Day Rooms at Atlantis??

[luvstiggertoo]

DH heard that you can book a day room at Atlantis so you can spend the day at the resort and use the pool, etc.
Has anyone done this? How much? Is it worth it?

 

[maps]

i'm interested in this too.
anyone?

 

[Wishing on a star]

There has been a lot of info on the boards recently, so if you can manage a search, it may help. Since no-one else has answered, I will jump in....

I am considering the Atlantis, so here is what I can tell you. Booking a room at Atlantis can be pricy. Starting at well over 200.00. Atlantis, and the Comfort Suites across the street, offer Day Rooms, if available, first come first served, in person only... (won't even acknowledge that this is done over the phone or internet in advance.) I understand that they start at $200.00, plus taxes and fees.

Rooms at the Comfort suites can be reserved, at the Comfort Suites web site, at an internet users rate of about $175.00.

Getting a room is the ONLY way to have access to the pools, slides, beaches. And, of course, also includes The Dig.

Hope this helps!

 

[cjsmith]

We booked a day room at The Atlantis when we cruised in January. Basically you have to call the hotel the day you arrive
in Nassau. I actually called from the ship, it cost me $10 to make the reservation. I know I could have waited until we were on land, but I'm a compulsive planner! Anyway, the cost was $200 for a room in the Coral Tower and $250 for a room in The Royal Tower. This of course does not include taxes, $7 per person charges, electricity charges, and some others. You are allowed to have up to 5 people in your party. I need to do this as the regular roms there and the rooms at the Comfort Suites only allow up to 4. We chose the Royal Towers so that our room would be right b the pool.
Was it worth the money, yes. With lunch and a couple of beers, we spent $450 for the day. My kids loved, loved, loved using the slides, pool, etc. for the day. My husband and I enjoyed watching our kids , so that did make the cost worth it. The dig was okay, certainly not worth the $25 you would pay just for the priviledge of walking through it, so I'm glad that it was included with the room. The lunch was okay and the service slow. I am happy that we spent the day there and it was one of the biggest highlights of the cruise for my kids.

 

[vols001]

wish upon a star,
We are cruising in 5 weeks. I saw something about the Comfort Inn Suites, can we still use the pool and beach at the Atlantis? Is there a way of getting the number for the Antlantis on the boat? How do we get there? Thanks for all of your help! )
vols001

 

[Wishing on a star]

Oooooops!!! Yes, the Comfort and the Atlantis have an arrangement allowing full and complete access to all guests! Sorry, my mistake. Didn't mean to confuse you. I guess I failed to mention this thinking it is well known.

I have never heard of calling ahead before. cjsmith may be able to give a little more info on that. I am thinking that the $10.00 is the price of that ship-to-shore phone call? Both the Atlantis and the Comfort have web sites. The site for Atlantis is great! And, I am sure that you could get phone numbers right there online.

Atlantis.com
comfortinn.com/ires/hotel/BS003/

Hope this helps. And, if you do go. Write up a good report for the rest of us!

 

[nacnac22]

sounds like fun!!

 

[cjsmith]

I had actually called both the Atlantis resort and the Comfort Suites both in the sates and then directly to both resorts in the Bahamas prior to my vacation. That is how I found out about the day rooms at the Atlantis. The Comfort Suites does not do any kind of day rooms. My $10 phone call price was from calling from my stateroom to the Atlantis. I simply brought their direct phone number with me that I got from their website. The day room works out well for a few different reasons. First off, the room can accomodate up to 5 guests, while booking a room ahead of time at either resort can only accomodate 4, so you'll only get 4 id bracelets for the pools at the Atlantis. The other great thing is that you can use of the room first thing in the morning until 6 at night. If you book at either the Atlantis or Comfort Suites prior, your room may not be available until the posted check in time of 3 or 4 in the afternoon. You also won't have the cancellation policy so if it's raining or cold you don't have to worry about the fact that you've paid for the room.

 

[luvstiggertoo]

Wishing and CJ...thanks for the info.
I had looked on the website for Atlantis but could find nothing about a day room....I guess they don't advertise too much.

I'll take the number with me and hopefully we can book that morning!

I will definitely post a detailed trip report if we do this!

Thanks again!

 

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks cjsmith! Great information.

Just a couple of other points to throw in. Yes, families on this board have have gotten day rooms at the Comfort. Remember, over the phone, most likely they will act like they have never heard of such a thing. Basicly, if you show up and they have a room, they will accomodate you. And, yes, they do have strict limits on the number of wristbands.

I am not sure about the three day cruises, but the four day cruises will put you at Nassau on a Monday. I have heard that there are few other cruise ships in port that day. Which would mean greater chance of availability on day rooms. Especially off-season.

And, yes, beware of cancellation policies. Booking through some online sites can have hefty cancellation charges as long as 14 days beforehand.

Hope this helps... the more info. the better!

 

[cjsmith]

I'm glad that I could help! One more thing, I would periodically call the 800 number for the Atlantis and check on how booked up the resort was prior to my visit. That gave me alittle bit of an idea on my chances for the day room. I understand that the day room rates are about $50 cheaper out of their travel season, most likey during the summer months. On our 4 day cruise in July, 2002, there was only a Carnival cruise ship docked next to us. On our 4 day in January, 2003, we were the only large cruise ship in port!
Carolyn

 

[vols001]

Wishing & CJS
Thank you for all of your helpful information. I'm going to check out the website and take the 1-800 number with me and try to get a day room when I get there. Thank you again!!

 

[addie]

I just called Atlantis and they told me they don't do day rates anymore?

 

[disneyholic family]

just a point about the coral vs royal towers...
we actually liked the pools near the coral tower better so i wouldn't spend extra money just for proximity....
we spent about an hour on the slides in the pyramid, then we went over to the lazy river pool that's by the coral tower....
we spent about an hour there as well....
we considered getting lunch at the Atlantis, but we were there on the friday of 4th of july weekend and the place was bursting at the seams....the lines for the restaurants were miles long....
so we decided to go back to the ship to eat and catch the special showing of lilo & stitch (new at that time) in the big theatre....

by the way, we took a room at the comfort suites (i made the reservation in advance)......i had to pay extra for the two kids (as i recall anyone over 15 pays an extra fee even when staying in the same room)..
i should add that we never set foot in a room (i would have had to have been fumigated afterwards....it was the most disgusting depressing dump i've ever seen in my life).....
we just checked in, got the coupons to take over to the atlantis, and walked across to the atlantis.....after we were done swimming, we walked back to the comfort suites (what an inapporpriately named place) and checked out without ever having even been given a room key (room keys are only available at 3)....
we showered back in our stateroom on board the ship....

if i had it to do over i would take a room at the atlantis (reserve it in advance)...in whatever is the cheapest room available regardless of the location in the atlantis....
i definitely do NOT recommend the comfort suites....especially if you actually plan on using the room....

 

[cjsmith]

Interesting to hear about the state of the rooms at The Comfort Suites. We actually did use our room at The Atlantis. It was nice since my daughter tired out earlier than the boys, she went back up to the room, took shower and relaxed. I then went up and showered in a real shower! What we did was wear our clothes and change into our suits at The Atlantis. Everyone showered after our day of swimming and the beach at the resort and went back to the ship ready to rock and roll!
My kids greatly preferred the pool, slides over by the Royal Towers. We did the other pool, including tyhe lazy river, but these didn't hold their attention for too long. I guess since we live in Florida and have both our own pool and a pool up at our clubouse, they liked the slides and inner tube rides better.
Carolyn

 

[PRaffen]

We have vacationed at the Atlantis three times. We've stayed in the Coral Towers, Royal Towers and Comfort Suites.

Don't hesitate to stay at Comfort if you need a day room and it's less money than a day room at Atlantis.. The room we had was fine. Similiar to a Holiday Inn. A bit run down but clean, nicely decorated and would be perfect for a day room. The lobby area, while certainly not as beautiful as Atlantis, was very nice when we were there. Brightly decorated, pretty furniture. It saved us over $1000 by staying there versus the Atlantis on our last trip so well worth a bit less "ambience."

It you plan on using the slides, Comfort would be just as close as a room in Coral Towers.

 

[disneyholic family]

we probably would have spent more time by the slides (the inner tube through the shark tank was great), but as i said, it was 4th of july weekend friday (actually, july 5) and the place was totally packed.....the slide lines were deadly.....we had to wait over a half hour for the slides (the kamakaze style slide was an hour wait)...so now that i think about it we actually spent about an hour and a half or maybe 2 hours by the pyramid...but we only managed to go on the slides a total of 4 times....(3 times on the shark and once on the kamakaze)...

to give you an idea of how much we don't like lines, when we go to blizzard beach, we get there before opening, as soon as it opens we race to the back where the inner tube slides are....go on those for a while (about 4 times on the closed tube then about 4 times on the double dipper)....then we come around to the family slide...ride that one once...then onto the tobaggon...do that one once...then twice around the lazy river....
by that time it's about 11 and the crowds are picking up...
so we leave...
we have never been at blizzard beach past 11:30.....ever....
same thing at typhoon lagoon...
we just can't stand lines.....and we don't ever lie in the sun...we also live in a very hot sunny climate......sun is what we avoid if we can.....(actually, we do the same thing in the main parks....the latest we ever stay is noon......)..

the lines that weekend were deadly at atlantis...
otherwise we probably would have stayed longer...
i guess we enjoyed the lazy river because it was empty except for us........

 

[Wishing on a star]

I really appreciate the input on the Comfort Suites, and the two Pool areas! If the weather is nice, and we do the Atlantis, I was hoping to do the Royal Towers area, with the Mayan slides and the Ripples pool area for DS(5). then maybe Cove Beach. Does anyone know, is Cove Beach just as nice as the main beach? I hear the main beach can often have rough surf.

We will be there on a Monday in September... does anyone know how crowded it may be during that time? I also hate long lines!

PS: Addie, yes, they will deny Day Rooms over the phone. What they are doing is actually just renting any available rooms to Day guests on a first come first served basis. I think that even the rate is exactly the same as a reserved room.

Also, it is not that they charge extra for kids. Bahamas has mandatory taxes and fees which are charged per guest (not per room). I hear that if you do not get a room key and actually use the room, that they might waive the housekeeping fee?

 

[nyloc]

Dear Wishing (and others ...)

Just to confirm ... neither Atlantis nor Comfort Suites actually do "day rooms". You are indeed being quoted the same price as a normal overnight booking ... so you might as well do it before you arrive.

Comfort Suites has always been the cheaper alternative and if the point is to spend the day outside at Atlantis is doesn't matter what the rooms are like, does it?

Finally ... don't get too het up about folks telling you there's a 4 person armband limit per room or something, because there really isn't (e.g. rollaway bed occupants are theoretically "entitled" to bands, too). So ... to avoid arguments with folks just take one of your keys to one of the cabanas on Atlantis grounds and get four armbands (for example) and take the other key over to another cabana and get the fifth band. Although I've had them give us six for one key before. I just prefer not to argue.

However you do it, a day at Atlantis with kids is a joy.

BTW ... lots of folks don't know about it but the Discovery Channel Camp (run by the D C together with Atlantis curators) is worth the trip in and of itself. There's lots of info about it online at the Atlantis site ... www.atlantis.com

 

[cjsmith]

Originally posted by nyloc
Dear Wishing (and others ...)

""Just to confirm ... neither Atlantis nor Comfort Suites actually do "day rooms". You are indeed being quoted the same price as a normal overnight booking ... so you might as well do it before you arrive.

Comfort Suites has always been the cheaper alternative and if the point is to spend the day outside at Atlantis is doesn't matter what the rooms are like, does it?

Finally ... don't get too het up about folks telling you there's a 4 person armband limit per room or something, because there really isn't (e.g. rollaway bed occupants are theoretically "entitled" to bands, too). So ... to avoid arguments with folks just take one of your keys to one of the cabanas on Atlantis grounds and get four armbands (for example) and take the other key over to another cabana and get the fifth band. Although I've had them give us six for one key before. I just prefer not to argue.""



Atlantis does indeed do day rooms, contrary to this post. Rooms at The Royal Towers start at a lot more than $200 to $250 per night. The day that I used them, they were $450, both by them and through travelocity and every other web site that I checked prior to my cruise. I was given access to my room at 9:30 in the morning and had to be out by 6:00 pm. I was told that if I didn't check out at the front desk by 6:00 pm, then I would be charged the normal over night rate of $450 plus taxes. I had to sign something to this effect when I arrived at 9:30 am and was given it in writing. I wasn't allowed to check out over the phone or on the tv like guests who are staying under the regular rates, I had to go down to the front desk and phyically check out. It was explained to me that this was how the day rooms work.
And when we received our armbands, they checked on a list to see how many I was supposed to receive against my room number and name and handed us 5 of them without me even asking.
Carolyn