BayGirl22

I don't usually use a TA but I did for Atlas and I would highly advise it. That's just how they are set up to work, let your TA deal with the back office contacting because they don't really enable direct to consumer well. When you were contacted was it and Atlas agent or an independent TA? I would go with the latter. Plenty of recommendations from various groups if you need to find one.

There's a site called TheCruiseMaps dot com that will create a framed map of your exact itinerary. For our cruise (Atlas World Navigator) they sent us a copy of the map after.

Just got back from an 11 night in Antarctica on World Navigator. I loved the onboard experience, I thought the staff and expedition team was very good. They made sure we never waited in lines, for instance by having us sit in the lounge and bringing small groups to the mudroom. Meals were within a 2 hour window and we could choose where to sit - many people chose the same table and waiter every night. I was solo so kind of moved around to different sections/tables and waitstaff. I thought the food was good and there were a lot of selections. I think I was in a picky mood and wasn't super excited about the dinner entrees some nights. But that said, I always left full and had plenty of choices. Unlike a poster above, I thought the dessert choices were great. I had too much dessert - at dinner and lunch, but I never once had ice cream so I guess we were picking different options. Also room service is free and the burger is good. Twice I chose to chill in my room and order in. For breakfast you can put out a hang tag for it to be delivered to the room and there were several options. I usually ended up with too much food for breakfast whether I did room service or went to the dining room. There's also a daily smoothie and wellness shot and easy for those to become habits. I liked Atlas enough to put a deposit down for another cruise, and I think I'm ruined for large ship lines now.

Follow up after my cruise - they no longer pre stock with your preferences. My mini bar had some sodas and beers and I expect if I made a request they would stock with everything. They had 24 hour room service including drinks. I never needed drinks in my room, the bars were open from like 10am.

Also traveled on Atlas a couple weeks ago. No weighing or issue with carryons for our Fly Bondi flights. I carried on a backpack and a purse, others had larger or similar items, no one even glanced at them. Our checked luggage was taken from the hotel to the ship so there was no chance to charge for overages. I also few Aerolíneas Argentinas domestic after and was given stricter weight limits, which I followed. I ended up leaving my suitcase at my hotel in BA and only bringing a backpack and carry on for the side trip. Not sure how check in was and they were not weighing bags at the gate in BA or Iguazu Falls though, so I don't know that it really mattered. As others pointed out, I suspect the discrepancy is with the charter companies and is what's on paper, not how its enforced for the actual charter flights. Not worth a lot of stress if the worst case is to pay a <$100 fee to have something you really want with you.

Yes legit, its a discount they've been running for a long time now. As others said, its basically 50% off per person (and doesn't apply to solo travelers). I just got back from an Atlas expedition to Antarctica and had an amazing time. The ships are new and modern, the crew and expedition team was excellent. They were "casual luxury on expedition" and I think they got it right. I put down a next cruise deposit onboard, I was so impressed. They are a newer line and started around 2021 with a bit of a rocky start. Management has changed and feedback this season has been much more positive. The ship experience is excellent, sometimes the challenge is in the early communications - especially for those without a travel agent or one less familiar with them. My recommendation is to get a good TA and let them to the legwork, won't cost you anything. Also look at whether you are going on a "cultural" or an "expedition" trip - they are labeled that way and the inclusions and vibe will be slightly different but both seem amazing.

Just returned from the 11 day on Atlas World Navigator. We had an amazing trip and I'm ready to rebook with Atlas. Our trip was fortunate to have excellent weather so that played a role, but beyond that the Atlas team and ship was perfect for what I was looking for. We had about 130 people on our voyage and 130 crew - so it felt personal and luxurious. The ship is very nice, but has a casual vibe, not so formal that anyone felt the need to dress up. The food was good, not everything was excellent but I certainly was well fed and felt catered to. The expedition team was beyond excellent - they knew their stuff and did everything they could to make the trip educational and unique. I was a solo traveler in a Horizon room (window opens like a Juliette balcony) and pricing was similar to what you described. They actually didn't use the oceanview rooms on deck 3 for our trip - the expedition team stayed in those rooms and guests were on decks 5 and 6. You could debate a full balcony vs Juliette, but either room was very nice and comfortable. I was not interested in sharing a room, and Atlas solo prices were better or competitive with other lines. When I booked they had "solo cabins" on deck 3 but I chose to pay for the Horizon so I had fresh air and more space. As for crossing the Antarctic circle vs just going to the peninsula - yes those are not the same thing, all typical small voyages will go to the peninsula (from S America) but not all go far enough to cross the circle. Look at a map and you can easily see the difference. Atlas is clear about this on their maps and in and their trip descriptions, the 11 days go further south than work their way north, the 9 days don't go as far. (And some of the comments above are just silly - they have a different expedition team for Antarctic vs Arctic, and most cruise lines cover multiple regions and don't sail just 3-4 months a year.) I also spent some time in South America after, which I planned myself. Its not that difficult to get air, hotel, and tours in all the major areas, using Buenos Aires as a home base. If you can handle basic travel planning you don't need to book a pre/post trip excursion for this. Before/after the cruise we had a couple hours in Ushuaia on the bus, which was a nice add; I also went to Iguazu Falls and had a stopover in Panama City on the way home. I've done the Galapagos in the past and honestly would make that a separate trip. I was skeptical of Atlas 1.5 years ago when they were newer. I'm happily impressed with them and have zero hesitation recommending them.

There is a form to fill out on their site. On the top left of the Atlas page there is a section called Booked Guest. Click that page then go to My Atlas. To log on I needed a number from my TA - maybe just the booking number. Once you are there you can tell them parka and boot sizes, mini bar preferences, food preferences, and that's about it. This is really the only functionality on the site for planning one you are booked. Right now everything else comes later.

I'm booked on Atlas Ocean Voyages solo right after Christmas. They are a newer line that is upscale but a bit more affordable. They do have single cabins, although I personally decided to splurge for a balcony which was more, but not 2x the double occupancy price. They had some hiccups early on (started during Covid) but this season seems to have gone more smoothly and I've heard from a lot of happy customers. There is a FB group with a lot of ongoing feedback and reviews here on CC. That is one line that's worth looking into. There are others as well, I think Quark, National Geographic, and Ponant also have solo cabins. Any Antarctica trip is going to be pricey, and length is a factor in price. You will mostly likely find a 14 day trip then can add a few days on each end for excursions.

Their "International" cruises are supposed to be bilingual. The others are in German only. We'll see in a couple weeks how true that is. Won't matter much to us, my husband speaks enough German to get us through.

Hi @jump22, Which Christmas cruise are you going on? We're on A-rosa on the Rhine cruise leaving Dec 23 from Cologne. Just saw this post and I haven't found much online for A-rosa. Amy

Yes, I've seen that. In theory they would be. IF it were a nice business class like experience with minimal waits. From all the reports I've read and watched it seems like the experience was not good. I'm coming from SF so there are faster ways to BA than waiting in Orlando.

Thanks, that's good to hear. Most of the complaints I've heard are about the flights too. Now that they are planning to flan from BA instead of Orlando it seems like that might make things smoother. Hard to tell. I grew up boating and I did the Galapagos on a small boat so definitely understand the Expedition style. Totally different trip than a big ship cruise.

I'm looking at Antarctic cruises for late 2023/early 2024 and keep coming back to Atlas. The reviews are my main concern, mainly around preparation, communications, and embarkation/debarkation. I know they were a startup and have made some changes to the inclusions. The shift to fly from Buenos Aries instead of Orlando seems like it could simplify things, plus articles back in April about changes to back office org structure. Did anyone travel toward the end of the previous season and have feedback? Anyone booked for winter 2022 or 2023 that can update on how things are going along? Do you have clear communication on the flight itineraries now that its close to 160 days out? Better responsiveness to questions?

Are you using the QR codes or uploading the card for manual review? For a few people in our group we had to manually upload a picture of the card, then with our covid tests we had to upload pictures. I had QR codes for all of this but they didn't all read right. The manual review only took a couple hours. When we got to the port we were fine, they went with the completed Verifly.