January 26th, 2018 5-Night Bahamian on Magic

Not sure if it helps anyone but for what it is worth - for Nassau we have booked a room at the Comfort Inn that gives full access to Atlantis. I can't verify for sure that it will work but I read this trick on the boards....book a room, you probably will never get in the room (check in is 3pm but they let you "check in" and get wristbands for Atlantis whenever you arrive)...then you can access Atlantis for the full day. You just give them directions to check you out late in the day and really never set foot in your room there. I called the hotel and they verified that we can get our Atlantis passes as early as we arrive and that they are aware that many people do this?!?!

For a room for our family we are paying $233. Cheaper than the excursion price for 1 person with only partial access to Atlantis. (Again disclosure: haven't done it yet....but we are going to try!!!!) :)

I have heard of this trick as well. I looked online too, only problem is I am a group of 5 and would require minimum 2 night stay. Still debating it, as I do want to get off the boat and do something at one port.

If I have researched correctly there is enough 'free' things at Castaway Cay to not 'book' anything. And there isn't much to Key West. So our only option for some sort of excursion is Nassau...and I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Atlantis!
 
Me too - have always wanted to tour Atlantis, see all the pools, look around the resort - it should be fun! Try calling the Comfort Inn - I called and found them very helpful. Just ask if you can add the 5th person? I have read that sometimes it works and other times not as much but worth a try!! I am of the same understanding about Key West and CC - is there anyone in our group who has more experiences with these ports? Or recommendations? I currently am thinking of a walking tour of Key West and maybe (trying) to get a cabana on CC but perhaps I am missing something? Anyone have "must do's" at these ports?
 
I looked at the comfort Inn and it was booked already! The comfort Suites was available for $273/night and that includes access to Atlantis as well. I assume if choosing this option that you could just take a taxi from the port to the hotel and walk to Atlantis?
 
I read here on these boards that people just take a taxi over or share with other people. Can't remember the cost but I have in my notes "cheap easy taxi" so I think it must be easy to access from the port. They say it is easy to walk to Atlantis once you are in the area, the only warning I read is that it is huge and sometimes people access the wrong gate/area vs. where they wanted to go? Not sure about that or the layout of Atlantis because I am just planning on wondering around to see all of it and touring all the pools (no, correction - kids tour the pools, I tour the pool deck/chairs :) so access points didn't bother me too much.
 


I read here on these boards that people just take a taxi over or share with other people. Can't remember the cost but I have in my notes "cheap easy taxi" so I think it must be easy to access from the port. They say it is easy to walk to Atlantis once you are in the area, the only warning I read is that it is huge and sometimes people access the wrong gate/area vs. where they wanted to go? Not sure about that or the layout of Atlantis because I am just planning on wondering around to see all of it and touring all the pools (no, correction - kids tour the pools, I tour the pool deck/chairs :) so access points didn't bother me too much.
Lol! Thanks for the info!
 
I am of the same understanding about Key West and CC - is there anyone in our group who has more experiences with these ports? Or recommendations? I currently am thinking of a walking tour of Key West and maybe (trying) to get a cabana on CC but perhaps I am missing something? Anyone have "must do's" at these ports?
I have been to CC twice and Key West once, so "experience" might be stretching it a bit but I will try, lol. Either port you can absolutely have a good time without booking anything if choose. We are booking a hop on-hop off trolley tour in Key West. We wanted the tour but also to stop at some of the places. I think we are going to tour the Hemingway House, I enjoy his work and we all like cats (they have something like 50 cats roaming the grounds). Otherwise we plan to stop for the usual photo ops and maybe run to a store for more wine.

CC is very much a place you don't need an excursion. Sure, if anything you see sounds worthwhile then by all means book it, but both times I went I just rented a bike and rode around a while and then relaxed on the beach. If you are new cabanas are going to be tough to find, you will likely have to stalk the excursion site in hopes of someone deciding to cancel theirs. I say this as a Silver too, if the cabanas aren't all snatched up by Concierge, Platinum, and Gold members then it would be a minor miracle. I almost hope there are none when I sign on since I really don't want to spend the money on one but don't think I could resist if I saw one available. If lounging on the beach is the top of your interest list and a cabana isn't available then I wouldn't bother with a different excursion. Find a spot (there are enough lounge chairs for the entire ship) and relax. Grab some BBQ at lunch time, enjoy some drinking if you choose, and enjoy a summer day at the beach. Water will be a bit cool but the sun will be toasty.
 
Paid in full.......paid and ready to go!!!! Yahoo - whole family is doing a happy dance tonight (OK maybe not Grumpy but.....). Have quite a number of FE gifts bought (everyone still in?) and packing list currently in the works. A bit sad to think we are still 151 days away :(
 


Paid in full.......paid and ready to go!!!! Yahoo - whole family is doing a happy dance tonight (OK maybe not Grumpy but.....). Have quite a number of FE gifts bought (everyone still in?) and packing list currently in the works. A bit sad to think we are still 151 days away :(

We are so much alike--paid in full, lots of FE gifts bought (yes still in), have not thought about packing list though-except for getting everyone ready for pirate night! Share your packing list if it has good tips!
 
Hello! How many FE gifts are we supposed to purchase? I clearly haven't started! Also, is there a specific type of gift we should buy or gifts we should not purchase?
Thanks!
 
This is what I have gathered about the FE gifts so far (Pinterest and DIS boards mainly). If anyone else can build on this (or correct errors!!) please do! This is my first time too so all of this is from my notes and research......
  • Gifts can be for the "cabin", "individual" for each family member or kid-individual and a joint adult gift (I.e. One for Mom & Dad and separate for each child). Seems like most groups are tapped at 10 cabins - I think we have about 7-8 cabins currently on this board who are interested in participating.
    • Not sure if it helps but I am going with a cabin gift of useful things for the adults and individual kid goodies. Mainly to keep it simple as well as be conscientious of packing space. We are flying in so taking an entire suitcase of gifts with us isn't practical (and may send my husband over the edge! ha ha)
  • Disneygirlsara will get our names, cabin numbers and maybe something like our fav characters and make a list to share with everyone
  • FE gifts should be things we would like to receive (some boards seem to have grumpy people about gifts but honestly my kids would be happy with just about anything - for us it is about the surprise and fun of gift giving!)I have seen ideas ranging from useful things for the cruise cabin, toys for kids, mementos to things from your home country/state/town.
  • Pinterest has lots of ideas - that said I am NOT crafty in anyway and am going more towards the handy or cute things (parents get handy things and kids are getting cute things).
  • No dollar assigned - the value doesn't matter, fun exchange that is about sharing magic!!
  • FE pockets hang outside our doors - put out early and people deliver gifts throughout the cruise or when they have time. It's usually 1 gift not a daily delivery (good gravy I can barely get Christmas gifts done on time, daily gifts?!?! Ha ha)
  • Most important point: have fun!!! Enjoy the surprise of little gifts left for you while you are out enjoying the cruise and have fun delivering to others!
 
This is what I have gathered about the FE gifts so far (Pinterest and DIS boards mainly). If anyone else can build on this (or correct errors!!) please do! This is my first time too so all of this is from my notes and research......
  • Gifts can be for the "cabin", "individual" for each family member or kid-individual and a joint adult gift (I.e. One for Mom & Dad and separate for each child). Seems like most groups are tapped at 10 cabins - I think we have about 7-8 cabins currently on this board who are interested in participating.
    • Not sure if it helps but I am going with a cabin gift of useful things for the adults and individual kid goodies. Mainly to keep it simple as well as be conscientious of packing space. We are flying in so taking an entire suitcase of gifts with us isn't practical (and may send my husband over the edge! ha ha)
  • Disneygirlsara will get our names, cabin numbers and maybe something like our fav characters and make a list to share with everyone
  • FE gifts should be things we would like to receive (some boards seem to have grumpy people about gifts but honestly my kids would be happy with just about anything - for us it is about the surprise and fun of gift giving!)I have seen ideas ranging from useful things for the cruise cabin, toys for kids, mementos to things from your home country/state/town.
  • Pinterest has lots of ideas - that said I am NOT crafty in anyway and am going more towards the handy or cute things (parents get handy things and kids are getting cute things).
  • No dollar assigned - the value doesn't matter, fun exchange that is about sharing magic!!
  • FE pockets hang outside our doors - put out early and people deliver gifts throughout the cruise or when they have time. It's usually 1 gift not a daily delivery (good gravy I can barely get Christmas gifts done on time, daily gifts?!?! Ha ha)
  • Most important point: have fun!!! Enjoy the surprise of little gifts left for you while you are out enjoying the cruise and have fun delivering to others!
[/QUOTE

Oh Boy-- I have been shopping like crazy because I thought I read it was a gift a day--so everyone is gonna be getting lots of goodies from me! At least I know I can slow down on shopping now.
Thanks for all this information! I probably will need an extra suitcase :(

Disneygirlsara are you still able to work on list?
 
I will just ping @DisneyGirlSara (adding the at symbol before a username tags the person) and see if she has anything to update us on or wants any assistance. Looks like a good small group just based on people with enough posts to PM, potentially a few more if they haven't disappeared :tongue:

Just dropped below 150 days. Check-in starts next month! Which I guess is as good a time as any to explain that if anybody is unfamiliar:

DCL encourages you to check-in online, where you can put in the basic information that used to be collected at port and also is a chance to sign up for excursions and a few things around the ship (ticketed meets, character breakfast, mixology, cabanas, etc). DCL does this in a tiered system, Platinum and Concierge at 120 days, Gold at 105 days, Silver at 90 days, and brand new cruisers at 75 days before the cruise. For us that is Sept 28th, Oct 13th, Oct 28th, and Nov 12th respectively.
 
OK more silly questions from a first-timer. If we want to request or make reservations for the meet-and-greets is there a way of knowing what else is going on at that time? I have looked for the navigators (newspapers) from past cruises but I am not sure they will be accurate for our itinerary. Also in your experience, do you know if the meet-and-greets are offered during sailing times or during port days? (Don't want to miss port action but yet I have 2 princess fanatics here.....)
 
I don't think there is any way to know for sure what activities are going on when until we get the navigators the night before. Don't forget that as far as meet and greets only a couple are ticketed, a general princess one where you will meet 4 princesses back to back, and the Frozen one. The other ones you see in the navigators are open to everyone willing to wait in line. Just judging by the navigators it looks like there are ample opportunities on both port days and our sea day. Hopefully your princess fanatics will understand when you explain to them they can't do everything and will sometimes have to pick between two (or more) things they want to do. We have already started having that discussion with our daughter, haha.
 
Am I able to request my friends cabin to join the fish extender group or does she individually have to request it?
 
I think it is OK for you to add her (just my opinion :)
when it comes time to gather info (names, cabin #) we can just note that you are the DIS board contact.......does this seem reasonable to everyone?
 
Just thought of something.....a reminder that we all need to have 10 posts on the DIS boards in order to activate our DM (messaging). This is how we can communicate to get FE info (vs posting publicly). If you are a bit shy of the 10 messages feel free to ask questions here or on any of the forums. (Cruise forum has been great for answering my questions about Nassau/Atlantis, etc......a great place to ask a question and then say a quick "thanks" - 2 messages right there!) :) 133 days.............
 
Just to make myself feel better.......please tell me I am not alone with these FE gifts?!
My kids spend last night sorting and ordering some of the gifts we have for boys & girls (good gravy, we might be a little anxious!?!?). Paid-in-full date is quickly coming :) just a few more weeks!
I checked the countdown we are "only" 131 days away from sail-away!!!
 
I have lots of gifts since I thought it was a gift a day! I am willing to put FE list together if disneygirlsare can't.
We are flying day before so 130 more days!
 
My family (my husband, myself, 12yr old daughter, and 11yr old daughter) are going on our first cruise and would love to join the fish exchange. Is there any chance you can please add us? My kids are dying to do it:) Thanks!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!







Top