Day 2: Nassau
When I woke up the next morning, the Magic was already docked at Nassau. Despite having taken 6 Disney cruises in the past, I had never had Nassau as a port stop before today. I was really looking forward to it, because I had pre-booked a day pass for Atlantis Aquaventure, directly with Atlantis (DCL was not offering Atlantis excursions at the time of my cruise, and I wouldn't recommend booking with them over just getting a much cheaper day pass, anyway). Atlantis Aquaventure is a giant water park at the lush Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in Nassau. When healthy, my son loves water slides, so I thought this would be a good way to see what Atlantis has to offer, in hopes that he will one day return with me. I also have always mildly wanted to visit a casino (but not enough to actually book a trip to Vegas), so the fact that Atlantis also has a casino was another attraction. I was a bit worried about a weather forecast that indicated thunderstorms that day, but kept my plans regardless. I am so glad I did.
I had a quick, light breakfast at Cabanas, and was disappointed to find that unlike on the Dream, they currently do not offer Mickey waffles. They didn't offer much of anything in the way of variety, either. It was a pathetically paltry offering of mediocre food, not even half of what they used to offer, and I never returned for breakfast after that. (I tried lunch once, too, and was just as disappointed, with the exception that the dessert selection was as varied as before). The DCL app didn't make it easy to find the sit-down restaurants' breakfast or lunch times, though- I never found that feature on the app. I also never saw where hours were listed for the pools or waterslides. Having no paper Navigator was a negative of the trip, because the app simply isn't as effortless to use to find varied information.
I disembarked at Nassau and walked to the taxi dispatch area, which was easy to find even for the directionally challenged (aka me). I told the dispatcher I was headed to Atlantis, and they had me wait for a group to form, which did happen within 5 minutes, and then we were on our way. It's about a 5-10 minute drive, and that part of Nassau (before reaching Paradise Island, where Atlantis is located) is pretty run down, so I don't advise anyone to walk though the area. Always take a taxi or have some other transportation arranged. The shared taxi cost $5 cash each way, btw.
Upon arrival, I had to show a photograph on my phone of my vaccine card. That was all that was asked of me in relation to Covid, despite the fact that the website (& the phone rep who I spoke to) said that even vaccinated people needed to bring negative test results within the past 5 days with them. I had the test results ready as I got a rapid test in my hometown pre-cruise, but no one ever asked for it.
Atlantis is massive. I'd read a lot of mixed reviews about it, some loving it, and others saying it's overrated. I'm in the "it's amazing" camp.
Aside from being huge, probably as big as Magic Kingdom altogether, Atlantis is very beautiful, upscale, creatively designed, and clean. Admittedly, I was there at a time when it was very uncrowded, but after seeing it up close, I find some of the negative reviews I've read in the past hard to believe. I suspect that many of those reviews stemmed from frustration with peak crowds & high prices, an issue that occurs even at Disney World.
Atlantis isn't like any water park I've seen in America. It has some thrilling slides (a few were closed probably due to Covid cutbacks, but the ones open seemed like the best ones of both the body slides & tube slides), lots of lush greenery, ponds, an idyllic beach, pools with waterfalls, a very long lazy river with both slow and rapid sections, and it was all themed in the enjoyably over-the-top affluent Atlantis style.
The bathrooms, even in the outdoor water park area, were clean and pleasant, and the shops and restaurants inside the hotel were upscale. The hotel's interior, including the casino, features massive glass sculptures by Chihuly. The casino is smoke-free and peaceful.
I had brought some cash on the trip to spend gambling, and started at the slot machines. After trying three different machines one time each and very quickly losing my money each time, I decided slots were a waste of time and money. They offered no way to really know the odds or improve your chances of winning. The manned tables were not yet open (it was only around noon), so after looking around for a bit, I went to an automated table for roulette. It featured a real roulette wheel that would go into play after you entered your bet on an electronic screen. I liked roulette because it was very easy for a neophyte to play, the odds were clear and I could control what I bet on, unlike with slots. I kept it simple and bet on red vs. black, because that offered about a 50% chance of winning double my money back. I practiced a bit with small amounts, then gathered the nerve to bet $100 on red, and I won, which earned me $200 back. I decided to stop gambling at that point because I'd been there for awhile, and now I was about $50 ahead of what I had come into the casino with. Since I'm usually very unlucky and I know that casinos exist to take your money rather than give it, that felt like a little victory to me and satisfied my longtime desire to try gambling.
There was a brief thunderstorm while I was in the casino, but it dissipated by the time I walked to Atlantis's taxi dispatch area (the same spot where we had been dropped off). We were driven back to port by an engaging driver, and soon I was back onboard the Magic. I freshened up and then watched The Jungle Book to relax. Then I tried to go to Bingo, but was disappointed to find that it was the loudest Bingo session (in terms of mic amplification) that I had ever been to, and I have sensitive ears. Even with earplugs and my dorky noise-reducing headphones, I couldn't take it and had to leave. I noted this on the comment card, that usually I spend hundreds on Bingo per cruise, but this year I spent none due to the extreme noise. I hope DCL listens and decides to turn the Bingo music volume down from 100-ish decibels to maybe 80 or something. I'm not holding my breath, though. DCL entertainment hosts seem to think that all music is meant to be played at hearing-damaging club concert levels. On a side note, I noticed that there was no big jackpot Bingo game offered this cruise, but instead, only two total games, each offering $2,500 prizes for the mythical person who covers their card within a certain number of calls. Pretty lame.
Later that evening, I had dinner at Palo. The food was as good as usual, even though the chef did cook my requested medium well beef tenderloin well done instead. I didn't comment because I didn't want a fuss, but a chef at Palo should have known better. Also, fireworks went off right outside my window early in my dinner, and despite that, my server interrupted my viewing to tell me details about a tiny dish (nothing I'd ordered) he'd just dropped off. I didn't care about the dish, and having to politely listen to his spiel cost me the ability to watch most of the brief fireworks. He was otherwise a fine server and showed genuine compassion when I told him why I was cruising solo. Like I said earlier, the service on this cruise was enthusiastic and caring, but still polishing off some rough edges.
