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HeartCruise

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Posts posted by HeartCruise

  1. I should say we carried our luggage off the ship round 5:45am and all the other luggage was stacked up inside the ship and hadn't been unloaded so if you have an early departure just opt to carry it off yourself providing you are able to....

     

    I should add we did enjoy Greenland immensely but Atlas need to up their game a bit. As wonderful as we found South Georgia and Antarctica, Greenland is also beautiful too and as experienced polar travellers we felt a bit let down.

  2. 5 minutes ago, Primus said:

    Just returned from a cruise ending in Reykjavik.  We docked at 4 pm the day before the cruise ended.  A number of passengers had flights departing between 7 am and noon on the day of disembarkation.  There were no issues leaving the ship early, just don't put out your luggage in the hall the night before and reserve a taxi in advance.  We used Hreyfell taxi for 20,000 ISK to KEF.

     

    I suspect we were on the same cruise. Our flight was at 855am the following day and we needed to be at the airport at 6:55am. We caught the flybus shuttle bus (£52 for us both) from the cruise terminal at 6am no need for an expensive taxi if you are looking for a cheaper alternative.

     

    We have polar cruised with Ponant and Albatros before (Antarctica) and were disappointed with Atlas (not the destination but rather the company and in particular expedition staff).

     

    We have never experienced an expedition cruise where staff made no effort for wildlife sightings. It wasn't that they didn't exist (lots of whale sightings on board by passengers) but no effort by expedition staff or the ship to slow down, spot wildlife etc. I asked numerous questions to expedition staff when on landings and they didn't know answers to questions such as if an island was inhabited (Hvalsey) and where the nearest inhabited settlement was. When we mentioned wildlife sightings to some of the expedition team we were told "it's not whale season" and "wildlife not as good as Antarctica". Disappointing..... I know it's not a zoo but the wildlife was there they just didnt make any effort. I spotted whales myself from our balcony which was next to the bridge and clearly saw staff in the bridge looking at them too but they just couldn't be bothered obviously!

     

    On sea days we saw members of the expedition team browsing their social media in guest areas and it just felt like no effort was made.

     

    Ship, food, generally other staff OK but we wouldn't cruise with them again on an expedition cruise.

     

    • Thanks 1
  3. Just now, 81Zoomie said:

    We did Antartica with Ponant.  We enjoyed the Atlas experience more.

     

    It was a bit too posh for us! I think at the time we paid around £4k pp for the Falklands, SG and Antarctica cruise with a balcony  at Christmas a few years ago on a last minute deal and it was cheaper than some companies were offering a 3 person cabin sharing! We stuck out like a sore thumb though, people were in evening dresses I kid you not and there was me in my Xmas penguin jumper and jeans!

    • Like 1
  4. 1 minute ago, 81Zoomie said:


    We did the same.  Communication wasn’t great, but the cruise was!

     

    Fingers crossed 🤞 we visited Antartica/South Georgia/Falklands once with Ponant and once with Albatros and have booked with Albatros for Spitsbergen next year (only because we got an 80% discount due to a failed SG and Antarctica cruise 'rogue wave'). It will be good to compare.

  5. 4 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:

    It was very refreshing to have a reasonable and casual dress code.  There was no expectation to dress up.  The emphasis was on the outdoor experience.  We didn’t pack any jeans because they are heavy, but many wore them.  Some wore chino/Docker style pants or other lightweight pants. I wore slip on Skechers everyday, and DH had black Nikes.  There was an abundance of fleece, track jackets, long sleeve casual button downs, sweaters, yoga pants, etc.  One man wore a different brightly colored short sleeve tropical shirt every day.  Everyone dressed for comfort and simplicity.

    That is reassuring thank you. We booked a very last minute deal and the communication from AOV has been very poor.

  6. We are close to our luggage allowance for ur upcoming Greenland trip (as we are flying Easyjet on way back to UK from Reykjavik).

     

    I'm sure I read somewhere Atlas will send them home to you for free. Can anyone who has cruised with them recently confirm?

  7. 7 minutes ago, Bigdogwon said:

    I personally dont think you would be able to make the 8:55am flight, if the ship docks at 6:00am it must be cleared by port authority.  The ship will be 30-45 min drive to the airport and then check in security procedures etc. I wish you luck and let us know, I would hate to have to wait until 10pm.

     

    No it docks at 4pm the day before but we have been told not to book our flights til the following day so it's whether I go for the 855am flight or the later one.

  8. Can anyone advise on what time you have to be off the ship on the day of departure. We are looking at flights fro Reykjavik back to the UK and we can either fly at 8:55am or take a later flight which would mean being at the airport at 10pm but if we have to be off the ship early with our luggage ir makes little sense booking a later flight....

  9. Thanks so much that's really helpful.  

     

    I'm hoping for the.earlier sitting at meals, we are used to eating earlier but hopefully we can request this if needed.

     

    Is there hair conditioner (I'm wondering if I need to bring my own or if this is supplied)? 

     

    A question from my other half is what larger/beer options there are (neither of us are wine drinkers, I'm happy with an occasional g&t).

  10. We have done an Antarctica cruise twice (different comapnies) and both times had different experiences of dining expectations, what people would wear and meals and in particular on one occasion feeling very casual compared with others which took us by suprise.

     

     

     

    We are heading to Greenland in a few weeks on Atlas on World Voyager in a B1/B2 cabin. Does anyone know what plug socket is needed?

     

     

     

    With it being a polar cruise is it realistic for meals, evening etc people will still dress casually, with jeans etc? Also, does anyone know what time the evening meal is? 

     

     

     

    Finally, is there options to sit just two together. We hate being put with others (I know, I know but we just don't like the forced social interaction)!

     

     

     

    Is it more likely to be more US passengers than Europe? We are in the UK but I get the impression it's more aimed at the US market.

     

    Sorry I would have posted it as a new post but CC won't send me the reactivation email the link just sends me in circles.

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