Discover Atlantis tour through Royal Caribbean

[nkereina]

Wasn't sure which forum to ask this on, but I'm curious about the Discover Atlantis tour that's available to book directly through Royal Caribbean in Nassau. This is the $49pp tour that does not include access to the waterparks and beach.

 

Does anyone know whether this is a guided tour or is it self-guided and Royal just provides you with admission and transportation? The description just says its a 3.5 hour tour, but I couldn't discern whether it was guided or if the transportation just returns after 3.5 hours.

 

On a related note, this same tour is available from ResortForADay.com for the same price, and it says it IS a self-guided tour. So can I assume it's the same one? If so, any pro or con to booking with them as opposed to directly with Royal?

 

Thanks all!

[drketchone]

This was a guided tour to start, then they cut you loose and you can have some free time.

 

They didn't go to the newer (waterslide) buildings or the newer waterpark, they stopped, looked at it, told you about it, then moved on. With the exception of the aquarium areas, they mostly took you to the public part anyway.

 

You heard a lot about their history and seen all the older buildings and amenities. I guess it was borderline worth the $49 charge PP, actually after having seen the grounds I did see, it really eliminated any desire I ever had to go there. So maybe that tour saved me thousands!

 

I do wish I had brought my bathing suit however, as you were right on their very nice beach (free anyway, but it was right there).

[mjkacmom]

This was a guided tour to start, then they cut you loose and you can have some free time.

 

They didn't go to the newer (waterslide) buildings or the newer waterpark, they stopped, looked at it, told you about it, then moved on. With the exception of the aquarium areas, they mostly took you to the public part anyway.

 

You heard a lot about their history and seen all the older buildings and amenities. I guess it was borderline worth the $49 charge PP, actually after having seen the grounds I did see, it really eliminated any desire I ever had to go there. So maybe that tour saved me thousands!

 

I do wish I had brought my bathing suit however, as you were right on their very nice beach (free anyway, but it was right there).

 

That pass doesn't cover the beach, and cabbage beach's free beach is no longer right next door.

[Earthworm Jim]

RCCL knows where Atlantis is? Now that does sound like a cool excursion!

[Cruisin'4Us]

Our tour guide was fantastic. Great aquarium and showed us several of the glass sculptures in the hotel/casino area. Lots of walking. The aquariums are located in different areas within the complex. Glad we had the guide (and I have a good sense of direction.) I recommend it.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Cruisin'4Us

[Ourusualbeach]

Wasn't sure which forum to ask this on, but I'm curious about the Discover Atlantis tour that's available to book directly through Royal Caribbean in Nassau. This is the $49pp tour that does not include access to the waterparks and beach.

 

Does anyone know whether this is a guided tour or is it self-guided and Royal just provides you with admission and transportation? The description just says its a 3.5 hour tour, but I couldn't discern whether it was guided or if the transportation just returns after 3.5 hours.

 

On a related note, this same tour is available from ResortForADay.com for the same price, and it says it IS a self-guided tour. So can I assume it's the same one? If so, any pro or con to booking with them as opposed to directly with Royal?

 

 

 

Thanks all!

 

 

Regarding the transportation. If you have mobility issues then you want to make sure that you are getting there by bus or taxi as it is a fair walk from the water taxi drop off point.

[nkereina]

Thanks all. So can anyone confirm that the entire tour is guided? Or is it only guided for a bit and then you have free time? Still trying to decide whether the self-guided tour from Resortforaday.com might be better. A 3.5 hour completely guided tour might be too much! Thanks again!

[Cruisin'4Us]

In 2014, the guide took us to an area, spoke about what was there, and then we had a few minutes before we moved on. Then repeat. At the end of the tour, we had time to self explore.

 

I recall the driver asking each of us what time we wanted to go back to the ship so he could be there. Not sure if this is still done. My guess is that the guided part of the tour was about 1.5 to 2 hours. Hope this helps.

[BecciBoo]

WOW they charge for that? You can see all of that free by just walking into the hotel.

 

Just the price of the water taxi, I think it was 4.50.

 

If you want to see it all and swim, you can rent a room at one of the lesser chain hotels, Comfort Suites or something like that and you receive 4 bracelets for entrance to the water parks with your rental. And you have a room to stow your stuff. It ends up cheaper than the fees charged by Atlantis to get in. Go over to the ports of call threads and you'll find the info there.

 

Then again are you sure your ship stays long enough for that? They've been leaving Nassau around 3:00 these days.

Edited January 24, 2017 by BecciBoo

[mjkacmom]

WOW they charge for that? You can see all of that free by just walking into the hotel.

 

Just the price of the water taxi, I think it was 4.50.

 

If you want to see it all and swim, you can rent a room at one of the lesser chain hotels, Holiday Inn or something like that and you receive 4 bracelets for entrance to the water parks with your rental. And you have a room to stow your stuff. It ends up cheaper than the fees charged by Atlantis to get in. Go over to the ports of call threads and you'll find the info there.

 

When was the last time you were there?! For free, you can walk into the lobby and marina village. There are security guards everywhere blocking access to everyone without the proper wristband. The only hotel with access is comfort suites, and after taxes and fees, you might be better off just buying passes on th Atlantis website (and we've booked through comfort suites before).

[BecciBoo]

Several years ago, maybe 5, but you could see all of the aquarium, the casino and most of the hotel and eat in there. Doesn't sound much different from the tour to me. You just didn't get to swim in the water parks.

 

View My Video

Edited January 24, 2017 by BecciBoo

[mjkacmom]

Several years ago, maybe 5, but you could see all of the aquarium, the casino and most of the hotel and eat in there. Doesn't sound much different from the tour to me. You just didn't get to swim in the water parks.

 

View My Video

You need to buy a pass to see the aquarium, you can't even enter the lobby now. You can't go on the beach.

[BillOh]

RCCL knows where Atlantis is? Now that does sound like a cool excursion!

 

Not sure if there was sarcasm there or not. On my last Oasis cruise right up to about 60 days ahead of time 9 out of 10 excursions on their planner in Nassau were Atlantis related.

[Cuizer2]

Wasn't sure which forum to ask this on, but I'm curious about the Discover Atlantis tour that's available to book directly through Royal Caribbean in Nassau. This is the $49pp tour that does not include access to the waterparks and beach.

 

Does anyone know whether this is a guided tour or is it self-guided and Royal just provides you with admission and transportation? The description just says its a 3.5 hour tour, but I couldn't discern whether it was guided or if the transportation just returns after 3.5 hours.

 

On a related note, this same tour is available from ResortForADay.com for the same price, and it says it IS a self-guided tour. So can I assume it's the same one? If so, any pro or con to booking with them as opposed to directly with Royal?

 

Thanks all!

 

I took a ship sponsored tour of Atlantis with Royal Caribbean in 2013 and it was guided in the beginning. I remember we had some free time between the end of the tour and when we had to get back to the ship. The following is from my review ...

 

I am going on my only ship sponsored tour today. It is a tour of Atlantis. We are given a tour of the casino and the aquarium. The entrance to the casino is past some high end shops. The tour guide wants to make sure we can find our way out at the end, so she asks, what was the first shop we passed when we came through the entry doors. Well, this is too good of an opportunity to pass up, so I blurt out K-Mart. Everyone gets a good laugh and the tour guide goes as far as to say she likes me.

 

The aquarium was interesting, but I have been to several aquariums. I get some pictures, and stay with the group, but realistically, I am soon much more interested in seeing anything that is in an air conditioned room (it is hot and humid). The tour lasts about an hour and it was a nice tour with a pretty good tour guide. We are all given radio receivers at the beginning of the tour and the tour guide talks to us through a radio transmitter. It is a good system as we can always hear the tour guide, even if we are not standing next to her). The only problem is, every time the tour guide says come over here; you cannot locate her buy looking in the direction of the sound, since it is coming via stereo headphones.

 

After the tour there is some opportunity to explore more on our own. However, I do the math and quickly figure out that since we have to be on board by 1:30pm, there is not a lot of time for this and I want to check out the straw market. This is my second time to Nassau and I didn’t see the straw market the first time I was here, so I am in the first bus (there are five, one every thirty minutes from 11am to 1pm) back to the ship.

 

Photographs from the tour ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Cuizer2]

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[Cuizer2]

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[Cuizer2]

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[nkereina]

All great info - thank you so much!

[lbjen]

Great info, my kids want to see Atlantis but I can't see the value in buying the full access for the short amount of time. I think this might be a good compromise.

[Earthworm Jim]

Not sure if there was sarcasm there or not. On my last Oasis cruise right up to about 60 days ahead of time 9 out of 10 excursions on their planner in Nassau were Atlantis related.

 

Sorry, that was intended as a joke, referring to Atlantis the lost continent rather than the Bahamian resort.

[BecciBoo]

You need to buy a pass to see the aquarium, you can't even enter the lobby now. You can't go on the beach.

 

How rude! Guess they are really impressed with their lobby! Don't think I'd pay for that either. We have large Aquariums and pretty hotels and water parks down here in San Antonio. In fact we have been back to Nassau several times after that trip and we only did Blue Lagoon and Beaches Resort, now we don't even get off. They already get a bonus on their port fees:rolleyes: