Throwback Thursday: Atlantis Bahamas

If you watch television you’ve probably seen the sun-soaked ads for the Atlantis at Paradise Island, Bahamas. You know: white sand beaches, dolphins splashing and sharks swimming overhead? Ring a bell? In February, my sister and I cruised with Norwegian to celebrate her 30th birthday and opted for an Atlantis Self-Guided Tour and Beach Day excursion on our Nassau day to see if the resort really lives up to the publicized hype.

Our day started bright and early with a bus ride from the Norwegian Sky to the resort. We opted for what I’d call the ‘middle-tier’ tour: we had access to the resort grounds, including the aquariums, and the beach, but not the water slides. Our tour guide walked us through the resort and pointed out where to find things along the way.

One interesting fact our guide shared is that the Atlantis has the one of the only casinos with natural light (aka windows) in the world. Most casino avoid natural light because when you can’t tell the passage of time people will spend more money. The Atlantis claims the windows don’t effect their profits!

We started out back with the predator and string ray lagoons before following the stairs down to view the tanks.

After we finished this loop we headed back inside to see the Dig and Ruins Lagoon tanks.

After enjoying all the wildlife we headed out to the beach. We settled on Atlantis Beach West where I felt like we were treated no different than a resort guest. Resort staff helped us pick out a spot, brought us lounge chairs and towels. Vendors were on the beach offering goods, drinks, etc. Fortunately I didn’t find them too pushy.

In my book the amenities we got to experience at the Atlantis lived up to the beautiful tv commercials. This got me thinking, and on our bus ride back to the ship I googled some info on actually staying at the resort. It seemed like the rooms and hotel experience had some mixed reviews. I would definitely got back and specifically stay at the Atlantis to find out for myself. Have you ever stayed at the Atlantis at Paradise Island, Bahamas? What was your experience like?

Stay adventurous, friends!