Atlantis Aquaventure Port Adventure...thoughts?

[Clojel]

We just booked a cruise for November and I'm trying to decide on possible port adventures. Has anyone done this one? We considered it last year when we cruised but DD wasn't tall enough...she's 47.5 now so I'm guessing she'll hit the 48 inch mark by November. She LOVES to swim and enjoys water slides but I'm a little concerned about feeling overwhelmed when we get there by having TOO many options and not enough time! I'd love to hear some feedback from others who have done it.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

I think you would have a very fun day there! We were there three years ago. Our family had fun for sure but I found Atlantis to be pretty run down and not at all the way it looks on TV. I also was quite put off by the employees there, did not find them to be pleasant at all. Still, we enjoyed our time spent there. I feel blessed to have been able to experience Atlantis at least once as we had wanted to visit for a long while. I am on the fence if we would ever return. I know for sure we would now never book a stay there, but we might visit again on a port stop.

I think you would enjoy it and should try it at least once. We really enjoyed the aquariums and looking at the fish and lobsters inside the building. I forget what that area is called.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We haven't done it as an excursion, but we've stayed at Atlantis a few times and the water park is super fun! I think you could definitely do all of it in a day and not feel overwhelmed.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

I'm a little concerned about feeling overwhelmed when we get there by having TOO many options and not enough time!

If you do some research ahead of time and have a plan for what you'd like to do, then being overwhelmed isn't a concern. Aquaventure isn't that big of a water park...its just quite unique in its location and features.

Our family had fun for sure but I found Atlantis to be pretty run down and not at all the way it looks on TV. I also was quite put off by the employees there, did not find them to be pleasant at all.

I have a timeshare at Atlantis, and spend a week there annually, and have been doing so for over a decade. I've seen complaints about cleanliness before, and I chalk it up to the cruise ship crowd that visits that day. The vast majority of days, the grounds and pool areas look beautiful and perfectly maintained....better than WDW. But I've seen the rare day when the day-visiting cruiser crowds make an enormous mess. I can't discern a pattern as to which cruise line brings those folks in, but there have been a few days when I'd understand your complaint. But as I said, those days are rare.

Same goes for the staff. Just as good as WDW. But maybe since the day you visited was one of those messy days, you caught the staff on an off day.

 

[Jess_S]

We've done this and enjoyed it. We were there on a day with multiple mega-ships in port and I didn't think there was any issue with cleanliness. There were waits for the slides, but nothing crazy. (They limit the number of day passes, which keeps things under control). It was pricey -- but a very nice day.

 

[jnsma]

We've done the comfort suites a number of times to get access to the Atlantis (much cheaper for 4 people). My kids have always had a lot of fun. The pools on the ship are small and crowded so it is nice to have the space to really swim. They have a few different waterslides, so there is something for everyone. And don't forget the not-so lazy river, as the waterslides get more crowded that is where we end up.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

If you do some research ahead of time and have a plan for what you'd like to do, then being overwhelmed isn't a concern. Aquaventure isn't that big of a water park...its just quite unique in its location and features.I have a timeshare at Atlantis, and spend a week there annually, and have been doing so for over a decade. I've seen complaints about cleanliness before, and I chalk it up to the cruise ship crowd that visits that day. The vast majority of days, the grounds and pool areas look beautiful and perfectly maintained....better than WDW. But I've seen the rare day when the day-visiting cruiser crowds make an enormous mess. I can't discern a pattern as to which cruise line brings those folks in, but there have been a few days when I'd understand your complaint. But as I said, those days are rare.

Same goes for the staff. Just as good as WDW. But maybe since the day you visited was one of those messy days, you caught the staff on an off day.

I didn't say anything about cleanliness or trash strewn around. I am talking run down and oldish. Outdated. Not new. Not how it looks on TV.

The employees we encountered remind me of some of the employees on Castaway. Local to the area. Not very kind or friendly. Again, "some", not all.

Do I recommend giving Atlantis a try? For sure. Do I think it is worth almost $700 for a family of four? No way. I am glad we were able to visit by using points to reserve a room at Comfort Suites.

 

[oakleycat]

We did the Aquaventure when my kids were 6 and 8 and had a great time. They're still asking to go back three years later!

 

[Shanti]

The employees we encountered remind me of some of the employees on Castaway. Local to the area. Not very kind or friendly. Again, "some", not all.

We have always found the employees on Castaway to be kind and professional. Don't get the issue with them being locals- where else would you expect them to be from?

 

[Carrie in AZ]

We have always found the employees on Castaway to be kind and professional. Don't get the issue with them being locals- where else would you expect them to be from?

Awesome for you! For us, not so much. Some, not all, of the employees we encountered were like night and day compared to the employees from the ship. Yes, the CC employees are local, and some very much acted like we were a bother. I do not think they would ever land a position on the ship because, again, they acted like we were a bother. I experienced the same attitude from the employees at Atlantis. Just because you found the employees on Castaway to be kind and professional doesn't mean that I did, too. Just because the person above has a timeshare at Atlantis and finds the employees to be kind, doesn't mean that I did, too, while we were there.

 

[crystalgenette]

We did Atlantis as a day trip this past August. My son (11) loved it, he wished we could have stayed longer. I actually think his favorite part was just playing at the beach of a little lagoon. It was almost deserted, only 2 other families there with us. There were small lines at the pyramid, but not any worse than for the AuqaDuck. Lazy River was my favorite, and we had no wait (there was a wait if you wanted a dual tube though.) With the Aquaventure, you also get a lunch voucher valid at your choice of a few little cafes, as well as access to the aquarium, which was fun to walk through when it got too hot outside. We never made it to the shark slide, which was my priority, but it still turned out to be a fun excursion. I'm glad we did it, but like others have said, I'm not sure I'd book it again.

 

[Agent 86]

I can't comment on it from the perspective of a parent / entertaining a child, but I found Atlantis to be decent. The biggest "shocker" for me was probably how ... messy / dirty it was, especially when it comes to the high number of towels in the pools, river, etc. It was also a bit more ... rundown that I was expecting, but that was back in 2012 so things may have improved since. To be fair, we had pretty high expectations as friends had been to Atlantis in Dubai and said it was amazing.

It was a fun day and I don't remember too many lines / long waits. We probably wouldn't do it again.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

The biggest "shocker" for me was probably how ... messy / dirty it was, especially when it comes to the high number of towels in the pools, river, etc. It was also a bit more ... rundown that I was expecting, but that was back in 2012 so things may have improved since. To be fair, we had pretty high expectations as friends had been to Atlantis in Dubai and said it was amazing.

I mention above that the messiness is a unusual event:

I have a timeshare at Atlantis, and spend a week there annually, and have been doing so for over a decade. I've seen complaints about cleanliness before, and I chalk it up to the cruise ship crowd that visits that day. The vast majority of days, the grounds and pool areas look beautiful and perfectly maintained....better than WDW. But I've seen the rare day when the day-visiting cruiser crowds make an enormous mess. I can't discern a pattern as to which cruise line brings those folks in, but there have been a few days when I'd understand your complaint. But as I said, those days are rare.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

We have always found the employees on Castaway to be kind and professional. Don't get the issue with them being locals- where else would you expect them to be from?

Here's a comment I made over on a trip advisor forums nearly 10 years ago about working with Bahamanian staff:

Bahamians aren't really good at the 'subservient' thing....they are your friend and peer, not your servant (even when they are in a servant role). This throws some people off because they are used to literally being treated like royalty while they are on vacation.

It's just an approach thing: if you walk in barking rude orders in the Bahamas, you won't get very far and you won't enjoy yourself. If you ask nicely, and are pleasant everything usually gets resolved.

You'll also probably be surprised at how many mistakes are made or how random some things to be.

It's just a fact of life that things at Atlantis (and I think The Bahamas in general) don't always conform to the letter of the policy. Bahamians take things more personally, both positively and negatively.

Which is to say that service in the Bahamas can be just as good as service anywhere else. You just have to be nicer to people in the Bahamas to get the same level of service. Yes, it's a hurdle to get over, but a very civil hurdle.​

 

[hubbard53]

Here's a comment I made over on a trip advisor forums nearly 10 years ago about working with Bahamanian staff:

Bahamians aren't really good at the 'subservient' thing....they are your friend and peer, not your servant (even when they are in a servant role). This throws some people off because they are used to literally being treated like royalty while they are on vacation.

It's just an approach thing: if you walk in barking rude orders in the Bahamas, you won't get very far and you won't enjoy yourself. If you ask nicely, and are pleasant everything usually gets resolved.

You'll also probably be surprised at how many mistakes are made or how random some things to be.

It's just a fact of life that things at Atlantis (and I think The Bahamas in general) don't always conform to the letter of the policy. Bahamians take things more personally, both positively and negatively.

Which is to say that service in the Bahamas can be just as good as service anywhere else. You just have to be nicer to people in the Bahamas to get the same level of service. Yes, it's a hurdle to get over, but a very civil hurdle.​

this is a good observation. . . we spent 3 days in Nassau at the Hilton and then 3 days at Atlantis. We noticed the difference in service everywhere in Nassau but were not put off by it. We respected them and they respected us. Some of my son's best memories of that trip was our lunches at McDonalds, walks to the grocery, liquor store, etc. We were just part of the crowd; not "Americans". . . we do believe that there is sub-par service at restaurants though and we attributed that to the automatic gratuity added to all bills. They don't have to "earn" it. But as long as we trreated them well, they treated us well (frankly, i cant imagine NOT treating ANYONE nicely )

 

[skierrob]

Before booking with Disney, check to see how much a room is at Comfort Suites or even at Atlantis itself. It can be cheaper. Also, if you get the Caesar's Total Rewards credit card from Chase, you get Platinum status from Caesar's which gets you up to two nights free at Atlantis per year. See https://caesars.com/total-rewards/tr-partners/atlantis-paradise-island

 

[Napoleon Dynamite]

We did this twice last year. February and September. Best day ever! We had a blast! LOVE Atlantis! BUT, I used our Marriott reward points to book a room for one night at Atlantis, and we didn't bother using the room. They allow you to check in when you get there (for us it was 10am), and when your room is ready they will let you know. In the interim, you take your keys to the towel hut to get wrist bands for the water park. The total cost was the resort fee, which totaled about $75. We got free water, wifi code, and wristbands for the waterpark. We took a cab from the port both times. It's $4 each person each way. VERY easy. We got there much earlier than the DCL folks.