Atlantis: A few questions?

[amocksun]

Hi, I'm a little confused about everything to do at Atlantis. I know there's a water park and hotel, but I keep seeing references to "The Dig" and other things...Can someone please explain their facilities and if they're worth it? Which area is the slide that goes through a shark tank? I know that the water park is $110 for adults but I could've sworn I saw somewhere that there was some other package which was less but had more limitations. We want to take our 9 year old, but honestly the prices are just insane and I'm really wondering if it's worth it. Thanks!

[scubagirrl]

Hi, I'm a little confused about everything to do at Atlantis. I know there's a water park and hotel, but I keep seeing references to "The Dig" and other things...Can someone please explain their facilities and if they're worth it? Which area is the slide that goes through a shark tank? I know that the water park is $110 for adults but I could've sworn I saw somewhere that there was some other package which was less but had more limitations. We want to take our 9 year old, but honestly the prices are just insane and I'm really wondering if it's worth it. Thanks!

 

Atlantis is a hotel with 5 hotel towers, Several beaches, a dozen pools, a water park and an aquarium which is called the DIGS>

 

Here's a listing of all the options.

Discover Atlantis Aquaventure Package*

· Adult Price: $120.00* and $135.00* for peak dates: 02/17/12-02/25/12--03/05/12-04/14/12--06/04/12-08/18/12--11/21/12-11/24/12 and 12/21/12-12/31/12)*

· Children (ages 4-12) Price: $80.00

· Included: Access to the Dig and other marine habitats, beaches and water park including: slides, pools, river rapids and private lagoons plus a 6x8 photo from My Atlantis Photos

Complimentary towels and chairs are provided.

· Not included: meals

· Availability: limited based on guest occupancy; sold on first come, first serve basis

Please note that children must be 48” or taller to ride the major slides.

Splashers and the Ripples and Poseidons pools are for kids under 48”.

Discover Atlantis Beach Day Package*

· Adult Price: $69.00

· Children (ages 4-12) Price: $40.00

· Included: The Discover Atlantis Aquarium Tour, access to the various beaches on property and all marine habitats.

Complimentary towels and chairs are provided.

· Not Included: access to pools, slides and private lagoons

· Availability: limited based on guest occupancy; sold on first come, first serve basis

Discover Atlantis Tour*(1 hour length)

· Adult Price: $39.00

· Children (ages 4-12) Price: $29.00

· Includes: access to Predator Lagoon, the Dig, Ruins Lagoon

· Not included: access to beaches, pools, slides and private lagoons, meals

Lockers*

In addition to these packages; guests can also rent lockers at the Day Visitor Centre, located at the rear of the Mayan Temple . Guests will be charged $50 for any unreturned locker key (room charge or credit card only for lockers).

· Small Locker: $7.00

· Medium Locker: $9.00

· Large Locker: $12.00

*Special pricing options exist throughout the year and these prices are subject to change without notice.

 

Without a package of some sort, you will not be allowed in the main lobby or to see any of the grounds or property except the marina village and casino.. All grounds, pools, walkways, balconies etc are all manned with security checking bracelets.

[madness3120]

So its 120$, why the heck does Carnival charges 175$???

[amocksun]

Great, thank you! I hadn't been able to find a comprehensive prive list.

 

So, there is no ticket for water park alone? Just for the Aquaventure package?

 

I also on some other threads that if you book a room at the Comfort Suites, up to 4 people are allowed access. Does anyone know what all this includes, and whether Comfort Suites is really ok with you not using the room?

[scubagirrl]

So its 120$, why the heck does Carnival charges 175$???

 

Because they can

[madness3120]

Yeah I wanna do just do the lazy river and water things, and casino.

[scubagirrl]

Great, thank you! I hadn't been able to find a comprehensive prive list.

 

So, there is no ticket for water park alone? Just for the Aquaventure package?

 

I also on some other threads that if you book a room at the Comfort Suites, up to 4 people are allowed access. Does anyone know what all this includes, and whether Comfort Suites is really ok with you not using the room?

 

Comfort Suites allows you to book just for the use of Atlantis.. They are very aware, and even let you check in and check out at the same time.

 

You will get the same bracelet as those that stay at Atlantis.. with full access to the pools, beach and waterpark etc.. that those at the Royal, Coral or Beach towers. (no access to Cove guest services, or Cain Adult pool or beach).

 

Be aware that the rate for Comfort Suites if for 2 ppl without the taxes, surchared, and fees. Adding additional ppl (up to a max of 4 ppl in the room) will incur additional charges.

Read the fine print on their website.. these taxes and fees can add up to more that the price of the tickets.

[dlew]

scubagrrl...

so there's no way to just go to the main lobby and walk around anymore? i just want to go and take a few pics and roam a bit. no water activity for me.

[scubagirrl]

scubagrrl...

so there's no way to just go to the main lobby and walk around anymore? i just want to go and take a few pics and roam a bit. no water activity for me.

 

No, Security will escort you to the casino area. You can no longer just wander around and take pics.

[madness3120]

So is there a ticket option at Atlantis for just the waterpark?

[scubagirrl]

So is there a ticket option at Atlantis for just the waterpark?

 

No, in order to use the water park or pools, you must purchase the Full access Aquaventure Package for $135pp/$120 (off season).

[madness3120]

Is Aug. 30th offseason?

[scubagirrl]

Is Aug. 30th offseason?

 

Yes,... the price for the water park should be $120pp. but the downside is that some things will be closed. (some cafes, snack bars and other eateries will be open on rotation). Staff will be pared down as well.

[madness3120]

1 more question. There is a lazy river there correct? Looking at there website, I didnt see it.

[scubagirrl]

1 more question. There is a lazy river there correct? Looking at there website, I didnt see it.

 

 

there are 2 different rides.. the lazy river is in the old part of the property near the Beach Tower and is usually closed. It's the slow lazy, calm river, with no real wake or danger.

 

The lazy river that most refer to is really the CURRENT. This is part of the new water park, and can be very rough and some people get banged up and hurt on this. It also has a conveyor belt that leads to one of the slides.

 

This is likely the only River ride that will be open.

[gambee]

Discover Atlantis & Beach Break

 

 

The beach itself was slightly dirty and disorganized, with some bottles and waste from the night before (champagne corks). It seems to me that for such a high priced resort there should be people taking care of the beach at all times. During our time there we did not see one person cleaning the beach area, instead we were offered merchandise but the same 4 people again again and again, even after we told them no.

 

We also decided to rent an umbrella, the cost of that was $30 :-/ (it was about 98 degrees outside). The funny thing was that they left the purchase price tag of the umbrella and it was exactly $30, so they basically made their money back in one rental. Thats how lazy they are over there, not even to rip off the tag off. Some that PISSED me off was that two of the vendors almost got into a fist fight because one of the guys stole the umbrella of the other guy, there were children and everyone was looking. How can this be allowed in this environment. Atlantis is not the family atmosphere that I was looking for, it was not relaxing, it was just not nice.

 

There are some vendors in the beach offering water, sodas, clothing and stuff that they make. We paid $4 for a coke in the beach…. Please do your self a big favor, there is gentleman offering water at the pier for a cool $1 and the water is ice cold, not that is going to last long like that, but still buy yourself like 3-4 bottle before going to atlantis and getting robed blind. I believe a fruit plate was $12 or something like that… You could imagine that with the sale of one fruit plate they could pay someone to organize and clean the beach. The ocean water is among the clearest I've ever experience. So I am sure you will enjoy that. Great for snorkeling and just splashing around.

 

As far as the waking goes, well our ship docked all the way at the end of the pier so it starts there. In the resort the is also lots of walking, some small hills an yes there is about half a mile total walking. The problem is all the aquariums are spread all over the resort. So if you want to see all there is to see, be ready to walk. We never saw it all it was just too hot, so we just went through the predators tunnel and the lost city of atlantis tunnel. But apparently there were several other exhibits to see.

 

The aquarium was nice for a resort one, but like everything else in the hotel it's in dire needs of some maintenance. They simply do not take care of the hotel like they should. The aquariums where full of algae everywhere, I've never seen anything like that at seaward or any other similar park. The tunnels where so cloudy what you could barely see clearly through them and the tunnels themselves were dirty.

 

My mom went to the restroom by an outside bar (which by the the way was more expensive than the ship) and she told me that there was build up green and black sediment around the toilets. Thank god that was not my experience, I used the main building one next to the casino and it was clean. As a matter of fact the only clean part of the entire resort is in the main building, by the reception, casino and expensive shops. I think people don't like to gamble if the casino is dirty ;)

 

All this really makes you think, this resort is not cheap by any means. People staying there are paying $550 and upwards, I only paid $80 and I felt like I was robed. I can only imagine how they feel. There was so much security checking that people had the correct wrist band color and that no one was sneaking through…. Why don't they make a 10% of those guards ground keepers and maybe clean the place little bit. Also they show contract an outside company to keep those aquariums up to standards, they are just letting them get ruined.

 

Also I am posting a picture of the prices that the resort charges. If you have a large family you could save a lot of money if you just take a taxi and get the tickets there.

 

All in all I did it and I am happy I did, but most likely I will never do it again. It's just too expensive. We ended up leaving early to go down town and shop a little by the pier.

 

 

its hard to see, but the beach is not cleaned regularly. If you notice it looks just any other public beach. Definitely not a resort beach.

 

Please note that they never removed the price tag of the umbrella. At first I thought that it was the rental price, but no, they dont have scanners and they dont even take credit cards. They simply put the money in their pockets.

 

Dirt, grime and just hard to see through since the water has so much sediment.

 

This picture needs to be clearly analyzed. You can notice alge floating in the pool. But most importantly look at the little island in the middle is completely green, full of algae. So matter how much they clean it, they will always have more. These rocks need to be kept clean hand, I've seen it done at seaworld in a behind the scenes tour.

Edited August 18, 2012 by gambee

[gambee]

the prices at the resort.

 

Foam on top of the water.

 

Aside from how murky the water is, look at the pillar in the middle. Its full of mold, how can they allow this?

[emcelh]

I would agree with you. Atlantis is very much overpriced, whether you go there on a ship's excursion or on your own.

[gambee]

one of the umbrella renting guys.... Need I say more....

 

meanwhile the beach dirty from the night before, you can see the cork I was talking about in there. It was a champagne cork, I really dont think that someone was drinking a bottle of Champagne at 11am.

 

Some of the vendors. You know one of the reasons I opted for this excursion was so I could avoid vendors. But no, there they are....

 

More pictures of dirty railings in the tank.

 

 

 

One more thing to add. I was old umbrellas were free by email, directly from the hotel. My mom needs an umbrella cause of the melanoma, so we were forced to rent it.

Edited August 18, 2012 by gambee

[amocksun]

Thank you, Scubagirl! (SP?) You're an expert, huh?

 

I wouldn't even think about going to Atlantis if it weren't for my 9 year old, but I'm really thinking about talking her out of it. That's just so expensive for something like that. We have a White Water 2 hours from home. I'd hate to spend our time in the Bahamas there.

[scubagirrl]

Thank you, Scubagirl! (SP?) You're an expert, huh?

 

I wouldn't even think about going to Atlantis if it weren't for my 9 year old, but I'm really thinking about talking her out of it. That's just so expensive for something like that. We have a White Water 2 hours from home. I'd hate to spend our time in the Bahamas there.

 

If you are near a great water park like white water.. you'll be disappointed by this aquapark. It' doesn't have alot of slides. Check the website for details.

Also.. you must be 48 inches tall ..

[amocksun]

If you are near a great water park like white water.. you'll be disappointed by this aquapark. It' doesn't have alot of slides. Check the website for details.

Also.. you must be 48 inches tall ..

 

Lol, well we're all at least that tall. Really though? I thought it would be like the Mack Daddy of water parks, which is why I wanted to take her. The big "Mayan" slides looked cool, but mainly the one that goes through the shark tank. I wish we could just pay to do that alone.

 

So, you've been to the Bahamas a lot? What do you recommend that is off the beaten path? I like to see at least a little culture, nature, history. We have pretty much no interest in shopping and doing things we can do at home. Eating only if it's really an experience - either amazing food or at least genuinely local food.

[hubofhockey]

We used the Comfort Suites option for Atlantis in 2008 and we'll be doing it again next April. There are four of us (the kids will be 15 & 13 and qualify as kids). The AAA rate is $225 and there are $78 in resort fees. So, it's about $75 per person. We probably paid a little less four years ago.

 

While the water park doesn't open until 10 am, they have beautiful pools and they open an hour earlier. The lazy river is nice and the slides are good too. What makes this better than the average water park is that the admission is limited to a certain number and this keeps lines at the slides down. We go on a Monday (Allure of the Seas) and that should help as well. $75 per person isn't cheap for about five hours at a water park. But we know that we'll have a good time and the facility is pretty nice. I noticed the photos above of the beach. We don't go to the beach at Atlantis and it's not a factor for us.

[scubagirrl]

What makes this better than the average water park is that the admission is limited to a certain number and this keeps lines at the slides down. .

 

This is no longer true, Although Atlantis front desk has a limited # of passes, other passes are sold thru cruise ships, comfort suites and other vendors including majestic tours. Busloads of outsiders arrive all day long.

 

When cruise ships are in.. the place is packed like sardines with long lines during the day til about 3pm when most of the cruisers leave.

Edited August 19, 2012 by scubagirrl

[aurelius180]

 

All in all I did it and I am happy I did, but most likely I will never do it again. It's just too expensive.

 

I just got back from the Majesty of the Seas Friday and we did the Aquaventure last Tuesday while in Nassau. You did the beach break but our bottom-line sentiment is the same. It was a good time and I'm glad we tried it once but it certainly isn't something we would do again.

 

While we were there one side of the Mayan Temple slides were closed for construction so it only left one vertical drop open through the shark tank and a slightly longer tube ride that goes through the shark tank. My friend and his GF did the vertical drop once and the tube slide through the shark tank once and my DW and I did the tube slide twice. We all did the Current river twice trying the two different tube slides that end that tour.

 

In general the lines weren't too bad on the shark tank tube slide on the times we used it. The vertical drop line is ridiculous! I swear they only send people once every couple of minutes. It took forever for my friend and his GF to make it through and that's why they only did it once.

 

I did find the aquarium to be interesting but as stated by gambee it is a little hazy looking in them.

 

We also ate and had some drinks while at Atlantis. The drinks and food were decent but of course extremely expensive.

 

We purchased the use of one locker during the day and they have three sizes for, I think, $7, $9 and $12. The four of us shared one $7 locker comfortably.

 

All in all it was a fun day but I try not to think of the fact it was almost $650 for the four of us just to get in. It was a once in a lifetime experience...meaning I'll never do it again. :)