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Requesting tips and pointers for Harborside

mindy35

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We are 2 adults and go in May. It would be great to have some recommendations all in one thread from those of you who are regulars there and know how to best work the system.

Transportation? Restaurants? Off the beaten path activities? Worthwhile off property Excursions? Tips on avoiding the crowds?

How about the condition of on-site workout facilities?

Or sharing must have items to bring from home? - Did I see somewhere that someone packed a panini grill???? We prob won't do that but we usually bring our own beach chairs and umbrellas to these resorts since we consider shade essential but don't want to get up at 5am to snag a chair. Worth doing here?

Any thing else you can think of would be greatly appreciated!

To start, I assume there is no reason to line up a rental car for the week?

Thanks in advance!!
 
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Sea Six

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I suggest reviewing the restaurant menus on-line before you go, decide which ones you might want to go to. Make your reservations when you get there to get your favorites times, and understand they are not open every night and some may be closed the whole time you're there. Most of the restaurants are very good, but they are expensive. Something to plan for. Do not rent a car. There are shuttle buses that take you all over Atlantis, and you can easily get a cab or ride the ferry to Nassau.
 
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The biggest problem I had with Atlantis is that they allow you to smoke anywhere. By the time the wee was over I was sick and smelled like an ashtray.

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dioxide45

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I am quite interested in responses to this also, we are considering Harborside for May 2018. I have heard that food prices are very high, even at grocery stores. So high that some people actually pack many of their groceries to bring with them.

I am also curious about what StarOption availability is like for Memorial Day week at Harborside? I know it is a holiday week, but perhaps hoping that it isn't one of the prime holidays and there may still be availability at 8 months out for StarOption bookings?
 

Sea Six

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The resort runs a van to a grocery store every day around 10 AM. For $7 per person they drive you to the store and let you shop for an hour then bring you back. The bell staff will help you get the boxes and bags into your room. Plan your restaurants and plan your in house meals and you'll be fine. By the way, if you plan on going to Carmine's you will get so much food you will have leftovers for another night, so you can plan on that, too! Murray's Deli and a Quiznos are a short walk, so you don't have to eat expensive meals every night.
 

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Yes, prices for food are insane. Keep in mind that everything has a 15% VAT tacked on. We took frozen bacon in our suitcases in an insulated bag, plus cereal, peanut butter, etc. There are cheaper grocery stores on the way from the airport. Just negotiate a stop with your cab driver. We did take the shuttle over to the store from the resort mid trip just for a few more items. Some food staples are price fixed by the government. There should be more info on that on the Trip Advisor boards. Also there are no grills at the resort and there are no ovens in the villas. Plan accordingly. Last trip Dominos had a special of 2 pizzas for $19.99 plus a small delivery charge.
 

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The workout facility at Harborside is near the Harborside pool. It is not a large facility. Has maybe 8 or 10 different machines available.
When I was there in February, all the equipment was functional and top notch.
I never saw anybody else in the facility and I usually went about 10:00 AM everyday and used the recumbent bicycle.
 

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We had groceries delivered the last two times at Harborside, easy and no stress. If you want to splurge you can reserve a cabana around the waterpark at Atlantis. They have waiter service, towels, refrigerator, shade. Prices vary but a nice relaxing luxury.
There is also a Quiznos over in the marketplace that is cheap and easy too.
We have had fun at the Jokers wild comedy club if you are looking for something different. We just reserved next April.
 

mindy35

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Thanks so far.
We are still awaiting recommendations as to whether it's worthwhile to bring our own beach chairs and umbellas?

Also, we've heard so much about the poor wifi signals and considered purchasing a $10/day ATT International data package instead of relying on the paid wifi at Harborside.

Has anyone had any experience with ATT's 4G data in the area??


Edit: Thanks to Alwysonvac -
http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/pocket-wifi-bahamas.239913/
 
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blondietink

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There are beach chairs available at the beach for free as long as you have your wrist band. They have a Sun shade attached. So no need to bring chairs or an umbrella.
 

alwysonvac

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There are lots of old threads (see below).

Don't forget the TUG REVIEWS as well - https://tug2.com/ResortOverview.aspx?Harborside Resort at Atlantis&ID=13826

Harborside Tips (2016) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/harborside-tips.246117/
Harborside at Atlantis, what to bring? (2016) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/harborside-at-atlantis-what-to-bring.240653/
Harborside restaurant recommendations? (2016) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/harborside-restaurant-recommendations.240648/
Pocket Wifi Bahamas (2016) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/pocket-wifi-bahamas.239913/

Taxi from airport in bahamas (2016) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/taxi-from-airport-in-bahamas.239539/
Harborside Atlantis - A Few Questions (2015) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/harborside-atlantis-a-few-questions.230597/
Microwave-Convection Combo Oven Gone at HRA – Just Microwave Now (2015) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?...oven-gone-at-hra-–-just-microwave-now.226399/
Tips for first time visit to Harborside (2015) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/tips-for-first-time-visit-to-harborside.228867/
Atlantis Harborside Dining Plan Opinions (2015) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/atlantis-harborside-dining-plan-opinions.230253/
Atlantis - harborside website/dedicated forum? (2016) - http://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?...-website-dedicated-forum.240043/#post-1870252


TripAdvisor Restaurant Reviews - https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g147417-Paradise_Island_New_Providence_Island_Bahamas.html
 
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mindy35

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Those links are great!!!!
I will surely be renting one of those mifi's rather than relying on HRA's expensive and spotty coverage plan.

A couple of questions not covered:

We usually explore the entire area (or Island in this case) when we travel and go off property often. Is the rest of Nassau interesting or not worth the trip?
Are there hidden/interesting beaches beyond the ones at Atlantis? Would it be worth bringing our chairs and umbrellas for those outings?
Is the snorkeling off these beaches any good or must you book one of the boating excursions? Is it worth bringing our own snorkeling equipment?
We will not have a car but is it worth renting a car for a day to do so?
 

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We just got back in February. I can tell you everything there is so expensive. There is one little restaurant by the pool nothing else. The wifi which they charge you 22 a day for does not work at the pool. All the restaurants at atlantis are very expensive. I would suggest taking a taxi over the bridge to town and eating there if you are eating out. Prices are 1/3 of anything at atlantis. Sign up for a food tour if you are a foodie it was a great experience and you get to eat in some local places and learn the history. have the taxi driver stop at the local grocery store on your way in to pick up supplies. Be advised water is very expensive there about 30 a case for the crappy stuff. Everything there is imported they make nothing themselves. They have tons of sun yet no solar power, they do not recycle, its a weird little place. We went to atlantis everyday to the pools you need to get a wristband to enter but its good for the week so much better there than at harborside. If you want an upscale dinner when there I would recomment Todd English's olives, which is right there at the marina by the casino. That was our best meal there. For the rest of the time go to town to eat you will save a ton and see what the true native food is.
 

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Those links are great!!!!
I will surely be renting one of those mifi's rather than relying on HRA's expensive and spotty coverage plan.

A couple of questions not covered:

We usually explore the entire area (or Island in this case) when we travel and go off property often. Is the rest of Nassau interesting or not worth the trip?
Are there hidden/interesting beaches beyond the ones at Atlantis? Would it be worth bringing our chairs and umbrellas for those outings?
Is the snorkeling off these beaches any good or must you book one of the boating excursions? Is it worth bringing our own snorkeling equipment?
We will not have a car but is it worth renting a car for a day to do so?

We did not explore the island besides the food tour. I would recommend the food tour though.

There are other beaches, everything on atlantis is man made, you are not getting the true bahamas just going to atlantis.

Snorkeling there was amazing, but you need to take a tour boat out to the reef.

They drive on the other side of the road so I as not going to rent a car. You can get anywhere you want to go by taxi and its not that expensive.

I would definitely
eat in town every night you will save a ton. This is the most expensive starwood property I have ever stayed at. Do some research online about beaches and other things to do there....
 

Lingber

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We used the att plan at $10 a day this last trip. It worked great all over the island and for 2 people it is less than $22 a day rate.

Eating in town is nice but we wouldn't do it every night. We enjoy Carmines, murrays deli, Olives and even Bimini Rd for a burger. Mix that in with a meal at Margaritville and maybe one at Anthony's across from the marketplace and we only had time for 1 meal in town. Also don't forget to factor in cab fare.

We had always stoped at the store on the way in from the airport until this last trip. Instead we took and extra bag with dry goods and had all the refrigerated items delivered at 5pm on check in day. Worked out really well.

As adults we actually look forward to time at the Harborside pool. It's big, sits right on the marina and is never overcrowded. Chair hunting at Atlantis can get old real fast!

We love going to Harborside. There is something for everyone day and night. Oh and free recently released movies run in the theatre all week so be sure to check out what is playing. Have fun!




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We used the att plan at $10 a day this last trip. It worked great all over the island and for 2 people it is less than $22 a day rate.

Eating in town is nice but we wouldn't do it every night. We enjoy Carmines, murrays deli, Olives and even Bimini Rd for a burger. Mix that in with a meal at Margaritville and maybe one at Anthony's across from the marketplace and we only had time for 1 meal in town. Also don't forget to factor in cab fare.
Glad to hear the ATT coverage is good. The Harborside internet is terrible and expensive. $10/day to ATT to use my plan has worked great for me. I've only tried in the EU.
 

Helios

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We did not explore the island besides the food tour. I would recommend the food tour though.

Never heard of the food tour, is this a resort sponsored tour?
 

mindy35

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Here's what I've learned regarding the data service so far:

All 3 companies (ATT, pocketwif and xcom global) use the same BTC towers so no company can claim faster speeds or better coverage.

ATT has 2 plans, both are priced per line:

1 is a 30 day international roaming at 3 different rates depending on what your needs are.

2nd is a per day passport that allows you to forgo roaming fees and treat your phone the way you do within the US using your current data plan.

Both of these options were considerably more than the MiFi options but don't require shipping of any device and you can add it to your existing plan last minute.

_________________

PocketWifiBahamas.com and XcomGlobal.com cover 5 devices, have similar daily pricing and shipping costs

BUT

PocketWifi limits to 1GB and charges an additional $20 for the data plan in addition to the daily fee

Xcom offers unlimited GB but encourages you "not to overdo it in terms of gaming or streaming" or you speeds will slow down (not a prob for us). Apparently, their data plan is included the daily rate so it winds up being $20 less for the week.

Both encourage you to order at least 1 week before departure by offering "discounted" RT shipping. I believe both have a limit as to how many Mifi's they can allocate during a specific time pd as they ask you to enter your dates to figure out availability.

I have chosen XcomGlobal. It says my total will be $63 including tax and shipping for unlimited data for 5 devices for the week. I will post here about my experience on my return.

_______________________________
Still trying to figure out if there is good enough snorkeling either at the Atlantis or on other beaches around the island that would make it worth it to bring our own gear?
 
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mindy35

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another note concerning XComGlobal:

I ordered my MiFi 2 weeks ahead of my arrival in Nassau and received my order confirmation which clearly stated:
"NOTE: All orders are shipped to arrive one business day before your departure date."

I submitted my order stating the week that I would need the external service beginning with my arrival at NAS. I assumed, since I was ordering within a good amount of time ahead, it would arrive close to when I requested the rental. No-where on the order form did it ask when I will be departing from the location where the product should be shipped. I'm glad I read the confirmation email.

My plan is to leave home 4 days prior to visit some family on the way. I called their 800 number and Customer service was happy to reschedule the shipment to fit my travel plans.

But........I had to specifically demand that they not add my additional travel days (in the US so no need for roaming data) to my rental fee. I was told that the charges are a rental contract for the device, not the activation and daily fee for the data service.

But.......they did politely accommodate my request.

I hope this is helpful for anyone considering purchasing this service anywhere.
 

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Also be aware there has been ongoing concerns & warnings about Nassau's crime rate over the last few years - http://www.cruiselawnews.com/tags/nassau/
According to this ambulance chaser, you probably should never leave home. And if you live in Baltimore or Chicago (cities with crime rates comparable to the Bahamas), you're probably dead already.
 
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LisaRex

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Food: I'm one of those crazy people who packs meat when we go on vacations where we'll have access to a kitchen. Typically, we bring bacon, sausage, hamburger, steaks, and chicken and pack it all in our 8-can soft-sided cooler, along with some blue ice packs. (Don't pack ice in a baggie if you plan to carry-on, as ice turns into a liquid and is banned via TSA.) HRA has no grills or ovens, of course, but I just planned meals around it.

If bringing meat along isn't your cup of tea, just throwing a few dry items into your luggage can still save money. For example, bagged chips (e.g Lays, Doritos) are really expensive in the Caribbean (e.g. $8 for a medium bag), so bring snack items if you can fit them. If chips are too bulky, Pringles, Combos and crackers are great alternatives.

Other things you might bring: coffee & filters, condiment, seasoning, sugar, and jelly packets, chili mixes, cans or bags of tuna, summer sausage, boxed pasta and potato side dishes, peanut butter, TidePods, dryer sheets, boxed cookies, candy, whole onions, huggies (for drinks), a wad of sandwich and gallon sized baggies for keeping leftovers and packing picnic lunches.

Since you're paying for a taxi at HRA, come armed with a grocery list and divide and conquer with your spouse/kids. Even if you plan to eat out every lunch and dinner, just buying breakfast items, fruit, snacks, desserts, and drinks will still be worthwhile. Hint: Imported beer is very expensive, but the local beer (Kalik) is fine, according to my husband.

FYI, we packed lunches and drinks (including water, beer and mixed drinks) in our cooler and brought it to the beach/onsite pool/water park nearly every day. No one even batted an eye at us. (We ate at our chairs, not at a table at the restaurant). When we did eat at one of the outside waterpark restaurants, we found the food to be good, and prices to be comparable to any other tourist trap. It's the VAT that pushes the price way up.

We also ate at Margaritaville (fine), Anthony's (good; short walk away), and Curly's (delish and low priced) at the fish fry in Nassau

Transportation: We used Sandra's and arranged ahead of time to pick up groceries on the way. It worked out really well. You really don't have to pre-arrange this, as taxis are plentiful everywhere, but it was nice knowing what we'd be paying ahead of time for the trip + grocery. Wouldn't pre-book taxis on the way back because we were ready to go 30 minutes before our time. We'd have rather grabbed a taxi and headed out immediately than waiting around for our designated time.

To get to/from the water park, look for shuttles that have a turquoise band, as those go to HRA. Other shuttles don't stop at HRA, but you'll figure it out.

To get to/from Nassau, either take a taxi or use the water taxi that is a very short walk away.

Beach chairs: Not necessary. The water parks have plenty of free chairs, and plenty of shade. Note that we traveled in low season. If you really need shade, and you can't find them, consider renting one of the many cabanas. If you go to the beach, go to Cove Beach. You can rent a beach chair, if you want. If you go to Atlantis Beach, you can rent a cheap chair from one of the vendors, but you'll be bothered by beach vendors all day.

Wifi: Had terrible service with Pocket Wifi, as it quit working after day 1. Couldn't get our money back because we'd pre-paid it outside the 3 month window where you can dispute charges. We ended up paying for the onsite wifi, which was expensive, but worked. We had no trouble connecting at the pool.

Gym: Onsite gym was adequate. There's a much nicer, humongous gym somewhere on site, but you have to pay extra for it.

Activities we enjoyed: Snorkeling the Dig (their huge aquarium), but it was pretty expensive. Also, had an in-room massage by Antoinette at Wellness Spa. Reasonable prices. The water park is the main attraction, though.

Hint: Lockers are very expensive at the water park, so if you plan to enjoy the water, bring an AquaPak to store your room key/cash and leave your other valuables at home.
 

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we packed a cooler as one of our pieces of luggage and bought some dry ice. we planned out for 5 meals eating two out. we froze steaks, chicken and hamburgers and brought along what we would need in addition. it was perfect. our food was better and we didn't feel robbed. we weren't given any hassle for bringing a cooler full of food and then we left the cooler behind. go to goodwill and find one that will work.
 

mindy35

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Answers to my own questions

I'm back and thought I would chime in with a review because some of the questions I had been asking had not been addressed in other threads. I'm sorry if it's verbose.

We had a great week!

Let me preface by saying that this time of May is probably a slow season for the Bahamas. The weather was perfect but I think we are in between spring break and end of school so the resort was not overly crowded.

Haborside and Atlantis have LOTS and LOTS of staff. Both security and otherwise and everyone could not have been friendlier.

We read that some have had problems with Sandy's taxi service so I just contacted the first person for airport transport I saw as #1 on TA. I think anyone could have done our airport pickup but I felt more comfortable having someone with whom I have a paper trail and contact information during our stop at the stores or should their be a problem. That was good because we wound up leaving our phone in the car and had no problem contacting him to come back. I will most likely just get a regular taxi for our return trip. We would have regretted renting a car although taxis to off property restaurants, etc. will ad $30 RT to the $ tab of your event.

I am thrilled with the Xcomglobal Mifi. It's working great except for a short battery life. Saved big $$.

Edit: on day 2, after ONLY! sending emails, a few texts and watching 2 CNN YouTube videos (Tues was a BIG news day) and no other streaming, FB, downloading or gaming, I was informed that we were way over our limit. Before I had the opportunity to examine or change our habits, we were shut off and no longer had use of the device for the rest of our trip. It was useless!

Umbrellas:
We chose not to bring our chairs and umbrellas
Fortunately, Atlantis provides lots opportunity for shade either with tree cover or an abundance of umbrellas around the pools. We did not find it necessary to scope out shaded chairs early in the am.
Unfortunate for us, we are not "around the pool" sitters. The white sand and bright blue waters are what call to us. The beaches are beautiful. The beaches have free chaise, some of which have their own shade covers but those are limited in number and do "sell out" quickly. The main beach has someone (not and Atlantis concession) renting large umbrellas for $30/day and he seemed to have sufficient quantity during our stay. We were also able to approach a staffer to reserve 2 covered chaise for our next day (for a $ tip). Also notable, midweek of off season, we were virtually the first ones at the beach and pools and the pools were empty at 9:30am.
Edit: for one reason or another. we were never able to connect with our guy we lined up. I'd don't know why they don't have more covered chaise chairs but it's good that this is a" late to arrive" crowd and there were many available as of 9:30am. Other locations we have to get up at 5!!! Still considering that our own umbrella might have been a good thing?

We are a Vistana trade (booked 8 months out to the day) for a 1 bd premium and a tues arrival so had no idea what to expect for room placement. We received, what I think might be the worst building but not the worst location. But........we did get a newly refurbished room. As of May 2017, buildings 4 and 5 are completely closed for remodeling so many of the rooms with better view options were unavailable. Only buildings 2 and 3 have new furnishings. We were in building 3, on the bottom floor, facing the building next to us across a small paved road (not big enough for cars but had people and maintenance carts going by). It could have been worse.....we did not have road noise from the bridge or construction noise from the remodeling. The down side is that we needed to keep our blinds closed all the time (dark) and had no desire to sit out in the lanai as we love to do in Hawaii.

The caliber of the unit and remodel still does not make the rooms comparable with our Westin properties in Hawaii. The refurbishment looks nice because the carpet and furniture is new but I have a feeling is not going age well with time. Looks like they did "miracle method" to update and freshen up the bathroom tile but did nothing to make it feel even a bit more luxurious. It was quiet inside from the outside world but we did hear our neighbors upstairs and on either side. The bed and pillows were kinda hard and I was pulling lint off our nightclothes from the sheets that were rough and pilling. Either way, we did not spend much time there.

We did bring our snorkels and masks from home but did not find any place worthy of using them. All remnants of a natural coral reef anywhere near the resort was destroyed years ago.

Things we like,
No cash needed on property. You are able to charge EVERYTHING (including gambling) to your room card
None of this Towel Card business like at the Westin. You can have as many towels as you like and drop them in the many bins when you are done. They have a large staff who make sure the common areas are not littered with leftover towels and encourage you not to worry about "heavy lifting". I appreciate the lack of scare tactic for unaccounted for towels.....this day and age, luggage space is too valuable to want to fill our suitcases with used beach towels and I have no desire to steal towels, Westin!

Much has been made of how expensive the food is here. This resort is really geared towards groups so I can surely see how it can add up for a family and love the timeshare/condo capabilities. I realize that we were only 2 adults this trip. Also......1. We come from Northern California where expensive Real Estate and high end, exorbently priced restaurants abound and 2. We travel a lot and find that many vacation locations like HI, other parts of the Caribbean and even parts Europe (like Switzerland and Norway,etc) are very, very pricy.

That said, we prepared ourselves for the worst and were pleasantly surprised that pricies were not as bad as we had expected. Yes, the fine dining choices are over the top but I don't travel to exotic places to go to big name restaurants that I can go to in NYC (Nobu) or Vegas (Olives). I have plenty of fine dining opportunities near home so It was just as well I skip those spots. I would rather try fresh fish and local cuisine and contribute to the local economy. There are lots of off property options that are reasonably priced and fun and that also has the added advantage that we don't have to pack fancy clothes. Most of our dinners came in around $100/2pp including a bottle of wine.

We were also able to find relatively reasonable options for lunch at the Atlantis. Maybe our scale is off but I don't think $10-13 for a pretty decent burger, chic sandwich, salad, etc. is that out of line for a resort. We spend more than that at the airport or ballpark.

We were traveling with a connection from the west coast so packing refrigerated and frozen foods were out of the question. I saw one guy on this board that brought his own George Forman grill????? But I did have my packing list for HI and brought coffee filters, zip locks, salt and pepper, etc. as suggested above.
We stopped at a grocery store on the way from an airport. They had a pretty good selection of choices, nice fresh produce and ok prices. $4.99 and 5.99 for strawberries and blueberries are only a bit more than we can get at home and well worth the difference from eating out for every breakfast and lunch.
We did buy some alcohol at duty free at EWR and the prices were the same as the "700 wine and spirits" liquor store we went to on the way from the airport.

The internet access policies are absurd and made us kinda angry. At the very least, they could offer free wifi in the lobbies for your own device rather than putting your name on a list for 15 minutes at the 2 slow computers they provide. Atlantis does not even allow Starbucks to offer it in their locations.


Points:
Bring a pair of "river shoes" in addition to flip flops (keens, tevas, for example.) Shoes that stay attached to your feet but can get wet for the water park. The pavement is too hot to go barefoot and the exit to the attractions is often not near to the entrance so there is the dilemma as to where to put your flip flops while on a ride.

My main advice, keep your feet in the raft on the rapids river and as the River Guide advised "keep your booty up"!!!!! I have the black and blue marks to show how to do it wrong!

Restaurant bills already included a 15% service charge. They graciously give you an opportunity to offer "extra tips" should you feel your service was exemplary.
 
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