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Is Atlantis really worth it??


wongclan

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We will be aboard the Carnival Imagination at the end of the month and stopping in Nassau for the day (7am-5pm). I'm travelling with my 18month old, 4 yr old and grandparents. I didn't book the Comfort Suites early enough:mad: so now the best rate I can get is $280++. Anything else to do in Nassau that will appeal to everyone or is Atlantis the best bet?

 

We are also stopping in Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay. Any suggestions for these ports will also be most welcome.

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ALthough we LOVE Atlantis and would go back any chance we get I can honestly say that NO it isn't worth it if you are only there from 7am - 5pm.

 

If you pay for a room at Atlantis during high season, then odds are your room won't be ready till 4pm anyway (you'll probably be heding back to the ship by then). And although you can get braclets the minute you arrive...it is still kind of worthless to pay for a room that you'll never set foot in.

 

When we go, our ship docks OVERNIGHT. So we head to Atlantis at 10am...we spend the day. The kids take a nap around 5pm in the room while we get showered and ready for a night on the ship. Then we leave Atlantis by about 7pm and get back to the ship in time for the evening activities.

 

There are many other excursions in Nassau. You can also do a beach trip. Just take a taxi to one of the beaches.

 

You're just not docked there long enough to really take advantage of all that ATlantis has to offer. We've been there twice and STILL haven't seen the whole property or done everything there is to do.

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First off, you would most likely need to book 2 rooms. And that may be a deciding factor for you. Everyone, including the kids, needs a bracelet, which means they need a room key,which is given when you check in based on the number of people you have booked, of course I would call and confirm this.

 

I think it is worth it because there was nothing else that interested us to do there. The price worked out to $60 pp (2 adults 3 kids) compared to an excursion, it was clean, we didnt have to encounter any hard sells or undesirables, we had shade and it was safe. We enjoyed the casino for a bit, and the aquarium. We were there by 9:30 and left at 3:30. We packed snacks from the ship in our beach bag, and had room service bring pb & j sandwiches the night before, which i wrapped in baggies for lunch for the kids. The food is pricey.

 

We would definately do this again.

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First off, you would most likely need to book 2 rooms.

 

We would definately do this again.

 

Ooohhh that's a good point. You would need 2 rooms. I think the infant is counted as a "person"

 

But Falcon - just a warning. Don't post about taking food off the ship because you aren't allowed to do that. :( Only prepackaged items can leave the ship because anything else could bring an unwanted bug into the country's agriculture. All ships/any ports have laws against bringing food off the ship. You can bring anything boxed (like cereal boxes)..or crackers...anything packaged.

 

Just wanted to warn you because the main boards are a little touchy about that subject if you know what I mean :eek:

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And its not the DAYS INN... It is Comfort Suites. (p.s. another thread suggested Smarter Travel for booking)

 

Who mentioned Days Inn? I may be really out of it today (migraine) but I don't see Days Inn mentioned?

 

And you are right, the Bahama board always links the deals to Smarter Travel. The price is always much less.

 

When I book, I call Atlantis directly and see if they are offering a "Fall/Spring/Winter/Summer" special ;)

 

Our last trip I was able to book my friends for $179 in August at Atlantis

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My advice, is to *at least* book an excursion. DW and I didn't and decided to walk around town and shop. Bad choice. Downtown Nassau is pretty much a dump (it was actually the port where all the ships were throwing out their garbage - so it was actually LITERALLY a dump. :) ).

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Thanks so much for the feedback. Yes, the cost of 2 rooms is definately out of the question for us. I didn't realize my little one would need a wristband too! Anyways, we'll look into booking an excursion. We're likely just going to hang out at the beach for Grand Turk/Half Moon Cay so didn't really want another beach day.

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If you have a room at Atlantis, all you have to do is show your room keys (the parents, not the kids) I've stayed there 4 times and have NEVER had keys for the kids and they've always been able to get wristbands. I'm going for the day in April...I'll let you know how it goes. :cool:

 

 

Comfort Suites is another option, or try renting a day of the Atlantis timeshare from someone who owns there for about $250. If you have 4 people, well worth it in my opinion, since the full Atlantis Excursion is about $150 pp :eek: .

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Toledo

 

Just curious how you got your 5 wristbands. Did CS give you an add'l one? Did they charge you??

 

I've gotten 5 wristbands before, but that's because the kids don't need to show their room keys to get the band. You get 4 room keys at Comfort Suites or any Atlantis room.

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We stayed at Comfort Suites, but you get your wristbands at a little hut at Atlantis (unless things have changed recently.) I think we just showed them a key or a receipt and they asked, "How many?" and I answered "5". We didn't have 4 or 5 keys. It was very simple.

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So Atlantis (or Comfort Suites) just gave you an additional wristband for the child no charge?? Trying to understand how that's done...

 

It's called sneaking the 5th person in...lol. :eek: ;)

 

There is only 4 in my fam so we never needed to try that. And I honestly can't remember how they do it. I know we go to the hut. I don't know if they check the reservation to see how many are booked (but we actually stayed AT Atlantis, not next door). So it would be easy for the staff to double check that their were only 4 in our party according to the reservation.

 

I'll have to pay more attention next time to see if they ask "how many" at the hut.

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This is the same hut where the family(5) in front of us were turned around and told to go back to Comfort Suites to "fix it". It would be a total crapshoot to "hope" that the attendant would just hand out the 5 bands. The day we went the attendant was following the rules. He used our last name, so he obviously swiped our room card, I guess to see it was valid. If it was as easy to get in as flashing a room key, you would see people talking about meeting others in the lobby to pass on the key. Keys would be for sale on Ebay and all ways around the rules would be all over the internet. The only "trick" I have seen is 2 couples (meeting on roll call) spliting a room. Or 2 families spliting 2 rooms. But maxing out each room to 4 people is not breaking any rules.

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We may be on the same cruise as the OP....sailing on 2/25, same itinerary. We have been pondering Atlantis for about 6 months now...and have obtained a lot of helpful info from these boards (and crusinmama - thanks!) We have decided to play it by ear since Nassau is the last day, not sure how everyone will be feeling. Our current thoughts are to take a land taxi over to Atlantis and just walk around, check out the aquarium, etc., then maybe hit Pirates Museum, Hard Rock, etc., and then back to the ship to enjoy the water park while it is docked and enjoy the last day on the ship. When the kids are older (3, 6 now) we will look for a cruise that stays longer at Atlantis, but at least this way we can check it out. From what I remember reading, the land taxis are the way to go, since they are vans and take you right up to the door(?)....anyway - that is our plan.

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Thanks for all the tips and suggestions. We ended up booking a room at the Comfort Suites (the cheap rate popped up again after being sold out:p ) and will give Atlantis a shot...we don't know when we'll ever have the chance to go again! If we can all get in with the one room, it would certainly be worth it since any other excursion for all of us would cost much more. Will let you all know how it goes..

 

Dolphinwyo- yes, we're on the same cruise! 3 more sleeps! Can't wait!! Maybe we'll bump into you at the waterplay area on the ship:)

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. Our current thoughts are to take a land taxi over to Atlantis and just walk around, check out the aquarium, etc., then maybe hit Pirates Museum, Hard Rock, etc., and then back to the ship to enjoy the water park while it is docked and enjoy the last day on the ship. When the kids are older (3, 6 now) we will look for a cruise that stays longer at Atlantis, but at least this way we can check it out. From what I remember reading, the land taxis are the way to go, since they are vans and take you right up to the door(?)....anyway - that is our plan.

 

Yeah it's just not worth it for the amount of time you're docked. If you go to Atlantis, you can pay $29 to do the aquarium tour. But I don't know if that's worth it (haven't personally done it)

 

At 3 and 6, you should consider the Dolphin Encounter at Blue Lagoon. It's pricey but awesome :D

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