Hi ,

I get a lot of questions about Atlantis, the famed hotel on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. It's popular with families for the waterpark, and it's popular with couples for romantic getaway trips, too.

But here's the scoop that travel advisors in the know will tell you.

• Atlantis is dated compared to other properties.
• Travel advisors will recommend Grand Hyatt Baha Mar as a newer place, as it also has activities and a waterpark.
• If you want more of a couples vibe and don't care about a waterpark another good alternative is Grande Isle Resort on Exuma.
• You can visit Atlantis on a day trip from another resort to visit the waterpark area if you really want to see it. If you do a day trip be sure to see their aquariums!
• Atlantis is a shore excursion for some cruise lines, and the days the ships are in port mean that Atlantis can be crowded.
• If you visit Atlantis avoid the restaurants, which most of us feel are overpriced for what you get.

All in all unless you are just dead set on Atlantis I think there are better and more cost effective options.

This is the kind of thing that TAs talk about in private forums - we can check with each other about almost any destination. In fact, I pay annually for access to private sites that rate resorts, hotel rooms, cruise ships, and more.

We are back on a ship!!

After 23 long months of no international travel Bill and I are embarking today on Carnival's brand new Mardi Gras, sailing from Port Canaveral to a few stops in the Caribbean. We are thrilled to be back exploring!

• There are six "zones" of fun on this big ship
• Thirteen restaurants to explore
• A roller coaster up on top of the ship
• Brand new everything - the ship was just christened a few weeks ago

We don't usually like to cruise on big ships, but I do like to know what my travel clients might like that I don't. So we are checking it out for the next week and I'll be sure to give you a full report.

If Port Canaveral is within driving distance for you and you want to check out the Mardi Gras please contact me right away. Right now they are offering really decent pricing as cruising begins again. If you can sail between now and March of 2022 you could score a good price through me. NOTE: Carnival is running vaccinated cruises and does require testing and masking, so know you must meet those requirements ahead of time.

It's time to plan travel!

Sue Painter