Atlantis Port Excursion...worth the cost?

[Anna Chassereau]

Just wondering if the Atlantis port excursion is worth the price or not...thinking about booking it and just wanted to get some feedback from others who have done it! Thanks!!

 

[mevelandry]

I don't know if you are talking exhibition only or aquaventure but was told that if you've been to waterparks like Sea World's Aquatica in Orlando and different aquariums, you will feel like it's overpriced...

We haven't tried it yet but since my in-laws desperately want to see it and we are tired of staying on board in Nassau (we're running out of adult activities to do), we're going to pay the price and experiment it during our next cruise. Overpriced or not.

Still, very interested in this thread.

 

[RedSox68]

Are you talking about the DCL one that takes you to Atlantis for a tour and then you can spend time on your own? We did that one and thought it was well worth the price for several reasons. The transportation was exclusive so we didn't have to worry about times and schedules -- they picked us up at the ship and dropped us off at Atlantis and then ran continuous shuttles like every half hour or so until about 3:00 or 3:30. So we did the tour and then went back through the aquarium again on our own, and then walked the grounds. If you do the tour and feel rushed through the aquarium, just remember you can go back through on your own at the end of the tour. When we were done we just went back to the door we were dropped off at and caught the shuttle back. Very convenient.

Ours did not include any water activities, but the various sea-life pools around the property were very nice to be able to see also. We liked it so much we'd even go back there for a vacation. Be aware that you really should not plan on eating there -- very pricey. We just brought granola bars to hold us over.

[Note: I did research and knew we could probably do a little cheaper on our own, but the tickets for the aquarium are limited and guests have first access. When I checked with Atlantis, they said we could get ther and find there are no more tickets for the day, which was another reason we chose the excursion.]

 

[Drusilla99]

We did the aquaventure with cabana. Cabana was totally worth it because we didn't have to wait in line for any food or drinks, everything was delivered to us by a waitress when we ordered. Any valuables we brought we locked up when we walked around or went in the water. We didn't have to worry about finding a seat, we had chairs, a table, comfy loungers, shade and a fan. Aquaventure might have been worth it if it wasn't at a peak season, but my dh never even got a raft so he couldn't go through lazy river. Kids & I only went through once. Kids never even got on a single slide, it was just too crowded. Me did go out to the beach for awhile. We ended up leaving early with hours left on the excursion to go back & enjoy the ship. So if you're looking at summer or spring break, maybe not the best excursion, any other time, it probably would be very nice. It's a beautiful resort.

 

[krisinparis]

We also did the Aquaventure with cabana and were also there on a super crowded day. The good thing about the cabana rental is you will be the first ones there from Disney. Our friends did the Aquaventure excursion only and they showed up almost an hour later than we did. As Drusilla99 mentioned, when it is crowded it can be very hard to find a tube for the rapid river. (There was good availability when we got there, but by 11 people were just standing in the water trying to find a tube). The water slide lines were also super long-- I'd say about 30 min-1 hour per slide, so if there are lots of ships in port that day, just know that you physically won't have the time to go down all the slides. In our case, we did full 3 circuits of the rapid river, my son did 1 water slide, then we headed over to the pool because no one wanted to wait an hour for the slides. I'm glad we did it once, but it was definitely a "one and done" kind of thing for us and it was a pretty expensive day for what we got.

 

[mevelandry]

We did the aquaventure with cabana. Cabana was totally worth it because we didn't have to wait in line for any food or drinks, everything was delivered to us by a waitress when we ordered. Any valuables we brought we locked up when we walked around or went in the water. We didn't have to worry about finding a seat, we had chairs, a table, comfy loungers, shade and a fan. Aquaventure might have been worth it if it wasn't at a peak season, but my dh never even got a raft so he couldn't go through lazy river. Kids & I only went through once. Kids never even got on a single slide, it was just too crowded. Me did go out to the beach for awhile. We ended up leaving early with hours left on the excursion to go back & enjoy the ship. So if you're looking at summer or spring break, maybe not the best excursion, any other time, it probably would be very nice. It's a beautiful resort.

How can you book a cabana at Atlantis? How much does it cost?

 

[ChicosWife]

We booked the Atlantis Beach Day (doesn't include the waterslides) and we thoroughly enjoyed it! We had our pick of relaxing on any of their beaches and our kids played happily in the water. I would say it was worth the price we paid. What wasn't worth the price, were their VERY expensive drinks!!!

 

[tltay2005]

Are you talking about the DCL one that takes you to Atlantis for a tour and then you can spend time on your own? We did that one and thought it was well worth the price for several reasons. The transportation was exclusive so we didn't have to worry about times and schedules -- they picked us up at the ship and dropped us off at Atlantis and then ran continuous shuttles like every half hour or so until about 3:00 or 3:30. So we did the tour and then went back through the aquarium again on our own, and then walked the grounds. If you do the tour and feel rushed through the aquarium, just remember you can go back through on your own at the end of the tour. When we were done we just went back to the door we were dropped off at and caught the shuttle back. Very convenient.

Ours did not include any water activities, but the various sea-life pools around the property were very nice to be able to see also. We liked it so much we'd even go back there for a vacation. Be aware that you really should not plan on eating there -- very pricey. We just brought granola bars to hold us over.

[Note: I did research and knew we could probably do a little cheaper on our own, but the tickets for the aquarium are limited and guests have first access. When I checked with Atlantis, they said we could get ther and find there are no more tickets for the day, which was another reason we chose the excursion.]

Glad to hear. We have this booked for our cruise next week.

 

[krisinparis]

How can you book a cabana at Atlantis? How much does it cost?

You can book it through the Disney Port Adventures. If you book a cabana, you have to book a certain type of excursion with it-- I think it's the Aquaventure, Dolphin Encounter, and maybe one or two other excursions.

 

[mevelandry]

You can book it through the Disney Port Adventures. If you book a cabana, you have to book a certain type of excursion with it-- I think it's the Aquaventure, Dolphin Encounter, and maybe one or two other excursions.

Can you get it just by booking Aquaventure?

 

[Drusilla99]

Can you get it just by booking Aquaventure?

Yes, through the Disney excursions is how we booked it. All we had it with was the aquaventure. I believe it was around $400...but still worth it.

 

[cmph]

We're cruising for the first time this Dec (the Bahamian out of Galveston on the Wonder). Well, the kids' first time, and our first Disney cruise. Anyway, we picked this particular cruise partially based on dates/wanting a smaller ship, and b/c we thought this was a good way to get Atlantis off the kids' bucket lists (plus Castaway Cay!). Now I'm rethinking it!! We live in Phoenix and have annual passes to Wet-n-Wild... not that it's as amazingly themed, I'm sure, but now I'm having a hard time justifying the cost of an overcrowded waterpark excursion when we have our "home" waterpark 10min away from us that we use 6-7 months a year. Does anyone think it's worth it, in our case? Would it be smarter to do the non-waterpark excursion there b/c we'll just be irritated by the slide lines? At home, we time our visits so we rarely wait more than 15-20min for any slide.

 

[kickash]

We also did the Aquaventure with cabana and were also there on a super crowded day. The good thing about the cabana rental is you will be the first ones there from Disney. Our friends did the Aquaventure excursion only and they showed up almost an hour later than we did. As Drusilla99 mentioned, when it is crowded it can be very hard to find a tube for the rapid river. (There was good availability when we got there, but by 11 people were just standing in the water trying to find a tube). The water slide lines were also super long-- I'd say about 30 min-1 hour per slide, so if there are lots of ships in port that day, just know that you physically won't have the time to go down all the slides. In our case, we did full 3 circuits of the rapid river, my son did 1 water slide, then we headed over to the pool because no one wanted to wait an hour for the slides. I'm glad we did it once, but it was definitely a "one and done" kind of thing for us and it was a pretty expensive day for what we got.

This was our experience as well last summer. For my family of 4, it was $600 for Aquaventure and lunch. We only did the river as the slide lines were ridiculous. We walked around, swam in a few pools (no one was checking wristbands), and ate lunch (it was awful. Coupons were only good at a select few places and it was a pain to find those particular stands). With that being said, I'm glad we went and experienced it. Next time though, we will not get off the ship in Nassau.

 

[Agent 86]

We did the transportation only one in 2012 (i.e. Disney-organised transport to and from the ship, but otherwise free to roam around the aquarium, pools, slides, etc at our leisure at Atlantis).

We enjoyed the certainty of the Disney-organised transport, especially as Atlantis was surprisingly (for us) far from where the ship was docked. At least we didn't have to worry about potentially being late and missing the boat.

Atlantis itself was a disappointment. The weather was quite poor, which I think contributed to the minimal guests, but it seemed relatively dirty and disorganised to us. There were towels everywhere - including at the bottom of the pools, river raft ride, slides, etc. And there seemed to be a general accumulation of rubbish everywhere. To be fair, our friends had raved about Atlantis in Dubai, so we had fairly high expectations.

The wait times were quite short, including for the thrill slides (e.g. the one that goes through the shark tank). From memory, we had trouble finding any food venues which were open. The food wasn't great, but no worse than most of the food in the parks.

All of the slides and river rafts were fun. I'm not sure that I would go back if I ever took another Caribbean cruise. Still, it's probably something that is worth experiencing at least once.

 

[Luv2trav]

Yes, through the Disney excursions is how we booked it. All we had it with was the aquaventure. I believe it was around $400...but still worth it.

Do you know if they would allow 8 in cabana? We would pay for the additional 2? We are traveling with another family and we don't need 2 cabanas but would like to have 8 people.

 

[My2litteprincesses]

We had an awesome time at Atlantis on our excursion last year. We did not go to the pools or the slides. We did the one with beach access/lagoon access/lunch/aquarium. Spent lots of time snorkeling in the lagoon. It was great! The aquarium is magnificent! We absolutely loved it & it was certainly a highlight of our trip. In my opinion, the property itself is worth checking out, even if you don't do the waterpark.

 

[mevelandry]

We had an awesome time at Atlantis on our excursion last year. We did not go to the pools or the slides. We did the one with beach access/lagoon access/lunch/aquarium. Spent lots of time snorkeling in the lagoon. It was great! The aquarium is magnificent! We absolutely loved it & it was certainly a highlight of our trip. In my opinion, the property itself is worth checking out, even if you don't do the waterpark.

If you pick the Beach Day access, you get access to the Paradise lagoon as well?

 

[donkthemagicllama]

Has anyone recently booked a stay at an Atlantis hotel to get access to the water park and beach when on a cruise?

I did this in December 2013. Booked a one night stay at Atlantis beach tower via travelocity for something like $100. It included full access to the pools, slides and beach for our family of four. We took a water taxi there, checked in, got our pool passes and went straight to the pools and beach and aquarium. When we were done for the day, we went to our room, showered, checked out and took a taxi back to the ship... Total travel costs were somewhere around $20, and checking in and out only took minutes.

I’d do it again in a heartbeat, but the hotels never seem to come up as available anymore... Is there something I’m missing, or have they closed this “loophole”?

 

[Drusilla99]

Do you know if they would allow 8 in cabana? We would pay for the additional 2? We are traveling with another family and we don't need 2 cabanas but would like to have 8 people.

I'm not sure how many would fit. We had four & it was comfy, I'm thinking 6 may be the max if everyone is in there all day. You have to have a wristband to come & go. It will probably give you that info on the port adventure list for Nassau.

 

[My2litteprincesses]

If you pick the Beach Day access, you get access to the Paradise lagoon as well?

Yes- we had access to lagoon with their resort chairs. Also we brought our own snorkel stuff, and they required their life jackets which they let anyone use for free.