So, our sweet friends invited us crazies along to help them celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary and we are forever grateful! I mean, really, how sweet of them!? They may or may not regret it, so we will just stop there…haha. It was the PERFECT timing for a trip to the Caribbean, right after Hurricane season and just before the Holiday madness!
This was our first vacation (aka trip) with the kiddos and their 1st trip flying. I got a lot of recommendations and tips for toddlers flying and we had the MOST success with headphones and a movie (shocker!), as well as new toys from the Dollar Store and the obvious…snacks! I was also glad that I brought suckers, because Crawford complained a little bit about his ears hurting and that seemed to help some. The boys were super excited to be flying and had a blast for their 1st experience.
Once we landed, it was easy to grab a cab at the airport or you can schedule a car to pick you up through the hotel, which is a good bit more expensive, so a cab is probably the way to go. And stop at a grocery store in Nassau to grab water and beer before you get onto Paradise Island where everything is more expensive.
There are TONS of hotels at ATLANTIS. It is owned by Marriott, so we used points and stayed at The Cove, which had super nice and large rooms. It is a little walk away from the center of things, but I loved staying there. The lobby and pool were peaceful, which was nice once you got away from all the craziness of the Aquaventure, pools, bars and restaurants. There is also an adult exclusive pool at The Cove, which was AWESOME!
Restaurants I recommend:
We typically took a free shuttle from the hotel to dinner.
- Olives– located in the casino. We went here for our “date night”. The food was great!
- Carmine’s – Family style Italian dining, located at Marina Village. Good, large, shareable dishes.
- Virgil’s BBQ – Delicious BBQ and Mac-n-Cheese!
- Nobu– We didn’t get to go here. But have heard it is great! Also located in the casino.
*For our date night, we got a babysitter to stay in the room with 2 of our little ones, and then the rest of the kiddos went to Kids Adventure (ages 3-12) which is open until 10:30 and they all had a blast!
*All lunches were eaten at bars, cafes, or quick bites by the pool, and honestly were a waste of money. The only thing I enjoyed were the french fries. Other than that, I should have saved my money and just eaten a granola bar or something.
*For breakfast, we typically just ate snacks (mini muffins, granola bars) we brought or grabbed a muffin from Starbucks. We went to Mosaic’s buffet the last morning before we headed to the airport and it was good, but pricey.
Entertainment
The picture below represents just a portion of how large ATLANTIS is! It’s so big and there is so much to do, but honestly it is all walkable…just maybe not with multiple kids under 5. During the day, we walked pretty much everywhere and then took the shuttle at night for dinners.
Aquaventure: this is basically what ATLANTIS is all about. There are TONS of slides. You have to be 48″ tall to ride many of the fun slides, so most of our kiddos had to stay in the splash pad area and do the kiddo slides, but they had a BLAST. And, for the adults to do slides was a short walk from where they were. The Current river ride is definitely worth visiting a few times. The whole family had fun floating along.
Within the water park and the hotels, there is so much to see…feeding the sting rays and the fish, the huge aquarium, etc…
As an adult, you truly have to do the Leap of Faith. It is short and quick and not as scary as it looks. The Challenger slide was a blast too!
All of the pools surrounding the slides are great, but a trip to The Coral Pool is worth it for a drink at the swim up bar!
The moms also decided YOLO and swam with dolphins at Dolphin Cay! We did the deep water experience and got to pet the dolphins, swim with them, be pushed and pulled by them and play with them. It was so much fun and an unforgettable experience for sure! The pictures were a fortune to buy though, so make sure someone is on the beach nearby and can atleast get a few videos and pictures of you.
Other Tips:
Check a bag on your flight so that you can take the following:
- TONS of snacks for you and the kids. The food down there is expensive and honestly not that that great.
- A COOLER. On the way into Atlantis from the airport, stop at the grocery store and grab waters and beers, for the room and to take down to the pool/beach in the cooler.
- Sunscreen. Again, another item that is super expensive down there, so take it with you.
Overall, I highly recommend ATLANTIS for a family vacation! The kids had a blast and so did we! I definitely see us going back!
XO
Shana
