cruisin4disney
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2003
- Messages
- 46
Greetings from the Disney Magic!
I promised I would post a new thread with a review of the Atlantis Sub Excursion at Cayman Islands. Current trip information are being posted under existing thread "Greetings from the Magic"
FYI: This is being posted by crusin4disney's DH. She did not attend the excursion and stayed with DS - 18 months. On the excursion with me was DS - 9, DD - 7 and DD - 4. We took the 80-90 ft dive trip. You could opt for an 800 foot dive but that was expensive and, frankly, quite a scary thought!
Upon arriving in Cayman, we had to meet our group at RockinBarD at 9:20am. After making sure all "waivers" were signed, we got stickers (to ID us as tourists!!) and followed our charge to the aft gangway. We had to tender in as there are no port facilities for docking. This is not as painful as it seems. The tender trip is short and the water relatively calm. Kids had no problem jumping on the gangway to the tender. As you are pulling in, you can see the Atlantis submarine building which is about a 100 yards from where you dock. You can't miss it. It's a nice, clean little place. Nevertheless, we got escorted with the other guests to the building.
It's a small place (about the size of a gas-convenience store) and sells all sorts of Atlantis memorabelia. There are a couple of restroom in the place. I suggest that you take any kids there as soon as you arrive. They make an announcement that there are no restrooms once you board, so a long line forms quickly after the announcement. You got about 2 minutes from when you get there until they make that announcement. Even if you have taken your kids to the restroom before meeting at RockinBarD, almost an hour has passed since then, so you never know...From this point, you spend about 15 minutes in the "store" as you wait for the previous excursion to return. Some of the tourist stuff is inexpensive - it's all pretty standard. FYI: Everything is in US$. Don't stress about currency exchanges.
You then exchange your excursion tickets for laminated boarding passes. When they announce boarding, you go to the dock and they take your picture with a life preserver (how fitting) on a stand that says "Atlantis". Of course, you can buy the photo after the trip for $10. Ours was pretty lame, so we passed. If the photo is good, it's a neat little item.
You then board another boad that "tenders" you to the "dive site". The sub stays out there. It's about a 5 - 10 minute trip and you pass close to some of the cruise ships anchored there. At the time, there were five ships including Magic. Before leaving, you get a quick briefing on life vests and rebreathers "in case of the unlikely event of an emergency". The captain of the tender is a good guy - no comedian, though.
It's kind of fun as you get to the dive site. You circle around the sub area waiting for it to surface. All eyes are on the water looking for the thing. It's pretty cool when it pops up. You then pull up next to the sub, tie down and then wait for the guests currently on the sub to board the tender. This whole process takes another 5 - 10 minutes. FYI: the tender isn't exactly "kid friendly" with wide railings (although there is a mesh attached). I made sure DD-4 was always within arms reach.
Boarding the sub is also kind of fun. You go down a short gangway to the sub which is barely out of the water. There are two hatches (just like in the movies!) and you climb down a ladder. It's pretty spacious and was even relatively easy for my 4 year old to navigate. As soon as you are in, you're about 6 feet under water.
The sub has portholes running along the sides of the boat. They are a nice size, about 2.5 feet across. You can share one with ease. The sub seats about 45 passengers and you sit back to back in two rows, looking out of the port or starboard sides. There isn't much room to maneuver once everyone is inside so go down the hatch in the order that you want to sit. It doesn't matter which side you are on, the sub goes out and then returns via the same route. Whatever you see on the port on the way out, you see on the starboard side on the way back.
Once everyone is on board, you start going down and following the "dive route". It's a really neat view if you have never done it before. If you are a regular scuba diver, this is no big deal. For the most part, you go down about 50ft. You're near the bottom and see lots of coral and fish. Nothing really exotic, but it's still very cool to see. There are two "narrator" guys and one person driving the sub. The narrators are very knowledgeable and interesting. They point out all sorts of things.
The kids were fascinated since they had never seen anything like this before. It was fun for them to try and see new things. At the deepest, you hit around 80ft. You're still near the bottom, so whether it's 50ft or 80ft, it's really the same. It just seems cool to be 80ft down. The sub is rated for 250ft, so you're well within the safe zone.
You're under water for about 30 minutes I'm guessing. I didn't check my watch, but my DD-4 and then my DD-7 started losing interest the last 5 - 10 minutes. Part of the reason was that we kept seeing much of the same thing (no sharks-too warm). When we had a flurry of activity (sea turtles), their waning interest faded and they were staring out the portholes again. It was just about the right length of time. Any less and you think you might have missed something. Any more and you would start getting bored unless something spectacular came by (relatively unlikely).
After surfacing and boarding the tender back (waiting another 5 minutes as the next tour group boards the sub) you get a neat little certificate as an "Atlantis Submariner". The kids liked it. Something tangible they can show their friends.
All in all it was a good time and something we had never done before. I doubt our kids will want to do it again. Unless you have a real love for the sea, it's interesting, not "earth shattering".
I recommend it if you have never had any experience like this. As I said earlier, if you're a scuba diver, this is nothing. But if you're from the midwest like our family, it's really kind of cool.
I promised I would post a new thread with a review of the Atlantis Sub Excursion at Cayman Islands. Current trip information are being posted under existing thread "Greetings from the Magic"
FYI: This is being posted by crusin4disney's DH. She did not attend the excursion and stayed with DS - 18 months. On the excursion with me was DS - 9, DD - 7 and DD - 4. We took the 80-90 ft dive trip. You could opt for an 800 foot dive but that was expensive and, frankly, quite a scary thought!
Upon arriving in Cayman, we had to meet our group at RockinBarD at 9:20am. After making sure all "waivers" were signed, we got stickers (to ID us as tourists!!) and followed our charge to the aft gangway. We had to tender in as there are no port facilities for docking. This is not as painful as it seems. The tender trip is short and the water relatively calm. Kids had no problem jumping on the gangway to the tender. As you are pulling in, you can see the Atlantis submarine building which is about a 100 yards from where you dock. You can't miss it. It's a nice, clean little place. Nevertheless, we got escorted with the other guests to the building.
It's a small place (about the size of a gas-convenience store) and sells all sorts of Atlantis memorabelia. There are a couple of restroom in the place. I suggest that you take any kids there as soon as you arrive. They make an announcement that there are no restrooms once you board, so a long line forms quickly after the announcement. You got about 2 minutes from when you get there until they make that announcement. Even if you have taken your kids to the restroom before meeting at RockinBarD, almost an hour has passed since then, so you never know...From this point, you spend about 15 minutes in the "store" as you wait for the previous excursion to return. Some of the tourist stuff is inexpensive - it's all pretty standard. FYI: Everything is in US$. Don't stress about currency exchanges.
You then exchange your excursion tickets for laminated boarding passes. When they announce boarding, you go to the dock and they take your picture with a life preserver (how fitting) on a stand that says "Atlantis". Of course, you can buy the photo after the trip for $10. Ours was pretty lame, so we passed. If the photo is good, it's a neat little item.
You then board another boad that "tenders" you to the "dive site". The sub stays out there. It's about a 5 - 10 minute trip and you pass close to some of the cruise ships anchored there. At the time, there were five ships including Magic. Before leaving, you get a quick briefing on life vests and rebreathers "in case of the unlikely event of an emergency". The captain of the tender is a good guy - no comedian, though.
It's kind of fun as you get to the dive site. You circle around the sub area waiting for it to surface. All eyes are on the water looking for the thing. It's pretty cool when it pops up. You then pull up next to the sub, tie down and then wait for the guests currently on the sub to board the tender. This whole process takes another 5 - 10 minutes. FYI: the tender isn't exactly "kid friendly" with wide railings (although there is a mesh attached). I made sure DD-4 was always within arms reach.
Boarding the sub is also kind of fun. You go down a short gangway to the sub which is barely out of the water. There are two hatches (just like in the movies!) and you climb down a ladder. It's pretty spacious and was even relatively easy for my 4 year old to navigate. As soon as you are in, you're about 6 feet under water.
The sub has portholes running along the sides of the boat. They are a nice size, about 2.5 feet across. You can share one with ease. The sub seats about 45 passengers and you sit back to back in two rows, looking out of the port or starboard sides. There isn't much room to maneuver once everyone is inside so go down the hatch in the order that you want to sit. It doesn't matter which side you are on, the sub goes out and then returns via the same route. Whatever you see on the port on the way out, you see on the starboard side on the way back.
Once everyone is on board, you start going down and following the "dive route". It's a really neat view if you have never done it before. If you are a regular scuba diver, this is no big deal. For the most part, you go down about 50ft. You're near the bottom and see lots of coral and fish. Nothing really exotic, but it's still very cool to see. There are two "narrator" guys and one person driving the sub. The narrators are very knowledgeable and interesting. They point out all sorts of things.
The kids were fascinated since they had never seen anything like this before. It was fun for them to try and see new things. At the deepest, you hit around 80ft. You're still near the bottom, so whether it's 50ft or 80ft, it's really the same. It just seems cool to be 80ft down. The sub is rated for 250ft, so you're well within the safe zone.
You're under water for about 30 minutes I'm guessing. I didn't check my watch, but my DD-4 and then my DD-7 started losing interest the last 5 - 10 minutes. Part of the reason was that we kept seeing much of the same thing (no sharks-too warm). When we had a flurry of activity (sea turtles), their waning interest faded and they were staring out the portholes again. It was just about the right length of time. Any less and you think you might have missed something. Any more and you would start getting bored unless something spectacular came by (relatively unlikely).
After surfacing and boarding the tender back (waiting another 5 minutes as the next tour group boards the sub) you get a neat little certificate as an "Atlantis Submariner". The kids liked it. Something tangible they can show their friends.
All in all it was a good time and something we had never done before. I doubt our kids will want to do it again. Unless you have a real love for the sea, it's interesting, not "earth shattering".
I recommend it if you have never had any experience like this. As I said earlier, if you're a scuba diver, this is nothing. But if you're from the midwest like our family, it's really kind of cool.
