Cruise call port at nassau. What could I do there?

Question

My family and I are going over cruises to go on this upcoming june. There is this one trip which is on the carnival valor. One of our port calls would be at nassau,bahamas. I was speaking to my trave agent and she told us that in nassau we could go to atlantis, I always thought atlantis was a resort where only the people staying in the hotel could go in. but she told us it was kind of like a theme/water park. My question is how much would it cost to get to atlantis from where the ship stops and how much would the entrance be. Also, if not atlantis what do you recomment to do at nassau

Answer 1

If you want to go to Atlantis, you can certainly book that through the cruise line. While a lot of people like to book excursions on their own, that leaves you unprotected in the event of a delay. If you've booked through the cruise line, they'll actually hold the ship until all excursions are back.

Whatever you do in Nassau, DO NOT do the Yellowbird tour. It's a party boat but is over crowded, has terrible service, and spends about 15 minutes on a crappy island. It was the worst shore excursion we've ever done!

Answer 2

The ship that you are sailing with will have some different types of excursions. And they should have an atlantis one, you can usually check them out and look at the prices on whatever cruise line your sailing withs website. They should also have like other different excursions, like romantic rides, history of bahamas, ect.

I have always gone out on my own though and done just light duty free shopping.

Answer 3

Went on the Valor in November on the same cruise you are going on, Eastern Caribbean with stops in Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. You'll have a blast! They are ALL great ports.

As far as Nassau and Atlantis; you will be actually porting right across the waterway from Atlantis (across and down a bit actually, but pretty much right across). When you are docking, go out on the Lido Deck (the deck the pool is on) on the left side of the ship and a little forward and there it is. It's on Paradise Island which when docked, if you have a good baseball arm, you could throw a rock from the ship and hit Paradise Island. Trust me, you can't miss it, it's that close.

And yes, your travel agent is correct, you can go to Atlantis even if you aren't staying there - many, many do from the cruise ships and did from the Valor.

You will notice when you are docked that not far ahead of the dock is a bridge. That bridge goes across the waterway into Altantis. When you get off the ship you'll go down the dock, through a building to get out into the main part of town. Right in front of the building will be taxis lined up. Ask one of them how much it cost to go to Atlantis and they'll tell you. If you are real early, there are a couple of shuttle buses that go there too. It's only a 5-7 minute drive from the dock to Atlantis. NOTE: Check about prices with the taxis before getting in.

Altantis is a hotel resort. However, there are many parts of it that are open to tourists, with the main parts being the huge aquirium (Atlantis Dig) and water park. There is also a casino and shopping court. The most noticable features, the big twin towers with the arch between them, isn't open to tourists, just guests. I can't remember what it cost for the taxi, so I won't even try to give you the answer so not to throw you off, but it's not that much.

There's a shore excursion to Atlantis, but it's more a "tour" and time limited, so if you want to just see Atlantis, go the taxi route.

What I would recommend if not going to Atlantis (if you just want to see Atlantis, trust me, you'll see it from the ship and from the port just fine) is to snorkel at Pearl Beach. The water is beautiful and lots and lots of fish. As far as shopping, downtown is right there when you exit the deck (literly, as in cross the street and you're in downtown with tons of shops).

One little travel tip I might pass along is that we did the shopping and taking pictures in Nassau (yes, took lots of pictures of Atlantis) and did the snorkel excursion in St. Thomas on St. Johns Beach. Beautiful, super clear water, pearl white fine sand beach and tons and tons of fish and coral. So if you are looking to snorkel at sometime, St. Thomas is your best bet for a great snorkel time. St. Maarten/St. Martin (by the way, St. Maarten is the Dutch side of the island, St. Martin is the French side) has great beaches and good snorkeling, but St. Johns and other islands around St. Thomas are a bit better (my opinion of course).

If you want to see how close Atlantis is to the ship, go here and see the picture I took of Atlantis from the dock standing in front of the Valor (also some other pictures from the cruise are there too under "My Photos"); http://chez884.orfay.com/photo/394209