FASCINATION PICTURE REVIEW, extended family, handicap, HALF MOON & ATLANTIS waterpark

[mpcaruth]

NASSAU – ATLANTIS WATER PARK AND THE DIG AQUARIUM:

 

I am going to take a break from the ship review and switch to a port day. We have been to Nassau 3 times before and I have always had a good time here. I know many folks stay on the ship, but I am a port girl and cannot imagine ever staying on the ship.

 

Mom and Dad’s excursion (private tour and Atlantis Dig):

I had researched Cruise Critic extensively for a wheelchair accessible excursion. Carnival does not offer any – SHAME ON CARNIVAL! I could not find any other organized group tours either that could be accommodating. Mom cannot walk, and can only stand, pivot, and shuffle to get in and out of her wheel chair. So, I looked into a private taxi/tour guide just for them. I received 3 recommendations from fellow CC members: 1) Cheryl Fox Ferguson for “$45.00 per hour for the van. Drinks included.” 2) Brenderlee for 3 hour tour plus drop off and pick up at the Atlantis Dig for $150 (did not include $40 pp entrance fee to the Dig), and 3) Mario Bethel for $250 for customize 4-5 hour tour (I think this was the quoted price, but I cannot verify as I deleted the email). After having a reputable recommendation from a CC member, and receiving numerous emails from Branderlee answering all of my questions, I decided to book with her.

 

All of us got off the ship at 8:30 and Branderlee was waiting directly inside the port building holding a sign with my parents’ names on it. She was a nice and friendly lady whom my parents immediately warmed up to. She escorted my parents out of the building and to her vehicle. She took excellent care of them. They drove around the City and to various attractions, with Branderlee giving them excellent narration. She then took my parents to Atlantis and escorted them to the ticket both for the Dig aquarium. They did not have a tour guide at the Dig, however; Dad managed to push mom close enough to get in with another tour group. They really enjoyed the Dig and browsing through the resort. The first thing Mom said to me when we met up back on the ship was, “I cannot believe your father would not buy me that purse I wanted!” Then she let me in on the joke, the price tag on the purse was over $2000.

 

When my parents were done at Atlantis, Branderlee was there waiting to take them back. She took them back into the port building and helped them get some conch fritters and drinks. What a wonderful lady. My parents loved her, and never felt insecure at all in Nassau. I highly recommend her to anyone wanting a private tour of Nassau, handicap or not. When we got home, I had an email from her stating, “Thank you for trusting me with your parents. We had a great time today and I hope to see you all again in the future”. Now that, folks, it good customer service!

 

I gave Dad one of my old cameras to take photos. He is technology challenged and asked me, “all the film is in that little card?” He is just too cute! Here are some of the photos:

 

 

 

 

 

Dad mistakenly had the camera on video mode, and, so, there are not many photos. Also, he took about 20 photos with a fogged lens. BUT, he tried.

 

 

 

 

 

[BARBARA J.W.]

 

 

 

The atrium is great for evening people-watching:

 

 

I so agree..............

The Fascination is my Favorite Ship................

I have been on the Fascination afew times---------LOL............

Getting ready to go again sooon.............

[mpcaruth]

NASSAU – ATLANTIS WATER PARK AND THE DIG AQUARIUM

 

With Mom and Dad off with their tour guide, the rest of us went with Branderlee’s friend/employee in a van to Atlantis. The cost was $4 per person each way and we scheduled a time for pick-up.

 

I had mentioned earlier that we got into Atlantis for free. Here’s how we did it: About 5 months before the cruise, I booked a room at the Comfort Suites on Paradise Island, Atlantis' sister hotel. The rate was $154 /night plus fees and taxes (came to somewhere around $200 total). Atlantis amenities, such as the waterpark, beach, and the aquarium are free to use for Comfort Suites guests. About a year ago, I signed up for a Choice Privileges credit card. The card had a promotion of bonus reward points upon 1st use, and additional points if I charged a certain amount in 3 months. No problem for me charging, as I pay everything with a credit card, and pay it off each month. Why not get a free 30-day loan and get free rewards? So… I have over 33,000 reward points, and I redeemed 25,000 of them on, you guess it, the Comfort Suites on Paradise Island. I had previously reserved the room for $154 because, you cannot book rooms with bonus points greater than 60 days out. I did not want to chance not having any rooms left at 60 days out. I cancelled my other booking when I made the new rewards points booking. And, if you stay at a Choice hotel with your reward points, there are no additional fees or taxes. Cha-ching!!!! To compare, booking at the Atlantis Water park Adventure through Carnival for 4 was more than $600 (it included transportation and limited lunch).

 

So, the taxi dropped us off at the Comfort Suites. We check in and check out at the same time. The receptionist hands us our tickets and we walk across the street to Atlantis. We have to go to the ticket booth in Atlantis near the Casino to get our free wrist bands. And we are off!

 

We go through the Dig before we hit the water park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

NASSAU – ATLANTIS DIG AQUARIUM - continued

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

NASSAU – ATLANTIS WATER PARK - continued

 

After walking through the Dig we head to the towel hut for towels (no need to bring Carnival towels off the ship). We then find a spot of lounge chairs to keep our stuff. Everyone is excited by now. So we go directly to the Rapid River, grab a tube, and FLOAT! This is my second time at Atlantis.

 

 

We love the 1-mile long Rapid River.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

NASSAU – ATLANTIS WATER PARK - continued

 

What makes this water park so cool, is the fact that you can go down several slide without ever having to get out your tube. The have conveyor belts that to take you directly from the River up to the top of the slide.

 

 

 

The conveyor belt pulling people up backwards, looking downL

 

[Askewview]

Sounds like a perfect wedding. Although my daughter is only 12, I have been hinting to her how wonderful an island wedding and cruise would be. A week long cruise wedding party would be cheaper than a 4 hour conventional wedding and reception. (Did I say I am frugal?)

 

It really was. Yeah, we started adding up venue costs, banquet costs, a dj, etc, etc, etc, etc and said screw it lets run away instead! Great pictures. Love the review.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[mpcaruth]

NASSAU – ATLANTIS WATER PARK - continued:

 

After a few laps of the River and a couple of rides down the slide, a thunderstorm hits. Everyone had to get out of the water for nearly 1 hour. That gave us time to go to our chairs, which fortunately had umbrellas, and eat our packed lunches. We had brought soft coolers and filled them with ice the cabin steward had given us. I had refilled bottles with the ship tap water. (Yes, the ship's tap water is fine and safe. It is filtered with a reverse osmosis system and then disinfected with chlorine. It may taste odd to some, as reverse osmosis removes many inorganics and minerals that most people are used to tasting in their tap water. Trust me, I am an engineer and I specialize in drinking water). We packed lots of snacks before the cruise to include granola bars, peanuts, crackers, jerky, etc. So, we did not spend any money on food at Atlantis.

 

The rain finally stopped.

 

 

 

 

Beyond the last pink Atlantis building is the free public section of Cabbage Beach.

 

Local tour operators hiding out the storm behind Atlantis:

 

 

[mpcaruth]

NASSAU – ATLANTIS WATER PARK - continued:

 

One of the beautiful coves at Atlantis:

 

My son is all smiles!

 

 

There are small kiddie slides throughout the various pool at Atlantis:

[mpcaruth]

NASSAU – ATLANTIS WATER PARK - continued:

 

The Shark Tank has a water slide that goes through it, in a protected clear tunnel, of course.

 

 

See the sharks?

 

 

You can ride in either a single tube or a double tube. For this slide, you actually have to get out of the water and carry a tube up the stairs.

 

 

Here goes my son...

 

 

Here I am in the tunnel in the shark water. The wet camera does not do it justice.

[mpcaruth]

NASSAU – ATLANTIS WATER PARK - continued:

 

The sun finally came out bright and strong.

 

Views from the top of one of the slide buildings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mpcaruth]

NASSAU – ATLANTIS WATER PARK - continued:

 

I just think Atlantis is so gorgeous! It was hard to say goodbye :(

 

 

 

We packed up and met our taxi driver at our agreed upon time (actually we were about 15 minutes late, as there was a long walk back through the park and hotel to the entrance). Since we had only 45 minutes before boarding, our driver dropped us off, as requested, in front of the Tortuga Rum Cake store. Stopping here is a tradition, as we LOVE LOVE LOVE rum cake. My brother and his wife went to the Hard Rock cafe to get a shirt. We hustled back to the port building for another tradition: conch fritters. We got back on the ship exhausted and hungry. We dropped off our belongings and hit the pizza and deli stations.

 

The girls were admiring the Allure. Earlier, the Disney Dream had been docked between us. Before the cruise, I had checked to see which ships would be docked in Nassau on our port day. Out of curiosity, I had checked on prices of the other two cruise: 7-day Allure inside quad cabin for $4200, 4-day Disney inside quad cabin for $5400, and our 5-day Fascination inside quad cabin for $1840. Could the passengers on those ships be having THAT much more fun?

 

[erewhon]

Thank you for your interesting review, and sharing your great photos.

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your review and photos.

 

Keith

[reerun25]

Really enjoying the review!!

[tandemcruzr]

THE SHIP - continued:

 

The ship has a nice, but small, jogging track. I typically take a morning walk on my cruises. I rarely walk on the jogging track because it is typically so crowded. I find another deck to walk on, but the Fantasy class ships are just too small to have suitable deck aisle space for walking.

 

Early mornings, we find the Veranda deck very good for walking.

[hn7609]

I could not find any other organized group tours either that could be accommodating. Mom cannot walk, and can only stand, pivot, and shuffle to get in and out of her wheel chair. So, I looked into a private taxi/tour guide just for them.

 

Just a quick question........did the guide use an accessible ramp van or a van with a lift?? I am unable to stand, pivot, or shuffle so I have to have some way to get into the vehicle while still in my large & very heavy power chair. I have found many options for those who can stand and shuffle but nothing for people like me.

[Seechell]

I'm on the Fascination in November. Thanks for the reviews and photos!

[justusfour2014]

Took our first family cruise on the Fascination back in March. Your pictures sure do bring back some wonderful family memories! Thanks for sharing.

 

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Forums mobile app

[watermelonqueen99]

I gave Dad one of my old cameras to take photos. He is technology challenged and asked me, “all the film is in that little card?”

 

This made me smile. :) I'm really enjoying your review!

[kybluecruiser]

Thanks for the review!!! And especial thanks for including a perspective from somebody with mobility issues. My mother is the same. Looking forward to your HMC review and how the accessibility was for your mom.

[bm6pm5]

Enjoying the review. I agree with you for the price Carnival works for me. Can't see spending twice the money or more to go to the same places on another line.

[Shaded Lady]

Loving your review... Your kids look a lot like you... I picked them out from your embarkation photo!

[wrigley80]

Thank you for the great review. Definitely looking forward to the Half Moon Cay section because we will be there in 3 1/2 weeka