks for all of the responses. I think I will end up staying with ncl. But want all the time I can get there. We just got the 99/pp Atlantis excursion.

 

 

Artman Family

NCL Sky December 16-20

[mjkacmom]

Thanks for all of the responses. I think I will end up staying with ncl. But want all the time I can get there. We just got the 99/pp Atlantis excursion.

 

 

Artman Family

NCL Sky December 16-20

 

Just a FYI, but after doing the slides first (before big lines), we wanted to go to the beach, but it was closed. We ended up finding a beach where we could swim by walking left past the wall (behind the lockers), past another beach where swimming wasn't allowed, to a 3rd beach. It was gorgeous.

[artman10]

Thank you! We are just so excited we don't want to get there and be like what next and waste time.

 

 

Artman Family

NCL Sky December 16-20

[mjkacmom]

Thank you! We are just so excited we don't want to get there and be like what next and waste time.

 

 

Artman Family

NCL Sky December 16-20

 

This was our second time, so we went with a plan (slides/beach and or lagoon/Dig). The first time, we "wasted" time just swimming in pools. When we got to the lazy river, we had no idea that is was not a lazy river - lol. We wished we found it earlier.

 

After getting off of the buses, we were led through the casino. At one point, we saw a sign that said Aqua-adventure, and we followed it to the left, instead of following the leader (others did, as well). I don't know where the guide ended up taking the others.

[Infiniti820]

This was our second time, so we went with a plan (slides/beach and or lagoon/Dig). The first time, we "wasted" time just swimming in pools. When we got to the lazy river, we had no idea that is was not a lazy river - lol. We wished we found it earlier.

 

After getting off of the buses, we were led through the casino. At one point, we saw a sign that said Aqua-adventure, and we followed it to the left, instead of following the leader (others did, as well). I don't know where the guide ended up taking the others.

 

We followed the guide and I was a little disappointed, I never did get to the "lazy" part of the river- just the roaring rapids and witnessed a child almost drown in a double tube with her Mom (ruined my whole day) I think there should be more warnings about how rapid that river is!!

[mjkacmom]

We followed the guide and I was a little disappointed, I never did get to the "lazy" part of the river- just the roaring rapids and witnessed a child almost drown in a double tube with her Mom (ruined my whole day) I think there should be more warnings about how rapid that river is!!

 

I agree - the first time we were with our 2 oldest, who were 9 and 11 at the time, and we got separated. This time, our yougest 2 were 10, and I had them watch youtube videos ahead of time, and we all had a plan of where to meet up. I think DH was the only one injured (mild). I also saw a child fall off, and another bump his head on the side.

[nyc12345]

$99 is cheaper than getting a day pass...how can NCL do it for less?

Edited November 20, 2013 by nyc12345

[ThreeDancingMatthews]

We did this a couple of years ago on the Jewel, in Jan 2012. It's not particularly recent but I would bet the excursion hasn't changed much.

 

We bought the excursion through NCL but took a cab there and were SO GLAD we did. You meet on the pier, hand in your ticket, and get the Atlantis wristband. Once you have your wristband, you can head out on your own. People were still showing up and checking in when we left.

 

Like others have said, we walked down the pier and found plenty of cabs/vans waiting. I don't remember the exact price, but I think it was around $3-4pp. We arrived maybe half an hour before the slides opened and around 45 minutes before the NCL group. The main upside is the locker line- there was no line when we arrived, but as soon as the cruise groups started arriving, yikes! If you're not planning on getting a locker, taking a cab vs going with the group probably won't make much of a difference. I'd estimate we saved about 30min-1hr of waiting.

 

I've also heard (can't confirm) that the NCL group takes you on a bit of a tour of the resort. We wanted to go right to the slides, so we were happy to skip it.

[artman10]

$99 is cheaper than getting a day pass...how can NCL do it for less?

 

Not sure. But for my husband and myself it was 198

 

 

Artman Family

NCL Sky December 16-20

[artman10]

We did this a couple of years ago on the Jewel, in Jan 2012. It's not particularly recent but I would bet the excursion hasn't changed much.

 

We bought the excursion through NCL but took a cab there and were SO GLAD we did. You meet on the pier, hand in your ticket, and get the Atlantis wristband. Once you have your wristband, you can head out on your own. People were still showing up and checking in when we left.

 

Like others have said, we walked down the pier and found plenty of cabs/vans waiting. I don't remember the exact price, but I think it was around $3-4pp. We arrived maybe half an hour before the slides opened and around 45 minutes before the NCL group. The main upside is the locker line- there was no line when we arrived, but as soon as the cruise groups started arriving, yikes! If you're not planning on getting a locker, taking a cab vs going with the group probably won't make much of a difference. I'd estimate we saved about 30min-1hr of waiting.

 

I've also heard (can't confirm) that the NCL group takes you on a bit of a tour of the resort. We wanted to go right to the slides, so we were happy to skip it.

 

After all the reviews we will definitely take a cab. How do we get back to th ship? Can we just take the water taxi bck with ncl?

 

 

Artman Family

NCL Sky December 16-20

[ibcnusoon]

$99 is cheaper than getting a day pass...how can NCL do it for less?

 

And there seems to be plenty available. At the last minute, DD wanted to join a friend and her family that she met earlier on the cruise and go to Aqua Adventure with them. So at 8:30 that morning I was able to purchase her a ticket - so, I'm guessing it's highly unlikely it sells out.

[Infiniti820]

And there seems to be plenty available. At the last minute, DD wanted to join a friend and her family that she met earlier on the cruise and go to Aqua Adventure with them. So at 8:30 that morning I was able to purchase her a ticket - so, I'm guessing it's highly unlikely it sells out.

 

That depends on how many shops are in port...the 11/3 sailing only had the breakaway in port on 11/7, that is probably why you were able to buy the excursion at the last minute.

[Infiniti820]

Not sure. But for my husband and myself it was 198

 

 

Artman Family

NCL Sky December 16-20

 

I paid the same $99.00 for the 11/3 sailing- apparently Thai was a really good price- last year (even though we never made it due to hurricane Sandy) I paid $129.00 pp.

[ThreeDancingMatthews]

How do we get back to th ship? Can we just take the water taxi bck with ncl?

 

I'm sure you could either ask the person handing out the armbands in the morning or find another NCL cruiser at the waterpark. (We saw plenty of distinctively striped towels.) The Atlantis staff might even know, since so many of their guests are cruise ship pax.

 

Since we missed all the info on how/where/when to pick up the NCL transportation back, we just took a cab back to the ship. We probably could have figured it out, but we were feeling tired and sunburned and a little battered from all the waterslides. We were willing to pay another few dollars to get back to the port immediately, and not have to wait 10/15/20 minutes for the shuttle.

[artman10]

I'm sure you could either ask the person handing out the armbands in the morning or find another NCL cruiser at the waterpark. (We saw plenty of distinctively striped towels.) The Atlantis staff might even know, since so many of their guests are cruise ship pax.

 

Since we missed all the info on how/where/when to pick up the NCL transportation back, we just took a cab back to the ship. We probably could have figured it out, but we were feeling tired and sunburned and a little battered from all the waterslides. We were willing to pay another few dollars to get back to the port immediately, and not have to wait 10/15/20 minutes for the shuttle.

 

How long is the ride there? And what time should we consider leaving if we want to take a cab back?

 

 

Artman Family

NCL Sky December 16-20

[ThreeDancingMatthews]

How long is the ride there? And what time should we consider leaving if we want to take a cab back?

 

It's been a couple of years- I don't remember exactly, though I feel like it was around 10 minutes. You might ask on the Nassau thread. I'm sure there are a bunch of people who have done this recently. I also don't know what traffic's like closer to departure time, since we left three hours before we had to be back.

 

My (again, foggy) memory is that there were cabs waiting outside and we just hopped in one, but you should probably leave extra time in case the hotel needs to call you a cab.

 

Sorry- I just don't remember enough detail to name an exact time range.

[mjkacmom]

I'm sure you could either ask the person handing out the armbands in the morning or find another NCL cruiser at the waterpark. (We saw plenty of distinctively striped towels.) The Atlantis staff might even know, since so many of their guests are cruise ship pax.

 

Since we missed all the info on how/where/when to pick up the NCL transportation back, we just took a cab back to the ship. We probably could have figured it out, but we were feeling tired and sunburned and a little battered from all the waterslides. We were willing to pay another few dollars to get back to the port immediately, and not have to wait 10/15/20 minutes for the shuttle.

 

You get to the buses where you were dropped off. The property is so big, we really couldn't remember, but asked the first employee we saw, and were directed to the right spot. Hopped right into a bus, and were back in 10 minutes.

 

I was prepared to take a taxi there if we were waiting long, but we weren't - stood maybe 5 minutes before walking to the buses, got right in, and off we went. We are a family of 7, so the taxi wouldn't have been that cheap. We were prepared to take a taxi back, too, but the bus was right behind a taxi! Actually, the bus left the property sooner than the taxi in front of it, because the driver was waiting to fill his vehicle.