Atlantis Resort in Nassau: Fact & Fiction

For many years Atlantis and all of its facilities in Nassau, Bahamas was only accessible by guests that were staying at the resort. Tourists coming by cruise ship and other hotels could take a cab to Paradise Island and peruse the high end boutiques such as Ferragano and Gucci, gamble at their world class casino and marvel at the awesome architecture of the hotel with the what look's like a bridge that connects two tall towers. That was the only highlights they were able to see.

The bridge is really is a suite, a very expensive one at that, that has had visitors such as Michael Jackson and Oprah Winfrey. Contrary to popular belief, there has been more than one celebrity that has ponied up this tab. The suite costs $25,000 a night and minimum stay is 7 days.

Atlantis was built by South African Hotel Giant Sol Kerzner at a staggering $800 million dollars and took 4 years to build (1994-1998). The show piece to this modern marvel is the largest saltwater aquarium in the Caribbean, called "The Dig" and was designed to what archaeologists believed the lost city of Atlantis would have looked like. This aquarium cycles between 180 - 240 million gallons of saltwater. Before 2007, cruise ship guests and non-Atlantis visitors were able to get a guided tour of the hotel and Aquarium, called "The Dig".





The newest addition (well in 2007) is the massive 141 acre waterpark. The 200 million gallon Aquaventure combines slides, lazy rivers, and rapids into one large waterscape. The centerpiece of the attraction is the Power Tower which contains four waterslides. The slides include The Abyss, The Drop, The Falls and The Surge. Aquaventure also includes one of the Atlantis' most popular attractions, The Current. Which is a not-so-lazy river ride that encompasses the main waterpark area. Guests ride on innertubes through lazy and rapid sections of the river. They also built "The Cove" which is a 600 suite tower off to the east of the main hotel and has its own bar/restaurant, posh pool and cabanas, high stakes gambling tables and beach.







Don't forget for all those that are not 48 inches, because that is the minimum height requirement for most all the waterpark slides and lazy river rides, they do have Splash, the water themed kiddie park and kiddie slides are located at the lower front side of the Mayan Temple slide.



They also built a massive beach lagoon that rivals any movie set that is used to house some of the ocean's friendliest creatures, bottle nose dolphins. Some of the dolphins that are on display are one's that escaped Hurricane Katrina. For an additional fee you can get up close and personal with these creatures with a variety of programs, including the dolphin interaction, dolphin deep water swim and more.



Since 2007, The Atlantis has opened up limited spaces to the cruise ships at the Aquaventure Park, Dolphin Cay and some of the outer beaches. The main attraction is "The Dig" Aquarium and most all cruise ship tour packages include access to it. As for our friends that visit Atlantis by cruise ship, here is a 10 tips for you:

1. When a cruise ship offers space for any of the tours, this is guaranteed space. Many times during the year, if the resort is full, it will limit the amount of space given to any cruise ship. During Spring Break, Easter and Christmas holidays, if the hotel is at capacity then the cruise ships will get even more limited space (like sometimes only 50 spaces for a 2400 passenger ship. The resort will tell the cruise ship Shore Excursion team to advise the guests not to come on their own because they will be denied and waste a taxi ride over and back. But this is to ensure quality service to all guests, whether hotel or cruise ship guests that attend.

2. Cruise ship sponsored tours to Atlantis include round trip transportation. You don't have to stay for the whole duration of the tour advertised. Normally, the transportation company will offer guests multiple returns every 30 minutes from 2:00pm to 4:30pm for example. This will give you a chance to check out shopping in downtown Nassau if you like or if you are the shorter tour, extend your stay.

3. Currently, visitors that are not guests of hotel or cruise ship purchased excursion will only be able to see the gift shops & casino and no longer to even linger in the main lobby.

4. Cruise ship tour guests have use of all the facilities including restrooms, towels and any other amenity, depending on the package they choose.

5. Depending on the name of the tour chosen by the cruiseline there is 4 main packages:
Discover Atlantis (2.5 hr guided tour of Atlantis and Aquarium)
Discover Atlantis & Beach (self guided tour of Aquarium and access to outer beach)
Aquaventure (access to waterpark, self guided tour of Aquarium & inner beaches)
Dolphin Interaction & Aquaventure (either shallow water interacation or deep water swim combined with the Aquaventure package)

6. Cruise ship tour prices that include transportation are higher than g0ing to Atlantis on your own, however you cannot put a price on convenience. It is far easier to meet your group on the pier, walk to your transportation, get a quick orientation and be off the Mayan Temple waterslide in no time. (Have you witnessed the taxi driver attack once you leave the Nassau terminal?)

7. To get to Atlantis on your own you simply take a taxi ($4) per person each way. However, this is dependent on how many people are with you in the van. If the van is not full, you may have to wait until more come or pay more. You can also take water taxi's, which are $3 per person each way and is an alternative route to land taxis, however, the walk from ferry terminal where the water taxi's drop off is an additional 15-20 minutes to the Atlantis Resort.

8. Once you arrive to Atlantis (not on a ship tour) you have to proceed to the main lobby and head to the lower level to purchase wristbands for whatever access you want. Again, prices will be lower than cruise ship prices, but they don't include transportation and if space is not available they will not let you in.

9. Whether you take the ship sponsored tour of Atlantis, go on your own, other ship tours, or just walk around exploring and shopping, there is a 5-15 minute walk from your ship to the terminal building. There can be up to 8 ships in port at anytime and Nassau is considered the largest cruise ship terminal in the Caribbean. See picture below:



10. Most of Atlantis' gift shop, activities desk and food & beverage stations are cashless. This means you have to use a credit/debit card in order to make purchases for food, drink, lockers and souvenirs. There is one gift shop near the main lobby and one food venue in the waterpark that takes cash. Some of the cruise ship tours include a lunch voucher but most do not. You can also leave your ship towel behind, as you can use the resort's towels and save some space in your bags for souvenirs.

Bonus Tip #1: If you are the aquarium, go to the back of the lobby outside at 10:30am and 3:30am and see a live feeding of the 2 large manta rays, Apollo and Zeus.

Bonus Tip #2: Top two excursions within Atlantis Resort! #1 Guided snorkel in the aquarium. Get up close and personal with the manta rays, sharks and other marine fish in the The Dig aquarium. #2 Helmet Dive in the Shark Lagoon. At the bottom of the Mayan Temple slide is a large shark tank filled with Caribbean reef sharks. You get to do a Helmet Dive in this tank. Sweet!

So enjoy your stay in Nassau and make sure you get the most out of Atlantis Resort during your stay. You can get more information at www.atlantis.com and to find out what packages your cruise line offers, go their Shore Excursion page, like www.ncl.com