Atlantis -Paradise Island questions

Can anyone give me info about the Atlantis resort in Nassau? Can you do a tour on your own vs buying an excursion? Where would we catch a taxi, how much and how long of a ride? Also, if anyone has admission cost info and what the cost to use their pools and/or beach is, that would be great? Thank you so much!! Have never been there and need some help planning.

You can just walk over to Atlantis. It's maybe a 20-minute walk, if I remember correctly, but it's a fun walk.

If you take a cab, it might be longer if you are there during rush-hour or on a busy port day. The cabs are available just outside the port.

As far as the resort goes, can simply walk into Atlantis and go to the 'Dig' if you walk through the casino. You can gamble -- and they love it when you do.

As far as using the hotel services, it's frowned upon and you may be chased away.

I recommend this link to get yourself oriented: http://www.atlantis.com/atlantis_layers1024.asp

take a water taxi and then walk- don't walk all the way there. Or take a cab. You can buy the tour there, you cannot use the facilities, they check your room key constantly. If you've never been there I would recommend it, if you will be in port a whole day and want to use the facilities, reserve a room at comfort suites. it is next door and they will give you a wrist band that gives you access to all of atlantis' facilities.

Take a cab...

Hubby and I caught a cab, rode over, toured around the free areas, left a donation in the casino, looked like we knew what we were doing and were back in time for lunch on the ship...:)

It's nice!

check the port of call board..lots of information about the Atlantis on your own, renting a hotel room for the day. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=58

First, do not walk over to Paradise Island...it's not far, but further of a walk than you think...plus the local driving there hhhmmm just DON'T do it. Now, you do have options...as soon as you get off the ship and walk up the dock you will see many taxi drivers standing there with signs saying "to Atlantis." You can catch a cab right there and they are pretty good about getting at least four people so it's cheaper. They will drop you off right at the front door of Atlantis and when ready to head back the bellboys will hail a cab for you....they are there all the time it's not difficult. To ride over is only about a 10min. drive or so...very quick. You can also take a water taxi over for about $3.00 per person, but they only leave every 30mins or so and want to wait until the boat is full. I've heard it can be a quite interesting ride??? You can walk all around the shops, casino, and restaurants in the resort. The aquarium begins with looking through huge floor to ceiling glass windows in one of the main restaurants...this is for free. The "Dig" will cost you $29.00 (on your own..not thru the ship) and give you access to walk through the tunnel area where there is a nice gift shop...more money. I will tell you that most of the fish you see in the dig are the same fish you see from the restaurant for free, but from a different angle. Be sure to walk out the doors and look out over the beautiful verandahs at the lagoon ponds and the landscaping (absolutely beautiful!!). You aren't supposed to be on the outside grounds unless you have a wristband (from being a guest of the Atlantis or the Comfort Suites), but depending on the time you are in port this is how you can do it. We caught a cab over there around 4:15'ish and by the time we walked around inside it was around 5pm...all of the outdoor security (to keep "visitors" off grounds) were all gone and people were coming in from the beach and pools. Since there was noone there to stop us we just kept on going and walked all around outside...a great vantage point. Trying to figure our way back inside we came upon a ground level open area maked "Dig" so we walked on in and went through it backwards for free. By the time we got back to the beginning in the restaurant even the guy that was there to take your money was gone!! It only cost us the $8.00 cab ride over and then back to the ship. If you have lots of time in port it would be worth it to check into getting a day checkin at Comfort Suites and use their pools, etc...Good luck...it's definitely worth heading over to see.

I agree with take a cab. It cost us 5.00 each way. We didn't have any problem with security and roamed all over the place. The 39.99 cost for the dig, might be better spend doing a complete tour of the island instead.

We have a very good aquarium nearby in Cincinnati, so it wasn't much of a draw for us. The hotel is gorgeous, but it's still a hotel.....

IMHO - Stay away from the straw market, it's not worth it. One person on our cruise got her purse stolen and had to fly to St. Thomas to go to the Embassy.

Thank you so-o-o-o much for all the great info. It will be very helpful!!!! :) Unfortunately, we will be there only from 8:45 am to 2 pm. But it still gives us enough time to get over there and check things out.

Thank you so-o-o-o much for all the great info. It will be very helpful!!!! :) Unfortunately, we will be there only from 8:45 am to 2 pm. But it still gives us enough time to get over there and check things out.

That is definitely long enough to catch a cab over there and walk around...if you can get outside to just walk around some of grounds ....go for it indeed!! As far as spending the money to get a wristband...not worth it for such a short stay you need a much longer time in port. We were on the Celebration last year and were in port from 1pm - 12am...that is more of the time frame you need to get your money's worth. If you haven't seen the movie "After the Sunset" (a new one with Selma Hayek, Pierce Brosnan, and Woody Harrelson) I highly reccomend it. It's a good movie and the entire movie was filmed in Nassau and at the Atlantis Resort. If you don't spend tooo much time at Atlantis you can walk on over to Cabbage Beach which is the public beach on Paradise Island...right down from the Atlantis. If you go to www.webshots.com and do a search for "Cabbage Beach" you will see some really nice pictures of it!! Have fun!:o

Definitely take a cab!!! The walk would be excrutiating. It's only about 10-15 minutes. We paid $4 pp. We saw the digs at night when we were there on NCL Dawn (docked at 8:00 pm) for free. It's free at night. But, there are areas of the aquarium that are free anytime and well worth it!!! You'll have plenty of time to get there, tour the area and get back before 2:00. But, if you plan to do any shopping while in Nassau, get off the ship as soon as you can. The crowds thicken very quickly. Then, immediately grab a cab to Atlantis. You can squeeze Atlantis and shopping in, but it'll be tight. We absolutely love Atlantis. I'm going back in September :D

We just did this on our cruise in April, and it was wonderful the cost is $29 and most people don't know that you can tour the grounds as there are more aquariums out side. We had wrist bands and when the guards saw them they said go ahead and tour, it took us about 2 hours to see all there was. If you would like to email me I would be glad to send you some pics of Atlantis that we saw and you can judge for youself. Linda

ldavison@twcny.rr.com

When we were there we took a water taxi over and then a regular taxi back to the ship. Before I got back on the ship, I realized that I had left my purse in the taxi! What is most amazing is that I got it back!!! :) Everyone was so helpful there and did everything they could to get it back for me. Tip: If you ride in a taxi, get the cab's number. They all know each other by number, not by name.

The water taxi is right at the pier. It is about 3 bucks a person, with a guided tour along the way (this was in 2003 when i went)

To get into atlantis it is expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no problem I say. I jumped over the 2 ft wall from the beach that is behind atlantis. All you have to do is go to the beach, and keep walking back towards atlantis, and jump over the 1-2 ft wall. not hard, I did it with my son who was 11. now, they don't check room cards, and they rarely check wrist bands (what is needed to use the facilities. What I did, was I asked camp carnival for one of each wristband that they give to kids (since they are all different colors depending on the age group) Once I got to atlantis, I looked at what people were wearing, and put that color on. I believe the color for the day I went was blue. Just as i was going on the last waterslide, the attendent asked to see my wristband, and he saw it was from carnival. I told him i lost mine, and he just said ok...just go get one later...I told him whatever, as I am about to leave now!

Would definitely recommend the Atlantis visit. This can be one of the cheapest excursions you will ever take on a cruise. DON'T WALK! Take the taxi (from 3 to 5 bucks). That's it. That's all the money you need to spend. You can see about 40 percent of the dig for free from the resturant. You can gamble if you want to. The grounds are extraordinary and you just don't see structions like this every where. Even given the short time in Nassau, you will still be able to see every thing you want.

If you want to see more pictures of Atlantis, send me an E-mail and I will send you an invite on HPPHOTOS. richfret@comcast.net

Atlantis sounds really great! Will we have access to the beach though? I know we can use the casinos, restaurants and the dig (Most of it) for free, and we can not use the pools or slides, but what about the beach? Thanks.

We went there last week on our own. Taxi ride was less than 10mins and was about $5 per person. It's free to walk around the aquarium on one side and it was perfect for us. No need to spend the extra $ to see it all. They won't let you anywhere near their pools though-we tried :D.

My bf and I were on the Paradise last year and stopped in Nassau with no particular itinerary planned before we got off the boat. Like u all i knew was that I had to see the Atlantis hotel lol when we got of fthe boat we were immediately approcahed by a personable tour guide who charged us $20 ea. to tour the main highlights of the island in an airconditioned mini van. we were on the tour with 4-5 other people. we spent about 1/2 hour in Atlantis. We didnt do any tours or swimming there but it was enough to take some pictures and check out the amazing acquarium in the hotel. whatever u end up doing make sure u don't skip this attraction...u won't be disappointed!

Ok, the one that came up with the idea of jumping over the wall to get into Atlantis from the beach access....my hat's off to you hahahaha!! That is a good one..will have to keep it in mind for fall visit! No, the hotel staff will not let you get outside to access their portion of the beach...you would have to pass by all the pools and waterslides to get there and oh my gosh, you might have some fun there instead!! LOL! You can access Cabbage Beach though and just keep walking on down to the section behind Atlantis. Have a great trip!

It's only $6 roundtrip for the water tax and certainly beats the chaos at the street where people are trying to hussle you when you are waiting with tons of other people for a taxi. You can walk right off the ship and over to the water taxis. They are a real bargain and fun ride. You can see Atlantis all the way from the ship to the hotel/casino. Much more scenic than the crazy traffic jam with a taxi.

We did our own tour of Atlantis because there are lots of areas the public can walk in the hotel lobby to see the underground Aquarium for free, as well as seeing above at ground level on the casino floor level. If you want to pay to see the entire Aquarium or take a tour, you can sign up at the hotel. They used to have a beach w/lunch ticket as well. I don't know whether that is still available. There is a public beach adjacent to Atlantis. I enjoyed just walking around Paradise Island before returning to the pier. After you get back to the ship, you can walk around the marketplace and shop.