Want to do Atlantis on your own? We did it!

[virginiamama]

It is on there I just checked it is called Comfort Suites Paradise Island

Yep, I finally got it to come up, but if I only put in one night it says no rooms are available, if I include the following night it comes up just fine.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Yep, I finally got it to come up, but if I only put in one night it says no rooms are available, if I include the following night it comes up just fine.

I am far from an expert. When I read your post I got nervous so, I checked my date. I went to this link:

http://www.comfortsuites.com/ires/en-US/html/HotelInfo?hotel=BS003

Plugged in my date and it gave me the same rate I have been getting. It did not say anything about a two night minimum. I suggest trying this link, maybe you will get lucky.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

So do we just let the hotel know we are checking in and right back out? What if they don't allow this?

 

[Jeanne B]

So do we just let the hotel know we are checking in and right back out? What if they don't allow this?

Cruiseship passengers do this all the time so it won't be a problem...we actually prefer to check out at the end of the day so we can freshen up in the room before going back to the ship.

 

[keishashadow]

thanks to the OP!

have it booked for Oct for self, DH & son (barely 15); now im worried i should suck it up & pay the difference as an adult, yet usually under 18 is free with choice (rather pricey for 3rd adult imo)

def don't want to be embarrased though...

so u get a card the wristbands @ the hotel desk when u check in?

confused as to those who took kids, if we are questioned can we pay the difference then or would i have to tromp back to the hotel?

ok, went to hotel website & here is the verbage

Hotel Alerts: Must have one adult 21 years or older in each room. Children under 12 stay free if sharing room with parents. Children 16 or older charged as adults, an additional 40.00 plus taxes and service charges per night. Energy Surcharge: 8.00 per night (all persons 16 yrs and older) and housekeeping gratuity 4.00 per night (all persons 12 years and older) are additional charges that are not included in the estimated total and must be paid directed to the hotel.

if im reading correctly, only need to pay extra $4 housekeeping gratutity & not extra $40 since he's 15?

 

[stulaurie]

I just wanted to add, that I went to Atlantis with my Mom and 7 year old daughter, and had the exact same experience as the original poster. Everything was the exact same. Check in at Comfort Suite and checked out right away. Walked to Atlantis. Use of everything.

The only thing that I wanted to add, was that we had lunch at one of the pools and got the $20 or $25 hamburger deal. It came with 4 burgers, 2 large fries and 4 sodas. Sorry, can't remember the exact price, but even thought we did not need the fourth burger it was a great deal. Just watch out for the cheese. They asked us if we wanted chessed on our burgers, and of course we said yes. We did not know that they were going to charge us $1.50 per burger for cheese. Next time no cheese for us.

The other advice would be to bring a disposable camera. We also left our beach bag on a chair all day and had no trouble. We brought the disposable water camrea so we could have some pictures, but not worry if it got lost or stolen

 

[ReneeDisney]

thanks to the OP!

have it booked for Oct for self, DH & son (barely 15); now im worried i should suck it up & pay the difference as an adult, yet usually under 18 is free with choice (rather pricey for 3rd adult imo)

def don't want to be embarrased though...

so u get a card the wristbands @ the hotel desk when u check in?

confused as to those who took kids, if we are questioned can we pay the difference then or would i have to tromp back to the hotel?

ok, went to hotel website & here is the verbage

Hotel Alerts: Must have one adult 21 years or older in each room. Children under 12 stay free if sharing room with parents. Children 16 or older charged as adults, an additional 40.00 plus taxes and service charges per night. Energy Surcharge: 8.00 per night (all persons 16 yrs and older) and housekeeping gratuity 4.00 per night (all persons 12 years and older) are additional charges that are not included in the estimated total and must be paid directed to the hotel.

if im reading correctly, only need to pay extra $4 housekeeping gratutity & not extra $40 since he's 15?

HI! Just saw your countdown ticker - will you be on the 10/26 sailing of the Wonder? We are going to the AKL on 10/25 and then sailling on the Wonder 10/26. Our tickers look alike ENJOY!!!!

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

I seen a good rate for the Comfort Inn on Hotels.com will this work the same as booking direct?

 

[JungleJim]

I am far from an expert. When I read your post I got nervous so, I checked my date. I went to this link:

http://www.comfortsuites.com/ires/en-US/html/HotelInfo?hotel=BS003

Plugged in my date and it gave me the same rate I have been getting. It did not say anything about a two night minimum. I suggest trying this link, maybe you will get lucky.

I clicked on your link, plugged in my date, and got this message:

Sorry, this hotel has a Minimum Length of Stay Requirement of 2 nights starting on ....

You were lucky. Or it might be different for dfferent dates.

 

[Jeanne B]

I seen a good rate for the Comfort Inn on Hotels.com will this work the same as booking direct?

Make sure you're looking at Comfort Suites...if there's a Comfort Inn in Nassau then it's the wrong one to be booking.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Make sure you're looking at Comfort Suites...if there's a Comfort Inn in Nassau then it's the wrong one to be booking.

Sorry meant to type Comfort Suites.

 

[Anal Annie]

We just did this Comfort Suites thing last week and it worked out just like everyone always said it would! When you leave the ship the cab drivers will be hawking you for rides. We checked in & checked out all at once (they were SLOW when we got there and we waited about 15 min. before our turn to check in so I decided that was the way to go).

Anyway, we booked thru the SmarterTravel.com website - best rate I could find. When I first booked it was $241 + the misc. fees. I booked it but checked back a couple months later and it was down to $157 + the misc. fees (came to about $200). I booked that rate and cancelled the orig. ressie. I HAVE seen the 2 night minimum thing pop up sometimes. It's hit or miss...not always there...just keep checking for your dates. We did back-to-back cruises and I had heard that there were more ships in port on Tues. so we decided to go on the Fri. of our 3 nighter so it would be less crowded - but the rate is about $20 higher for the weekend.

We found lunch at a tent by one of the pools...$33 for 3 footlong hotdogs and 3 Gatorades. We also took some bottles of water with us in a DCL cooler bag but those were gone quick 'cuz it was so hot. We left our stuff in a bag on a lounge chair covered with a towel. I had pretty much only taken enough cash for the cab rides and 1 credit card & a camera. We selected a spot by a lifeguard stand that I hoped would be less prone to someone pilfering our stuff.

They were pretty strict about not allowing necklaces or watches on the slides - don't wear anything you don't have to wear. IMPORTANT - if you're going in the summer...TAKE WATER SHOES!! The temps last week were low 90's with a "feel like" of about 98 degrees. The Aquaventure park is beautiful but they used these really large slabs of stone everywhere instead of concrete...they were SO-O hot!!! My feet were almost blistered by the end of the day! They were pink on the bottom and very tender! Although they look nice, the stones were a stooopid plan.

I will say that it was a great day, and we enjoyed it, but the lines got pretty long in the afternoon and I would never, ever think it was worth what DCL charges per person! The Comfort Suites deal IS a deal...go for it! I figured with the taxis & lunch we still saved about $230 for the 3 of us!

 

[Elasta-Girl]

Fantastic report! Thanks so much. You answered so many questions I had. It's really hard to picture logistics of all of this if you've never been there. I will definitely be looking into CS as an option for our October cruise. ITA with Queenoftehcastlle...You rock!!

 

[Brooke3L]

We are booked at the Comfort Suites and doing Aquaventure and want to hit the Casino’s. Would you recommend doing the Straw Market and Tortuga Rum factory before heading to Atlantis or doing it after Atlantis? We don’t have to be back on the ship until 7:00.

 

[Anal Annie]

We are booked at the Comfort Suites and doing Aquaventure and want to hit the Casino’s. Would you recommend doing the Straw Market and Tortuga Rum factory before heading to Atlantis or doing it after Atlantis? We don’t have to be back on the ship until 7:00.

Personally, I would hit Atlantis first. It's HUGE and takes a long time to get thru everthing...plus the later in the day it gets the more crowded it gets (longer lines). It also gets hotter as the day goes on... If it were me that would be my priority and the whole reason for booking the CS...then swing thru the market on the way back to the ship. We were tired from the Aquaventure, our feet were burning and we did not feel like finding the casinos. But we also felt like we were done at Atlantis by about 4:30 or so. We went early & were there all day but I would say it took us an hour to get off the ship, get the cab over there, check in at CS and then walk over to Atlantis, find towels & a spot and get settled. You will be surprised at how fast your day will slip by you...

We were very unimpressed with the market area in Nassau...you won't miss much if you skip it all together. It was a bit skeevy IMO. (You may not have to be back on the ship until 7:00 but you still need to plan for showering & getting ready for dinner etc.....unless you're going to skip the dining rooms....).

 

[123Disney]

Thanks for the great information! We are going to try this in June 2009. If we want to go to the market before returning to the ship do we take a taxi? Is it on the way? Thanks.

 

[Brooke3L]

Personally, I would hit Atlantis first. It's HUGE and takes a long time to get thru everthing...plus the later in the day it gets the more crowded it gets (longer lines). It also gets hotter as the day goes on... If it were me that would be my priority and the whole reason for booking the CS...then swing thru the market on the way back to the ship. We were tired from the Aquaventure, our feet were burning and we did not feel like finding the casinos. But we also felt like we were done at Atlantis by about 4:30 or so. We went early & were there all day but I would say it took us an hour to get off the ship, get the cab over there, check in at CS and then walk over to Atlantis, find towels & a spot and get settled. You will be surprised at how fast your day will slip by you...

We were very unimpressed with the market area in Nassau...you won't miss much if you skip it all together. It was a bit skeevy IMO. (You may not have to be back on the ship until 7:00 but you still need to plan for showering & getting ready for dinner etc.....unless you're going to skip the dining rooms....).

Thanks for the information, that sounds like a plan.We have Palo reservations that night as well.
Just one more question do the sell rum cakes at Alantis or can your only get them at Tortuga rum factory?

 

[Maria395712]

great info thanks
maria

 

[LOLA2]

Just tried to call and book for November 03. They said 2 night minimum. Well for $500.00 I might as well go through disney!

 

[virginiamama]

Just tried to call and book for November 03. They said 2 night minimum. Well for $500.00 I might as well go through disney!

Yep, 2 night minimum, so we ended up going ahead and getting a room at Atlantis Beach Towers for $325 (before tax). All of the DCL excursions to Atlantis were cancelled due to bad weather (rain bands and wind associated with tropical storm Fay), but we figured we had to at least try to get there since we were going to lose our money anyway since we had booked privately. DCL handed out ponchos as we left the ship. We got a cab with no problem. By the time we got checked in, the rain had pretty much stopped. The room was not ready by the way. We had a bit of trouble getting our wristbands because the girl at the towel/band place said that she had to have a room number to give us the bands. So, DH walked back to the Beach Towers and they said the room number was not necessary and gave us a number to have the girl call in case she had a problem with it. We went to a different towel place and got the wristbands with no problems. Then...we went to look for the lockers, they were hidden down in the Hospitality Cavern. We did get locker use for free because of having a room there. It was much more walking and searching for stuff than I had anticipated. We had a map but it was pretty hard to find stuff other than the big rides. I was not terribly impressed with the whole place. If you are looking for a cool water park and you have a day (or part of a day) to spend at Aquatica before or after the cruise, that would be money better spent (if you can't get the cheap one-night Comfort Suites room) IMHO. We even went when it was cold and rainy and had a better time at Aquatica than at Atlantis.