Bahamas/Atlantis

[Kplaster]

Okay so we are thinking of doing vacation at Atlantis this year there will be 3 or 4 adults and 1 child. What is everyone's opinion is it a good place to go, decent, horrible? Also if anyone has any advice on good deals please let me know. Were looking at AAA and American Express.

[BrerGnat]

We've toyed with the idea as well. We actually saw it from our Disney Dream Cruise ship in August! It looks like a really nice place.

However...it is EXPENSIVE. Like, $8 for a Pepsi expensive. You are essentially a captive once you get there, as it's separated from the rest of Nassau by a bridge. As such, the prices of everything on site are sky high. That's a huge turn off for us.

I have heard great things about the water park there, but I have also heard that it's borderline dangerous, as they don't really subscribe to the kind of safety standards that we are used to in the U.S. That freaks me out, as my kids are still rather young.

I think we are still up in the air about it. We may do it in a year or two, but I think DH and I have agreed that for the money, we'd rather take a cruise than be stuck at one hotel on an island for several days.

[DVC2004]

We visited Atlantis for 1 week in 2009 and we loved it. My kids are still asking to go back. I wasn't sure I would love it because I am so used to being constanly on the go on the Disney trips...but it was really relaxing and fun at the same time. I would say though that unless children are tall enough for the attractions it may not be as much fun. The attractions there are really everything so if they aren't tall enough it really limits. I can't remember the height requirements, but both of mine were tall enough to do everything. It was truly paradise and worth every penny. Loved it! We did a dolphin swim but we did that at Blue Lagoon Island off property and that was also amazing. To be pushed through the water by the nose of a dolphin- truly one of our treasured family memories. Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions. Food is expensive though so you definitely want to consider in your budget. A fast food lunch was $50, just burgers and fries...there was a subway sandwich shop across the street though and there is a Quizno's in Harborside village which is esentially attached to the property, if you are looking to save a little on food. I didn't have any safety concerns there with the pools or slides. I have not heard of it being unsafe and I didn't witness any injuries or accidents. Just like any time you are around water you have to be cautious and watchful of children. There was one beach on the side of the property that seemed to have a lot of locals walking through trying to sell you stuff or braid hair. The middle beach and the far beach though were both restricted to resort guests and we were not bothered there. I don't recall if there were lifegaurds at the beach but they had many by the pools and slides.

[clarkee]

We went to Atlantis a couple of years ago. We stayed at another property because Atlantis was simply too expensive. We found a solution that worked for us.

We stayed at the Paradise Island Harbour resort. It is all inclusive and we found a great sell off deal. The hotel is nothing special but there is a pool and all the food and alcohol is included. The staff is friendly and there were plenty of activities. I stress that this is not the hotel of a lifetime but it lets you enjoy the Bahamas at a very reasonable price.

Next we double booked a one night stay at the Comfort Suites. We never actually stayed here. We just checked in and checked out the next day. This hotel is not all-inclusive but guests are allowed to use Atlantis' water facilities. You get a bracelet and I think we were allowed to use everything at the resort for the day we checked in and the day we checked out. It was much cheaper than paying the day visitor rate or staying at Atlantis.

Both the Paradise Harbour and the Comfort Suites are within walking distance of the Atlantis resort. I mean two short blocks. I hate to walk for long distances. This was totally do-able. I probably walked further exploring Atlantis. We also walked over several other times throughout the week to play in the Casino, check out the aquarium and other sight seeing options.

The trip was totally worth any hassle figuring it all out. There was lots to do. The weather was fantastic. The shopping in Nassau is great, especially the jewellery. Atlantis is a lot of fun. I actually appreciated the ability to go back to our simple little hotel for meals etc.

I checked online at expedia and everything I reported seems to still be the case. So good luck with booking and have a great time.

[Kplaster]

Thank you all you have been helpful. The child will be 12 and tall for her age so I have no doubt she will meet all the height restrictions which is a plus. I am worried about the fact that at Disney there is always something going on always something to do so it's never much relaxing. This vacation will be a relaxing one so it's different but it also will be nice for it to be a actual "vacation." We will have to look into the other hotels and see if it works for what we are wanting. We are doing 2 rooms and from what we have priced it looks like it will be between 2500-3000 for the trip not including food once we get there (this is staying in the cheapest Atlantis hotel, which is fine since i'm not there for the hotel I wont be in most the time). I've heard to budget about $75 per person per day for food. Does this sound reasonable?

[DVC2004]

Your budget sounds right for food. We were there 7 days I think we spent $1200 on food and drinks, but two of us were children so they were still of the age where they could order kids meals (and be full). They have a meal plan offered but we just paid as we went. We usually had a fast type lunch then did a sit down dinner. We kept breakfast light. We did go into Nassau one day- I have to be honest I don't love Nassau- and ate at Hard Rock Cafe which is always pretty consistent in quality. Cab ride over the bridge was expensive. Other than that, and the dolphin swim, we found we didn't want to or need to leave the resort. Enjoy - we loved it. So relaxing. Nice to get up in the morning and not have to go-go-go all day or have tons of plans. You will want to make dinner reservations though at some of the sit down restaurants- they would fill up. We did this when we got there and had no issues.

[NJGIRL]

The hotel and water park are wonderful. The water park IMO is better than anything Disney has. There are many pools and water slides. The park is massive. The hotels are huge with a ton of shopping, aquarium, restaurants, a casino, and night time shows. I have never heard anything bad in the way of safety issues and everything I saw looked safe and properly maintenanced.

Yes, it is expensive to eat there, but if you have ever visited any island, that is the case, at least in my experience. Most things have to be shipped in and that dives up the cost.

I'm not crazy about the islands unless I am doing a cruise. A little is alot for me. If I was going to do the Bahamas I would only stay at the Atlantis.

On our last Disney cruise we did book a day room at the Comfort Suites (which is right next door and owned by the same company) to use the water park. It was a bargain and I would do that again, but if I was actually staying on the island I would just book the entire stay at the Atlantis.

[NJGIRL]

You are essentially a captive once you get there, as it's separated from the rest of Nassau by a bridge.

This really is not true Nat. Yes, there is a bridge, but there are other places/areas on the same side of the bridge. The bridge is also very easy to walk over if you wanted to, plus there are taxis all over.

I am not a big Bahamas fan, I have been there four times, once staying on the island and the other three times on cruises. IMO if you are staying at the Atlantis you won't want to leave it. Nothing on the island can compare to that resort. It is one of the nicest places we have ever been to. It can be compared to a very nice Las Vegas Hotel like the Venetian.

[seavote]

love the place. if you like water slides its great.
you must get the meal plan. it seems expensive but its nothing compared to not getting it. we had our taxi driver take us to a supermarket and we stocked up on softdrinks and snacks. just ask how much extra they will charge for the stop.