Last week, I published a post with my thoughts on Carnival Magic ship, as in the good, the bad and the ugly. There weren’t any nasty surprises, and on the whole, the experience was mostly good. Today I wanted to focus on the itinerary. Since we live in Florida, my family has taken quite a few cruises in the Caribbean. That’s why it’s tough to find a port that we haven’t yet visited.
On this particular cruise we stopped in Nassau, Amber Cove (Dominican Republic) and Grand Turk. Out of the three, I was most excited to visit Amber Cove, since I haven’t been to DR. But to be honest, the itinerary itself was secondary. Since we were using Carnival match program, I mainly wanted to find a Caribbean cruise over Thanksgiving where we could at least have oceanview cabins. My husband and I agreed that we are now too spoiled for inside staterooms and in fact, usually book a balcony unit.
I wanted to keep the costs down, so originally didn’t book any ship excursions. I did change my mind and splurged in Amber Cove because my daughter begged me to, which ended up being a good decision. More on that later.
Nassau
My husband and I visited Nassau at least five times via cruises, if not more, so I was really tempted to just stay on the ship. To be honest, it really isn’t my cup of tea. However, the kids have never visited Atlantis resort, so I’ve decided to just take a taxi there and wonder around. It cost us $30 for five people one-way including tip, which isn’t too bad.
I remember going to Atlantis and visiting their impressive aquarium at no cost, though it’s been at least 16 years. Well, as it turns out, it’s no longer free. I went to their activity desk to check on the price, thinking it might be $20 or so per person. Nope, it’s $60. That’s a hard pass for me, as it would cost $300 for our party of five. The aquarium is neat, but not neat enough to justify that price. Of course, I don’t fault the resort for restricting access to squatters like us.
There was a family in front of us, looking to buy access to the famous water park. Atlantis employee told them it’s $220 per person. The grandma thought it was $2.20 and reluctantly decided to “splurge” before the relatives stepped in to correct the misunderstanding.
Anyway, we decided to just “squat” and wonder around, which is allowed even if you aren’t staying at the resort. I have to say that all employees were very friendly and didn’t make us feel unwelcome. And we got some nice photos as a result.
Both of my kids asked if there is any way we can stay at Atlantis resort for a family vacation. Actually, there is, though I now wish we took advantage of the deal a few years ago. But if you are a gambler and don’t mind applying for Wyndham Business Earner card right now, you may be able to get a deeply discounted stay at Atlantis resort. See all the details in Milestalk article.
If gambling is a dealbreaker (it is for us), there is a way to get free access to all Atlantis facilities by using Choice points on Comfort Suites Paradise Island resort Keep in mind that you will get charged $50 resort fee per person each day, so a family of four will drop $200 per night in fees alone. But it’s still cheaper that staying in Atlantis, and you get free hot breakfast, a nice perk in expensive Nassau. I’m considering it, though my husband isn’t thrilled about flying to Bahamas. It would be mainly for the kids, as this isn’t a place I’m dying to return to either. Looks too much like Florida.
Amber Cove
Amber Cove is a port in Dominican Republic, created and paid for by Carnival. Here is its location on the map:
It’s a very scenic location, for sure.
You can even rent an overwater bungalow for the day, though it won’t come cheap.
Originally, I planned to go ashore with kids and simply use the free facilities at the port, including lazy river and pools.
However, the day before our stop in Amber Cove, my daughter begged me to take her to a local beach instead. There isn’t really one within walking distance of the port, so I looked at various cruise excursion options. The cheapest one would cost me $49 per person and didn’t include any food. But it’s not like we were hurting for food on the ship anyway.
A bus would take us to Amber Beach Club (20 minutes from the port) and pick us up 2.5 hours later. Good enough for me. The beach club looked basic, but had all the facilities one needs, like restrooms, showers and lounges. 
There was plenty of shade.
The water was crystal clear and the view was gorgeous:
You could also order drinks for an additional cost.
My daughter and I had a blast, and I’m very glad we went here instead of fighting for lounges at the crowded pool in Amber Cove port. In the grand scheme of things, it’s only a $100. She said it was our special mother/daughter getaway. The rest in the party chose to stay on the ship. Keep in mind that they require a photo identification to enter Amber Cove area. I actually didn’t have mine with me, but fortunately my phone had a photo of my passport, which was sufficient. Don’t be like me.
Instead of walking back to the ship, I used a bicycle service, which fits two people. These local young guys work for tips, and get some decent exercise along the way.
Amber Cove was my favorite stop on this cruise, by far. Dominican Republic reminds me of Jamaica, another stunning island in the Caribbean. See Nancy’s post describing her Carnival excursion to Monkeyland, while visiting Amber Cove.
Grand Turk
The last time we were in Grand Turk was in 2009, and back then it was a sleepy island without a pier. All cruise lines had to use tender boats to transport passengers. During that visit, our Holland America ship was the only one anchored in the area, so the beach was mostly empty. How things have changed!
This time, there were two big Carnival ships, and the pier made it much easier for people to access the island. As a result, the immediate vicinity was super crowded, though I was still able to find a free lounger.
That being said, you can’t beat the convenience of walking off the ship and swimming in a clear calm water a few minutes later.
Some folks walked half a mile and had the beach all to themselves, but I was too lazy to do that. Plus, it would mean giving up a lounger. All-in-all, I give Grand Turk stop a thumbs up for convenience, though most of the charm I remember is no longer there. C’est la vie…
Final thoughts
As I’ve said many times before, if you are looking for an authentic local experience, cruising will likely disappoint. It’s not the right fit for that. What it is good for is sampling various destinations to see if you would like to return for a longer stay in the future. And hitting some scenic beaches along the way certainly doesn’t hurt either.
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
@Jody Wow, you guys did some really cool stuff! Thanks so much for sharing, and I may steal your ideas if we ever visit these ports again.
That’s actually a pretty good deal to use facilities at Baha Mar resort. I wasn’t aware of it, as I would have been tempted to go that route. This was actually the first time we had a pleasant weather in Bahamas, though I can see how using unheated pools would have been an issue. I’m a wimp when it comes to pool temperature, but it was nice to have a mild weather when walking around Atlantis. Taking a golf cart around Grand Turk sounds really neat.
@Nancy Amber Cove was awesome! I would love to go back.
Sounds like an amazing cruise experience! The stops in Nassau, Amber Cove, and Grand Turk must have been unforgettable.
This post provides a great overview of the cruise stops on Carnival Magic, offering useful insights into Nassau, Amber Cove, and Grand Turk for anyone planning a similar trip!
Since I replied on your first post of this series and since we were on the same ship I will give my input.
For Nassau, we used ResortPass on Bilt Day to book BOGO day pass for Baha Mar Water Park for our family of 4. It was still expensive (around $300), but over half the price of paying at Baha Mar. The good was that it immaculately kept and we could walk on any slide we wanted with little to no wait. The bad was that day was overcast and the water was cold (not unbearable but cold). It also wasn’t huge, they may have been in part to the ability to walk on everything, but within 2 hours we had been on almost everything. It was nice to get a “deal” to go once, but we will probably not return due to the size and cost.
For Amber Cove, we did a Dune Buggy tour through a local company using Expedia. It was reasonably priced (I can’t remember the exact price but like $50 a piece). This was the most “fun” we had on our entire trip! We all got soaked and muddy as we drove dune buggies through the DR. We took a stop at a local group to taste test local Chocolate and coffee. This was just an opportunity to try to sell to tourists, they weren’t to pushy, but I would have been fine not stopping. We then drove some more and stopped at a beautiful beach that we all jumped in to wash all of the mud off. Overall, our entire family had a blast and the only real drawback was them trying to charge $80 for pictures at the end which seemed a little much. That said I would definitely recommend the excursion to anyone stopping at Amber Cove.
I will say that even though our favorite activity was the dune buggies, our favorite port was Grand Turk and out whole family enjoyed our day. We rented a golf cart and since the island is only 7 miles long it was easy to get around. We drove out to the light house and slowly made our way back to the cruise port stopping at multiple beaches, feeding donkeys, stopping at Cockburn town to do some shopping at each some local fare, and ending at another beach close to the pier where there were a ton of conch shells. I would definitely go back to the island to spend some time exploring more of their beautiful beaches and living the beach life.
That beach at Amber Cove stop looks lovely. I wouldn’t mind visiting Amber Cove again.
@Aleks I did read about a free beach that is not too far from Amber Cove port and was honestly tempted to go that route. However, since we were two females in an unfamiliar country, I decided to just pay $100 and have all the logistics taken care of. Plus, I like having a lounger, which was provided. If my husband was with us, maybe I would try to do what you did. In general, cruise ship excursions are overpriced and can be replicated for less. But again, the issue of safety was something I couldn’t ignore, especially since I had my child with me.
I’m kind of tempted to burn Choice points on Comfort Suites property that provides full access to Atlantis facilities. The resort itself costs more than I’m willing to pay, but this workaround seems like a decent compromise. Now I just need to convince my husband, who isn’t thrilled with this idea!
Thanks for reading, GBSanDiego! It was a fun trip with the family, and I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity. To be honest, Caribbean region isn’t my favorite either. For one, I don’t like the heat, which is one of the reasons I hope to move from Florida in another decade or so. I did love the island of Saba, though it’s no accessible via cruise ship. And St John, Puerto Rico and Jamaica are probably my favorite islands you can visit via cruise.
Nice overlook of port stops.
Recently been at Amber Cove, and we took a 10-minute walk to main road plus a very short taxi ride from there to the closest beach which is right across the ship (you can see the beach from the ship but there is no direct walkway there). Not the best place on the island, but it’s free with plenty of shade. From there you can also walk 0.5 mile to next beach by the large resort.
I would recommend staying at Atlantis if you’d like to use the 4 different beach areas there, plus it does have massive outdoor aquariums with plenty of sea animals and fishes to watch for no extra charge. The hotel itself is a bit dated, rooms are simple, but location on Paradise Island is unbeatable. The negative is the very high prices on and limited choice of eateries (the better are near the marina where the large yachts dock).
We’ve spend 5 days at Atlantis at the end of COVID restrictions (when they reopened) and mostly have enjoyable experience. Each beach area was clean, with plenty of nice shaded loungers, water is very clean, and lazy river provided some entertainment on the lazy sunny days. We did not even used any of the large, nice-looking pools as several natural beaches were plenty enough to swim at all day long!
By the way, the indoor aquariums are nice, but not too special that I’d spend much money on, maybe $10.
Happy travels!!
Thank u Leana for the nice review! Looks like a lot of fun and a nice way to relax! It’s been a long time since I went to the Caribbean and my family got to feed the stingrays at the time. Since my main objective is to continue to visit different areas of Europe, it maybe sometime before heading back to the Caribbean.