Well, it’s that time of year again – time to plan a family vacation. I had not really considered a Bahamas family vacation; however, our little boy asked me to watch a commercial on Nickelodeon. It was a commercial for a Atlantis Super Summer Break. The commercial claimed 4 nights for $399 per person and kids stay free. Well it seemed almost too good to be true – a Bahama family vacation for just $200 a night. Well, with taxes it is about $500 a person, but still a great deal for Atlantis. My husband and I have always thought it would be a cool place to go and some good friends of ours have been there and they said it would make a great family vacation.
If you are looking for a Bahamas all inclusive family vacation, then Atlantis isn’t it. Although your room reservation gets you access to the 141-acre Aquaventure Water Park, swimming pools throughout the resort, beaches and the Atlantis Theatre shows recent releases on a big screen with freshly popped popcorn – food is not included. You can purchase a dining plan for your family. The Casual Dining Plan runs $69.00 per day per adult and $35.00 per day per child 7-11 years old. The gourmet plan will set you back $99.00 per day per adult and $50.00 per day per *child 7-11 years old. These plans are only for breakfast and dinner. Lunch is not included. These plans do not include soft drinks, alcoholic beverages or juice. Juice, however, is available at breakfasts. The plans also do not include tips which are automatically added according to what you order at each meal. As we have a picky eater, I can’t imagine the he will eat $35 worth of food no matter how pricey it is. My friend, who has been to Atlantis, recommended not purchasing the plan. As of right now, we don’t plan on purchasing a plan. We have up to three days before arrival to change our minds. I plan on packing some cereal bars, juice boxes and snacks and we can have a small breakfast and snacks in the room.
Once we had booked the room, we had to decide how we would get to our family vacation to the Bahamas. Jet Blue is offering a special along with Atlantis’ Super Summer Break special. Two people can fly free to Nassau from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Well, once again, this is not entire true. You still have to pay taxes on each person which in our case is $93. Our son’s ticket is $191. We searched online everywhere and could not find any better deals, so we reserved seats on Jet Blue. We booked an early flight there and a late flight home so we can get the most out of the first and last day of our family vacation in the Bahamas. Then we had to make a plan to get from our home near Indianapolis, Indiana, to Fort Lauderdale. As of right now, we plan to drive to my parents’ home just north of Atlanta and spend the next day with them. The following morning we will drive to Fort Lauderdale. We will have to stay the night in Fort Lauderdale hopefully using some points we have to get a free hotel. We will fly to Nassau the next morning. We plan on reversing the route on the way back. I’m sure if we can snag a cheap flight from here to Fort Lauderdale, we’ll take it as our original plan involves about 20 hours driving at both ends of the trip.
After several calls to Atlantis, we booked our family vacation to the Bahamas for the last week of June. Luckily, my husband and my passports are current. However, our son’s has expired. So we had to kick into full gear in order to get it in time. My husband found a service called American Passport Express (US passport express services) who said for $227 they could get his passport delivered in 8-13 days. I called and spoke with a representative who told me we still had to go to a post office. Out of curiosity, I went to the local post office and was told they offer expedited passport service for $182.35. They said we should have in 2-3 weeks and it’s usually two. The postal worker gave us a number we could call if we don’t have it in two weeks. The postal worker who helped us said it should be easier since he has already had a passport which we gave to them. In the future, we plan to keep his passport current. THANK GOODNESS!!!! We got the passport in less than two weeks. I am so glad we went through our local post office. It was much easier and we saved some money.
Once a child turns 16, they have to renew every 10 years and before age 16 it is every 5 years. Starting January 23, 2007 all travelers including U.S. citizens, to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, Mexico and Canada must have a passport to enter or re-enter the United States. This is a change from prior travel requirements and will affect all United States citizens entering the United States from countries within the Western Hemisphere who do not currently possess valid passports. This new requirement will also affect certain foreign nationals who currently are not required to present a passport to travel to the United States. Most Canadian citizens, citizens of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and to a lesser degree, Mexican citizens will be affected by the implementation of this requirement.
Now that our arrangements have been made and we are waiting for our son’s passport, we are researching the Bahamas. We went to the bookstore and purchased a book on Bahama family vacations to learn about the history and culture of this area. We also are researching places to see and things to do while on our family vacation to Bahamas. According to our travel book there are two festivals in June – the Caribbean Muzik Fest and the Goombay Summer Festival. I love opportunities to see local festival while travelling. It really helps one get a feel for the local culture. We will also be celebrating our son’s birthday during our stay at Atlantis. I am putting a call in to them next week to see if they do anything special if one celebrates a birthday during his/her stay.
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