Atlantis Aquaventure

[kirby]

I've already booked an excursion to Atlantis' Aquaventure water park for the day we are at Nassau.   Unfortunately, while we get in to port early (7am), we also leave early (2pm), so unfortunately will not have much time at the park itself.   I'm looking for tips, advice, etc on how to best optimize our time there.  

 

Our excursion is through BahamasDayPass.com and not through the ship.  I figured this would save us some time not having to wait on a group of people and also not having to do the seemingly mandatory resort tour which we are not interested in.   It's also saving us a few $s.

 

Since we port early, I am expecting that we could easily be at the resort by 8am, depending on what time we actually get off the ship and then our 10-15min taxi ride; although paperwork from the excursion says to allow at least one hour for transport from cruise ship terminal to Atlantis' Coral Towers.  Not sure the time difference, maybe it just takes long to get off ship, over to a taxi, etc., but the ride itself once you get going is only about 15min?  

 

The Aquaventure Desk doesn't open until 9am, which is where we will will get our wristbands for the water park.  Can we do anything at Atlantis before getting our wristbands or do we have to wait to get the wristbands to do anything?  Should we just wait in line at the desk?  I'm not sure if it gets crowded at the desk or not?  

 

I was hoping from 8-9am we could explore the resort and especially the aquarium (what time does that open?), and rent a locker (what time are these available?).  At 9am, we can get our wristbands and then go enjoy a pool or two while we wait for water park's water slides and river rides to open. Is this doable, or do we literally have to wait until 9am before we can start?  Are they pretty strict with the 10am start or do some things open early?  

 

When looking at the ship's excursion it says "early access" however it then states the 9am availability for beaches and pools and 10am water park start... so I don't think we would really get early access to anything.  Could I be mistaken?  

 

It's been recommended to taxi from Atlantis back to ship an hour and a half before ship sailing time...  Sound about right?  

 

I've also read that we can leave Atlantis from any of their buildings so, Royal Towers being closer to the water park may be better than having to go back to Coral Towers? 

 

Does anyone have a good picture of Aquaventure?  The map online is so tiny and hard to read.    

 

Any guidance on best way to accomplish as much as possible given our (unfortunate) short time there?  Are any rides more popular than others?  Do some tend to have longer lines and we should go there first?   Good to go in a certain order?  Not sure if there's a logical sequence for way things are laid out there.    

 

Thanks in advance for any advice and tips!   

 

[webboy634]

Atlantis is a ton of fun, the problem is how long you get to stay there.  For our most recent cruise on Allure, we did the Atlantis Aquaventure excursion.  We were late getting to the port so we had only about 2 or 3 hours actually at Atlantis before we had to catch the last bus back to the ship.  The port at Nassau is a complete mess so be careful with that too.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZAx5pRF6us

 

Here's the movie from that cruise.  There's an entire segment on the Atlantis excursion filmed using GoPros.

[kirby]

Atlantis is a ton of fun, the problem is how long you get to stay there.  For our most recent cruise on Allure, we did the Atlantis Aquaventure excursion.  We were late getting to the port so we had only about 2 or 3 hours actually at Atlantis before we had to catch the last bus back to the ship.  The port at Nassau is a complete mess so be careful with that too.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZAx5pRF6us

 

Here's the movie from that cruise.  There's an entire segment on the Atlantis excursion filmed using GoPros.

Thanks.  Good to see GoPro being used...just got one and my daughter is very much looking to use it.   Yes, realize we will not have much time at the park - sadly.  

[kirby]

Just an update after being on cruise last week and going to Aquaventure...

 

Turns out the desk to get wristbands was open earlier than 9am and one of the slides was open earlier than 10am.   Not sure if this is often the case, however it was popular Spring Break time and I'm sure they were expecting crowds.  It was nice that we were there early to get a jump start especially since we were not able to stay very long.  

 

GoPros are allowed but on many of the slides they will not allow the floaty-stick.  Only place I saw people using it was on the lazy river ride.

 

Give yourself an hour to get back to the ship!   The cab ride itself is not so long, but the lines to get through customs are.   Then there's still an additional 10-15min walk to get to the ship...

 

Towels are included in the BahamasDayPass package we purchased so didn't have to worry about leaving our stuff on chair.  We brought minimal stuff with us, put everything in rented locker and was able to easily "borrow" towels from towel stand with our wristbands.  

 

On crowded days (when is it now crowded there) it was VERY difficult to get floats to go down Lazy River.  Try to secure one early from the line by the shark tank slides and then bring over to river area.