Warning about Atlantis!!!

[ptcbass]

Ok so last week we were thrilled to be on our first cruise ever. When we got into Nassau we were so excited to go check out Atlantis. I have had everyone tell me that it is beautiful and you can go walk around and check out their aquarium for free. We happily spent $15 taking a taxi there and were on our way to enjoy the day. We walked around and found a few shops but every time we come to a doorway there was a Atlantis employee guarding the door unless you were a guest staying at the resort. I asked about how to get to the aquarium and they said you have to pay ($49 each if I remember correctly) to get access to the aquarium area. This was not the tour and was just to see the aquarium. I was puzzled since everyone had told me it was free (and beautiful) so I found another employee that told me the same thing. Then outside where you pay for access to the beach and water park I noticed the sign that had a price for aquarium tours AND a price for access to the aquarium. It was a complete waste of our day and money to go over there for nothing. There were other cruisers over there walking around trying to figure it out too. We were so frustrated that we got the next taxi out and went straight back to the ship. Then there we heard one lady complaining to Disney (not blaming them) that her family paid $49 each for the aquarium and since one member was in a wheelchair they said they would have to come get them and take them back to that area and they never did. She paid the money and still didn't get to see it!! The employees were not nice at all and seemed to be only interested in getting money from you. Once we asked for directions for something and when we followed the directions we were at the exit door. My DS even said I think all they care about is showing us the exit door. Very frustrating and NOT a good way to start a port day. I also wanted to check out the property because we thought about booking another vacation and flying in and staying there. Not anymore!! The towers you were allowed in on the outside were rusted and looked really bad too. It was a huge let down!
I just wanted to warn others that also think you can go over and walk around and see the aquarium for free. Don't waste your time or money going over there. You can't see anything anymore!

I will share more about the day and my experiences as a first timer in another thread.

 

[Ravenne]

That stinks that you wasted your time and day, and for the other family who couldn't see it after paying! Did they get their money refunded, do you know? I'm surprised that people were saying you can see the aquarium for free. I can't even get into a local aquarium for free, let alone a tourist trap like Atlantis. Did it used to be free? I'd be surprised if anything is free any where near there aside from the air you breathe. I'm not in the least bit surprised that they are money gougers though. Most tourist places are. Thanks for sharing your experience. I look forward to reading more about it. I hope the rest of your cruise was magical.

 

[KristiMc]

Were you told on here that you could go there for free? I have never read that.

 

[MC0810]

i believe it did used to be free..it was 10 years ago..i know it wasnt back in 2012 though.

 

[ptcbass]

We had friends and family members that have been there say you can go to the main building and walk around for free and that the aquarium and casino is free to get into also. The lady that paid and still didn't get to see it did not get their money back. They were so mad and I don't blame them!

The guy in our cab that had been there before was also telling others that were riding with us that he has been and the aquarium was free to see. Oh well, lesson learned. I just wanted other to know about it.

The rest of the trip was SO great!! We really want to go again and didn't want to get off the ship the last day.

 

[SG101]

The Aquarium was never free to my knowledge...we went 14 years ago. However, we were able to walk freely around the hotel and look at the shark tanks where the slides go through and walk on their beach. I was told that they charge for everything, and it's only for hotel guests.

I wonder if your friends were hotel guests...if not, when did they last go to Atlantis because I heard they had locked down everything from cruise guests many years ago.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

I saw Atlantis the year it opened. I never thought it was "the place" to vacation. Totally overpriced and over hyped. The locals are there for a job but otherwise, don't really care about the tourists. Nassau outside of Atlantis is a dump. Which is a shame.

We heard similar stories about Sandals resorts, too. I got so scared off from the wedding forums that we never did go!

 

[Capt_BJ]

at one time you could see PART of the aquarium with no charge early in the day .. later in the day the 'free' part also changed to PAY. I know cuz we went and were there when it changed over ... early we walked thru free, and later there was a person at the entrance we used checking. But I'm talking over 10 years ago . . . and even then, we were very limited on what we could walk to in the complex as 'visitors'. All in all we were left with a bad taste in our mouth and decided we'd not go back unless it was to stay INside ... which we've never done . . .

Next time try the Pirate Museum .... we've enjoyed that a couple of times. Take a buggy ride around town, ask to be dropped at the PM then walk back from there.

 

[mmouse37]

Two years ago we were able to see small part of the Aquarium for free. It was the part that was behind one of the restaurants in the hotel. You had to walk down some stairs and there were 3 or 4 huge windows that you see tons of fish through.

We were also allowed to exit one of the casino doors and walk all along the building walkways (that hugged the hotel) and could see into all the tops of the aquarium tanks. it was just enough.

We have done the whole "Dig" thing and while nice, I do not think it is worth $49.

MJ

 

[Mirax]

A friend of mine spent four nights in Atlantis, she said $60.00 for a buffet breakfast for two. I'm thinking I don't ever need to go to Atlantis.

 

[tweis]

A friend of mine spent four nights in Atlantis, she said $60.00 for a buffet breakfast for two. I'm thinking I don't ever need to go to Atlantis.

Hmmmm......sounds like WDW pricing.

One of the partners in the accounting firm I work at vacations at The Cove at Atlantis every year and loves it. Different strokes......

 

[Made Up Name]

Nassau outside of Atlantis is a dump. Which is a shame.
QUOTE]

Actually, there are some very nice parts of Nassau, but I don't want to hijack this thread.

To the OP, where did you hear that the aquarium was free?

 

[fnrsgrl]

When we went, the aquariums and such were free with purchase of the water park admission. I certainly never would have expected to go to a large resort and be able to tour the attractions for free--the whole point of them being there is to make money, and the attractions are for people who paid for them. I'm sorry that someone told you could get in free, but I'm not surprised that they would try to "encourage" people who haven't paid to leave.

 

[ptcbass]

I have heard from several people over the last 6 to 8 months (that have been in the last year or two) that the only parts they went to was the casino, main hotel buildings and aquarium because those areas were free. They said if you wanted the tour you had to pay but to walk around and look on your own was free. I asked our server about it and he said more recently they did change it to where you couldn't walk around there freely anymore. Such a shame. I wish we would have known. Others were walking around wondering the same thing we were. I just wanted to share for others that planned on going to see the hotel.

I'm sorry but I was also wanting to check out the main towers to see if it is a place we wanted to vacation and they wouldn't let us near them. They want to charge you to have access to this area too. That is just crazy. I can understand not letting people onto the private beaches or water park but to just walk around and look at the building shouldn't be a issue. The ones we were allowed to look at were run down on the outside. Really bad impression for a possible future customer.

 

[Bellecruiser]

I don't think anything related to Atlantis is free. We went once to see the aquarium and go to the beach. It was such a disappointment. Plus we were on the beach with 2000 other cruisers...I kept thinking what would we do if we were hotel guests paying a fortune sitting on the beach with 2000 cruisers!!!!! Yuck! We will stay on the ship if we go to Nassau again.

 

[mixologist]

I had heard that they stopped guarding the aquarium entrances after 7pm or so and last May that was true. We went after 7pm and walked around the Dig etc and no one stopped us. We went this May and paid for the Aqua adventure and saw them turning back people who were not wearing the right wrist band. This was during the day.

 

[BalooLibLady]

Can you go into the Casino and gamble without paying another fee of some sort? We have an excursion in the morning. Then we had planned to go check out the Casino at Atlantis. I think I heard there was also a public beach, not on Atlantis, but relatively near. My DH is really interested in checking out the Casino, but I doubt he would want to pay an extra fee just for the privilege of doing a little gambling. Anyone know the answer to this?

 

[mareed]

Can you go into the Casino and gamble without paying another fee of some sort? We have an excursion in the morning. Then we had planned to go check out the Casino at Atlantis. I think I heard there was also a public beach, not on Atlantis, but relatively near. My DH is really interested in checking out the Casino, but I doubt he would want to pay an extra fee just for the privilege of doing a little gambling. Anyone know the answer to this?

Yes, casino is free access along with shops that are in a mall-like setting. Be warned that the casino is quite smoky so if that bothers you then don't plan to stay long. We went just long enough to spend $1 each on slots in Nov 2013.

 

[Starwind]

A little bit of advance research at Atlantis's own website would have resolved this issue beforehand...

http://www.atlantis.com/thingstodo/marinehabitat/thedig.aspx

"Access to all Atlantis marine habitats and Aquaventure Waterpark are FREE for guests staying at the resort. Passes may be purchased by day visitors, but availability is limited – and may be closed – during periods of high resort occupancy. "

 

[Starwind]

Can you go into the Casino and gamble without paying another fee of some sort? We have an excursion in the morning. Then we had planned to go check out the Casino at Atlantis. I think I heard there was also a public beach, not on Atlantis, but relatively near. My DH is really interested in checking out the Casino, but I doubt he would want to pay an extra fee just for the privilege of doing a little gambling. Anyone know the answer to this?

I don't have an authoritative answer, but Atlantis' Casino webpage is at http://www.atlantis.com/casino.aspx

I *think* the casino is a public space. Another poster warned about the smoke in the air -- we found it to be significant.

FYI, I wrote to Atlantis via private message at their Facebook page on another issue when we were preparing for our cruise and they responded promptly with a complete answer.

-SW