My (Brutally) Honest Review of Atlantis Resort - Bahamas

We’ve all seen those famous commercials on TV right? You know the ones, with someone sliding down the Mayan temple slide, through a clear glass tube into the shark tank?

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas while on our Disney Cruise. Our itinerary included a stop in Nassau and there was an excursion through the cruise line to have us taken to the world famous water park for the day. Like many of you, I’d seen these commercials on TV for years and knew this was a once in a lifetime chance to experience it.

I want to preface this entire blog by saying that I only experienced the common areas of the resort, and the water park, for the day. I did not stay the night there and have no idea what the accommodations are like.

The day pass for the water park was about $190 each, and we knew that going into the experience but also wanted to see it. While the resort offers many different experiences, we were just there to do the Aquaventure Water Park.

At the heart of Atlantis lies a true aquatic wonderland - the Atlantis Aquaventure Water Park. With thrilling water slides, lazy rivers, and interactive play areas, it's a paradise for water enthusiasts of all ages. Brave the iconic Leap of Faith, a daring slide that plunges you through a clear tunnel submerged in a shark-filled lagoon, providing a rush of adrenaline like no other.

Now, before we went on our cruise, I of course did lots of research about this place. I watched many, many Youtube videos about how it was the “best waterpark in the world”. So… you can say my expectations were pretty high.

Immediately upon arriving you could tell this was a beautiful spot on the globe. From the outside looking in, the resort seemed gorgeous and lush, with many animal habitats to experience as you walked your way through. To say that this resort is big, is an understatement. It is absolutely massive - and very easy to get lost as you wander around.

One of the first things we noticed while we walked through the lobby was the very large casino the resort had. While I know this is a huge plus for a lot of visitors, it’s not really our scene (we hate the smell of smoke and needless to say, don’t really enjoy Las Vegas). And while that’s not what we were there for that day, we were also trying to imagine what it would be like to stay there for an entire week.

Now, onto the actual water park. Again, it’s massive with lots of slides and attractions to choose from. While I’m not a huge slide thrill seeker, I was excited for their “rapids” lazy river and to glide through the clear shark tank slide. Almost immediately we realized that there was no efficient way this park was laid out, with everything, everywhere and a lot of walking had to be done. We were disappointed to find that the lockers were VERY far away from everything we’d be doing that day. It was also at the lockers that we started to see the “state” of the park (meaning how well it was maintained) and were kind of disappointed to see quite a bit of paint peeling and things a little worn out. The whole park ended up feeling like this a little bit- and remember, we’d just stepped off of a DISNEY ship, so I know our expectations were high. Long story short, from an outside glance, it’s gorgeous. It’s just when you start to look a little closer at things that you see flaws.

But we accomplished it - we rode the shark slide! And while the slide was super fun, again we were a little disappointed that the clear section where you can see the sharks was a bit murky and not as crystal clear as you see on TV.

The food at the park that day was… fine. It was generic, simple, resort style food. It wasn’t bad, but I don’t know that I’d want to eat it for a week if we were vacationing there.

So before this blog starts to sound like me complaining, let me wrap it up this way. We had a fantastic day! But was it the world’s best water park? Not in my opinion. Disney Water Parks or Universal’s Volcano Bay are much cleaner, better themed, and have better food.

The sentiment we had when our day was over was that we were so glad to say that we’d been able to experience it, but we don’t think we’d ever book a vacation solely at that resort. If the accommodations and rooms are in the same state as the rest of the grounds, I bet I would end up slightly disappointed for the price tag we were paying.