Welcome aboard, Patricia! My family and I have enjoyed many wonderful visits to Nassau with Disney Cruise Line. Exploring the beautiful Atlantis Resort and Casino is a great way to spend the day!
Check out the
Nassau Port Adventures that Disney offers its guests that include all sorts of options at Atlantis. We've loved the
Beach Day and Discover Atlantis adventures, which include not only the casinos, but the Dig site, the aquariums and the beautiful grounds of the resort as well as transportation to and from. The Aquaventure is a fabulous adventure too, if you're a big waterpark fan. They've got quite the slides there!
However, if you only want to check out the casino, I did confirm this morning with Atlantis that you're welcome to go to the resort without purchasing a day pass to enjoy the casino, restaurants and shopping, but in order to access any other areas of the resort, you'll need to be on a tour or get a day pass. However, since you're not booking this through Disney Cruise Line, you'll need to take a taxi. Typically, the taxis there run about $4 per person if you have three or four of you together for the ride over. So, about $12 over and about the same back, but again, that can vary slightly. I believe I've also seen ferry rides for about $6 from the port area over to Paradise Island too.
Just be sure that you're fully aware of the ship's All Aboard time that day, and plan to arrive back with plenty of time to spare. Since you're not taking a Disney-sponsored Port Adventure, they won't be able to contact you should you not be there in time, and you wouldn't want the ship to leave without you!
Have a wonderful day in Nassau, Patricia, and a magical sailing with Disney!
Marcy