I just got back last night from my first trip to the Bahamas and stayed at the Beach Tower of the Atlantis. I was traveling with my mom and 10 year old nephew. They shut down the electricity in the airport when we arrived for some kind of testing so it was very dark and hard to find luggage but we did get all our pieces pretty quickly. There is a guy by baggage claim giving out complimentary Bahama Mamas and it's your discretion to tip.

We got a taxi right away and I checked the price first and was quoted $34 for the 3 of us. I expected it to be $40 or 45 so $34 was great. We had an excellent taxi driver. He gave us alot of information about the island,, made dinner recommendations and offered to stop at a liquor store that he felt had the best prices. We gave him $45 including the tip.

Check in was at the Royal Tower and was very quick and then we got stopped by the time share employee. I didn't catch on right away that it was for the time share but she offered me $100 and a free build a bear coupon for my nephew so I signed up. Just a note - the build a bear coupon is only for the cost of the stuffed animal you choose - outfits and accessories are at your expense. The time share meeting does last over 2 hours even though they promise it won't take more than 90 minutes. It includes free continental breakfast - cereal, muffin, pastry or donut and coffee. They put the pressure on with the 3rd person they sent to our table but I wasn't interested. The price I was quoted for 1 week 1 bedroom in off peak season was $15,800 approx. and $20,000 for peak season plus an annual maintenance fee of $1440.

We had a great trip. I was happy with the beach tower but I didn't realize we would get double beds and not queen. My nephew insisted on his own bed since we were girls so a queen would have been nice but we dealt with it. Pillows were very soft so that you could fold them in half. Not an issue for us but could be for others. Beach tower is closest to the beach. The beach is awesome - waves very mild and so clear you can see your feet. I didn't see any vendors other than the parasailing and banana boat vendors advertising their rides.

We went to the library and it was much smaller than I expected but nice and quiet. I think the internet access was complimentary during their normal business hours. We just walked through to check it out.

The Atlantis theater shows 3 movies a day and they list the movies every morning on the activity sheet they provide at your door along with a complimentary USA Today. The show times are approximate at 5:00 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. give or take 15 minutes. It looks just like a theater inside and they do have concession stands. I'm pretty sure you had to charge to the room.

We chose one gourmet restaurant to eat at and ate at the Mesa Grill. The food was amazing and it is spicy but there are some dishes that they can calm the spices down. Me and my mom got the marguerita they recommended (cactus juice marg) and it was okay - not as great as the food and they were $19 each. Our dinner total for the 3 of us was $275.00 - that included 2 margueritas, 2 appetizers and 1 dessert in addition to each of our entrees.

I was shocked at the food prices even though I was prepared with all the posts on this forum. Starbucks charged $4.75 for a tall mocha. My nephew had a carmel frappachino and it was $6.75. Starbucks did take cash, credit card or room charge. My nephew got a double scoop of vanilla ice cream at the creamery with caramel sauce and it was $8.75. We ate at Murray's deli and the prices were okay but I was disappointed in the food. It took 3 tries and we finally got into Carmines. We had to show up at 5:30 p.m. and they seated us. The other 2 times we showed up at 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and were told they weren't taking anyone for the rest of the evening. The portions are huge. We got the chicken parm but it didn't include pasta so we ordered a meatball pasta entree and ended up boxing up half of it to go. Food was great and the service was awesome. I was told by other guests that it was best to get there at 5:30 p.m. to get a seat otherwise they are packed.

We did go to Quiznos for breakfast and it was great and you can't beat the prices. We ate at Anthony's three times. We never waited more than 15 minutes and the food/service was great. The average drink price was $7 - much better than the Atlantis pool bars at $10.50.

We ended up buying water at the souvenir shop next to Anthony's. You could get a large bottle for $2.50. Much better than the $3.99 they charged at the Sundries stores in the Atlantis or the $5.75 they charged if you used the water bottles in your room. The concession stands at the pools did charge $8.00 for the large bottled water. We also got our Cokes at the Souvenir store for $1.00 each. They charged $2.75 for a coke if you used your mini-bar in the room. We never made it to a grocery store - we brought enough snacks in our luggage that lasted the whole trip.

We went into town once and that was all we needed. We went to Fish Fry and had lunch at Twin Brothers. We were all disappointed in our meals and our server wasn't the best. I ordered the broiled lobster tail and it was overcooked and slightly burned. My nephew ordered ribs (I know this is not the best dish to order at fishfry but he insisted). My mom got the broiled shrimp. The meals were mediocre and our bill was $85.00. This is just my opinion and we may have not ordered the right dishes to get the best experience. I talked to other guests and they all agreed. You should check it out for the experience and it is easy to get to. We took the 10 bus and they charged $1.00 per person.

The water park within the Atlantis and the pools are awesome. My nephew and I used the water slides everyday. It took up until our last full day and we braved the Leap of Faith and it was so awesome that I went back for a 2nd run. We did every water ride and did the Crazy River everyday. You do need to get a bracelet each day to ride the waterrides. They are usually given at the towel huts. We didn't have a problem getting towels. People do reserve the best seats at the pools by 9:30 a.m. but we still got good seats.

The aquariums are awesome and you should go to the 3:00 p.m. feedings. The sharks lifted their heads out of the water for their fish and grunted. The rays did back flips after they ate. I thought it was a trick but the trainer said that was how they digested their food. The two large males are Adonnis and Aquilles. One is 8 feet long in width and I could watch them for hours. The Atlantis does a great job with their sea life and aquariums. They said they would only keep these two males until they got to a certain size and they would release them and bring in smaller ones.

We chose to buy calling cards instead of using our cellphones. We bought the cards in a machine outside the Casino. The calls to NY were $.47/minute and we bought $20 cards. We weren't able to get a card the first day so we used the room phone. Beware - I read the room guide and it said $5 for 3 minutes and then $2.75 per minute. My nephew called NY and spoke exactly 3 minutes. We were charged $25.00 when we checked out. I questionned this and said I checked the guide and couldn't figure out how the $25 was calculated and they immediately credited me the full amount without any question.

We all agreed we had a great trip but this was by far the most expensive. The daily resort fee we were charged was $38 based on two adults. I thought it would be $28. You need to keep track of your room charges since I had a couple that were not ours and it's easy to lose track. Not all the pool bars will give you a receipt so you need to ask. I found that the Shark Bites pool bar had the strongest drinks so if I got an afternoon cocktail I would go to them.

The employees were always friendly and helpful and our weather was perfect. All our taxi drivers were very nice and took care of us. Paradise Island is breathtaking and I'm glad we got to experience it. I got alot of information from this forum and it made the trip even better.