Atlantis Aquaventure: RCI or Day Pass?

[Pellaz]

On 12/13/2023 at 11:56 AM, smokeybandit said:

One night stays no longer qualify for the passes.

 

I believe this was clarified (on CruiseCritic's port board) to say "Same-day bookings no longer qualify."  

 

@jaredgold33 I'd suggest calling Comfort Suites directly and asking.  No need for any hesitation or potential embarrassment; they likely get questions like this often and they're pretty nice folks.  

[vjmatty]

7 hours ago, Pellaz said:

 

I believe this was clarified (on CruiseCritic's port board) to say "Same-day bookings no longer qualify."  

 

@jaredgold33 I'd suggest calling Comfort Suites directly and asking.  No need for any hesitation or potential embarrassment; they likely get questions like this often and they're pretty nice folks.  

It’s definitely ambiguous, “same-day, one night bookings” can mean all one-night bookings, all same-day bookings or just those that are one night booked the same day.

 

Right now for our dates the cruise planner is showing $219pp and the Atlantis site is $190pp.  For only two people it may not be worth booking Comfort Suites in advance but I may look into it. 

 

By the way, those of you who saw $95pp on Atlantis, make sure that’s the adult price. On our dates that’s showing the children’s price once you actually go to put the tickets in your cart, but adults are $190. 

[Pellaz]

On 12/17/2023 at 6:18 AM, vjmatty said:

Right now for our dates the cruise planner is showing $219pp and the Atlantis site is $190pp.  For only two people it may not be worth booking Comfort Suites in advance but I may look into it. 

Much depends on the time of the year (high season, low season) and the prices of the hotel room-night + per-person additional fees vs. the price of an Atlantis day-pass or a cruise-line excursion.  It's also possible that either of the latter could be sold out.  For that matter, the hotel was near capacity when I stayed there recently.....

 

Comfort Suites Paradise Island charged $40 per-person as an additional fee when adding guests, when I last visited a month ago. 

(For reference, I paid about $1350 for 4 nights and roundtrip airfare from Atlanta via a certain "warm cable" booking site.)

Coming up with a firm amount for the hotel room-charge is tricky, but I generally assume $200/night or so as their baseline charge.  So, call it around $240 for two people, $280 for three, and $320 for four (which is the max per room).   This can make it "iffy" for two people, but a real deal for 3 or 4.  

 

I just contacted the hotel directly and yes indeed, the "hack" still works.  Room must be booked in advance (as late as the day before, but I'd book it sooner) and it is up to 4 people per room, at $40 per person extra.  

 

You'd get your printed guest cards at hotel check-in, then proceed over to the Royal Towers lobby (past the casino) and downstairs to the Aquaventure desk to get your wristbands.   You'll need to show the cards at the security checkpoint past the casino and the Crystal Shops to gain access to the lobby.  

 

If you need any advice or "best practices" tips for navigating Atlantis and Aquaventure, tag me in a  post on the appropriate CruiseCritic "port" board and ask; I was just there a month ago.  Your time over at Atlantis will be limited and you definitely don't want to waste any of it trying to figure out how to ride certain rides, where to go, etc.   

 

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Pellaz

[vjmatty]

7 minutes ago, Pellaz said:

Much depends on the time of the year (high season, low season) and the prices of the hotel room-night + per-person additional fees vs. the price of an Atlantis day-pass or a cruise-line excursion.  It's also possible that either of the latter could be sold out.  For that matter, the hotel was near capacity when I stayed there recently.....

 

Comfort Suites Paradise Island charged $40 per-person as an additional fee when adding guests, when I last visited a month ago. 

(For reference, I paid about $1350 for 4 nights and roundtrip airfare from Atlanta via a certain "warm cable" booking site.)

Coming up with a firm amount for the hotel room-charge is tricky, but I generally assume $200/night or so as their baseline charge.  So, call it around $240 for two people, $280 for three, and $320 for four (which is the max per room).   This can make it "iffy" for two people, but a real deal for 3 or 4.  

 

I just contacted the hotel directly and yes indeed, the "hack" still works.  Room must be booked in advance (as late as the day before, but I'd book it sooner) and it is up to 4 people per room, at $40 per person extra.  

 

You'd get your printed guest cards at hotel check-in, then proceed over to the Royal Towers lobby (past the casino) and downstairs to the Aquaventure desk to get your wristbands.   You'll need to show the cards at the security checkpoint past the casino and the Crystal Shops to gain access to the lobby.  

 

If you need any advice or "best practices" tips for navigating Atlantis and Aquaventure, tag me in a  post on the appropriate CruiseCritic "port" board and ask; I was just there a month ago.  Your time over at Atlantis will be limited and you definitely don't want to waste any of it trying to figure out how to ride certain rides, where to go, etc.   

 

 

Thank you for all of this information! We’d be going September 2024 on Symphony, so not the most expensive time of year, and just two of us.  Now to check availability…

[KALCJ1]

On 12/10/2022 at 9:27 AM, LindaD22 said:

This is offered as a shore excursion for $205 pp. Atlantis also has day passes available for $95 pp. The ship’s excursion includes transportation, so I’m leaning towards that. But the description states it’s only for 5 hours (if you stay longer, you’re responsible for your way back to the ship) and we’re in port from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. It also doesn’t make mention of beach access, which worries me. Does anyone have experience with the shore excursion at Aquaventure? Thank you for your help!

Did you add the passes to your cart and then get the price at check out?  Just checking as we just went to Atlantis last week.  We purchased the excursion through the ship and it was $219 per person.  I had priced it directly with Atlantis, it said “from” $95, but when I went to check out it went up to $190 per person (for ages 13 and up), kids are $95 per person.  Since this was without transportation, we kept the excursion we purchased through the ship.  We had a wonderful time and cannot wait to go back!

Edited December 19, 2023 by KALCJ1

[vjmatty]

13 minutes ago, KALCJ1 said:

Did you add the passes to your cart and then get the price at check out?  Just checking as we just went to Atlantis last week.  We purchased the excursion through the ship and it was $219 per person.  I had priced it directly with Atlantis, it said “from” $95, but when I went to check out it went up to $190 per person (for ages 13 and up), kids are $95 per person.  Since this was without transportation, we kept the excursion we purchased through the ship.  We had a wonderful time and cannot wait to go back!

Did you feel like you had enough time with the ship tour? It seems awfully short and cabs are so plentiful and cheap in Nassau I think the $60 savings might be worth it, especially since the cheaper cost through Atlantis gives you a couple extra hours.

 

As for the Comfort Inn in my earlier post, that comes to over $450 after taxes are added in. I had to laugh though, they have a “non-refundable, non-cancelable” fare that “can be canceled until the 8am the day before” 🤣

 

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by vjmatty
Typo

[KALCJ1]

20 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

Did you feel like you had enough time with the ship tour? It seems awfully short and cabs are so plentiful and cheap in Nassau I think the $60 savings might be worth it, especially since the cheaper cost through Atlantis gives you a couple extra hours.

 

As for the Comfort Inn in my earlier post, that comes to over $450 after taxes are added in. I had to laugh though, they have a “non-refundable, non-cancelable” fare that “can be canceled until the 8am the day before” 🤣

 

 

We had the option to leave between 2:30 and 3:30.  We stayed until 3:30.  Our all aboard time was 4:30 though.  We would’ve enjoyed a little more time.  1 negative with the RCCL excursions are you have to meet in the Royal Theater.  It might be nice to just taxi over a little earlier.  Like others have said, you just want to make sure you allow plenty of time to get a taxi back and factor in the traffic.  You just never know if it’s going to take a lot longer or not.  

[vjmatty]

50 minutes ago, KALCJ1 said:

We had the option to leave between 2:30 and 3:30.  We stayed until 3:30.  Our all aboard time was 4:30 though.  We would’ve enjoyed a little more time.  1 negative with the RCCL excursions are you have to meet in the Royal Theater.  It might be nice to just taxi over a little earlier.  Like others have said, you just want to make sure you allow plenty of time to get a taxi back and factor in the traffic.  You just never know if it’s going to take a lot longer or not.  

Ugh that’s one thing I hate about ship excursions is all that time in the theater. Though I’m not sure getting to Atlantis earlier would help because the slides don’t open until 10 anyway.  Our ship leaves at 5 so we’ll probably also have a 4;30 all aboard. Now we’re only talking about an extra hour.  Plus I’ve read it can take a long time to get a refund from Atlantis if you cancel. 

[Pellaz]

On 12/18/2023 at 9:16 PM, vjmatty said:

Did you feel like you had enough time with the ship tour? It seems awfully short and cabs are so plentiful and cheap in Nassau I think the $60 savings might be worth it, especially since the cheaper cost through Atlantis gives you a couple extra hours.

I've spoken with cruisers who booked the cruise line excursion or purchased day-passes who had only three or so hours at Atlantis -- their ship arrived at Nassau early in the morning, Atlantis slides opened at 10 am, back on board was in the afternoon.  You really have to know exactly where to go, what activities must be done in a certain order, hope the lines are short, etc.    And hope that the weather cooperates.  Although Aquaventure seldom closes, they will close for bad thunderstorms.  

 

On 12/18/2023 at 9:16 PM, vjmatty said:

As for the Comfort Inn in my earlier post, that comes to over $450 after taxes are added in. I had to laugh though, they have a “non-refundable, non-cancelable” fare that “can be canceled until the 8am the day before” 🤣 

Yep, that's why I booked CFAR travel insurance before my last trip to Atlantis and CSPI.   

Even $450 might not be too bad for four people if Atlantis day-passes are $200 each.  

 

[jean87510]

I just did the day pass on October 31, 2023.  We took the ferry over then walked to Atlantis.  I would never book through the cruise ship.  We were there for 7 hours and had a great day.  Hotel was at 33% capacity and no lines.  No vendors.  Nicest staff.  

[vjmatty]

5 hours ago, Pellaz said:

I've spoken with cruisers who booked the cruise line excursion or purchased day-passes who had only three or so hours at Atlantis -- their ship arrived at Nassau early in the morning, Atlantis slides opened at 10 am, back on board was in the afternoon.  You really have to know exactly where to go, what activities must be done in a certain order, hope the lines are short, etc.    And hope that the weather cooperates.  Although Aquaventure seldom closes, they will close for bad thunderstorms.  

 

Yep, that's why I booked CFAR travel insurance before my last trip to Atlantis and CSPI.   

Even $450 might not be too bad for four people if Atlantis day-passes are $200 each.  

 

Unfortunately NY doesn’t allow CFAR coverage. I should clarify there are only 2 of us so $450 isn’t the value that it would be for a family of four. 

[vjmatty]

26 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

I just did the day pass on October 31, 2023.  We took the ferry over then walked to Atlantis.  I would never book through the cruise ship.  We were there for 7 hours and had a great day.  Hotel was at 33% capacity and no lines.  No vendors.  Nicest staff.  

I hadn’t thought of the ferry. Did you go back up the ship that way as well or take a cab?

[jean87510]

59 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

I hadn’t thought of the ferry. Did you go back up the ship that way as well or take a cab?

We took the ferry back.  Going to Atlantis the ferry was right next to cruise ship.  Going back we did have to walk 0.5 miles.  I liked it.  You do have to walk from ferry to Atlantis but there are a few YouTube videos on how to do it which we watched.  Only confusing part was where to get our wrist bands but the staff were really nice and helpful.  It's a different world there without aggressive vendors.  We loved it.

[clover18]

Word to the wise: Aquaventure is a lot of fun. If you can get a day pass through the paradise island website, you should do that and take a taxi to get there. If you book an excursion through Royal Caribbean, you will be subjected to standing in an extremely long line at the pier, you will be loaded into a very small van, group by group as they become available. Then driven to Atlantis/Paradise Island. Discharged from your van, and then stand in another very long line to get into the resort. When we went through Royal, it took us a full hour and a half to get from the pier to the Aquaventure entrance.

 

A second piece of advice, for those who might want to go back to the ship early, is to bring cash. And lots of it. The taxi drivers on paradise island, and in downtown Nassau do not take credit cards. We made the stupid mistake of going out without cash. We were horrified when the taxi driver brought us back from Atlantis to downtown Nassau so that we could return to the ship and he told us our fare. We handed him a credit card and he said “I don’t take credit cards. You need to give me cash.” We had no way of getting cash with our AMEX card, so we had to stand on the street and beg people for cash. Fortunately, someone from the ship was walking down the street with their family members, and recognized us from the ship. They loaned us $40 so that we could pay the taxi driver. It was the most unreal situation we’ve ever been in in our lives.

[jean87510]

14 hours ago, clover18 said:

Word to the wise: Aquaventure is a lot of fun. If you can get a day pass through the paradise island website, you should do that and take a taxi to get there. If you book an excursion through Royal Caribbean, you will be subjected to standing in an extremely long line at the pier, you will be loaded into a very small van, group by group as they become available. Then driven to Atlantis/Paradise Island. Discharged from your van, and then stand in another very long line to get into the resort. When we went through Royal, it took us a full hour and a half to get from the pier to the Aquaventure entrance.

 

A second piece of advice, for those who might want to go back to the ship early, is to bring cash. And lots of it. The taxi drivers on paradise island, and in downtown Nassau do not take credit cards. We made the stupid mistake of going out without cash. We were horrified when the taxi driver brought us back from Atlantis to downtown Nassau so that we could return to the ship and he told us our fare. We handed him a credit card and he said “I don’t take credit cards. You need to give me cash.” We had no way of getting cash with our AMEX card, so we had to stand on the street and beg people for cash. Fortunately, someone from the ship was walking down the street with their family members, and recognized us from the ship. They loaned us $40 so that we could pay the taxi driver. It was the most unreal situation we’ve ever been in in our lives.

I heard people sitting near us who went through the ship when we were there in October.  We had so much more time then them.  We already knew about the price gouging cab drivers from past experiences so used the ferry both ways and walked.  Nassau has it down to an art form of shaking down tourists with cabs, excursions, beach time.  It's why we chose Atlantis.  It was worth the extra money not to have to deal with hawkers and con artists.  I have been to Eleuthera, Spanish Wells, Bimini, Grand Bahama and Nassau.  Nassau is my least favorite Bahama followed very closely by Bimini.  We will be back in 2 weeks but prearranged a trip out to Clifton Heritage park which is far from cruise port.  If I return to Nassau again, we are going right back to Atlantis.

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

I heard people sitting near us who went through the ship when we were there in October.  We had so much more time then them.  We already knew about the price gouging cab drivers from past experiences so used the ferry both ways and walked.  Nassau has it down to an art form of shaking down tourists with cabs, excursions, beach time.  It's why we chose Atlantis.  It was worth the extra money not to have to deal with hawkers and con artists.  I have been to Eleuthera, Spanish Wells, Bimini, Grand Bahama and Nassau.  Nassau is my least favorite Bahama followed very closely by Bimini.  We will be back in 2 weeks but prearranged a trip out to Clifton Heritage park which is far from cruise port.  If I return to Nassau again, we are going right back to Atlantis.

Maybe I’m lucky, but never had an issue with cabs in Nassau, took them to cable and cabbage beach. $5 pp (family of 7).

[jean87510]

3 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

Maybe I’m lucky, but never had an issue with cabs in Nassau, took them to cable and cabbage beach. $5 pp (family of 7).

You are lucky.  I had one try to charge us back in August to go 1.2 miles $50 for 2 people as we were about 1 hr from onboard and I stupidly showed panic.  He wouldn't negotiate and we just walked it.  I have quite a few Nassau cab stories from land and cruise.  I prefer the buses or the ferry as it's a set rate.

[chrisaf]

Do it yourself and just take a taxi as soon as you get off.  You will be over at Atlantis long before the ship tour arrives.  Usually no waiting to get your tickets and you are in the water park way before the crowd from the tour gets there.  Also lines for day lockers for your belongings are long once there is a crowd.  Also, you can leave when you want and again don't have to wait for a crowd and full bus, etc. when you are ready to return to the ship.  Much easier on your own.  

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

On 12/22/2023 at 11:22 AM, jean87510 said:

Nassau has it down to an art form of shaking down tourists with cabs, excursions, beach time

Why Nassau day is a "sea day in port" for me. Why even bother getting off once you're BTDT?

[Pellaz]

On 12/21/2023 at 5:33 AM, vjmatty said:

Unfortunately NY doesn’t allow CFAR coverage. I should clarify there are only 2 of us so $450 isn’t the value that it would be for a family of four. 

 

Oh yes, with only two you are likely to be better off buying day-passes and taking a taxi or the water taxi over to Paradise Island.  

 

On 12/21/2023 at 5:07 AM, jean87510 said:

I just did the day pass on October 31, 2023.  We took the ferry over then walked to Atlantis.  I would never book through the cruise ship.  We were there for 7 hours and had a great day.  Hotel was at 33% capacity and no lines.  No vendors.  Nicest staff.  

 

Which hotel?  Atlantis?   A 33% capacity there wouldn't surprise me -- it's a BIG property -- but I had thought they were doing better.   Comfort Suites tends to be a bit more full.

 

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, Pellaz said:

 

Oh yes, with only two you are likely to be better off buying day-passes and taking a taxi or the water taxi over to Paradise Island.  

 

 

Which hotel?  Atlantis?   A 33% capacity there wouldn't surprise me -- it's a BIG property -- but I had thought they were doing better.   Comfort Suites tends to be a bit more full.

 

yes 33% at Atlantis.  Ticket person told me and one of the ride operators.  I was surprised at no lines for water rides.  

[Pellaz]

7 hours ago, jean87510 said:

yes 33% at Atlantis.  Ticket person told me and one of the ride operators.  I was surprised at no lines for water rides.  

 

Aquaventure was significantly busier when I was there around mid-November, with longer lines for the rides.  I'm not sure if that was mostly Atlantis hotel guests or Comfort Suites guests or day-pass holders or cruise-excursion visitors. 

Seemed like Atlantis (the hotel) was fairly busy, though, and Comfort Suites told me they were at or near capacity.  When I arrived for my 4-night stay, they were able to assign me a room and give me my card for Atlantis access, but my room wouldn't be ready for a couple of hours.  I dropped my luggage off in the lobby and went over to Aquaventure in the meantime.  🙂   

 

I'm curious to see if Baha Mar, the BIG new hotel property west of Nassau, will be offering any capacity to cruise visitors, or if day-passes are offered.  They have what looks like a nice, brand-new waterpark that includes things that Aquaventure doesn't have, like a wave-pool.