Last year I traveled on The Carnival Dream, which included Nassau as one of its three ports. After seeing The Theme Park Guy’s review of Atlantis, seeing the Atlantis commercials and visiting their website over the years, I could hardly wait to finally see Atlantis for my self. Our port was just a short boat ride away from Atlantis. The boat ride over is a guided tour where the guide points out celebrity homes including Nicolas Cage and Mary Kay.

The Atlantis resort is a $850 million dollar mega resort that stretches more than 70% of the islands 826 acres. It’s the single largest employer in the Bahamas. This ingenious resort was created by Sol Kerzner, the founder and former CEO of Atlantis. Attractions include an 11-million gallon aquarium that is currently the largest marine exhibit in the world. You can discover over 50,000 species of marine life at this incredible aquarium.

Perfect photo spot!

One of my favorite features it called “Aquaventure,”it’s an unbelievably amazing water park that opened in 2007 and features 200-million-US-gallons of water throughout lazy rivers, water slides, and so much more. The Power Tower makes up the center of Atlantis, including four slides: The Abyss, The Drop, The Falls andThe Surge.  The Mayan Temple Slides also include four slides: Leap of Faith, The Challenger slides, The Serpant Slide, and The Jungle Slide. My favorite is the Leap of Faith which drops you about 60-feet from the temple and into a shark infested lagoon.

The most notable building of the complex is the iconic $600-million dollar Royal Towers, which opened in 1998, and features a suite that has been stayed in by Oprah, Michael Jackson, and Michael Jordan, which costs $25,000 a night. The dining is incredible, with over 38 gourmet restaurants. Be sure to take it slow at the Mandara Spa or hit the jackpot at the casino. Then you can spend your earnings at the Gucci store or Bvlgari, both of which are located right down the hall.

Fortunately, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. We saw this sign in the shopping area on our way in and were afraid that the resort was starting to get run down – but think again. Many people are paying over $500 a night to stay here and you bet they are getting what they’re paying for.

Sculptures like this come popping out of the ground. This likely costs tens of thousands, possibly even hundreds of thousands of dollars to build and install. I’ve never seen anything like this at any other hotel I’ve visited – not even the Aria Resort in Las Vegas! This place is incredible.

Atlantis receives a five-star rating from me, I would love to come back in a few years and spend more time here. The amount of creativity and passion for what was built is simply amazing, I’ve never been anywhere like Atlantis. The opulence of design is truly remarkable and must be seen in person to take in the full effects. It is well worth a flight from across the globe but another location is in Dubai for those of you living in the Eastern hemisphere. The $1.5 billion Dubai location opened in 2008 on the Palm Jumeirah man-made island in Dubai.

So you’re ready to visit Atlantis Bahamas, huh? Let’s talk price. You don’t have to be a celebrity or be ultra wealthy to stay at Atlantis. I’ve noticed that they consistently have specials mentioned on their website, so always look at those dates first and see if you can go then. Also consider going during an Atlantis Event, I’ve noticed that Kenny Chesney will be performing at Atlantis this May. They have had numerous world class top performers in the past, check out their list of past performers which includes Fergie, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, and Bruno Mars. I did some research to see what it would cost to spend a few days here this August and it would be $339 a night to stay at their signature building: Royal Towers, $289 to stay at the adjacent Coral Towers (pictured below), and it’s “only” $239 a night to stay at Beach Tower, their most affordable option. All towers mentioned can be booked directly from the Atlantis website.

Outside of Vegas, you’ll never see stuff like this in a casino! It’s nicer that many of the Las Vegas casinos!

Picturesque.

A carousel? Nope, this is one cool outdoor restaurant. With a view!

The iconic towers take center stage.

From a different angle.

See the stingrays.

Access to Aquaventure, their incredible multi day water park, and marine habitats are both free for guests staying at the resort. Day visitors who are staying at nearby hotels or who are visiting from a cruise may purchase a day pass but availability is limited and I think the day passes are outrageous, you are likely to come out better by staying at the hotel instead of just visiting the water park for the day. Personally, I think the daily water park pass prices are outrageous compared to any other water park, including the Disney water parks. Cruise goers will probably have the option to add the water park pass as a shore expansion for around $140 or $160 a person. The Carnival Dream was going to charge us $140 to spend four hours in their water park. The Carnival Dream only gave us about five hours to explore Nassau. By the time we take the shuttle boat over to Atlantis and explored the hotel, beach and town we had already spent our allotted time so we have no regrets about not visiting the water park but I would consider it if you have the whole day.

Their underground aquarium!

Show your kids the sharks!

Take a look up at the ceiling! And I thought the GA Aquarium (the world’s largest aquarium) was impressive until I saw this place!

This is where I got my Atlantis mouse pad, which I have adored to no end.

Island-themed chandelier sets the mood.

They’ve even got their own Starbucks!

One last look from the boat ride back.

A look at one of the celebrity homes on the way over. 

A look at the touristy part of Nassau (see the Hard Rock Cafe in the center). Atlantis makes this area look like trash! 

Learn even more at the Atlantis website. Let me know if you have any questions! So, what are your thoughts on Atlantis? Have you ever stayed at/visited Atlantis? Any advice?

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