Discover Atlantis tour worth it or stay on ship ?

[ipodmama]

Hello everyone, Me and my family of 4 ( our kids are 9 and 8 years old) will be taking our very first Disney cruise on the Dream this August. I have looked at the excursions that you can do at atlantis and I have booked the discover Atlantis tour.
I would like to know will there be enough time to discover and enjoy all the ship has to offer if we do this excursion and also is the discover Atlantis tour worth the money ?
I have read that some people stay on the ship because of the crime in Nassau( which does scare me) but that some also stay to get the most out of the ship. This will be our once in a lifetime family vacation, we will not be able to do this again so I want to get the most out of it for everyone to enjoy. Any thoughts and perspective from anyone who has been on the excursion would be great.
thank you so much

 

[jne7043]

Honestly I think the Discover tour is a waste. We have been to Atlantis many times and are buying day passes to Atlantis because we love it that much. But, the Discover tour would just be a tease for your kids. As for the crime don't let it scare you. I don't love Nassau, but if you stick to the main tourist streets you would be fine. Atlantis is not in Nassau. If you went there you would be getting right on a shuttle off the boat which would take you over the boat to Atlantis.

 

[jne7043]

Also, I know Atlantis is expensive through DCL but there are a few tricks. You can book a room at Comfort Suites Paradise Island which gives you full access to all the Atlantis waterpark area, beaches, pools, etc. These rooms run about $250 and you can take your own taxi over for about $4 per person. (I suggest a regular taxi over the water taxi) Taxi takes about 10 minutes. You can also buy a day pass from Atlantis which is much cheaper than DCL, but for a family of 4 the Comfort Suites works out better.

 

[Bridgets2011]

We did the tour last year and it was okay. The vans pick you up right outside the ship so you're not wandering the city. The tour was about an hour then you were able to visit on your own but you are limited as to where you can go. The aquarium was cool but if you've been to an aquarium before there's nothing special. Our guide was amazing and he made it worthwhile. But...I did the tour again this year with my niece who has never been there. My adult daughter, who went the first time, stayed on the ship. Our guide this time was terrible and the tour only lasted about 30 minutes. We only saw about half of what we saw the first time. That being said, I'm doing a solo cruise in September and I will stay on the ship. There is so much to do on the ship so I feel that if you're not super excited about Atlantis, don't bother.

 

[smtmmj]

Great tips jne. I think we may give that a shot

 

[volfan1978]

Not sure about the Discover Atlantis tour, but I'll give you my experience with the Atlantis day pass...

In 2010 my wife and I did the day pass so that we could hang out at the beach, and I expected a nice clean beach with relative privacy/exclusivity. I guess our expectations were too high, because the beach was crawling with vendors pressuring us to buy "coconut drinks" and braid hair. Beach also wasn't very nice--Destin, FL and Gulf Shores, AL are both much nicer. Lunch was not very tasty or plentiful. The grounds were beautiful, but we weren't blown away. We never had any issues with crime and we never felt pressured to buy anything to the point that we were uncomfortable, but we both agreed that we would have had a much nicer time on the ship.

When we went back the next year with our children (ages 4 and 2 at the time) we did not get off the ship in Nassau, and I think it was the correct decision. However, we had already experienced Atlantis the previous year, and we knew the kids really wouldn't enjoy it since they were so young, so it was easy to make that decision.

You know your kids and what they like, so you'll probably be in the best place to judge. They're at an age where they'd probably enjoy the stingrays and exotic fish all around the grounds. All things considered, you should probably go ahead and do Atlantis for the photo opportunities and just to say you did it (since it's a once in a lifetime family trip), but then I predict that you'll be underwhelmed. Just my $0.02...