I haven't been in August, but it's prime hurricane season. I've been there other times, and they require cruise people to get a special bracelet from the towel hut. Lines were insane!!! Slides are pretty cool though.

We stayed on the ship in Nassau with our kids then 7 and 4. everything is open on the ship including Kid's Club. I would enjoy your day on the ship.

We went as part of a Disney cruise, too. We did the swim-with-the-dolphins thing, hung out at the pool (DD was a little too young for the big slides then), and walked through the aquarium. It was all OK, but the casino was a turn-off, as was all the smoking. It was also hot as Hades in August.

On our Disney cruise, we did the "museum tour" of Atlantis - it was the cheapest excursion. You don't get use of the water area, but you go through their underground area with the aquariums. It's pretty much inside, a good way to stretch your legs off the ship, and not super strenuous. Then we went back to the ship,earlier and did a few things while others were still ashore.

We're on a cruise that makes a partial day stop in Nassau. We can take a super expensive shore excursion that will put us at Atlantis from about 1 to 5. I guess I don't mind paying the ridiculous price but only of it will be fun. If we're going to spend hours just waiting in lines for slides, probably not so much. Our kids are elementary aged and are really psyched for the slides.