Going back to Atlantis

Gotta get back some of the $$ we left there two years ago!

We've been talking about it. Coming up is my 60th birthday, and our 25th anniversary. We went to a couple travel agencies (no, we were never planning on actually using them) and we were told "No rooms in the Royal Towers," which seemed kind of strange because we aren't traveling until fall. Atlantis is a popular destination, but come on, they aren't sold out half a year in advance.

So I checked the website, and of course it let me select Royal Tower rooms. A little expensive, but I ain't staying way out in the Beach Towers, nor in the Coral Towers. But before I started digging for my credit card, I got my Players Club card, and called the number.

Two rooms. Harbor view (middle level) $106 per night each for the first four nights, $232 per for the last two. The second room, our daughter and her boyfriend are going to come from Santiago and enjoy our celebration with us. The savings over the entire time is pretty much equal to what I lost when we were there last, so I'll call that an advantage play taken advantage of! (We won't talk about how much Mrs Mosca lost.) The real fun will be seeing the kids, by then it will have been about a year and a half since. Gonna be good times.

Glad to see you have forgiven your daughter for aging you. Kids just have a way of making your older so damn fast.

Congratulations on the 25 years. Mrs. Mosca must be one hell of a woman !

Maybe they don't get a proper kickback for royal tower rooms? Odd that they would "lie" to you about that.

Travel agencies must be scrambling now to justify their existence. All they need now is to have more people realizing they are worthless.

PS: yes, congratulations on the 25! I'm stunned to think we are coming up on our 18th.

Quote: odiousgambit

Travel agencies must be scrambling now to justify their existence. All they need now is to have more people realizing they are worthless.

PS: yes, congratulations on the 25! I'm stunned to think we are coming up on our 18th.

What I think has happened is that all the good travel agents have retired or moved on due to decreasing profits, and what is left are people who don't make enough to care about what they do.

The first guy we went to was a salesman who used to work for me. He was awful. It's freakin' ATLANTIS, you shouldn't have to be looking up the answer to every question we ask. He wasn't all that good a salesman for me, but it was bad, seeing it from the other side of the desk. No excitement at all. Next.

The second agent was okay for personality, but don't tell me you can't get rooms in the Royal Towers when I've already looked them up. We aren't cheap people, but we aren't fools, either. We'll pay a fair price for a good service... now please provide a service. We would have paid the regular price for the rooms and allowed her whatever discount she got from the hotel and airline, just to get everything done quickly and efficiently. She didn't get us the rooms we wanted. Next.

Next I'm going to see if I can get just one more room for my sister and her husband. That would be a coup!

I'm guessing a joke about a ZPM and the Stargate would fall flat, right?

I see the tv ads for that place all the time, it looks really cool. Could you give maybe a short report on what its like there.

Congrats on 25. We have been married 10 together 17. it only seems like 50!!

Quote: pew

I see the tv ads for that place all the time, it looks really cool. Could you give maybe a short report on what its like there.

We were there a couple years ago.

Here's what happened on one of the nights.

Some trip stuff in the blog

It's got an older vacation feel to it, the attitude is like you went back in time about 35 years. Food is expensive as hell. We spent almost all our time either in the casino or at restaurants because I'd had surgery 3 weeks earlier and couldn't go in the water. We did spend a day at Blue Lagoon private island, that was fantastic. The aquarium is too big to describe, you can spend an entire day there without becoming bored: do half the day above the water and half the day walking through the tunnels underneath.

Hi Mosca, I have a few questions if you don't mind.

I heard it really sucks getting there. Something about having to fly to another island and then taking a little puddle jumper to Atlantis. How would you rate the experience in getting there?

Could a low level gambler even play there? ie. $5-$10 tables.

Would you consider this a kid friendly place?

We have been considering going for the last few years but we always find a reason not to spend $5,000 or more.

Quote: GWAE

Hi Mosca, I have a few questions if you don't mind.

I heard it really sucks getting there. Something about having to fly to another island and then taking a little puddle jumper to Atlantis. How would you rate the experience in getting there?

Could a low level gambler even play there? ie. $5-$10 tables.

Would you consider this a kid friendly place?

We have been considering going for the last few years but we always find a reason not to spend $5,000 or more.

1) We flew from Scranton on a regional jet to Charlotte, then Charlotte into Nassau on an Airbus 6 across. Not a problem. In fact the easy flight influenced our decision to return.

2) $10 is common. I didn't see $5.

3) It is SUPER kid friendly. I would say that it is more a family resort than it is an adult resort.

4) Yeah, it is expensive. We've always gone to expensive places. We would rather go to a great place every other year than to so-so places yearly.

I was just there on a Friday afternoon. Two $15 craps tables were all that was open. And they took my $1000 in about 40 minutes.
I wanted to walk around the property and see how nice it was, but you have to buy a pass. There were all kinds of signs for paid tours, but I saw no mention of a pass.
We gave up and went back to the ship.

My wife and I were on a cruise ship in Nassau in May 2006 and visited Atlantis. I certainly can't say we saw the entire place in that short visit, but we never encountered any barriers to our wandering. We looked at the outdoor aquarium from above and went inside to look through the glass walls. Those two have the appearance of being the same aquarium, but I don't think they really are. We even ate at one of the restaurants

We were back in Nassau on a different ship in April 2012, and it seemed as though the attitude had become, "We don't want no stinking cruise ship passengers hanging around our resort -- lose your money in the casino and then get the heck out." We couldn't visit a lot of the sites we had seen just half a dozen years earlier. With that new attitude, the place didn't interest us any more, and I left without ever buying in at the casino.

Quote: Mosca

1) We flew from Scranton on a regional jet to Charlotte, then Charlotte into Nassau on an Airbus 6 across. Not a problem. In fact the easy flight influenced our decision to return.

2) $10 is common. I didn't see $5.

3) It is SUPER kid friendly. I would say that it is more a family resort than it is an adult resort.

4) Yeah, it is expensive. We've always gone to expensive places. We would rather go to a great place every other year than to so-so places yearly.

We go at least once a year. It has been and remains a highlight of our year. Travel is right into the refurbished airport and a taxi is a better choice than one of the shuttle companies in my opinion.
The food is what you would pay in NYC at a decent restaurant. The resort super for families, but you can also find plenty of quiet umbrella space poolside if you want to be by yourself.
That said...it is a totally different experience to what the cruise people get. If they want to get into the best parts they have a healthy fee. I wouldnt do it if I were on the cruise.
Things will heat up when the new, GIANT Bahamar opens later this year. Might see some good room competition happen.

Quote: RaleighCraps

I was just there on a Friday afternoon. Two $15 craps tables were all that was open. And they took my $1000 in about 40 minutes.
I wanted to walk around the property and see how nice it was, but you have to buy a pass. There were all kinds of signs for paid tours, but I saw no mention of a pass.
We gave up and went back to the ship.

When we visited there (we were staying at Sandals) just over a year ago all the entrances to the pool area had security on them during the day. Once it got dark security was less prominent and we ignored the signage and went outside. We toured around but once it is dark a lot of the outside attractions are closed but we were never asked for a room key while outside. Spent a lot of time watching the aquarium, it really is amazing. There were a lot of kids running around in the place though. Allways thought I would stay there sometime but now at our age my wife and I enjoy kid free places.

Quote: kenarman

When we visited there (we were staying at Sandals) just over a year ago all the entrances to the pool area had security on them during the day. Once it got dark security was less prominent and we ignored the signage and went outside. We toured around but once it is dark a lot of the outside attractions are closed but we were never asked for a room key while outside. Spent a lot of time watching the aquarium, it really is amazing. There were a lot of kids running around in the place though. Allways thought I would stay there sometime but now at our age my wife and I enjoy kid free places.

We picked our dates for when the kids are back in school, we'll see how that goes.

My thought is, if I paid $1200 for a week, or more for a Royal Tower room, I would want some exclusivity from the cruise ships too. I don't go on the boat and reduce the value of that experience by competing for resources (time and space), why should the reverse be okay? Cruises are cruises, resorts are resorts. Go walk around the straw market.

Sorry that attitude is not normal for me, but there it is.

Quote: Mosca

We picked our dates for when the kids are back in school, we'll see how that goes.

My thought is, if I paid $1200 for a week, or more for a Royal Tower room, I would want some exclusivity from the cruise ships too. I don't go on the boat and reduce the value of that experience by competing for resources (time and space), why should the reverse be okay? Cruises are cruises, resorts are resorts. Go walk around the straw market.

Sorry that attitude is not normal for me, but there it is.

That is a fair attitude. Of course, Atlantis is not completely restricting access. They are, instead, seeking to profit from it by charging tp do things like view the aquariums, or, if you want to use the water park, charge $139. One could argue that your room rate is less because of those who do pay to visit, but I would sooner bet you aren't benefiting from it at all.

But I agree with you, if I was paying $1200 a week for a room there, I would not want to be overrun with non resort guests either.

Quote: Mosca

We picked our dates for when the kids are back in school, we'll see how that goes.

My thought is, if I paid $1200 for a week, or more for a Royal Tower room, I would want some exclusivity from the cruise ships too. I don't go on the boat and reduce the value of that experience by competing for resources (time and space), why should the reverse be okay? Cruises are cruises, resorts are resorts. Go walk around the straw market.

Sorry that attitude is not normal for me, but there it is.

We were there in mid January. Not sure why all the little f*****s weren't in school. ;-)

Quote: kenarman

We were there in mid January. Not sure why all the little f*****s weren't in school. ;-)

That's why we didn't go. Had a trip report from
a friend and he said never again, the kids ruined
it for them. I really have no patience for little brats,
go figure..