Tell me about the Atlantis day trip...is it worth it?

[Tawnya Lin]

This is our first cruise. We are having a hard time deciding what to do in Nassau. Any suggestions are welcomed!

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

How about a city tour then ferry over to Atlantis?? I've been to Atlantis, and just can't justify the cost of a day trip. I would love to stay a few days in Atlantis again. I'm actually waiting for the kids stay and eat free promotion, lol. Spending $150+ for the water park and aquarium is just too much to me. You still can walk around the property and visit the casino without a day pass. Ferry to Atlantis is a short walk from the cruise terminal.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Of my eight dcl cruises and probably 25+ port adventures through dcl, the Atlantis one is the only one we didn't like and thought was a huge--huge--waste of money. Didn't like is actually putting it nicely. We literally sat outside waiting for the bus

 

[mom4fun]

It is very beautiful and a lot of fun. We loved the aquariums and bridges and all of the ponds with wild life. Worth it? Probably not but I'm glad we went. We got to spend the day at Atlantis! It was still a lot cheaper than flying there and spending a week at the hotel and you know, I decided that one day was enough. I really don't have any desire to go back for more than a day now and then.

 

[Melissa S]

Of my eight dcl cruises and probably 25+ port adventures through dcl, the Atlantis one is the only one we didn't like and thought was a huge--huge--waste of money. Didn't like is actually putting it nicely. We literally sat outside waiting for the bus

This was our experience. Huge waste of money and the first bus back to the ship.

 

[Donald & Daisy Duck]

My son (20) and his gf went when we were on the dream in January and liked it alot but thought it wasn't worth the money. One thing was the included lunch....Atlantis ran out of most of the options available so they had only two choices ..l and it was so crowded that some people were actually sitting on the ground eating because you can't sit ool side with food.

The lines for the big slides were very long so they only did them once each slide and the area is very spread out but crowded

 

[tweis]

This is our first cruise. We are having a hard time deciding what to do in Nassau. Any suggestions are welcomed!

I would consider booking a room at Comfort Suites if you want to spend the day at Atlantis without spending a huge amount. We did this last year and saved $$ over DCL's excursion prices. We arrived well before the DCL group and had plenty of time for the pools, slides, aquarium, beaches, etc.

 

[kstaack]

I would consider booking a room at Comfort Suites if you want to spend the day at Atlantis without spending a huge amount. We did this last year and saved $$ over DCL's excursion prices. We arrived well before the DCL group and had plenty of time for the pools, slides, aquarium, beaches, etc.

Yes I agree with tweis. If you want to go to Altantis book a room. I have never done this myself but I have heard of multiple people doing so because it is cheaper than getting a day pass for everyone in your family.

 

[GoofyTraci]

How does booking a room work? New to this sorry. If someone can fill me in please.

 

[KristiMc]

We also thought it was a big waste of money. Check to see how many ships are in port on the day you will be there. It was very crowded.

 

[owensamo]

There are multiple different day trips to Atlantis that Disney offers. We did the Discover Atlantis tour once - it's a guided tour of the hotel and Dig aquarium, then free time around the hotel and access to the aquarium, with transportation to and from. With a young daughter and wanting to see the hotel to see if it was something we'd be interested in returning to, we thought it was worth the price. The trip there and back was fine. The tour was amusing, often interesting, and sometimes campy - but fun. We re-toured the entire aquarium ourselves, shopped in their shops, had lunch (not included, kind of expensive), and wandered a bit before hopping the bus back to the ship. We enjoyed ourselves, but it's not high on our list of places to return to. We are glad we went with the DCL tour, though.

 

[LUVDisney1975]

Like others have said- I did not like it. Felt like a big waste of money :-( Sad because we had really been looking forward to it.

 

[GoofyTraci]

Can anyone post the link to check out the accommodations or to book them? Trying to get this planned for our next cruise. Thank you

 

[GreyStr0ke]

What time do you need to be back on the ship by in Nassau?

 

[tweis]

Can anyone post the link to check out the accommodations or to book them? Trying to get this planned for our next cruise. Thank you

Just Google Comfort Suites Paradise Island.

 

[GoofyTraci]

SO you just get a room there, don't stay there but to change maybe and they give you passes to go over to atlantis? And how about transportation to and from atlantis and the hotel? I know if you don't book via Disney you will need to find transportation. Thank you and sorry for all of the questions.

 

[PhiSigKris]

I keep a running document where I will copy & paste helpful tips as I'm reading posts or trip reports. The following is from a trip report I read here, but I have no idea who the original author is. I am very sorry I don't have credit to give where it is most certainly due. If anyone is offended by me posting someone else's words, I will delete it. Just trying to help out the OP. I have not done this myself. Like I said, just copied it to a word document for the lucky day we get to try it out for ourselves.

Getting to Atlantis, and Getting Around Once There

We rode to Paradise Island in a van with two other couples. The driver stopped at Atlantis first, and the other two couples got out there. Then she dropped DH and I off at the Comfort Suites (pretty much right next door). There was no line at the check-in counter, and within a few minutes we had checked in and out and been given our vouchers for Atlantis. It took us about 10 minutes to walk across the street to Atlantis and through the resort to the Aquaventure check-in desk in the Royal Tower. We walked right up to the counter, exchanged our vouchers for wristbands, and were on our way. We breezed fairly quickly through the aquariums and headed out onto the grounds. We wanted to find lockers and towels, and we had to ask for directions twice before we found them. Big hint: You are looking for the Hospitality Center. No one told us that. Just follow the signs and you'll eventually get there. Lockers cost $9 for a small, $11 for a medium, and $13 for a large. A small locker was big enough for our fairly large beach bag. There was a towel hut right around the corner from the Hospitality Center. We asked for two towels each and then found some out-of-the-way lounge chairs to leave our towels and flip flops on. In retrospect, we probably could have left our flip flops in the locker because the ground wasn't so hot that we needed to wear them.

Here is a link to a helpful pocket guide that includes a map of the property. They hand these out at the resort as well.
http://www.atlantis.com/allthingsatlantis.aspx

The weather in the morning had been mostly sunny, but as the day wore on, more and more clouds began to roll in... and they were getting progressively darker. DH and I had been in the water and on the rides for about two hours when it started to thunder. After about 15 minutes of intermittent thunder, everyone was told to get out of the water. It was lunch time, so DH and I decided we might as well eat. We headed over to Splashers Snacks, which is right next to the Splashers Kids Pool. They have meal deals that cost between $8 and $11 and include a sandwich, fries and a drink. With tax, our meal came to around $30. Expensive for what it was, but we were expecting this. After we ate, we hung around for awhile, walking on the beach and around the grounds, until it finally started to rain. It absolutely poured for about 20 minutes, and even when it stopped there were no visible breaks in the clouds. At that point we decided to head back to the ship. We would have liked to have more time in the water park, but we were thankful to have gotten there as early as we did. I would definitely book a room at the Comfort Suites again for access to Atlantis. The whole process was very easy, and it can be a big money saver -- especially if there are 3 or 4 in your party.

 

[GoofyTraci]

Thank you for the info. The link didn't work but I was wondering I'm sure this has been asked before but does Atlantis it's self offer day passes to use the facilities?

 

[PhiSigKris]

Thank you for the info. The link didn't work but I was wondering I'm sure this has been asked before but does Atlantis it's self offer day passes to use the facilities?

I don't think the link worked when I was reading the report either. I'm not sure if they sell day passes or not. I haven't heard anyone mention day passes in all the reading I've done, but I've read about Comfort Suites quite a bit. Doesn't mean they don't exist. Hopefully someone knowledgeable will chime in.

 

[Madmacdad]

Totally agree that a day trip to Atlantis is not worth it. My kids and I were on the Dream last week and had a Port Adventure for Aquaventure. 5 others ships in port plus probably a full resort due to Spring Break. Long lines for everything. Plus really rude people. Bailed after 2 hours. Save your money and stay on the ship. Once we were back on board, we resumed having fun. No lines for The Aquaduck!