Atlantis or stay on the ship?

[auntrenae]

I"ll preface this by saying it's been a while, but we went to the aquarium at Atlantis with a niece and nephew who were about the ages of your kids. It was gorgeous! We really enjoyed it! The big aquarium even had a manta ray in it, which we had never seen, so that was an amazing sight. The kids were enthralled, and didn't want to leave. There were guides there who were very knowledgeable and willing to share that with us. I'd go back there in a heartbeat!

 

[wishuponastar1984]

We can visit world class water parks near our home since we live by the original Schlitterbahn. If I were only on a 4 day Disney cruise there is no way I would waste time going to and from a water park. You are paying a HUGE premium to be on a Disney ship and I would try to squeeze every last drop out of Disney. Nassau is an overcrowded stop with way too many ships in port at any one time. We did get off in Nassau but it was only because we wanted to parasail and it was way cheaper in Nassau. After reading up, we found that if you walk down the pier towards Senor Frogs there are several parasail vendors. It was $80pp and we were back on the ship to eat lunch. Hung out at the pool the rest of the afternoon.

 

[blabadie]

We really enjoyed the lazy/crazy river and the slides. I wouldn't consider Atlantis a must do, but we did have a LOT of fun (4 adults and 4 preschool to elementary aged kids.) Our group would definitely not prefer the tiny DCL pool or watching movies on board vs. getting out and doing something or enjoying the beach. Really just a personal preference.

We are traveling with the grandparents next Bahamas cruise, so we'll probably just do a Blue Lagoon beach day in Nassau since they will not be able to do the water park style activities of Atlantis. We tend to most enjoy the ship on days when we've had a chance to go ashore and do something for several hours.

 

[Mansionlover]

This happened about 10 years ago, so take it with a grain of salt, but my family went on a cruise that stopped there and we went to the water park. Our 12 year old son got separated from us and the workers there were of no help in finding him. It took us an hour and half to locate him. The workers could be better trained now, but this is what happened to us.

 

[pixarmom]

We reluctantly booked Atlantis through Disney last year, based on significant enthusiasm from our youngest son. We wanted to remain open-minded going in, and I think we did.

The positives: Disney transportation was really easy and the drive there and back was interesting. Loved that we didn't have to worry about logistics. Our youngest can always venture off with our adult sons, so my husband and I spent most of the time at the beach. Some of the time, the beach areas were pleasant and relatively uncrowded. The water was beautiful and clean.

The negatives: The waterpark was crazy crowded, the lines were long, the food was not great. It was, of course, super expensive. My husband and I went on exactly one waterpark ride and the kids did maybe four in the time we had with the crazy long lines. It's very Vegas-like, and we don't love that (although our youngest was with us in Vegas for a family wedding once and he thinks it's fantastic, so this can be a positive or a negative, depending on your perspective.) Part of the time at the beach, our fellow beach goers really loved using profanity - and were super loud about it. But that's just the luck of the draw.

We definitely won't return. It was an expensive day, but I'm glad our youngest was able to experience it, given all his excitement since he saw it in the distance during our Dream cruise in 2011. And the weather was perfect. I like the Blue Lagoon suggestion that others posted. This year, we're getting off the ship again but booked the Blue Lagoon Dolphin swim. If we enjoy Blue Lagoon, we'll probably book the beach day there in the future.

 

[SL6827]

I get the feeling if one wanted to do the Atlantis water park it would be worth far more to do it if there weren't that many other ships in port on your Nassau day. Right now with the sailing we are booked on there is the Dream and two other ships there that day. That is probably too many.

 

[TheBigErn]

Stay on the ship! Atlantis is OVER priced, very expensive. We did the beach day and the beach was packed and locals were trying to sell you something every 30 seconds. We did not enjoy it at all. As for the rest of the resort, just look at the prices for their activities...expensive. And I don't complain about Disney prices.

 

[Glenn3484]

We did the Atlantis last april for our cruise, and our family loved it. We did the comfort suites deal. We were glad we did it. But we cruise again in march, and we are planning on staying on the ship. We came close to doing the Atlantis again, but it costs a lot of money between the passes/transportation/food. But in saying that, I would do it again, just not this time around for us.

I will add the employees there are not much help for anything... the amount of people didn't bother us.

 

[mollygirl13]

We cruise in June and have decided to stay on the ship to enjoy the amenities the Dream has to offer. it is just DH and I and our cruise is 5 days. We plan to enjoy time by the adult pool, read, relax, have lunch and see where the day takes us! I debated about going to Atlantis but it doesn't seem like our kind of place.