Kwevans

Thank you!! I thought I had heard there was a way to get children's pricing but I couldn't remember. Now, does anyone have an opinion on the Hibachi restaurant? Good? Bad? Not worth it? Is everything priced separately or do you pay one fee? We like the MDR but I thought we might like to change it up this next time.

Looking forward to what everyone says... we're going to Nassau in October and just want a relaxed beach day as well. We did Atlantis in June so we're trying to take it easy (and cheap) this time!

We are interested in trying one of the specialty dining (Hibachi) with our 10 yr old son on our Mariner cruise in October. I don't see a child's price for booking nor do I see a children's menu. Can anyone give me info on booking a specialty dinner with children?

Also, I should have stated... the last bus left Atlantis at 6:00. I'm sure we could have stayed longer if we wanted to find our own transportion. We were traveling with birth certificates so I didn't want to chance getting left behind! We left Atlantis at around 4:30 because honestly we were exhausted by then and had dinner reservations at 6:15. ?

Their "lazy" river was awesome!!! Best ride of the day when we were there!

We did the Aquaventure excursion for Atlantis in June when we stopped in Nassau. We LOVED Atlantis!! We did make a few first-timer mistakes that I would do differently when we go back. Here is my take away on Atlantis... 1. Hit the water slides FIRST! When we first arrived at Atlantis it wasn't crowded at all. This is the time to hit all of the water slides! We made the mistake and went to the beach first. By the time we made it to the pools and water park area it was very crowded. There is a pass that allows you to skip the lines. I didn't know anything about this before we went or I probably would have spent the extra money on it for my son. 2. Yes, food and drinks are expensive. But where are they not expensive at a resort like Atlantis?!? 3. The excursion was supposed to start at 9:00a. We did a lot of standing around and waiting on transportation. It was 10:00 by the time we made it to Atlantis. Online it said the excursion times were 9-2:00. We were told when we arrived that it actually ended at 6:00! We were happy to find out we had 4 more hours than we originally thought! Our ship did not leave until 9:00p so maybe this is why we got so much more time? 4. Although it was really crowded around the main pool/slides, there were still plenty of chairs and areas without huge crowds. We explored the grounds in the afternoon (after lunch). We discovered many areas that were not crowded at all! The resort is huge! If you are having trouble finding a chair, maybe try a different pool! 5. Yes, the Atlantis aquadventure excursion is expensive. I watched the prices in my cruise planner and waited to book when it went on sale. I ended up getting it for $400 total for all 3 of us (2 adults, 1 child). That was the cheapest I saw it. We had some OBC that we used towards it also so that helped as well. Would we go again if/when we go back? Absolutely! We loved Atlantis!!

We totally missed out on shopping while we at Nassau in June and I've been kicking myself! However my in-laws just booked a RCC to Nassau the end of this month. Where do you go to find the knock-off designer purses? I will have to give them specific directions! TIA!

I agree with everything you said above! We were there just a few days before you. We spent our entire day at Chill Island since we had been at Atlantis's water park the day before. The water park looked amazing and I hope to visit it the next trip. Food was delicious at Chill Grill, but yes the birds are an issue. Anyone could definitely spend 2 days at CocoCay and not get bored!

We are back from our cruise and I wanted to give an update on how it went traveling with birth certificates.... I was NEVER asked for my marriage license (although I had it and was prepared if so)!! Traveling with our birth certificates didn’t seem to increase any wait time compared to traveling with our passports. However, I will go with a passport next time for peace of mind in case of a medical emergency, etc. and for what it worth, our cruise was amazing and we want to go back RIGHT NOW! Totally addicted to cruising!!

I'm hoping that is the case but then again after going to the trouble of having it overnighted to my hotel I want them to ask for it!! ?

I called RC this morning and you are correct!! I will have to have my marriage license in addition to my birth certificate. Luckily I have a mother-in-law who lives down the street and is able to overnight it to our hotel while we're in Orlando. Otherwise, I'm not sure what my options would be! Thank you so much for the heads up. I would have been highly upset when I went to board the cruise ship on Friday. Here's hoping this helps any other married women traveling with a birth certificate instead of a passport!!

That makes sense, but It doesn’t say anything about that online. We have already left town and will be flying to Orlando tomorrow for our cruise that leave Friday. I will call them first thing tomorrow morning!! Thanks for the heads up!

Music to my ears!!! Thanks!!

Nope, just going on a short 3 night to Nassau and CocoCay. I'm most concerned we will be stuck in a long line that seems to take forever while everyone will be passing us by with their fancy passports!! Ha!

Sorry, I should clarify. I sent in notarized copies not the originals. ?? Totally my fault. We have the original BC we will be traveling with!

We applied for passports and they did not like the birth certificates we sent in so they won’t be here before we leave next week. We are really bummed, especially since we spent the money on them just for this cruise. Anyway, we have no choice but to travel with our birth certificate now. I just want to be prepared for how much trouble this will be for us. So go ahead and tell me! ?

We plan to have a low key, relaxing beach day on CocoCay. Are there places to snorkel without paying for the snorkeling excursion? Or has anyone done the reef sandbar and snorkeling excursion and felt it was worth it?

We are in the same situation!! My 10 yr old son has watched Youtube videos on Atlantis' leap of faith for a long time and has always begged to go. When we booked our cruise and found out we were stopping in Nassau there was no way we could skip Atlantis. We made him choose between CocoCay waterpark and Atlantis. Of course he chose Atlantis. ? I went ahead and bit the bullet and booked the day at Atlantis. My question on Atlantis is, can we access the beach through the waterpark? The Atlantis website says we can but the excursion details say nothing about beach access.

I actually changed my car rental reservation to do this yesterday!! It was much cheaper to change the drop off location than arrange transportation. I think we will just plan to Uber from the port to the airport after the cruise. It probably won't be much more than renting a car and definitely easier. Thanks for all of the suggestions! As always, y'all rock!

(I've tried searching this in the forums but nothing came up, so I apologize if this has been addressed previously) What is the most cost efficient/easy way to get from Sanford airport to Port Canaveral and then from the port back to the airport? I've found lots of transfer services online, but this is our first cruise so I just need suggestions from people who have actually used them. We will be in Orlando for 4 days prior to our cruise so we will have a rental car we will be returning to the airport the morning of our cruise. There are only 3 of us traveling (me, husband, son). So what has everyone used? shuttle bus? private car service? Uber? I got a quote from a private car service that is $300. I really don't want to pay that much if there are other options out there! TIA! I have found so many great tips for our cruise from these forums!! Thank you!

Oh I did not know that! Thanks for the tip!

I missed out on the recent cruise planner sale to book our drink packages, etc and now our cruise is a little over 30 days away. Those of you who have cruised previously, do they ever have sales around Memorial Day? Should I expect the prices to just keep going up the closer my cruise gets?

Thanks for asking all the questions!! We are going on our first cruise in June and I had all the same questions! I'm thinking we will buy the soda package too, but I'm wasn't looking forward to carrying around the cup everywhere. Good to know we don't have to!

This is our first cruise so I have to ask.... what are C&A BOGO coupons?!?! And how do I get them??? Thanks for breaking it all down for me! We will just be on a 4 day cruise so I'm thinking we will just pay as we go. We neither one drink much. Are you allowed to bring a case of water on board? Do you just check it with your luggage if so? I (or let's be honest, my husband!!) won't want to have to lug it around everywhere until we can get in our cabin. ?

Perfect! Thank you!!