Nassau/Atlantis?

[billyandjj]

Our family of 7 is torn between visiting Atlantis while in Nassau and just staying on the ship. It is all of our first cruise and I think we will enjoy time on the ship with less crowds. But, not sure if we will ever be back to see Atlantis. Would we be missing out?

Also, I think we are not booking anything at Castaway Cay. Is that a mistake? We thought about the snorkeling catamaran, but feel like that would take up most of our day at CC....and again, this is our first time (and likely last) on a Disney Cruise.

It is our two boys (9 &7)....and then us parents and 3 total grandparents. any advice would be apprecaited.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have gone to Atlantis twice on the DCL shore excursion with our extended family ranging in ages from 7 to 67. Every one of us enjoyed the experience. We are the grandparents, it was out treat, but worth every penny as far as we are concerned. I think the water slides were most enjoyed by the DGD, the aquarium by DGS, everyone enjoyed the water raft down the river ride and the pools, ocean, beach. CC is wonderful, but we all like Atlantis for the day even more than that.

Bobbi

 

[scootch]

We also LOVE Atlantis. Have gone twice thru Comfort Suites(just do a search CS). My kids are so bummed our Fantasy cruise does not stop at that port.

 

[GrandCanyon]

We've been to Nassau three times, although never with Disney. Here are my thoughts. The first time was pre-Atlantis (in the '80s) ... stayed on the island, toured around, kinda nice. The second time we were there for a shore excursion, went to Atlantis, and then went back to the ship underwhelmed. The third time we spent over $200 for the Atlantis beach day (last year), but only stayed a couple of hours, even though the weather was gorgeous. We're just not impressed. That said, you may always second-guess yourself if you don't go. So go, see, do ... and then you'll know for the second time. This time we plan to stay on the ship, but I think the crowds will be staying on board and so it will make for a better shore excursion for you. From what I read, more people stay on board in Nassau than in Castaway Cay.

 

[Twinprincesses]

Atlantis is absolutly amazing!!

We booked the sting ray excursion first thing in the am on CC. The girls loved it and it did not take too long.

 

[BeardedDragons]

We took a 5 day vacation to Atlantis two years ago. DS8(at the time) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The aquarium, the water park and the beach. It really is something to experience. Loved it and planning to go back next year if all goes well.

 

[Postal68]

Our family of 7 is torn between visiting Atlantis while in Nassau and just staying on the ship. It is all of our first cruise and I think we will enjoy time on the ship with less crowds. But, not sure if we will ever be back to see Atlantis. Would we be missing out?

Also, I think we are not booking anything at Castaway Cay. Is that a mistake? We thought about the snorkeling catamaran, but feel like that would take up most of our day at CC....and again, this is our first time (and likely last) on a Disney Cruise.

It is our two boys (9 &7)....and then us parents and 3 total grandparents. any advice would be apprecaited.

Stay on the ship, you won't see anything worth seeing at Atlantis unless you pay(out the nose)

As for CC, there is alot to do for boys your age on the island without booking the excursions. If they are water fanatics, like most kids, just pack some cheap floats and water goggles from the dollar store. You can leave them behind and not feel bad(the goggles and floats, not the kids )

 

[Melissa S]

We thought the Atlantis excursion was the biggest waste of money. The resort is beautiful (I can see why people vacation there) but to go for a few hours during a stop at port is not worth the money at all. You will not be missing out if you skip the resort. Since it is your first cruise I would stay and enjoy the boat. Although you may be disappointed since so many other people stay on the boat in Nassau that it is not much less crowded.

We also did not book anything at CC because there was so much to do. We planned on renting bikes but we enjoyed the beach, splash zone, and slide so much that we ran out of time (we were one of the first on the island and the last to leave).

 

[fairytalelover]

Stay on the ship, you won't see anything worth seeing at Atlantis unless you pay(out the nose)

As for CC, there is alot to do for boys your age on the island without booking the excursions. If they are water fanatics, like most kids, just pack some cheap floats and water goggles from the dollar store. You can leave them behind and not feel bad(the goggles and floats, not the kids )

I agree. You have to pay through the nose to do anything at Atlantis and it's really not worth it. You will have way more fun on the ship. Nassau has nothing to see either. We spent the day on the ship on our second cruise and had way more fun than we did at Nassau. There are less people onboard so there is less of a crowd by the pools, on the Aqua Duck, in the salons etc.... it's way more fun! And as for Castaway Cay, dont book excursions. There are tons of fun stuff for all ages on that island without having to book things. Save your money!

 

[baleeve]

Our family of 7 is torn between visiting Atlantis while in Nassau and just staying on the ship. It is all of our first cruise and I think we will enjoy time on the ship with less crowds. But, not sure if we will ever be back to see Atlantis. Would we be missing out?

Also, I think we are not booking anything at Castaway Cay. Is that a mistake? We thought about the snorkeling catamaran, but feel like that would take up most of our day at CC....and again, this is our first time (and likely last) on a Disney Cruise.

It is our two boys (9 &7)....and then us parents and 3 total grandparents. any advice would be apprecaited.

I have the same exact thoughts....we will be going next august and I have 2 boys who are 8 and 10. They always see the Atlantis commercials on TV so its a no brainer that our first time to Nassau we HAVE to go to Atlantis. I don't think we will do an excursion though. I think we will just take a taxi over and walk around then head back to the ship.

If we had already been then I would definitely stay on the ship and take advantage of the pools/slides. But I know once my boys see that big Atlantis arch I'll never hear the end of it.

Castaway Cay...now that's another story. I've heard its amazing and I am soooo looking forward to everything Disney has planned for us. We are traveling with a friend and his 2 daughters so the 4 kids will do the Stingray excursion .

HAVE A GREAT CRUISE!!

 

[jkrislc]

The Atlantis is fabulous, but it is best enjoyed on a land-based vacation. We've been twice and my niece still says it was here favorite vacation even over a Disney cruise. While you can't beat the experience--think water park based WDW--on a short and first cruise, I think staying on the ship makes a lot of sense as it will be a totally different experience to enjoy it when it's less crowded.

 

[sherpasmom]

We did the Atlantis Dolphin encounter in February and it was well worth the money (especially compared to Discovery Cove.) I did find not having a locker made the water park area challenging since it was just me and DD (8 ) but having a larger party would help with that if someone could watch bags etc while doing some waterpark activities. Our armband gave us access to the waterpark and the Dolphin Encounter and we were also given vouchers for lunch at our choice of one of the waterpark lunch areas (((delicious))). After lunch DD and I decided to wander the grounds and found ourselves in The Dig and actually walked through this as well (((very enjoyable))), although I don't know we were *supposed" to be there--noone questioned us.

The day was, in my opinion, a taste of Atlantis and very much encouraged me and my daughter to seriously consider returning for a land-based vacation at some point. The dolphin experience was amazing and included lots of extras/souveneirs like a small picture package. I would totally do it again however, the only bad point I noted was that the "lifeguards" seemed less than vigilant. Take note, if you don't have strong swimmers in your party.

Hope this helps!

Oh and we didn't prebook for CC and just did whatever...it was nice to have a do whatever CC day, and was my fave day of our cruise.

 

[wiigirl]

Atlantis is absolutly amazing!!

We booked the sting ray excursion first thing in the am on CC. The girls loved it and it did not take too long.

This and x2 on the sting rays.....you won't regret it!

 

[angelinaxox]

The first time I visited the Atlantis was on my Disney Wonder cruise in 2008. My niece and I did the excursion that included the water park but not the dolphin encounter. It was well worth it and we had plenty of time to enjoy our day. When we did this, Disney had two times to depart the ship to head to the Atlantis. I selected the earlier time and it was a great decision. The water park area was not as crowded so we were able to select a nice spot to leave our stuff (we didn't have anything valuable, and I wore one of those waterproof cases around my neck for our IDs and money.) We walked through the aquarium and had lunch, then spent the rest of the day on the tubes. We went in April and ended up getting sunburn since we were paler and never left the water til we were ready to go do the shark tube slide to finish up our day. We were not assigned a time to go back to the ship, so we were glad we picked the earlier time to go the Atlantis, because we had extra time in the morning when it was less crowded and headed back to the ship at the same time as people who took the later bus to go there. So if Disney still offers different times to head to the Atlantis, I would recommend taking the earlier time. I enjoyed my day so much, I ended up going back to the Atlantis in summer of 2010 with my sister and stayed right there. I did the dolphin encounter while staying there. I am glad that I did not do it while on the Wonder as it would have been too much to have done the excursion that included the encounter and the water park. I wouldn't have been able to see all of the water park. This past summer when I was on the Magic, I didn't go to the Atlantis at all, as my family had already been there. Instead, we opted for the dolphin swim at the Blue Lagoon. This being your first trip to Nassau, I highly recommend going to the Atlantis to see it. To me it is the main attraction on the island and not to be missed. Maybe in the future once you've visited it, it could be a day just to stay on board the ship.

At Castaway Cay, we didn't book anything as there is plenty to enjoy. The slides are fun and I also completed the 5K run in the morning.

 

[mmi]

We have vacationed at Atlantis, and been to Nassau 3 times with Disney. We stay on the ship. We don't find Atlantis to be all that great and certainly not worth the money. We have already paid big bucks for the cruise, so we stay on and enjoy that. We did get off the last cruise and snorkel on a catamaran through Disney at Nassau, that was a good experience. We have 2 kids, 16 and 10, and they think Nassau is nasty.

Regarding Castaway Cay...it is fabulous! So fabulous that our last cruise we chose went there twice! Do the stingray adventure, the kids will love it, the stingrays swim up against them, kind of like a cat rubbing against you, and they get to feed them. I wouldn't necessarily reserve the bikes, etc, there are usually plenty of them. And go to the adult beach, especially for the food, they have steak and seafood down there. The kids can check into the kids club area while you go. One year, it started raining while we were at CC, and by the time we got back to our rooms DCL had brand new schedules for the rest of the day in our rooms....they think of everything!