Three Generations, Four Nights at Atlantis and One Hungry Pig.
BAHAMAS | JULY 2026 | FLY-IN TRIP
| 01. WHY WE WENT
We went for the crystal blue waters. We left with a memory twenty-two years in the making.
For a long stretch of years, “vacation” meant our condo in Ocean Isle Beach or a hotel near whatever city was hosting Hannah’s next club volleyball tournament — including a few memorable trips to Orlando for Nationals. Club sports have a way of eating your PTO and your budget at the same time, and somewhere in there, actual vacations quietly stopped happening.
Grandma (aka Moma) had wanted to take us somewhere special for Hannah’s 16th birthday, but the timing never worked. So we saved it for the summer after her high school graduation instead — a seven-night Royal Caribbean cruise from Greece to Italy that turned out to be one of the best trips we’ve ever taken.
This year, we wanted to do more multi-generational memory making — but closer, shorter, and easier to pull off on a long weekend instead of a big-production once-a-decade trip. Atlantis checked every box: gorgeous beaches, a waterpark with something for every age, an easy nonstop from Charlotte, and — not nothing — a casino to keep Moma happy while the rest of us hit the water. It felt like a win-win-win going in. What we didn’t plan for was that it would also hand us one of the best moments of the whole trip: watching Moma go parasailing again at 82, twenty-two years after she first did it with me in Hawaii for her 60th birthday — this time with her granddaughter harnessed in next to her instead.
So we packed up three generations — me, Moma, one college-aged daughter, Hannah, and one 14-year-old, Emma — and headed to Atlantis Paradise Island for four nights of trying to keep four very different people happy at the same resort at the same time. Moma wanted a slot machine and some air conditioning. The girls wanted relaxation and water fun. I wanted everyone fed, sunscreened, and not stuck in an elevator. Mostly, we got there.
| Trip Score | 8.4 / 10 |
| Perfect For | Family travel, gamblers |
| Where We Stayed | Atlantis Bahamas |
| Would We Go Again? | Glad we went, but next time will go smaller |
| Biggest Surprise | How many issues a property this expensive can have |
| Getting There | Easy – short hop from CLT to NAS |
| Trip Mood | Big, bright, a little chaotic |
| We’d Skip Next Time | SunnyDay Charters Tour |
| Pack This | Reef safe sunscreen, card games |
This page may contain affiliate links — if you buy through them, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. But here’s the deal: everything on this site earned its spot because we actually used it, packed it again, or wished we’d brought it. If we wouldn’t hand it to a good friend before a trip, it’s not here.
| 02. THE ITINERARY – DAY BY DAY
MORNING
The airport adventure before the actual adventure: Hannah lost TSA Pre-Check the day she turned 18, Emma has it, Moma and I have Contactless — so Moma escorted Emma through the regular line, where Emma promptly got pulled for the random extra screening. She blamed her bracelets and did not care. A $$$$ Starbucks breakfast, long immigration lines in Nassau, and then a genuinely great taxi ride with Blair from The Honest Driver (find him on Insta @honesttaxi242).
2:00 PM
Lunch took some finding. The patisserie was a no, half of Marina Village was closed, and we finally landed at Claudio’s — good food, lovely servers, island-time pace. Order before you’re starving.
On a whim, parasailing got booked for the next morning — twenty-two years after Moma’s Hawaii birthday trip parasailing adventure.
3:30 PM
The split that became the trip’s whole rhythm: Moma to the casino (too hot outside, and a slot machine is her happy place), the girls and me to that Bahama-blue water. The beach hits its golden window from 4 to 6, when the little kids clear out and it goes quiet.
6:00 PM
Burgers at Good Lies Sports Bar with the USA/Bosnia game on. Slow kitchen, big crowd, five-star fries — and two to-go orders for the girls, who were too wiped from travel day to leave the room.
10:00 AM
Parasailing with Adventure Parasailing. Moma and Hannah went up first — Hannah’s first time ever, Moma’s second in 22 years, sailing up like a champ at 82 with her granddaughter in tow. Hannah’s review on landing: “This is the most fun thing I’ve done in my life.” The outfit itself was bare-bones — no narration, no refreshments, 50 minutes — but the moment was the product, and the moment delivered.
11:15 AM
Buffet breakfast at Poseidon’s Table for the girls; iced mocha from the Patisserie next door for me. Both correct decisions.
MID-DAY
The Rapids, once we found the entrance (a 20-minute walk past every pool on property). Getting a tube is a Hunger Games situation — one guy nominally corralling them, guests hopping the rope to self-organize. Then a pool closure for “weather” nobody could see; we waited it out with a rice bowl from FieldTrip (good, needed sauce) and were first back in line for the shark-tank slide — and the Leap of Faith, which the girls fought me on aggressively, but did anyway.
6:30 PM
Starved after a lond day of fun, we hit Good Lies Sports Bar again for dinner. Had been dreaming about their burger most of the day. Kings in the Corners at the table, because a deck of cards beats four phones every time. Credit to the newlyweds we met in Antigua for teaching it to Al and me back in Jan.
7:30 PM
Ben & Jerry’s in Harborside Marina, then four more rounds of Kings at the Royal Tower bar while Portugal beat Croatia — with fans of both in the house, the bar was better entertainment than the game.
9:00 AM
Four-hour private charter with Sunny Day Charters: “swimming with pigs” at Mansa Bay (more standing-in-the-sea-with-hot-dog-skewers than swimming, but Hannah held a baby pig), snorkeling with gear negotiations, turtles at Green Cay, and — the sleeper hit — an unplanned private beach at the end with the clearest, warmest water of the trip.
Moma sat out the pig feeding, but nearly became pig food when a rogue pig charged her shade spot and made off with half a ham-and-cheese sandwich anyway. No grandmas were harmed in the making of that memory.
1:30 PM
Sea legs straight to Margaritaville — Cobb salad, chicken quesadillas, fries for Moma, leftovers for later. Nothing fancy, exactly right.
4:00 PM
Freshly showered (thank God), we discovered the whole tower had lost power and water. Pitch-black hallways, 90 minutes of nothing, and a healthy fear of elevators after it came back. Emma and I took all fourteen flights of stairs down (no 13th floor) to scope it out, found a closed lobby bar, and settled for wildly overpriced convenience-store snacks — including, inexplicably, Cadbury and Crunchies from Ireland.
6:00 PM
Good Lies to-go, visit number three — wraps, spring rolls, those fries — for a feast around the room table.
7:00 PM
The night the power outage accidentally became the best night: SkyJo, then Moma teaching the girls Hearts — the game she and I have played for decades — and Hannah running the table on her first try. Watching my girls laugh and build the sister bond I always wanted for them? That’s the stuff.
8:30 AM
Up early to claim shaded seats by the Rapids entrance — a competitive sport at this resort, and one I won.
AFTERNOON
Pool and Rapids for the girls, a FieldTrip chicken-and-rice snack stop, and room rest for Moma. Around 5:30, she and I slipped down to the casino — a Hugo Spritz for me at the bar, a slot machine for her, both of us happy.
6:30 PM
The girls met us and we all walked The Dig, the aquarium off the lobby — then cards and cocktails until dinner, because of course.
8:30 PM
Seafire Steakhouse. My short rib needed a do-over (Lynden had a new plate out in three minutes — much better), Hannah’s filet and those honey Brussels sprouts stole the night, and Moma approved of her Negroni (and her salad and meatballs, though she’ll tell you she regrets not ordering the filet herself). Fireworks over the marina for America’s 250th, then Nashville’s TV coverage back in the room until we all dozed off.
| 03. HONEST TAKEs
mom said
I went into this trip thinking the hard part would be logistics — three generations, three different TSA statuses and, of course, Emma gets pulled for the random extra screening. But the actual hard part turned out to be pace. Atlantis is enormous, and “let’s all do this together” isn’t really how a resort this size works. We split up more than we stayed together, and that ended up being ok – Moma at the casino, us girls at the beach, everyone reconvening in the late afternoons before dinner.
The parasailing morning is the moment I’ll hold dearest. Watching my mother go up into the sky again, this time with Hannah next to her instead of me, and hearing Hannah say afterward that it was the most fun thing she’d ever done — that’s the whole trip in sixty seconds. Everything else, including a full building losing power and water on the same night, was just noise around that moment.
The trip wasn’t without friction: a pigs-and-turtles excursion where the captain acted like we were lucky to get the gear we’d already paid for. A boat ladder that meant Moma couldn’t get in the water with us. A resort that’s clearly showing some wear. None of it ruined the trip; we had a blast. But all of it is worth knowing before you book.
grandma SAID
I’ll say it straight: this place was a lot. “Overwhelming” is the word I used the first afternoon, and I stand by it.
The girls wanted the beach, but ‘beach or casino?’ was never a real question for me. Too hot out there, and a slot machine is about as relaxing as it gets — no contest.
Parasailing again, twenty-two years after Hawaii, is the one that got me. The second we lifted off, I remembered exactly how quiet it is up there. Going up with Hannah instead of Maura this time was different — but a good different. I was happy to share the experience with her.
I sat out more of the water stuff than I would’ve liked. That boat ladder on the pigs-and-turtles tour beat me — I would have loved to get in at that private beach at the end, but there was no getting back on the boat if I did. And then one of those pigs came charging over and stole half my sandwich right off my lap. I was sure he was going to take my fingers with it. Funny now. Wasn’t funny then.
The casino treated me fine — lost more than I won, but not too badly, and I found a machine near the end I liked. At the steakhouse, the salad and the meatballs were the real winners. I’ll admit I regret not ordering the filet — Hannah’s looked (and tasted) fantastic.
Teaching the girls Hearts during the power outage might have been my favorite part of the whole trip. That’s been my card game for decades, and watching them pick it up and enjoy it was special.
Enjoyed it, all in all. But if we’re doing this again, I’d pick somewhere smaller and less crowded. Atlantis is a lot of resort for one grandmother.
the COLLEGE girl SAID
Parasailing was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had in my life — and I’ve done some fun stuff. I was nervous going up, honestly. You’re somewhere foreign, you’re trusting these guys, you’re going into the sky. And then you’re up there and it’s so quiet and calm, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.
Doing it next to Moma made it more than a ride. Everything with her feels special — sharing these memories, capturing these moments — I don’t want to take any of it for granted.
The Leap of Faith? My eyes were closed the entire time. I did not want to do that slide — I can do roller coasters because you’re strapped in, but a tube going straight down is a different story. I’m glad I did it, mostly so I can say I did it. Close second for the day was the Rapids — everyone’s favorite, just sitting in a tube, relaxing.
Other trip highlights: I held a baby pig, which was adorable right up until I found out it pooped on my arm. The steak at Seafire was one of the best steaks any of us have ever had — I’m still dreaming about it, and the Brussels sprouts deserve their own mention. And I won Hearts the first time I ever played it. Beginner’s luck? I’d like to think I’m just good at it. I like to be good at everything I do.
This trip was a 10 out of 10. And I learned something about myself: I’m an excursion person now. When we were out on that boat all day, I didn’t want to get off — I wanted to go straight to the next one.
the TEENAGER SAID
I got pulled for the extra security check at the airport. I figured it was my bracelets. I didn’t really care.
The Leap of Faith my mom made me take: I wasn’t mad, I was scared, and I hated every second of it. But now I get to tell people I did it, so it was worth it. The tube slide through the shark tank gets an 8/10 — the dark turns were fun, the sharks were not.
The pigs are mostly a tourist trap. They came out for like ten minutes, scratched me up, and left. I saw a couple of turtles. It was still pretty fun. I hate fish, so when the captain threw chips in the water and a mob of them showed up while I was snorkeling — no. After they left, though, the snorkeling was actually really pretty.
The power outage wasn’t scary or funny. It was annoying. No air conditioning and nothing to do.
One word for the whole trip: adventurous. I’d do it again.
| 04. WORTH IT?
MUST DO
- Parasailing – especially if you’re traveling with a parent or grandparent who’s done it before. Sharing the memory is the point.
- Good Lies for burgers and fries – became the trip’s reliable fallback for meals and never disappointed; plus, the service was great.
- Seafire Steakhouse for the splurge dinner – worth dressing up for and the one of the best filets any of us have tasted.
CAN SKIP
- SunnyDay Charters Private Swimming with Pigs Tour — one water bottle, no fins, and attitude about it. The bigger tours looked better equipped.
- The Rapids River unless you get there early before crowds get too large; sadly, the tube scramble is real.
- Overpacking for four days. I packed light and STILL had too much.
TOP TIPS
- Bring card games (standard deck, SkipBo, SkyJo). Nothing else at this resort worked as well for pulling four generations into the same conversation.
- Reserve The Edge or Cabanas before you arrive, if interested – they were booked solid
- Check the tower’s floor and elevator situation at check-in — outages happen, and stairs are a real possibility.
- If anyone in your group has mobility limits, ask about boat ladder height and entry/exit before booking a water excursion. We wish we’d asked.