Discover Atlantis Excursion

[GreenBeetle]

My first thought was to explore Nassau a little (probably the Pirate Museum) and then head back to the ship. Now I'm re-thinking the Discover Atlantis excursion.

Has anyone done this one recently? Was it worth the time off the ship? Do you have a guide with you in the aquarium - or do you view at your own pace?

Any and all comments welcome.

[Flower]

I have not been, but Atlantis looks awesome! I don't think I could pass up an opportunity to explore it!

Have a great trip!

[meldan98]

You do have a guide and they take you on a tour of the resort, shopping area, casino, and the aquarium and then leave you in the middle of the resort to find your own way back to the buses. It's a neat aquarium and the hotel is beautiful, but I get the feeling that they really want you to drop money in the casino and shops.

[GreenBeetle]

It's a neat aquarium and the hotel is beautiful, but I get the feeling that they really want you to drop money in the casino and shops.

Hmmm, the more I think about it we are probably better off with a quick look around Nassau then back to the ship to enjoy the things we already paid for. This being our first cruise, I want to enjoy the Wonder as much as possible.

Every now and then I second guess my choices . . . all part of my obsessive planning of our Disney vacations.

[pogo]

We stopped in Nassau with our cruise in 2002 and I wished we had gone to Atlantis. Instead, we decided on the city tour. What a waste of time it was. The driver was a treat, but he dropped us off at every tee shirt shop in the city.

Every time we see a program about Atlantis on TV, we say, "we should have gone there."

If I were you..... I'd go to Atlantis.

[RobWreck]

If I recall correctly, if you want to just buy admission to 'The Dig', it's about $30 a person. The cab ride was about $7, so when my wife and I went to check it out last time, roundtrip cabs and admission was about $75. How much does the excursion cost? It may be cheaper to do it on your own...
Rob

[meldan98]

I've done the city tour and have done the shopping area on my own, and would not recommend it. I didn't like the atmosphere and the street vendors hastling me to buy things. One year, we went right after a junkanoo and all the shops were borded up and lets just say a very unpleasant odor.

I preferred the Atlantis tour more. We are thinking about doing the aquarium tour on our own this time, so it takes less time and I've even read one of planning books that recommends this.

[wendybird]

How many of you are going? It may be worth it rent a room there. Our family of four got a room at Atlantis and had full use of the facilies ALL DAY!!!! It was awsome!

[GreenBeetle]

wendybird: Can you please PM information on how you got a day room at Atlantis? I haven't seen anything online to do that. Thanks.

[tundramom]

Getting to experience Atlantis was one of the main reasons I agreed to the Disney cruise. For us, the excursion did not offer enough (we couldn't possibly not get in and enjoy the water park!) so we plan on getting a room for the day so we can have the full experience

[GreenBeetle]

I'm just a little fuzzy on how to go about getting a day room. I haven't come across anything online about it - do I call Atlantis direct?

[rockydek]

I am going on my first Disney cruise in May 08.
I have been checking out the info here. Its great! My son insist that you can buy a wrist band for 25.00 for all day use of the water park at Atlantis. He was recently on Vacation at Atlantis. I have already booked a room at Comfort Suites. However, I will check into this wristband, Has anyone else heard or actualy done this?

[MPLSguy]

I just returned for a 3 night Wonder cruise with the stop in Nassau for the day. Lets just say I was "less and excited" about stepping off the ship! I felt like I was in the back streets of downtown Tiajuanna, dirty, gimy and looking over your shoulder most of the time to see who was watching you. I did spend the $7 pp + $1 bridge toll to go to Paradise Island and Atlantis. The hotel is very nice, and VERY expensive. $8.50 for a bag of potato chips and a diet coke, but the real eye opener was the $7.50 price sticker placed over the $.75 USA Today newspaper. They allow you to walk all through the resort, but once you go outside you can walk the covered area around the back, but you either have to pay to go to the beach of a hotel guest. Nice visit, but I was glad to get back to the Wonder and spend the time there!

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

I went on a cruise earlier this year (unfortunately it wasn't Disney). We arrived at 8 pm (even though the itinerary says 7 am - next day). So we got off the ship and took the cab to Atlantis. We walked around the casino, resort, shops and aquarium for free. The next day we did the excursion and were extremely disappointed.....we paid $50 for what we did for free the night before. It most certainly wasn't worth the money........more like a waste of money. If I had known that you could go on shore the night before and see the aquarium for free we would have purchased another excursion.

[TammiMcMan]

My son insist that you can buy a wrist band for 25.00 for all day use of the water park at Atlantis.

The $25 wrist band allows you access into the aquarium. The water park wristbands are $100 per person.

BelleLovesTheBeast, your arrival in Nassau was definitely not typical. Usually the all ashore is between 8:30am and 9:45am and the all aboard deadline is 7pm. Glad you were able to see the aquarium for free that evening, but most cruisers don't have an opportunity to be at the Atlantis that late at night. It's good to know if the opportunity arises though.

[B.R. Guest]

I just returned for a 3 night Wonder cruise with the stop in Nassau for the day. Lets just say I was "less and excited" about stepping off the ship! I felt like I was in the back streets of downtown Tiajuanna, dirty, gimy and looking over your shoulder most of the time to see who was watching you. I did spend the $7 pp + $1 bridge toll to go to Paradise Island and Atlantis. The hotel is very nice, and VERY expensive. $8.50 for a bag of potato chips and a diet coke, but the real eye opener was the $7.50 price sticker placed over the $.75 USA Today newspaper. They allow you to walk all through the resort, but once you go outside you can walk the covered area around the back, but you either have to pay to go to the beach of a hotel guest. Nice visit, but I was glad to get back to the Wonder and spend the time there!

I agree with MPLSguy. We sailed on the 4-day cruise in July '06 and did the Atlantis beach excursion. We all said that we wished we had just stayed on the ship that day. The beach was really crowded and we were swamped with the locals wanting to sell us stuff all day. We took a taxi back to the ship to avoid a mile walk back to our meeting point for the shuttle. Let's just say we got to see some "interesting" sights in Nassau. I was never so glad to get back to the dock. Just stay on the ship, save your money, and have a great day using the facilities there.