Paradise Island Bahamas
Oasis of the Seas Cruise First Port of Call
by Celeste Lipford and Terry Lipford - last updated on 12/13/2024
This was the first port of call on our family cruise aboard the "Oasis of the Seas" for Christmas 2018 (Click here to view that blog page). Paradise island, with an area of 685 acres, is located just off the shore of the city of Nassau, which is itself located on the northern edge of the island of New Providence. It is best known for the sprawling resort Atlantis with its extensive water park rides, pools, beach, restaurants, walk-in aquarium and casinos.
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Nassau Paradise Island
Nassau, Paradise Island Bahamas
The "Oasis of the Seas" seven day cruise from Port Canaveral visited Nassau, St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands) and St. Maarten. All visits were "day stops only", just enough time to do a quick island exploration, and an evening ship's departure.
At Nassau, we selected the excursion to the Atlantis Resort waterpark as it looked like the most fun thing to do, and it had been on our bucket list for a while. There were other excursion choices, but all of us were in the mood for a waterpark visit - so off we went.
This was a "ship's excursion" so they arranged for tour buses to transport everyone there. We got there too early, and had to wait for an hour for the waterpark rides to open.
The procedure the ship utilized to get everyone onto their tour buses, was that we were told to gather on the pier next to the ship, and then everyone headed to Atlantis was marched over to hop onto the tour buses. Atlantis is only a short ride away, and then we hiked through the resort to get back into the waterpark area.
Atlantis Water Park Video
Click the above video poster image to view our Atlantis Jungle Slide, an open air body slide. It doesn’t have any unexpected drops — making it a good choice for younger riders.
The open-air Atlantis Jungle Slide at Paradise Island is an absolute blast for adventurers of all ages. Unlike enclosed slides, this one lets you zoom down the watercourse while feeling the warm Bahamian breeze and enjoying the vibrant, tropical surroundings. The open-air design enhances the experience, offering panoramic views of lush greenery, waterfalls, and exotic plants as you snake your way through the jungle-themed environment.
Some Useful Links for Paradise Island
Oasis Cruise: Ports of Call
Cruise Overview
A Christmas present to our immediate family !
Come and read about our experiences on one of the largest cruise ships in the world, we documented all of our onboard & ashore adventures.
Paradise Island Bahamas
Our goal was to visit the Atlantis Water Park - however, you might want to investigate going there on your own. If you take the ship's excursion, you will have to get up very early and then it will get you there before the water park opens and when you depart the ship you will have to wait in lines with everyone for a long time to get on a bus to get to Paradise Island.
Saint Thomas, USVI
We did the Catamaran sail and snorkel to Buck’s island. The boat was nice and boat staff was great however there wasn’t much to see in the water and our trip was scheduled for 2 in the afternoon so we got back after dark. Other members of our group went to Sapphire beach prior to our excursion and enjoyed the beach and swimming.
St. Maarten, Netherlands
Some of us went to the Flying Dutchman zipline and ate lunch after that at Karakter beach. We took a taxi and the driver gave us his card so we could call when we needed him. Other members of our party went to a beach and fell in love with St. Maarten. They want to go back one day.
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