Excursion window is open...sorely disappointed

[Disney1fan2002]

My friend and I are going on the 4 day Dream in May. Her 1st ever cruise. Granted, I had not been on the website to check out the excursions beforehand, I just assumed certain ones would be available.
Atlantis?? Nope. Jet skis? Nope. Sand bar? Nope.

Those were the only ones we talked about doing. I guess we'll be two old ladies paddle boating around the lagoon at CC.

 

[happycamper47]

My friend and I are going on the 4 day Dream in May. Her 1st ever cruise. Granted, I had not been on the website to check out the excursions beforehand, I just assumed certain ones would be available.
Atlantis?? Nope. Jet skis? Nope. Sand bar? Nope.

Those were the only ones we talked about doing. I guess we'll be two old ladies paddle boating around the lagoon at CC.

They may add more before you cruise.

 

[dcassetta]

If you are comfortable with doing it on your own, you can book day passes at Atlantis.

 

[Cheburashka]

It's easy to do Atlantis Aquaventure on your own. I did that in October. You can book day passes via their website. Have a picture of your vaccine card on your phone, because they'll ask to see that at Atlantis. It's a fantastic time to go to Atlantis because it isn't crowded.

 

[amysmith282]

I agree with doing Atlantis on your own. You can even go through Sams Club to get tickets. All you have to do is catch a cab. One good thing about going on your own is no waiting for a large group.

 

[BruinEd03]

My friend and I are going on the 4 day Dream in May. Her 1st ever cruise. Granted, I had not been on the website to check out the excursions beforehand, I just assumed certain ones would be available.
Atlantis?? Nope. Jet skis? Nope. Sand bar? Nope.

Those were the only ones we talked about doing. I guess we'll be two old ladies paddle boating around the lagoon at CC.

Keep checking the Port Adventures daily or every other day. People do drop out of the cruise or switch Port Adventures.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Keep checking the Port Adventures daily or every other day. People do drop out of the cruise or switch Port Adventures.

It's not an issue of the excursions being full, they're not being offered at all.

 

[tvguy]

It's not an issue of the excursions being full, they're not being offered at all.

There have been posts that the operators of some excursions have not restarted yet. Either they can't get the staff to run them, or there aren't enough tourists yet to justify the cost of restarting Disney can't offer you excursions that aren't running.

 

[juxtapose]

It's easy to do Atlantis Aquaventure on your own. I did that in October. You can book day passes via their website. Have a picture of your vaccine card on your phone, because they'll ask to see that at Atlantis. It's a fantastic time to go to Atlantis because it isn't crowded.

Is there a way to do this and get a refund if we can’t dock or just buy day of?

 

[Cheburashka]

Is there a way to do this and get a refund if we can’t dock or just buy day of?

I recommend calling them to ask. It's likely that you can buy day of, because when I showed up the clerk seemed surprised I had booked in advance, but that could just be that one clerk. I wouldn't want to lead you astray. Call them- they do have customer service to answer the phone.

 

[TreeFalls]

A slightly different perspective- just did my first cruise ever, 4 nights on the Dream. We were supposed to snorkel in nassau, but was canceled because of the weather, and we were actually glad because we were so busy doing things on the ship. And all we did on castaway was bike, snorkel, and float rental. And we loved it. So only you know your friend, but she might find there's plenty to do without tons of excursions.

 

[tvguy]

A slightly different perspective- just did my first cruise ever, 4 nights on the Dream. We were supposed to snorkel in nassau, but was canceled because of the weather, and we were actually glad because we were so busy doing things on the ship. And all we did on castaway was bike, snorkel, and float rental. And we loved it. So only you know your friend, but she might find there's plenty to do without tons of excursions.

Our day on Castaway Cay we spent the morning snorkeling, lunch, and then biking all the trails. Those two things took the entire day.

 

[DisneyokwSSR]

Is there a way to do this and get a refund if we can’t dock or just buy day of?

For our October 2021 cruise, I booked the Atlantis water park directly through Atlantis. Cancellations needed to be done at least three days in advance or they do not refund your payment. I ended up cancelling because I feared one of my group members may test positive at boarding (less than three days out). If that happened, I would have lost around $2000 dollars for the water park and dolphin swim I had booked. It did take a long time to get my money refunded. They say 60 days and it did take close to that. One other note, we also needed proof of a negative COVID test. Our Disney boarding test would have been within the required number of days (3 I think) but in some cruises/situations, that may not be the case.

 

[Jaycen1801]

Atlantis aside - i've noticed this too. Virtually all excursions are booked, and even on-board items are hard to pre-book. We've moved our cruise twice in past two years. I suspect it's a combination of generally lower availability due to COVID and I'm assuming folks that kept moving their cruise dates being able to get a bigger jump on booking. Our last move we were paid in full and advanced nearly 90 days - nothing onboard was (is) avail and Tortola port adventures are not avail. Been doing the thing where we check back constantly for openings. Guess venting aside - anyone else encountered this as well? Sounds like once you're on the ship, you may have a better chance of bookings…..

 

[Cheburashka]

For our October 2021 cruise, I booked the Atlantis water park directly through Atlantis. Cancellations needed to be done at least three days in advance or they do not refund your payment. I ended up cancelling... One other note, we also needed proof of a negative COVID test.

I booked and went to Atlantis Aquaventure in October, and they never asked to see a negative Covid test result. They only wanted to see a picture of my vaccination card. I had a test result ready because their guidelines said to have it (rapid is okay, and no the DCL test won't work as DCL doesn't give you any documentation), but I was never asked for it and doubt that they ask anyone for it at Aquaventure.

I recommend getting a rapid test before sailing just to be ready in case they do ask, but just wanted to share my experience, so that if for some reason a person doesn't have the test result handy, they would know that Aquaventure probably won't ask to see it, anyway.

 

[DisneyokwSSR]

I did speak with a representative at Atlantis and was told about the negative test at that time. My confirmation email from Atlantis stated:

• Know before you go: Guidelines from The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation will require travelers to submit an electronic health visa and present a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR swab test upon arrival.

The Atlantis site indicates:

VACCINATED TRAVELLERS

• Fully vaccinated visitors traveling to The Bahamas from other countries must upload proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test result (either a Rapid Antigen or RT-PCR Test) taken no more than 3 days (72 hours) prior to the arrival date in The Bahamas.

For some reason, I thought I had read or heard that the Disney port electronic documentation of a negative test was sufficient (perhaps asked that during the call to Atlantis.) but I can't say for sure.

Interestingly enough, I booked a 3-night cruise for March 2022 and there is an Atlantis excursion offered. However, it is the lazy river which does not include the slides and rapids river. This option is not available for my May 2022 4-night cruise. Perhaps more Atlantis options will be opening up.