Shout out to those who have cruised to Nassau

Hello,

We are stopping at Nassau - April 10-18.. and we are first timers to these ports. I am seriously considering an excursion to Atlantis.. we are stopping from 130pm-midnight... and we are not sure of how this will work. (the excursion says 5 hours, but I am thinking I read Atlantis closes at 5)

We want to make the most of our stops to Nassau and Cococay... and also to Key West and Port Canaveral for that matter.) Its just me and dh, and I wanna have some excitement for these stops ..

Can those who have cruised there and stopped there, jump over to the "Ports of Call, Bahamas threads

I posted a question, but I see questions that some go with few answers

Thanks for your help for us newbies with questions :D

Last year was my first time cruising also. My family and I were on Majesty OTS. Idk which ship arrives at Nassau at 1:30, sounds kinda off. We did the excursion for the water park and loved it. The park overall was pretty empty being amid-summer day. AGAIN,WE LOVED the water park. I recommend it especially if your it's your first time to Atlantis. The beautiful slides with the aquarium is simply amazing and you get access to so much more, like the lagoon and beach, so if you get tired of the pool or finished everything, you still have plenty of other options, including the casino. If you still want the beach and not the water park there is an excursion for that too which is cheaper. You still get access to everything else but the water park. My advise is trying to call Atlantis and check how much a day pass will cost. It might be cheaper simply buying it when you arrive. The benefits are , one you save money and two you don't have to wait in line to take the bus over to Atlantis which we waited for almost half an hour in the Bahamas sun. You can simply buy right when you walk off the ship and pay for a taxi which isn't too much either. It's really beautiful. It was something on my vacation bucket list I'm glad to have checked off.

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Thank you for your reply... Here's another part to my question-

If I buy the excursion from Royal, can I get to Atlantis on our own right as we dock? Or do I have to wait for their bus? Would I get my tickets the night before?

Or, is this a silly thing to do? Would it be cheaper/more economical to book directly?

Or you can catch the water taxi right off the ship over to the Atlantis for a few bucks plus tip. It is not that far of a boat ride and kind of interesting. The public beach behind the Atlantis is beautiful, if you take a road taxi they can drop you in front of the pathway to it. It is a hike up a hill and down on a dirt path, but I did it in high heels in my long wedding dress a few years ago. :) I believe it is one of the most beautiful beaches in the caribbean.

We have typically done through RC, however for the next time we are in Nassau, we are looking to do ourselves and just jump in a taxi as soon as we get off the ship.

Will let you know pricing private against through RC once DW has completed all her research.

We are looking at the 5hr trip also so will be comparable. We have a shorter dock for our cruise so we want to fit the 5hr in, main reason we are looking at doing it privately.

Will let you know as soon as she has all the figures.

Have a great cruise

Happy Days!

I believe you can leave once you've arrived and take a taxi ( water or regular taxi) . One of the people in our group wanted to check out the outlets and shop prior to leaving to the excursion. I do know that your ticket of-course includes transportation( which is RCCL best sales pitch). They offer transportation but again you'd have to leave on their scheduled times to report back to ship, in our case the buses departed every half hour starting at 10. Our ship was scheduled to leave at 12 am that night and the last bus left Atlantis at 7:00 pm, which I wasn't to happy about. If you want to buy the excursion with RCCL, you can book either online or when you arrive on the ship, just head over to the desk. We bought our tickets once we arrived on the ship. They gave us our tickets directly and we had to hold on to them until we arrive( one day). Some excursions might have you meet at a certain location on the ship before leaving to he excursion. If you'd rather DIYS then they're plenty of sells men right off the ship selling tickets or you can take a taxi right off the pier and head directly to the resort and by the tickets once inside. My family and I choose to by with RCCL since we feared that the the park might be sold out and full. We later found out that even in the middle of July, the resort still had day passes available at a cheaper rate.

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Private Pricing

The Aquaventure day pass is $139 for adults and $80 for kids 12 and under.

No transportation included

RC Pricing

The Aquaventure day pass is $165 for adults and $119 for kids 12 and under.

Transportation included

From memory we paid just $5 for a taxi, water taxi back was $2

Hope this helps.

I have been to Nassau about 20 times. Atlantis is worth seeing by far but you can do easily by taxi or ferry. The waterpark there is great but seeing the grounds and aquarium takes quite a while and is absolutely beautiful. I would never pay for the excursion thru the cruise line. Way too expensive and you are on their timeline.

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A cruise travel agent once told me, that if you have a large group, to make a reservation and check into this hotel upon arrival. It is across the street from the Atlantis and they have a reciprocal agreement with the Atlantis.

It is just like you are a guest of Atlantis, you can use all of the amenities. You don't have to pay individual entrance, your entire family can use the waterpark, pools, visit the aquarium, check out towels...even charge meals to your "room" if you want.

I just checked the website and it still holds true, it was a nice savings.

http://www.comfortsuites.com/hotel-nassau-bahamas-BS003

I personally have done it once, and it was a huge savings. They say "limit 4 per room" but they would have given all of us the bands with one room (there were 8 of us, we booked 2 rooms, and still saved a lot of money)

The comfort inn loves it because they don't have to clean a room, not too many cruisers know about it and do it - they don't market it, its a little trade secret.

A cruise travel agent once told me, that if you have a large group, to make a reservation and check into this hotel upon arrival. It is across the street from the Atlantis and they have a reciprocal agreement with the Atlantis.

 

It is just like you are a guest of Atlantis, you can use all of the amenities. You don't have to pay individual entrance, your entire family can use the waterpark, pools, visit the aquarium, check out towels...even charge meals to your "room" if you want.

 

I just checked the website and it still holds true, it was a nice savings.

 

http://www.comfortsuites.com/hotel-nassau-bahamas-BS003

 

I personally have done it once, and it was a huge savings. They say "limit 4 per room" but they would have given all of us the bands with one room (there were 8 of us, we booked 2 rooms, and still saved a lot of money)

 

The comfort inn loves it because they don't have to clean a room, not too many cruisers know about it and do it - they don't market it, its a little trade secret.

We've done this once for some savings, but on our last cruise, it was actually cheaper through the ship. Like all hotels, prices vary week to week. I've never heard of anyone getting more than 4 bracelets with 1 room, and I've been around here for a while.

OP, the pools and slides do close at 5. There will be lines when you get there. There are other things to do in Nassau.

Another point to consider is the Aquaventure operating hours. In December, the Aquaventure water slides are only open until 5PM from what I've learned. This was a deal breaker for me as our upcoming November cruise pulls into port at 1PM. Perhaps in April, they will be open until 6PM [closing hour varies by season apparently]. I think you would want the whole day at the park to get your money's worth.