Atlantis 2014

Atlantis 2014 Recap

The "New" Bahamas Airport

Maaaybe it was because our flight was delayed out of Miami, but when we arrived at Nassau at the Lynden Pindling International Airport what killed our excitement was the fact that it took us over an hour to get through customs. There were too many planes that arrived at the same time, and along with the too few customs workers our poor friends from New York waited nearly 3 hours for us at the airport. Needless to say we were all tired and hungry - and the kids cranky - by time we loaded into the van. I miss the old, grungy, simple airport. Now it's all modern and fancy and doesn't feel at all Bahamian - which only says one thing - they expect a huge influx of tourists to the Bahamas.

Baha Mar - Bahamas is being overrun with Chinese investors

And on our way to Atlantis we saw it: Baha Mar, to be finished in December of this year, and according to our taxi driver, fully backed by Chinese investors. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Nickle and Diming

When we got to Atlantis to check in at the Coral Towers, we found out we were upgraded to the Coral Towers from the Beach Towers - I had simply asked if the three families could have rooms one one floor and they found us several rooms nearly next to eachother on the 7th floor! We probably should have tipped the girl, but because we were so hungry and the kids so cranky the gesture was lost on us.

There were few restaurants open when we arrived, so we ventured to the Marketplace - the buffet in the Royal Towers at 4:45pm only to find out that it didn't open to 5pm. So we went to look at some sea turtles outside to wait for the buffet to open. It was a whopping $50 per person! I don't even think I could eat that much. While there was decent selection and everything was fairly fresh - the food was nothing to brag about and no doubt overpriced. I really don't think I even ate $20 worth. Even Kasen who is fantastic at wasting food - didn't even enough to make it worth it!

But they nickle and dime you everywhere. The 15% tip is already included in everything and they have the nerve to ask you for extra tips! Out of sympathy I add a few bucks to drink orders though. Snacks are expensive. Water is expensive. But you already knew that! Water is $7/bottle in the room, so went to the grocery store near Comfort Suites (a short walk away really) and got a case of water for $20 that lasted the whole week for all three families. Thankfully our friends brought checked-in suitcases of just food and snacks for the kids - if you have picky toddlers, this is key. One of our friends had a little guy who has a gluten allergy, so he needed to have his own food anyway. They brought a rice cooker. We brought a hot water heater and made ramen noodles for my picky toddler who for the most part wanted nothing to do with the food at Atlantis, and only wanted milk - which drove me absolutely nuts.

For breakfast, after spending $40 within Atlantis we went to the little market place near Comfort Suites and found a Dunkin Donuts - prices were similar to the US and we'd spend about $20 total on breakfast for the three of us. Breakfast sandwiches, coffees, hot cocoa (don't ask, I found out there is "iced cocoa" - of course there would be in Bahamas!), hash browns and extra donuts even. Awesome. For dinner on some of the evenings we did well by sending the guys to get fresh Bahamian food over the bridge at the Fish Fry. I'm still thinking about the fresh conch ceviche salad. Delicious. We got envious looks from guests and locals alike.

Weather

We went during hurricane season and we lucked out. No hurricanes! However, we did experience some crazy thunderstorms. Which I might add was pretty darn fun. especially after we discovered 7% alcohol by volume Bush Crack. GREAT VALUE for your money. It's a Bahamian Beer that's the same price as their other beers but twice as big. We'd get a smile of approval from the locals when they see us choose it.

During the thunderstorms we camped out at the Dig, which was fantastic. Oh and Bush Crack made everything better - us parents were in fabulous moods! We must have gone in and out of it dozens of times. The kids loved it. My son especially loved it - he ran up to the tanks, and learned a bunch of new sea animals that truth be told are amongst his favorite animals now.

Low Season - everything wasn't open!

The other issue with coming during hurricane season was that it was low season. Nothing in the Beach Tower was open - no restaurants and the toddler pool there wasn't open. So our choices were a bit more limited. On a daily basis we had to check the newsletter to find out what was open or not open that day. Needless to say it didn't cramp our vacation as we alternated going to the toddler pool by the Royal Towers, the beach by the Cove and the main beach, but it would have been nice if someone told us this issue up front so we weren't walking around constantly to find places only to not find them open!

But in all...

But seriously. The facilities are great. The Dig is amazing, the beach is gorgeous, the Bahama Mamas and Pina Coladas and Bush Crack are free flowing, and the kids are having a great time.

You can't go wrong, especially if you have an unlimited budget:) I think my son would want to go back, just to see all of the sea animals.