The Cove/Atlantis

[Anonymous]

Any resort that allows in hordes of cruise ship passengers daily can't claim to be romantic or first class.OP, there are many nice resorts in the Montego Bay Area of Jaimaca a which are very accessible as you can fly nonstop from bwi. You can also fly nonstop to Aruba and Puerto Rico.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WE loved it! Had nachos or burgers at water park (pretty affordable) and offsite pizza from plaza or johnny rockets for dinner, and brought one suitcase of water, wine, popcorn (for movies), cereal, fruit etc. Made it rally affordable. Also went Veterans Day weekend and had no issues with crowding.

The fact that you had to bring a suitcase filled with snacks underscores the ridiculousness of Atlantis.

There are tons of better places to spend your money. Why pick that resort?

My biggest beef with them is that they are a cruise ship destination. Day passes are sold to cruise trippers as well as people staying at other nearby hotels. The resort is overcrowded and overpriced for what it is. You pay Ritz Carlton prices for McDonald's level of food and service.

Single mom. I do that everywhere I go. I budget everything. Fly southwest with free luggage and always have come have a suitcase for snacks. I refuse to pay $3-$5 for bottled water. Nonetheless, my now 9 year old talks about it every single week (and it was 2.5 years ago).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WE loved it! Had nachos or burgers at water park (pretty affordable) and offsite pizza from plaza or johnny rockets for dinner, and brought one suitcase of water, wine, popcorn (for movies), cereal, fruit etc. Made it rally affordable. Also went Veterans Day weekend and had no issues with crowding.

The fact that you had to bring a suitcase filled with snacks underscores the ridiculousness of Atlantis.

There are tons of better places to spend your money. Why pick that resort?

My biggest beef with them is that they are a cruise ship destination. Day passes are sold to cruise trippers as well as people staying at other nearby hotels. The resort is overcrowded and overpriced for what it is. You pay Ritz Carlton prices for McDonald's level of food and service.

Single mom. I do that everywhere I go. I budget everything. Fly southwest with free luggage and always have come have a suitcase for snacks. I refuse to pay $3-$5 for bottled water. Nonetheless, my now 9 year old talks about it every single week (and it was 2.5 years ago).

Why do you need bottled water at a resort? The water in the Bahamas is safe to drink, and they don't charge you for a cup of tap water.

We sometimes bring snacks on trips (even more so when our kids were young and picky), but Atlantis takes it to a whole different level. There are threads about packing an entire suitcase with food. Why? Because everyone knows the food there is terrible and overpriced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WE loved it! Had nachos or burgers at water park (pretty affordable) and offsite pizza from plaza or johnny rockets for dinner, and brought one suitcase of water, wine, popcorn (for movies), cereal, fruit etc. Made it rally affordable. Also went Veterans Day weekend and had no issues with crowding.

The fact that you had to bring a suitcase filled with snacks underscores the ridiculousness of Atlantis.

There are tons of better places to spend your money. Why pick that resort?

My biggest beef with them is that they are a cruise ship destination. Day passes are sold to cruise trippers as well as people staying at other nearby hotels. The resort is overcrowded and overpriced for what it is. You pay Ritz Carlton prices for McDonald's level of food and service.

Single mom. I do that everywhere I go. I budget everything. Fly southwest with free luggage and always have come have a suitcase for snacks. I refuse to pay $3-$5 for bottled water. Nonetheless, my now 9 year old talks about it every single week (and it was 2.5 years ago).

Why do you need bottled water at a resort? The water in the Bahamas is safe to drink, and they don't charge you for a cup of tap water.

We sometimes bring snacks on trips (even more so when our kids were young and picky), but Atlantis takes it to a whole different level. There are threads about packing an entire suitcase with food. Why? Because everyone knows the food there is terrible and overpriced.

It's just a personal preference of mine not to have to rely on going to get a cup of water when thirsty especially when I am in my room (and safe or not, I don't like to drink tap water overseas). I don't pack meals to eat, just popcorn, water, fruit, dry cereal (granola type). I do this whenever I travel. I think I save hundreds per year doing this. Call me cheap if you want. I didn't find the food to be terrible. I rather liked the pizza parlor (not the one in the hotel, but right outside in the mall area). Anyway, you have your experience and I have mine. I would never do Disney or the like. My son literally thinks Atlantis is the greatest place on earth and I like the beach. So for us it's a win-win. I really do like the lazy river and the shark slide. I'm not sure why you continue to harp on people's personal choices? Can't you just live and let live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WE loved it! Had nachos or burgers at water park (pretty affordable) and offsite pizza from plaza or johnny rockets for dinner, and brought one suitcase of water, wine, popcorn (for movies), cereal, fruit etc. Made it rally affordable. Also went Veterans Day weekend and had no issues with crowding.

The fact that you had to bring a suitcase filled with snacks underscores the ridiculousness of Atlantis.

There are tons of better places to spend your money. Why pick that resort?

My biggest beef with them is that they are a cruise ship destination. Day passes are sold to cruise trippers as well as people staying at other nearby hotels. The resort is overcrowded and overpriced for what it is. You pay Ritz Carlton prices for McDonald's level of food and service.

Single mom. I do that everywhere I go. I budget everything. Fly southwest with free luggage and always have come have a suitcase for snacks. I refuse to pay $3-$5 for bottled water. Nonetheless, my now 9 year old talks about it every single week (and it was 2.5 years ago).

Why do you need bottled water at a resort? The water in the Bahamas is safe to drink, and they don't charge you for a cup of tap water.

We sometimes bring snacks on trips (even more so when our kids were young and picky), but Atlantis takes it to a whole different level. There are threads about packing an entire suitcase with food. Why? Because everyone knows the food there is terrible and overpriced.

It's just a personal preference of mine not to have to rely on going to get a cup of water when thirsty especially when I am in my room (and safe or not, I don't like to drink tap water overseas). I don't pack meals to eat, just popcorn, water, fruit, dry cereal (granola type). I do this whenever I travel. I think I save hundreds per year doing this. Call me cheap if you want. I didn't find the food to be terrible. I rather liked the pizza parlor (not the one in the hotel, but right outside in the mall area). Anyway, you have your experience and I have mine. I would never do Disney or the like. My son literally thinks Atlantis is the greatest place on earth and I like the beach. So for us it's a win-win. I really do like the lazy river and the shark slide. I'm not sure why you continue to harp on people's personal choices? Can't you just live and let live?

I'm not attacking you or your choices. I merely asked why you fly with a case of bottled water when the water in the Bahamas is safe.

And then I commented about how it's common for people to pack a suitcase of food when they travel to Atlantis. You never hear about that for other resorts, but it's common when discussing Atlantis. That's very telling IMHO.

And why on earth did you bring up Disney? Weird. Has anyone brought up Disney in this thread, or is that just your way of throwing shade? Is there some hierarchy of vacation destinations that I'm unaware of? Or is it common to fly to Orlando with a suitcase filled with bottled water and granola bars?

OP: how much are you planning to drop at Atlantis? Post your budget, and I suspect folks can direct you to better options.

[Anonymous]

OP never came back, maybe because this thread seems to have derailed into a budget exercise. In the first post, OP says that she/he knows about the expensive food and is interested anyway.

The Cove section is set apart - you can't use the pool on a day pass from a cruise ship, so it's quieter. It's more private, but not as private as One & Only Ocean Club, which I understand is more exclusive but also more remote. For us, Cove was a good in between, since it is still next to the water park & we had DS in tow, but it feels more tranquil.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the all of the helpful comments. I think I'll take a pass on the Cove. Not thrilled about the cruise ship hordes throughout the complex, so that was a deal-breaker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the all of the helpful comments. I think I'll take a pass on the Cove. Not thrilled about the cruise ship hordes throughout the complex, so that was a deal-breaker.

If you're staying at the Cove, I'm assuming you want peace and quiet and don't want to do the water slides or any activities. If that's the case, I agree with other PPs - go somewhere else.

We love going there with kids, but that would not be my top choice for adult only weekend.

Good luck!