Atlantis Experts....Which pool is your Favorite??

[Ethelina]

Trying to decide if Atlantis is worth the $$$???

What part/pool is your favorite when using the the day rooms at Atlantis??? Other than winning "big" in the casino.... ..... If anyone has tips to share on the Day Rooms at Comfort Suites or Atlantis please do tell!!!! I would appreciate any info. I want to have a plan before leaving the ship

Thanks,
Ethelina

 

[scrapperjill]

We did Atlantis last Sept...and had a WONDERFUL day. The worst part was the day went by way to fast. The slides are alot of fun....(we spent most of our time here)...and the aquarium is nice also....it's very spread out and the building are amazing. We didn't spend any time in the Casino...except to walk though...we were there for the water/pools and slides.

From what I understand you can't book a day room at atlantis until the day you need it...so call as soon as you get into the port....before you even leave the ship...it's a hotel so someone is always there no matter how early.

You can price check the rooms at Comfort suites...because you get all the same benifits as a Atlantis hotel guest...And depending on when your going even the room rate at Atlantis isn't that bad. We went in Sept and our room with taxes was $150 (Dayroom).

IMO....if your thinking of going to Atlantis...it's well worth the money. The aquarium aka "the dig" would have cost our family of four nearly $100. So to get unlimited acess to "the dig", the pools, slides, beaches, lagoons, water toys.....it was well worth the money.

But be warned the food at Atlantis is VERY VERY spendy....if at all cost you can avoid eating there....do. Maybe try and bring prepackaged snacks and bottled water from home....I've heard of others ordering from roomservice the night before a port day...and taking a "sack lunch" off the ship...from what I understand this isn't really allowed. ....I don't think taking prepackaged food off would be a problem...but taking prepaired food off could be. (Just like you can't take any fresh fruit or other opened food items...including booze...off the ship at Port Canaveral). But anyway...as an example we ordered 2 kids chicken nugget meals and 4 bottles of water.....and our bill came to $25.00+...and to note the bottles of water were less than 10oz bottles...small

Over all experience would be a thumbs up

 

[Ethelina]

My DS really wants to do this b/c the 2 prior cruises we never got off the ship. I'm thinking of just phoning the morning in port for a day room. The rate I'm finding right now for this October at CS is $152. + all charges and taxes. Call it a $200 bill So I think we will take the risk and call from the ship and hopefully they will still have something available. I did read it was about a $12 phone call. I just want to have Plan A but I know there can always be a Plan B. This sounds like a fun day!!!!

Thanks for your tips!
E

 

[Honu]

We were not impressed with Atlantis and will not return. On first look it's breathtaking because of it's size and location, but the pool and activity areas are really poorly planned and so crowded. There is little shade available to sit under. There are long lines for everything, towels, bracelets, slides, food (although our food was good). Mostly, I was disappointed that it was dirty. I saw one guest that filled a grocery bag with garbage he picked up out of the snorkeling lagoon. Maybe we are spoiled by the resorts we've stayed at in Hawaii, but to us Atlantis was just a big resort, not a nice resort.

 

[Jsme]

We were not impressed with Atlantis and will not return. On first look it's breathtaking because of it's size and location, but the pool and activity areas are really poorly planned and so crowded. There is little shade available to sit under. There are long lines for everything, towels, bracelets, slides, food (although our food was good). Mostly, I was disappointed that it was dirty. I saw one guest that filled a grocery bag with garbage he picked up out of the snorkeling lagoon. Maybe we are spoiled by the resorts we've stayed at in Hawaii, but to us Atlantis was just a big resort, not a nice resort.

Anyone else had this experience????????????

We are thinking of doing this next year.

 

[lianakcc]

Is there an extra charge to snorkel at Atlantis, or is this covered in you CS room charge as well?

 

[Ethelina]

That is my worry about it being overcrowded and long lines.....We have always stay onboard b/c the pools are empty. When we go I want it to be as stress-free as possible. Plus, IMO its a little expensive if your time is spent standing in lines. Did you tour the "Dig"/Aquarium?

Thanks for any tips( good or bad) anyone can share!
E

 

[Honu]

We were there this month.

I had done the Disney excursion and had seen the Dig on a previous cruise, but we wanted access to more than the beach this time.

The Dig is neat. It's fun to watch the sharks and it's cool down there.

I don't mean to drone on about this, but we were so disappointed in our day there. The lines for the slides were an hour, plus. We had to roam the pool areas searching for empty chairs we could move into one area, so we could sit together. We ended up with 4 chairs for 7 people. I waited in line for 45 minutes for lunch. That's not what I consider to be a nice resort or a fun day. I would have loved for it to have been great, it just wasn't.

Castaway was awesome though.

 

[scrapperjill]

Honu...Wow...an hour wait...I can see why your disapointed. I think I may have to do with time of year that you go...when was that?

We went at the end of Sept 04...and there were NO lines..Well for the shark tube slide....there was a wait..maybe 15 min. But the other slides were walk up..wait for the person (two at most) in front of you and go... The pools also were bare..and for the most part we had our pick of lounge chairs. I do agree with the lack of shade....(although the lounge chairs have a awning that can be pulled up....) but yep there wasn't alot of shade around.

We had a blast....but I can see where it would be bothersom to know you only have x amount of time at shore...and spending most of it in lines.

Oh...the dig was alos fairly empty....we'd run into a group now and then...but nothing bad...it was almost like we had the place to ourselves....for example the walkway through the shark reef....we were the only ones for quite some time.

I'd maybe call Atlantis and ask them when the busy time is. My GUESS is with the rate your being quoted for those days.....it's not the busy time. I think day room rates in peak season go up $250+. Also if you have a cell phone...you can call from the ship on it and save the high fees for using the ship phone. Again i'd call your cell phone carrier and make sure it's in your plan or what per min charges would be if roaming....even that shouldn't be as much as the per min phone use from the ship....isn't is close to $7 per min?

 

[flexsmom]

We were there for 4 days last October - no lines like that for towels, food, etc. There were lines occasionally for the slides, but nothing too terrible. We found it to be clean - I would not say the resort was near capacity at all, which may be the difference between fall and summertime?

 

[dzneprincess]

We were not impressed with Atlantis and will not return. On first look it's breathtaking because of it's size and location, but the pool and activity areas are really poorly planned and so crowded. There is little shade available to sit under. There are long lines for everything, towels, bracelets, slides, food (although our food was good). Mostly, I was disappointed that it was dirty. I saw one guest that filled a grocery bag with garbage he picked up out of the snorkeling lagoon. Maybe we are spoiled by the resorts we've stayed at in Hawaii, but to us Atlantis was just a big resort, not a nice resort.

ITA I was not impressed at all either

 

[jinga]

I booked a 99. room @ the Atlantis on our 4 day cruise. I am hoping that this will be a good day trip for our family. I was looking @ Comfort Suites for about 200 until some one posted on the board about a 99.00 rate.

 

[vossjemi]

I got the $99 deal too. We'll be there 9/19. So, hopefully it won't be too busy. And weather will be nice. But that travelzoo deal was sure a great one!