My Guide to The Atlantis! 7-17-21

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#1 Best Family Trip! It was the easiest flight, a HUGE resort, so many restaurants, 11 pools, beautiful calm water, the nicest people, a ginormous fitness center with a lap pool, and the prettiest architecture, sea life, vegetation, and water fountains. We flew direct from Charlotte to Nassau, and then took a car service from the airport to the resort. The food at the Atlantis was delicious and there were so many options- Bahamian, Italian, Mediterranean, Asian, Seafood, Pizza, Burgers, a Steakhouse, a Deli, ice cream, and gourmet milkshakes! Yum!

The service was off the charts! The Bahamian people are some of the most friendly and caring people I have ever met. They were so fun to talk with, and all of our tour guides were extremely entertaining! They were so excited to have people back to their island.

Although the resort may have been at booking capacity, it did not feel crowded because of how large it is. We also went at the perfect time because the cruise ships are not docking in Nassau yet, so there were no day guests. Usually when the cruise ships stop in the Bahamas for the day, the Atlantis is jam-packed.

We went to a different pool everyday, but we had to get there early to get the chairs we wanted. Most days on the way to the fitness center each morning, my dad and I would stop by a pool and claim our chairs using the towels provided. It was perfect. Also, the waterslides were a blast! I went down all of them, but two of them were definitely a little scary! The Leap of Faith goes straight down with an open top and the Abyss goes straight down in the pitch-black! My sister and I went on the River Rapids at least 10 times, and had the best time together. We both loved the Serpent Slide which curves in the dark and then leads you to the glass portion of the slide where sharks are swimming all around you. I could reach out and touch the sharks if there weren’t glass in between us. It was really neat!

~Stay~

As you know, we stayed at The Atlantis. We stayed in The Royal, which I would 100% recommend, because it is right in the middle of everything and has been recently renovated. It was so easy to get to the pools and the restaurants, and breakfast each morning was right across from where we got off the elevators. Our room was great and we had an incredible view from our balcony.

The Atlantis! LINK

View from our balcony!!!

~Restaurants~

  • Olives (LINK) – Yummy Mediterranean cuisine, it was not my favorite restaurant at The Atlantis, but it was still very good! I love Mediterranean food!!
    • Things we loved on the menu
      • The Bronx Bomber (pepperoni mozzarella flatbread)
      • Bianco (flatbread)
      • Butternut Squash Tortelli (My favorite!)
      • ‘Old School’ Tuscan Bolognese
      • S’mores (dessert; so yummy!)
      • Nutella Cheesecake
  • Seafire Steakhouse (LINK) – There were so many options! It was a lot of heavy food, so my family and I ended up splitting our meals between the 4 of us.
    • Things we loved on the menu
      • Baked Sweet Potato Hash (side)
      • Garlic Parmesan Steak Fries (side)
      • Mac N Cheese (side)
      • Braised Beef Short Rib
      • Steakhouse Burger
  • Carmine’s (LINK) – A family style Italian restaurant! The portions are HUGE! You definitely will end up boxing up at least half of your meal. The servers do a great job of guiding you as you order to get the right amount of food for the size of your party, but we still had too much!
    • Things we loved on the menu
      • Garlic Bread (appetizer)
      • Carmine’s Salad (appetizer)
      • Lasagna
      • Chicken Parmesan
      • Meatballs (side)
  • Platos (LINK) – It was right across from The Royal Elevators! It was the perfect place to grab a quick bite for breakfast and then head out to the beach or pool. They also have snacks for anytime of day, and turn into a bar later in the evening! It was perfect for watching the NBA Finals and Premier Soccer when we were there.
  • Poseidon’s Table (LINK). – We went to Poseidon’s Table on our last day at The Atlantis for a nice buffet breakfast. It was delicious! All of the buffet food was served directly to you, due to Covid-19 precautions and we loved this sanitation measure.
  • Frankie Gone Bananas (LINK) – Bahamian cuisine! I loved it! This was definitely one of my favorite restaurants we went to on the trip. I enjoyed getting a taste of the local flavor.
    • Things we loved on the menu
      • Loaded Nachos (starter, but we ordered as an entree)
      • Frankie’s Classic Down Home Burger
      • Traditional Island Jerk Chicken
      • Cay Lime Pie
      • Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich
  • Marina Pizzeria – Yummy Wood Fire Oven Pizza! They also serve salad and pasta dishes. Everything is to-go, so if you want to enjoy your meal in your room, or out on the Marina. It was delicious.
  • Ben & Jerry’s – We went to the Ben & Jerry’s three different times on the trip. Ben and Jerry’s is some of the best ice cream, especially at one of their stores. They have all kinds of cool sundae options as well. It was the best late-night dessert!

~Activities~

  • Fitness Center (LINK) – It offers an equipment room, a basketball court and a lap pool, personal training, yoga classes, boot camp, indoor cycling, and all kinds of wellness seminars. It’s really cool! We used the equipment room every morning with treadmills, ellipticals, and weight machines. It was pretty crowded, but it was so large it didn’t feel extremely crowded.
  • Shopping (LINK) – We did not spent a lot of our time shopping at The Atlantis, but we did look around at some of the designer stores and The Atlantis store. I would totally recommend! Here are just a few of the luxury stores:
    • Tory Burch
    • Gucci
    • Michael Kors
    • David Yurman
  • Pieces of 8 Tour (LINK) – We did the ‘Swim With the Pigs’ Tour and it was the highlight of the trip! We booked it straight through the hotel, and they walked us over to the boat on the marina. It was so easy! I do have to say, the boat ride to the island of the swimming pigs was very rough because of the wind and water conditions that day, but everything else was perfect! We got to feed the pigs, hold the babies, and take pictures with them. I loved it! We then went to a spot a little off the coast of Harbour Island to snorkel with the sea turtles. There were so many of them and we also got to see several sting rays. For lunch we rode over to Rose Island and ate at a brand new beachside restaurant. We enjoyed the beaches and water there all afternoon and it was beautiful. It was crystal clear, like a pool, so much so that I could see the color of a fish’s eye when it swam past my foot. The water is at least 50 different shades of blue; absolutely stunning! The boat took us back to the marina, right outside of the entrance to The Atlantis after a full day. Our guides were excellent, and the boat fit around 15-20 people, so It wasn’t too large, but not a private tour either. I thought it was great!
  • Photo creds to my sister Libby!!
  • Photo creds to Libby
  • Snorkel the Ruins of The Atlantis (LINK) – We signed up for this activity while we were there, and it ended up just being the four of us. My mom, dad, sister, and me. It was so nice! It is a one hour snorkel adventure with a guide in the huge Atlantis aquarium filled with 2.17 billion gallons of ocean water that surrounds the lobby. There were all kinds of fish, a zebra shark, lobster, and a baby Manta Ray with a wingspan of 9 feet! There was so much to see and we loved how the set-up made it a relaxing snorkel adventure.
  • Photo creds to Libby
  • Photo creds to Libby
  • Photo creds to Libby

The flight home was direct and super easy. We went through customs while we were still in the Bahamas and it was so nice not to have to do that in Charlotte!

This is the perfect place to take your family! Our family definitely loved this trip and will be going back again soon.

xoxo, Joanna

Ps…..My dresses were Lilly Pulitzer, Francesca’s, Pink Lilly, and my very favorite colorful beach dresses and cover-ups, Pitusa. Link HERE.