Atlantis on a Budget!

[AnnieBabes]

Hello:

 

One stop (8am-6pm) on our cruise is at the Atlantis in the Bahamas and we are looking for ways to cut the insane cost of the waterpark, etc. The cheapest I could find is $166 per ticket for the whole shebang.

 

I read online that people have rented a hotel that grants you access to Atlantis with the hotel rate for the night being much cheaper. Has anyone ever done this?

 

Thanks for your help!

[zqvol]

We haven't done it on a cruise but did stay at the hotel for a few nights, and had full  access for all four of us to Atlantis. Excellent way to go, plus it gives you a nice size bathroom to cleanup in, when compared to bathroom size on a ship.

[taglovestocruise]

4 hours ago, AnnieBabes said:

Hello:

 

One stop (8am-6pm) on our cruise is at the Atlantis in the Bahamas and we are looking for ways to cut the insane cost of the waterpark, etc. The cheapest I could find is $166 per ticket for the whole shebang.

 

I read online that people have rented a hotel that grants you access to Atlantis with the hotel rate for the night being much cheaper. Has anyone ever done this?

 

Thanks for your help!

Check out Comfort Suites Paradise Island,  wristbands are included for Atlantis waterpark.  You can checkin, get your wristband and immediately checkout. 

[AnnieBabes]

But check-in to hotel is 3pm. How would that work if we only have until 8pm? Have you done this before? Thanks!

[Essiesmom]

I believe what they get is a day pass.  EM

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, AnnieBabes said:

But check-in to hotel is 3pm. How would that work if we only have until 8pm? Have you done this before? Thanks!

I believe that’s the catch.  Check in time is 3:00 PM and check out time is 11:00 AM.

 

It is a great deal if you want to spend several days at the water park without paying Atlantis rates; but you have to pay a lot more than their $250-$280 daily rate if you want early check in and late check out for just one day. Still, if there are four or so of you, it can still make sense.

[MicCanberra]

Seems like a lot of effort for a water park. It must be good.

[navybankerteacher]

5 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Seems like a lot of effort for a water park. It must be good.

The water park is a lot of fun - The Rapids, The Leap of Faith, even the slow-moving Lazy River. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

we went on the Blue Lagoon Stingray encounter excursion in Nassau through RCI for $53pp and enjoyed a leisurely day in a gorgeous place.

 

We have White Waters water park at home and Six Flags as well, so if we ever need to go to a water/amusement park - we'll go there, and for a lot less money than $166pp at Atlantis.

[mjkacmom]

15 hours ago, AnnieBabes said:

But check-in to hotel is 3pm. How would that work if we only have until 8pm? Have you done this before? Thanks!

We have done it, you check in early, your room probably won’t be ready, you go to Atlantis to get your wristbands. Some check out at check in, but if you have the full day, you might as well keep the room, since the park closes at 5. Do a dummy booking, including the substantial taxes and fees, and compare the cost to booking directly through Atlantis and a third party vendor like resort for a day, and do the math.

[mjkacmom]

13 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

we went on the Blue Lagoon Stingray encounter excursion in Nassau through RCI for $53pp and enjoyed a leisurely day in a gorgeous place.

 

We have White Waters water park at home and Six Flags as well, so if we ever need to go to a water/amusement park - we'll go there, and for a lot less money than $166pp at Atlantis.

We spent about $110 pp the last 2 times we were there, it’s a different type of water park than anything I’ve seen, plus you have access to the beach and aquarium.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

4 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

We spent about $110 pp the last 2 times we were there, it’s a different type of water park than anything I’ve seen, plus you have access to the beach and aquarium.

but can you REALLY do all of it: water park, beach and aquarium in several hours?

 

We have a great aquarium in Atlanta, and it's about $32 pp. It takes several hours to see everything, and by the end you are exhausted. 

 

Is it really worth paying $110 pp and trying to squeeze ALL activities into one day?

Edited June 14, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[mjkacmom]

12 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

but can you REALLY do all of it: water park, beach and aquarium in several hours?

 

We have a great aquarium in Atlanta, and it's about $32 pp. It takes several hours to see everything, and by the end you are exhausted. 

 

Is it really worth paying $110 pp and trying to squeeze ALL activities into one day?

Considering we’ve done it twice, yes! We were there at an off peak time, and had a strategy. We arrived around 9, got a couple of loungers (for our family of 7), used the pools and smaller slides until the big ones opened, we were in line by 10, used the current to travel to some of the slides, when we were tired headed over to the beach, and went through the aquarium on our way out. It’s kind of like having one day at Disney, you have a plan (which also costs $100+ pp).

[AnnieBabes]

1 hour ago, mjkacmom said:

We have done it, you check in early, your room probably won’t be ready, you go to Atlantis to get your wristbands. Some check out at check in, but if you have the full day, you might as well keep the room, since the park closes at 5. Do a dummy booking, including the substantial taxes and fees, and compare the cost to booking directly through Atlantis and a third party vendor like resort for a day, and do the math.

 

Thank you so much, this is very helpful. I'm doing the research and it looks like booking Comfort Suites is the way to go!

[AnnieBabes]

2 minutes ago, AnnieBabes said:

 

Thank you so much, this is very helpful. I'm doing the research and it looks like booking Comfort Suites is the way to go!

 

We're going at peak season, so it would be about $125 per person, still a savings from $166 each.

[zqvol]

22 hours ago, AnnieBabes said:

But check-in to hotel is 3pm. How would that work if we only have until 8pm? Have you done this before? Thanks!

 

You can check in early, you just can't access your room early.

[MicCanberra]

9 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

The water park is a lot of fun - The Rapids, The Leap of Faith, even the slow-moving Lazy River. 

I suppose, I am just struggling with the idea of going to another country to go to a water park. I would be looking at alternative activities (if any).

[MicCanberra]

6 hours ago, AnnieBabes said:

 

We're going at peak season, so it would be about $125 per person, still a savings from $166 each.

Is that $125 pp for 2 people ($250) or do you have more people to spread the cost. 

[goldy24]

I've heard it works great!  If you have 5 people, the extra person can take the NCL excursion, use the shore excursion credit  and get a day pass, and then meet up with the rest of the group.  However, if your group is late for any reason, only she will definitely be back on the ship because she is with the NCL excursion.

[MicCanberra]

1 minute ago, goldy24 said:

I've heard it works great!  If you have 5 people, the extra person can take the NCL excursion, use the shore excursion credit  and get a day pass, and then meet up with the rest of the group.  However, if your group is late for any reason, only she will definitely be back on the ship because she is with the NCL excursion.

Welcome to cruise critic, 😁

[AnnieBabes]

4 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Is that $125 pp for 2 people ($250) or do you have more people to spread the cost. 

There is 9 of us, we will be spreading that cost around. 🙂

[AnnieBabes]

2 hours ago, goldy24 said:

I've heard it works great!  If you have 5 people, the extra person can take the NCL excursion, use the shore excursion credit  and get a day pass, and then meet up with the rest of the group.  However, if your group is late for any reason, only she will definitely be back on the ship because she is with the NCL excursion.

That 5th wheel will sure be the lucky one!

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, AnnieBabes said:

There is 9 of us, we will be spreading that cost around. 🙂

Wow, $1125 for the room per night, must be some room.

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Wow, $1125 for the room per night, must be some room.

Pretty sure you only get four wristbands per room, so they'd have to purchase two rooms.  

[brillohead]

For all the people who complain about the "gratuity" or daily service charge on most cruise lines, I can only imagine the gnashing of teeth over this from the Comfort Suites site:

 

Hotel Alerts: 

 The following tax and charges are applicable. 12 Value Added Tax, 11.2 Resort Levy, 5.00 USD per person per day Housekeeping charge, 17.87 USD per person per day Utility Surcharge and 8.96 USD Hotel Service Charge per person per day. 40.00 USD added to the rate for 3rd and 4th adult, plus Valued Added Tax. Children 16 years and over are charged as adults. Children 12 years to 15 years are charges 31.83 USD per child per day (Housekeeping, Utility Surcharge and Hotel Service Charge), not included in total.

 

Can you imagine if the cruise lines charged a 12% VAT and 11.2% Ship Levy on each passenger's fare, plus added $5 for housekeeping, $17.87 for utilities, and $8.96 for "hotel service charge" (whatever that is... maybe the front desk employees?)???

If the cruise fare for two people was $2,000, the VAT and Ship Levy would add another $240 and $224, respectively, for a total fare of $2,464, and then you add the roughly $200 for port taxes for two people to come up to $2,646.  

Then at the end of the week, an additional $445.62 would be due for the various housekeeping, utility, and hotel service charges.  That $2,000 cruise would end up being $3,110 without purchasing a single drink, specialty dinner, or anything.  

I'm gonna have to remember this outrageous $31.83/person upcharge the next time someone starts complaining about the measly $15/day gratuity/service charge on most cruise lines. 

 

At least that fifteen bucks also includes the food servers for every meal you eat on a cruise ship.... if you were actually staying at the Comfort Suites, you'd have to fork over extra money for each meal plus the tip for each of those meals, in addition to the $32/person/day you're already paying to the hotel!