Anyone been to Atlantis, Bahamas?
- Thread starter krb
- Start date
EASTERBUNNY77
New Member
My Bro In Law Went, Said It Was Very Nice But Verrrrrryyyy Expensive. A Soda Was Like $5.00, Burgers Were $18.00, And That Did Not Include Fries. All The Extra Activities Are Extremely Expensive!! He Said It Was Nice But Soo Not Worth All The $$$. Just So You Are Aware.
morningbell
hmmmmmm
ooooh! Isn't it hurricane season? Fun! Bring your surfboard! 
(and flotation device
)
(and flotation device
)
awpitt
Main Streeter
We go every year. Our first visit was in 2006. We stayed in the Royal Towers. What section are you staying in? We ended up buying a timeshare week at Harborside which is the ownership part of Atlantis so we stay there now. We’re getting ready to go again in August, just 3 ½ weeks from now. Can’t wait! We’ve never done any of the meal plans because we find that we eat a number of meals away from Atlantis, like at Hard Rock, Senor Frog’s, Poop Deck, and other local places that are a lot cheaper. Also, a lot of the excursions include a meal. So, if you’re on the meal plan, you have to eat at one of the assigned restaurants on Atlantis or you lose money. If you plan on spending your whole stay on site at Atlantis then the meal plan is the way to go. Our condo at Harborside has a kitchen so we pack a suitcase full of dry food, juices and beer. We don’t pack a whole lot of clothes because we have a washer and dryer. When we get there, our driver take us by a grocery store to get cold food (eggs, milk, etc). We use the same driver each year so he shows us were the best places are. We usually eat breakfast at the condo and a few other meals. Other than that, we eat out. The food is expensive but not to the extreme that was described earlier but, HEY, its vacation in The Bahamas. I’ve never paid $18 for a burger. It might be a possibility at some of the higher end venues. Beers are usually $4.75 for Kalik, sodas $3. We really love Atlantis. They opened a new section a little over a year ago were the Cove and the Reef building are. It almost doubled the size of the water park area.
Wow! Thanks for that detailed response!!!!! We are staying in a 2 BR Regal Suite in the Royal Towers. Everything I have read says it's a good place to stay. The meal plan in only for breakfast and dinner so we plan to lunch poolside or elsewhere most days.
Thanks for all the advice--any other tips? We are three adults traveling with 4 kids aged 4-9. So, yeah, we arent planning on much relaxation.
Are the kids clubs (babysitting) any good? We sure would like one dive trip. Already registered to swim with the dolphins!
How far (and how much $$) to the straw market? Any other local haunts you would suggest?
TIA!
Thanks for all the advice--any other tips? We are three adults traveling with 4 kids aged 4-9. So, yeah, we arent planning on much relaxation.
Are the kids clubs (babysitting) any good? We sure would like one dive trip. Already registered to swim with the dolphins!
How far (and how much $$) to the straw market? Any other local haunts you would suggest?
TIA!
awpitt
Main Streeter
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fficeffice" /><o></o>
Glad to help. You’re going to love <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Royal</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Towers</st1laceType></st1lace>. The architecture alone makes it worth it. It’s pretty much central to everything which is important. On the first floor is The Market Place which is an excellent all you can eat buffet. It’s probably the best place for breakfast.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Your kids are going to love the whole Atlantis experience. Our kids are 12 and 9. They were 9 and 6 the first time we went. They can’t get enough of the place and believe it or not, you will find time to relax.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Since your meal plan is for breakfast and dinner, you’ll be fine since most meals you’d likely eat elsewhere would be at lunchtime. Our favorites for eating at Atlantis are Atlas Bar & Grill (adjacent to the casino), The Market Place (in Royal), <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Bimini Road</st1:address></st1:Street> which is in <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Marina</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Village</st1laceName></st1lace>, and The Point which is a tiki bar style restaurant located at Harborside.<o></o>
<o> </o>
The kids clubs are pricey but worth it. We’ve used them at times like when we would want to go do some stuff in downtown <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Nassau</st1lace></st1:City> on our own. They have different times and age groups. There is also Club Rush which is for ages 6-12 and goes from 3-7pm. The older kids go after that. It costs $30 per kid and is in the <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceType w:st="on">Beach</st1laceType> <st1laceType w:st="on">Towers</st1laceType></st1lace> lobby.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Which dolphin swim did you sign up for? There are actually two. One at Atlantis and one on <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Blue</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Lagoon</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Island</st1laceType></st1lace>. The <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Blue</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Lagoon</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Island</st1laceType></st1lace> one is cheaper but a very good experience. This is where they filmed the movie Flipper.<o></o>
<o> </o>
If you get a chance, sign up for the Flying Cloud trip ($75per). It’s a 57’ catamaran sail boat that takes you to a nice snorkeling spot and then to <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Rose</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Island</st1laceName></st1lace> for beach time. If you do Flying Cloud, sign up for the Sunday trip. It’s five hours and includes lunch. We went last year and really enjoyed it. We decided to do it again this year. We usually arrive on Saturday so we set aside Sunday for Flying Cloud.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Another trip worth going on is the Power Boat Adventure. It is very expensive ($600 for 4 of us) but it is one of those gotta do once in a life time things. They take you on the power boats at 45knots to the Exuma islands which are about the distance from LexPark to Waldorf from <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Paradise</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Island</st1laceType></st1lace>. You get to swim with sharks and sting rays. Hang out on an absolutely beautiful beach. There’s snorkeling and they stop at a very cool sand bar that goes out the length of a football field from the island. They serve a nice lunch also but you can’t throw any leftovers away. Those go to the sharks.<o></o>
<o> </o>
The main beach at Atlantis has vendors who are not affiliated with Atlantis. They offer parasailing, jet skiing, etc. Also, any females, in your party, who have long hair, will undoubtedly be approached by locals who will want to braid their hair. If you’re not into dealing with the vendors, you can go the Cove beach which is smaller and it’s sort of out of the way and there aren’t any vendors there.<o></o>
<o> </o>
You’ll want to visit the Fish Fry. It’s a “farmers market” style venue with a lot of good local food. Very good. You’ll pass it as you travel from the airport towards downtown <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Nassau</st1lace></st1:City>. The straw market is right in downtown on <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Bay street</st1:address></st1:Street> near the British Colonial and the Hard Rock. This is the area where the cruise ships “park”.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Atlantis is a huge place. It can be overwhelming when you first get there. Here’s a link a downloadable map in PDF format on their Website.
http://www.atlantis.com/content/pdf/map.pdf
You should print it out and “study” it before you leave home. This way you won’t have to spend as much time orienting yourself once you arrive. Believe me some people end up spending almost a whole day trying to figure out where everything is if they haven’t done some map research ahead of time.<o></o>
<o> </o>
As you can probably tell, we really love the place and having been there a few times, we’ve made friends with some of the locals. In fact, the staff at Club Rush recognized our boys from the previous year. We use the same taxi driver each year for our airport transfers which saves a lot as compared to reserving through Atlantis. If you haven’t already arranged your ground transportation, I can give you his contact info.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Hopefully I didn’t bombard you with too much info here. Let me know if you have any other questions.<o></o>
<o> </o>
<o> </o>
<o> </o>
<o> </o>
Here are some pics I took of the Power Boat Adventure.
fficeffice" /><o></o>Glad to help. You’re going to love <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
ffice:smarttags" /><st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Royal</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Towers</st1laceType></st1lace>. The architecture alone makes it worth it. It’s pretty much central to everything which is important. On the first floor is The Market Place which is an excellent all you can eat buffet. It’s probably the best place for breakfast.<o></o><o
> </o>Your kids are going to love the whole Atlantis experience. Our kids are 12 and 9. They were 9 and 6 the first time we went. They can’t get enough of the place and believe it or not, you will find time to relax.<o
></o><o
> </o>Since your meal plan is for breakfast and dinner, you’ll be fine since most meals you’d likely eat elsewhere would be at lunchtime. Our favorites for eating at Atlantis are Atlas Bar & Grill (adjacent to the casino), The Market Place (in Royal), <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Bimini Road</st1:address></st1:Street> which is in <st1
lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Marina</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Village</st1laceName></st1lace>, and The Point which is a tiki bar style restaurant located at Harborside.<o></o><o
> </o>The kids clubs are pricey but worth it. We’ve used them at times like when we would want to go do some stuff in downtown <st1:City w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">Nassau</st1lace></st1:City> on our own. They have different times and age groups. There is also Club Rush which is for ages 6-12 and goes from 3-7pm. The older kids go after that. It costs $30 per kid and is in the <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceType w:st="on">Beach</st1laceType> <st1laceType w:st="on">Towers</st1laceType></st1lace> lobby.<o></o><o
> </o>Which dolphin swim did you sign up for? There are actually two. One at Atlantis and one on <st1
lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Blue</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Lagoon</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Island</st1laceType></st1lace>. The <st1lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Blue</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Lagoon</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Island</st1laceType></st1lace> one is cheaper but a very good experience. This is where they filmed the movie Flipper.<o></o><o
> </o>If you get a chance, sign up for the Flying Cloud trip ($75per). It’s a 57’ catamaran sail boat that takes you to a nice snorkeling spot and then to <st1
lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Rose</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Island</st1laceName></st1lace> for beach time. If you do Flying Cloud, sign up for the Sunday trip. It’s five hours and includes lunch. We went last year and really enjoyed it. We decided to do it again this year. We usually arrive on Saturday so we set aside Sunday for Flying Cloud.<o></o><o
> </o>Another trip worth going on is the Power Boat Adventure. It is very expensive ($600 for 4 of us) but it is one of those gotta do once in a life time things. They take you on the power boats at 45knots to the Exuma islands which are about the distance from LexPark to Waldorf from <st1
lace w:st="on"><st1laceName w:st="on">Paradise</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Island</st1laceType></st1lace>. You get to swim with sharks and sting rays. Hang out on an absolutely beautiful beach. There’s snorkeling and they stop at a very cool sand bar that goes out the length of a football field from the island. They serve a nice lunch also but you can’t throw any leftovers away. Those go to the sharks.<o></o><o
> </o>The main beach at Atlantis has vendors who are not affiliated with Atlantis. They offer parasailing, jet skiing, etc. Also, any females, in your party, who have long hair, will undoubtedly be approached by locals who will want to braid their hair. If you’re not into dealing with the vendors, you can go the Cove beach which is smaller and it’s sort of out of the way and there aren’t any vendors there.<o
></o><o
> </o>You’ll want to visit the Fish Fry. It’s a “farmers market” style venue with a lot of good local food. Very good. You’ll pass it as you travel from the airport towards downtown <st1:City w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">Nassau</st1lace></st1:City>. The straw market is right in downtown on <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Bay street</st1:address></st1:Street> near the British Colonial and the Hard Rock. This is the area where the cruise ships “park”.<o></o><o
> </o>Atlantis is a huge place. It can be overwhelming when you first get there. Here’s a link a downloadable map in PDF format on their Website.
http://www.atlantis.com/content/pdf/map.pdf
You should print it out and “study” it before you leave home. This way you won’t have to spend as much time orienting yourself once you arrive. Believe me some people end up spending almost a whole day trying to figure out where everything is if they haven’t done some map research ahead of time.<o
></o><o
> </o>As you can probably tell, we really love the place and having been there a few times, we’ve made friends with some of the locals. In fact, the staff at Club Rush recognized our boys from the previous year. We use the same taxi driver each year for our airport transfers which saves a lot as compared to reserving through Atlantis. If you haven’t already arranged your ground transportation, I can give you his contact info.<o
></o><o
> </o>Hopefully I didn’t bombard you with too much info here. Let me know if you have any other questions.<o
></o><o
> </o><o
> </o><o
> </o><o
> </o>Here are some pics I took of the Power Boat Adventure.
Attachments
johnjrval424
New Member
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
Glad to help. You’re going to love <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
<o
Your kids are going to love the whole Atlantis experience. Our kids are 12 and 9. They were 9 and 6 the first time we went. They can’t get enough of the place and believe it or not, you will find time to relax.<o
<o
Since your meal plan is for breakfast and dinner, you’ll be fine since most meals you’d likely eat elsewhere would be at lunchtime. Our favorites for eating at Atlantis are Atlas Bar & Grill (adjacent to the casino), The Market Place (in Royal), <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Bimini Road</st1:address></st1:Street> which is in <st1
<o
The kids clubs are pricey but worth it. We’ve used them at times like when we would want to go do some stuff in downtown <st1:City w:st="on"><st1
<o
Which dolphin swim did you sign up for? There are actually two. One at Atlantis and one on <st1
<o
If you get a chance, sign up for the Flying Cloud trip ($75per). It’s a 57’ catamaran sail boat that takes you to a nice snorkeling spot and then to <st1
<o
Another trip worth going on is the Power Boat Adventure. It is very expensive ($600 for 4 of us) but it is one of those gotta do once in a life time things. They take you on the power boats at 45knots to the Exuma islands which are about the distance from LexPark to Waldorf from <st1
<o
The main beach at Atlantis has vendors who are not affiliated with Atlantis. They offer parasailing, jet skiing, etc. Also, any females, in your party, who have long hair, will undoubtedly be approached by locals who will want to braid their hair. If you’re not into dealing with the vendors, you can go the Cove beach which is smaller and it’s sort of out of the way and there aren’t any vendors there.<o
<o
You’ll want to visit the Fish Fry. It’s a “farmers market” style venue with a lot of good local food. Very good. You’ll pass it as you travel from the airport towards downtown <st1:City w:st="on"><st1
<o
Atlantis is a huge place. It can be overwhelming when you first get there. Here’s a link a downloadable map in PDF format on their Website.
http://www.atlantis.com/content/pdf/map.pdf
You should print it out and “study” it before you leave home. This way you won’t have to spend as much time orienting yourself once you arrive. Believe me some people end up spending almost a whole day trying to figure out where everything is if they haven’t done some map research ahead of time.<o
<o
As you can probably tell, we really love the place and having been there a few times, we’ve made friends with some of the locals. In fact, the staff at Club Rush recognized our boys from the previous year. We use the same taxi driver each year for our airport transfers which saves a lot as compared to reserving through Atlantis. If you haven’t already arranged your ground transportation, I can give you his contact info.<o
<o
Hopefully I didn’t bombard you with too much info here. Let me know if you have any other questions.<o
<o
<o
<o
<o
Here are some pics I took of the Power Boat Adventure.
WOW! Lots of great information! My husband has been trying to get me to go back to Nassau for quite a while. We usually stayed at the Nassau Beach and/or Crystal Palace because Atlantis was so expensive! After looking at all of this and reading your great review, I might just take the plunge. I don't think we want a timeshare (I'm assuming the yearly maintenance fees are off the charts) unless we buy a resale and it's a great unit.
Thanks for sharing! I'll print this for the hubby and see if we can find some deals. Things should be somewhat inexpensive right now because it's actually their off season (or it used to be).
awpitt
Main Streeter
I'm definately biased when it come to Atlantis and Harborside. It's the perfect fit for the type of vacation we like. It's not for everyone though. Our first trip to Nassau was in '91 and we stayed at the British Colonial, which has been taken over by Hilton. We visited Grand Bahama in '94. My wife and kids saw one of the Olsen twins movies that was filmed at Atlantis and wanted to give it a try but we didn't go until '06. While there, on a spur of the moment we took their offer for a free lunch in exchange for touring the Harborside section. We liked what we saw and bought it. This August will be our second visit to the timeshare. Third overall to Atlantis. At some point, we're probably going to want to do something different so we'll exchange our week to another resort within the Interval network. Our maintenance fee this year was $625. We usually send that check off when we get our tax refund each year.
johnjrval424
New Member
$625 is a lot less than what I anticipated in terms of a maintenance fee. That's what you would pay for Orlando (or more).
We've been to the Bahamas many, many times and have enjoyed every visit. We've also been to Freeport and would go back again if we could stay at the Westin - what a gorgeous property! And the rooms were magnificent - ocean view - unbelievable!
But for entertainment and overall activities, Nassau is better. We'll check out Atlantis and see if they are offering any deals. Not sure if we will make it this year since we already have our vacation planned but I'll check into the resale market as well to see if there are any fire sales for weeks.
Atlantis trades with Interval and not RCI?
awpitt
Main Streeter
Atlantis/Harborside trades through Interval. They go by points which is cool because if we trade to a "lessor" value resort, we can actually convert our points to two or three more days and then break the days up. In other words, our week in Harborside (2 br) would be equal to ten days somewhere else (1br) so we could decide to break the days up by staying at resort A for five days and resort B for 5 days. But we would have to be willing to for go the second bedroom which wouldn't be that big of a deal. Also, Harborside is part of Starwood so we use our Starwood AMEX card to earn Star Points that we use for free hotel stays. No block out dates. When we went on our cruise back in March, we flew down to Miami and we were able to get free nights at Miami Beach before we met the ship.
johnjrval424
New Member
I'm familiar with the point system and there is quite a bit of flexibility with having them instead of weeks. We had an opportunity to convert our weeks to points with RCI but we were getting out of timesharing altogether at the time and I didn't bother. However, I'm thinking of testing the waters again if I can find a good deal. I will have to do some more exploring to see what the going rate is for Atlantis and that will tell me whether a deal on the resale market is worthwhile.
I tried to explain this logic to a family member who bought directly from the developer but she didn't listen. Then she spent 15k on points and, at the 2-year mark, they told her she was going to lose VIP status and had to buy yet more points, which she did for another 15k. They told her the resort she was buying into was very valuable and she could re-rent her unit to recoup her money....
Needless to say, she now wants to file a misrepresentation claim against the company (Fairfield) because she claims they lied to her. I told her that points are points are points. People sell their points all the time and it doesn't matter who buys them. 
awpitt
Main Streeter
We went to one of Fairfield's presentations and were not impressed. They claimed to be the parent company of RCI among other things. It wasn't even an individual presentation. They grouped us with a bunch of other people when they did their pitch. It felt like we were at an Amway meeting. The presentation at Harborside was 1000x better than what Fairfield put us through.I'm familiar with the point system and there is quite a bit of flexibility with having them instead of weeks. We had an opportunity to convert our weeks to points with RCI but we were getting out of timesharing altogether at the time and I didn't bother. However, I'm thinking of testing the waters again if I can find a good deal. I will have to do some more exploring to see what the going rate is for Atlantis and that will tell me whether a deal on the resale market is worthwhile.
I tried to explain this logic to a family member who bought directly from the developer but she didn't listen. Then she spent 15k on points and, at the 2-year mark, they told her she was going to lose VIP status and had to buy yet more points, which she did for another 15k. They told her the resort she was buying into was very valuable and she could re-rent her unit to recoup her money....
johnjrval424
New Member
Actually, I think Fairfield does own RCI now. I wasn't that impressed with either of them to want to spend 15k on timeshare. The timeshares we purchased were resales and I never paid more than $1,000 for them (we owned 3 at one time - one was actually oceanfront on the Boardwalk in Ocean City and I paid $500!). However, when the maintenance fees started outweighing the cost of a package deal to stay there, I decided to dump them. I would try the point system but I would want to know the value of the points before I bought them (i.e., 10,000 points gives you a week in Hawaii - just for example). Then I would know what I am looking for and whether the price was a good deal.
awpitt
Main Streeter
When the Harborside (Atlantis) presentation, they showed us all the point values like what you said plus the big Interval catalog and Website shows the point values of all of the affiliated resorts. As it stands now, Harborside is on the high end of the scale so it would be easly for us to trade to other resorts. In most cases, we woould have points to spare and can convert them to more days or to Starpoints for free hotel stays.
GSXR_MOE
Adding Diversity to SOMD
We went to Paradise Island last year for a wedding.. We stayed at the RUI, which is literally right next door the Atlantis. I can tell you that the Atlantis might be one of the nicest resorts that I've ever seen, but the price is totally outrageous.
Like I said, we stayed at the RUI, (which I wouldn't recommend, I didn't feel very welcomed there) and played at that Atlantis. But if you want to see that Atlantis, you can stay at the RUI which is all inclusive and still enjoy the Atlantis property (casino, clubs, restaurants, Aquariums...but not the pools and slides)
Like I said, we stayed at the RUI, (which I wouldn't recommend, I didn't feel very welcomed there) and played at that Atlantis. But if you want to see that Atlantis, you can stay at the RUI which is all inclusive and still enjoy the Atlantis property (casino, clubs, restaurants, Aquariums...but not the pools and slides)
awpitt
Main Streeter
I think you can buy a wrist band that allows you to do all of the water stuff. Atlantis doen't have to be too pricey. You can stay at the Coral Towers or the Beach Towers (closest to RUI) which are more reasonable. The Royal Towers, Reef, and the Cove are bigger $s.
Chasey_Lane
Salt Life
Many of the Carnival ships will stay an overnight in the Bahamas. Check our Sensation and Imagination to start.