Help with Nassau/Atlantis with Kids

[mousefan00]

Husband and I have booked a 5 night Bahamas cruise. This will be a first for our kids. We went to Nassau years ago on a cruise, but now we have kids and a budget. The kids really want to see Atlantis, but we are not doing the aquaventure. I have read that we can take a cab over to Atlantis for a fairly minimal cost. But I'm struggling to determine what exactly we will be able to do once there if we choose not to book any type of tour and just go on our own. Will we be able to look around through the aquariums, eat in a restaurant, walk the grounds (some of them at least)? And separately, is there a public beach that we can go to while in Nassau so we don't have to pay to use the beach at Atlantis? Trying to get out of this as cheaply as possible, but still want everyone to have a good time. Thanks for any input!!

[chosbor2]

Other than walking the casino, they is not much else to see without booking an excursion, they know how to make money. We went to cabbage beach which is down from Atlantis, if I remember correctly, I think the cab was only $4 pp and we just put our towels on the sand

 

 

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[besillybehonestbekind]

Just returned from Nassau on carnival pride. 2 kids, ages 6&2. We skipped Atlantis, bought day pass to British colonial Hilton. 3 adults and 6 year old total cost about $210. Got $136 back in credit for food and drink. It was great. Small enough to be very manageable with little kids, luxurious enough that it felt like a treat. Walking distance from pier, can see ship from beach.

 

 

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[cb at sea]

Yes...there are public beaches. Google Nassau! There's really not much at Atlantis for kids if you aren't paying those astronomical prices for their waterpark....I'd skip it, unless you adults feel you must go! Kid's aren't allowed in the casino, and the shops will not interest them in the least.

 

And remember...the ship's pool will be pretty empty of folks on port days....it's a great time to make use of the ship!

[frenchie504]

Where do you buy the British Colonial Hilton day passes? Thanks!

 

 

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[NanciRDH]

You can buy the Hilton pass right at the hotel. It's a pretty good deal, but honestly, we enjoy the quiet, empty ship more. Which is probably not a fair comparison because we live only a few miles from a beach, lol.

 

As others have mentioned, Atlantis doesn't offer much for kids unless you spend the big $$. We decided to do that last year as we had never been there after multiple trips to Nassau. It was fun, but for the price we could have gone to a waterpark 3x each in Orlando! Food wasn't included, but we spent about as much for lunch as we would a typical theme park, so I suppose that part could have been worse.

[lovebelle]

You can also book the hilton day pass in advance here

 

http://bahamascruiseexcursions.com/nassauhiltonresortpass.htm

 

In terms of the Atlantis...there is nothing you can do there that is free with the exception of the Casino, which the children cannot do. Everything else cost money, even to just tour and look around. For this reason I would skip it and do something else.

[mjkacmom]

We did the aqua adventure, which was fun, but expensive, even going through comfort suites. We've also done the Hilton and the Sheraton, and prefer the Sheraton (cheaper, nicer pool area, bigger beach, water toys).

[Mom2B&Z]

It's not a beach day, but there is a walking tour of Nassau that you can find on the port of call forum. We did it when our boys were 7&5 yrs, walked over to the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle, then to the pirate museum downtown. If you skip the pirate museum you could do the whole walk for $4. My boys love old forts, so we had a great time finding the place and reading about the history.

Honestly, if you get off the ship, walk around for a bit and go back to use the (uncrowded) pool, your kids will likely be very happy!

Personally we aren't even giving them the option of Atlantis until our youngest is 10 yrs old...5 yrs to go!

[crusinmama06]

As the others have said - there is no inexpensive way to do Atlantis. They require the wrist bands to go anywhere near where a child would want to be and they have security checking the doors (including the beaches).

 

And even the "dig" prices are astronomical and frankly - we ran through them on our way to the slides and the kids barely glanced at them. I am amazed that people pay for the dig (aquarium).

 

British Colonial Hilton is one option - the location is very walkable. It's not the best beach. But it has facilities and its close.