New Atlas Ocean Voyages info

[joyce Ottawa]

So we are on the ship!  After being double vaccined and triple Covid tested( at home, at the airport in Greece and before getting on the ship ) we are now on our way to Napvlion. The ship is lovely and the crew are very happy to see passengers. Strictly speaking this isn’t the maiden voyage as the owner and 140 of his friends cruised on the ship last week. As expected lots of little issues from the internet not working for us for the first few hours, they changed our cabin for some reason to another across the hall,  at 9:pm turn down still hadn’t been done, (we went to bed anyway after 30 hours awake! ), free laundry is not included ( I thought it was)… the supper last night was excellent and the ship is so smooth and quiet, I couldn’t tell if we were sailing when I woke up with jet lag… and now the WiFi works! Also after being picked up at the airport, we were driven to a lovely hotel with a view of the Acropolis, and had a lovely lunch courtesy of Atlas before being driven to the ship for boarding around 3pm. It is so good to be traveling again!

[keokukjoe]

5 minutes ago, joyce Ottawa said:

So we are on the ship!  After being double vaccined and triple Covid tested( at home, at the airport in Greece and before getting on the ship ) we are now on our way to Napvlion. The ship is lovely and the crew are very happy to see passengers. Strictly speaking this isn’t the maiden voyage as the owner and 140 of his friends cruised on the ship last week. As expected lots of little issues from the internet not working for us for the first few hours, they changed our cabin for some reason to another across the hall,  at 9:pm turn down still hadn’t been done, (we went to bed anyway after 30 hours awake! ), free laundry is not included ( I thought it was)… the supper last night was excellent and the ship is so smooth and quiet, I couldn’t tell if we were sailing when I woke up with jet lag… and now the WiFi works! Also after being picked up at the airport, we were driven to a lovely hotel with a view of the Acropolis, and had a lovely lunch courtesy of Atlas before being driven to the ship for boarding around 3pm. It is so good to be traveling again!

Hi Joyce: Per the Atlas website under the "FAQ's" section:

Do you have dry cleaning and laundry services?

Not only are laundry services available on board, they are included in your cruise fare!

I confirmed this with my Atlas agent. She even said that the ship would provide complimentary detergent so I shouldn't pack it. She did say that if you want the staff to do your laundry, there will be an extra cost but if you use the machines provided for the guests, laundry is complimentary. Are there ironing boards?

[joyce Ottawa]

Today we were in Napvlion. The complimentary tour took us to the top of the mountain fortress as well as a walking tour of the old town. The tour guide was very knowledgeable ( as are all Greek tour guides!). 
The meals have been excellent , although so far we have only eaten in Porto restaurant. We have reservations for 7 Aft later on in the week.  I had an excellent massage in the spa, but there are no hair salon or pedicure facilities. 
There have been some hiccups but in general staff are trying very hard to make everyone happy. And really, it’s just wonderful to be on a cruise ship again!!!

[joyce Ottawa]

6 minutes ago, keokukjoe said:

Hi Joyce: Per the Atlas website under the "FAQ's" section:

Do you have dry cleaning and laundry services?

Not only are laundry services available on board, they are included in your cruise fare!

I confirmed this with my Atlas agent. She even said that the ship would provide complimentary detergent so I shouldn't pack it. She did say that if you want the staff to do your laundry, there will be an extra cost but if you use the machines provided for the guests, laundry is complimentary. Are there ironing boards?

I will check that out, no one has mentioned there are laundry facilities !

[keokukjoe]

2 minutes ago, joyce Ottawa said:

I will check that out, no one has mentioned there are laundry facilities !

Thanks, Joyce. Please let me know what they tell you. Hopefully, just show them the Atlas website FAQ's section and see what they say. The ship is no new that they probably don't even know what was promised to us. Your pics are great. Enjoy! Please continue to update.

Karen & Joe

[vicd1969]

Joyce - Really appreciate your writing a trip report on the first paid AOV cruise!

[sswansen]

Hi Joyce - thank you so much for the pictures and the updates, very much appreciated!  You mentioned that the food has been excellent - I would love to see a pic of a menu if you get the opportunity.  Sounds like so far it has been a great travel experience, I hope it continues to be amazing. 

[saddledowndani]

4 hours ago, keokukjoe said:

Hi Joyce: Per the Atlas website under the "FAQ's" section:

Do you have dry cleaning and laundry services?

Not only are laundry services available on board, they are included in your cruise fare!

I confirmed this with my Atlas agent. She even said that the ship would provide complimentary detergent so I shouldn't pack it. She did say that if you want the staff to do your laundry, there will be an extra cost but if you use the machines provided for the guests, laundry is complimentary. Are there ironing boards?

In our welcome packet it says irons and ironing boards are available for check out. Also says no personal irons allowed. 

[jwsfun]

Thanks Joyce. We are hanging on every word, every picture. Curious to see if, in you opinion, it hits the heights of Silversea, Seabourn, Regent as they are certainly in that category price wise. 

[joyce Ottawa]

A few more photos, including some from Napvlion. Not a lot of tourists, we are the only ship in town, it makes for uncrowded photos for sure. Food wise, last night I had a crab salad, a foie gras pâté ( on their home made gluten free bread which is actually pretty good, which is rare I find, ) and lobster cooked sous vide. My husband is in love with their soups, particularly their mushroom soup ! He also had a ribeye steak and asked if he could have lobster on the side of his steak, and he did!  Entertainment wise, the piano player is excellent, Gino Del Luca. He can play and sing beautifully pretty much anything you ask.  Their was also a singer who sang in Les Miserables and Cats on Broadway. She  was excellent, very dynamic show in the Dome lounge.  

[andiamo76]

Thank you so much Joyce for taking the time to post and even include some great photos!  It is greatly appreciated for all of us following along and curious what we may experience on our upcoming Atlas voyages.  This has been a great CC thread as I am learning a lot from all who have posted.  

I look forward to reading more as your trip progresses.  Now to check if perhaps my new Atlas flight confirmations for the 10/4 cruise show my Loyalty # as everyone was hunting for earlier in this thread.  None of the other Atlas docs have it on there.  I need to catch up with all of you!

[amunhbuu]

15 minutes ago, andiamo76 said:

Thank you so much Joyce for taking the time to post and even include some great photos!  It is greatly appreciated for all of us following along and curious what we may experience on our upcoming Atlas voyages.  This has been a great CC thread as I am learning a lot from all who have posted.  

I look forward to reading more as your trip progresses.  Now to check if perhaps my new Atlas flight confirmations for the 10/4 cruise show my Loyalty # as everyone was hunting for earlier in this thread.  None of the other Atlas docs have it on there.  I need to catch up with all of you!

Do you have flights for 10/4 already?  I do not.

[andiamo76]

1 hour ago, amunhbuu said:

Do you have flights for 10/4 already?  I do not.

I do.  It was a major hassle.  They have (to me) a very weird process for handling flight arrangements.  We originally were contacted by our TA in March or so as I recall that we could book flights at any time then.  I was heavy into researching and planning a driving trip around Portugal before the cruise.  Once I got it figured out I then contacted out TA with possible dates  and so began what ended up being about a 3 1/2 week ordeal to get flights.  They only wanted to check one date at a time and give me one flight option, sort of this is it, take it or leave it.  Asking them to check various dates or other options was like pulling teeth.  A 180 difference from any other cruise line we have ever worked with.  Eventually tired of the round robin between Atlas - our TA- and us, then back to the TA - then to Atlas, I finally asked to speak with their air department directly.  Not much better but at least it was one less step each time.  And actually there was a 4th party involved as the air department has to check with the marine department about the flights.  Huh?!  Go figure. 

We finally got some decent flights "booked but not ticketed".

Then with all the new Portugal restrictions and hassles we decided a few weeks ago to cancel the road trip and move our flights closer to the sail date i.e. September 29th or 30th and so began another very tiresome and frustrating round robin.  Another 13 days later with numerous emails and phone calls we finally got the new flights booked.  Supposedly.  The information from Atlas is not on anything official, more of a couple piecemeal emails.  The return flights (which we did not change) show the same seat assignments as previously shown but now the new flights over to Lisbon don't, just the basic flight numbers and class of service.  

Needless to say I don't have warm fuzzy feelings.  My advice is to be proactive and stay on top of them.  Like daily contact if necessary.  I tried the be patient and cut them some slack method and am pretty sure that was a large part of the long dragged out process.  My bet is that my file went to the bottom of the pile as others stacked up on top.  Honestly who knows.  I just hope I actually have flights.

Yesterday friends who had booked flights for a trip back in January went online for kicks to see how the airfare had changed or not.  They couldn't locate their flight anywhere.  So multiple phone calls, lots of hold time and 4 hours later they came to find out that it was a code share flight through Delta but on Alitalia which has gone under, thus no flights!    Delta had never notified them!   The takeaway is these are wild times, so we all need to stay on top of things and hope for the best but be prepared for potential chaos.  Not fun but so it goes for us passionate travelers determined to venture on.  

Let me know what happens and when you get your flights.

[joyce Ottawa]

16 hours ago, joyce Ottawa said:

I will check that out, no one has mentioned there are laundry facilities !

So… I checked again.  There are no laundry facilities on board. No free laundry either.  Apparently that “changed “.  
Also with regards to the free internet, it is not as advertised either. It’s free for a certain amount of data only. We blew through that in one day. My fault for assuming that like on Silversea or on Crystal free means free for the whole cruise. It doesn’t.  I bought a 45$ package thinking that would do it, but it doesn’t either. They do not suggest turning off your WiFi when not actively using it, no usage of logoff.com as on other ships. So I had to buy another package.  Colour me not impressed!  Rant over for now…

[jwsfun]

Joyce, that’s really interesting. A) the Laundry thing still shows as free on the Atlas website, so that’s a miss and B) the WiFi situation is unacceptable.  You cant command prices like these without decent FREE WiFi.  It’s just not realistic in today’s world.   Curious to see how Atlas responds to these two things .  Anyone from Atlas reading this????

[amunhbuu]

56 minutes ago, joyce Ottawa said:

So… I checked again.  There are no laundry facilities on board. No free laundry either.  Apparently that “changed “.  
Also with regards to the free internet, it is not as advertised either. It’s free for a certain amount of data only. We blew through that in one day. My fault for assuming that like on Silversea or on Crystal free means free for the whole cruise. It doesn’t.  I bought a 45$ package thinking that would do it, but it doesn’t either. They do not suggest turning off your WiFi when not actively using it, no usage of logoff.com as on other ships. So I had to buy another package.  Colour me not impressed!  Rant over for now…

 

That is very disappointing to hear.  That is certainly not all inclusive all the way as they like to say. 

[keokukjoe]

9 minutes ago, jwsfun said:

Joyce, that’s really interesting. A) the Laundry thing still shows as free on the Atlas website, so that’s a miss and B) the WiFi situation is unacceptable.  You cant command prices like these without decent FREE WiFi.  It’s just not realistic in today’s world.   Curious to see how Atlas responds to these two things .  Anyone from Atlas reading this????

I am not happy about this. False advertising! I am calling them today to rant. I hope that others will as well. Let's keep up the pressure and keep everyone informed.

Karen

[amunhbuu]

Tagging @AOV Alberto in this thread for his awareness.

[keokukjoe]

1 minute ago, amunhbuu said:

Tagging @AOV Alberto in this thread for his awareness.

Call them too! Let us know what happens. 

[keokukjoe]

20 minutes ago, amunhbuu said:

Tagging @AOV Alberto in this thread for his awareness.

I’m calling Laura at Atlas today concerning their false advertising of “free internet and laundry”. We should all do the same. 

When Joyce wrote last week that she didn’t receive the backpacks in the Fedex package, I called Atlas and their story changed. Before, everyone was going to get the backpacks, EITHER SHIPPED TO THEIR HOME OR WAITING FOR THEM ON THE SHIP. They changed that to only those on “MAX” land packages WHICH HAVE ALL BEEN PREVOUSLYCANCELLED!!! 

I'm copying and pasting the info from Atlas's website "FAQ''s" page so that everyone has this info handy in case they try to be "slick" and delete this info. Both are listed under "ATLAS ONBOARD":

 

Is WI-FI included? 
Your cruise fare includes standard Wi-Fi. But if you feel you need a little more, feel free to purchase one of our upgraded packages.

Do you have dry cleaning and laundry services? 

Not only are laundry services available on board, they are included in your cruise fare!

 

Atlas advertises "All inclusive - all the way". NOT TRUE!!!  

Perhaps complaining about this on social media will get their attention. 

 

 

 

 

[keokukjoe]

1 hour ago, joyce Ottawa said:

So… I checked again.  There are no laundry facilities on board. No free laundry either.  Apparently that “changed “.  
Also with regards to the free internet, it is not as advertised either. It’s free for a certain amount of data only. We blew through that in one day. My fault for assuming that like on Silversea or on Crystal free means free for the whole cruise. It doesn’t.  I bought a 45$ package thinking that would do it, but it doesn’t either. They do not suggest turning off your WiFi when not actively using it, no usage of logoff.com as on other ships. So I had to buy another package.  Colour me not impressed!  Rant over for now…

I’m calling Laura at Atlas today concerning their false advertising of “free internet and laundry”. We should all do the same. 

When Joyce wrote last week that she didn’t receive the backpacks in the Fedex package, I called Atlas and their story changed. Before, everyone was going to get the backpacks, EITHER SHIPPED TO THEIR HOME OR WAITING FOR THEM ON THE SHIP. They changed that to only those on “MAX” land packages WHICH HAVE ALL BEEN PREVOUSLYCANCELLED!!! 

I'm copying and pasting the info from Atlas's website "FAQ''s" page so that everyone has this info handy in case they try to be "slick" and delete this info. Both are listed under "ATLAS ONBOARD":

 

Is WI-FI included? 
Your cruise fare includes standard Wi-Fi. But if you feel you need a little more, feel free to purchase one of our upgraded packages.

Do you have dry cleaning and laundry services? 

Not only are laundry services available on board, they are included in your cruise fare!

 

Atlas advertises "All inclusive - all the way". NOT TRUE!!!  

Perhaps complaining about this on social media will get their attention. 

[goghd]

First I want to thank Joyce for posting a daily review of the adventure with the 1st Official Atlas Cruise.  

I will be on the ship in Egypt when you leave for their 2nd cruise  I'm taking a land tour via Atlas for 4 days pre-cruise starting Tuesday next week when I land in Cairo.  

 

Glad to hear about the great food and service.  Disappointed about the internet.   Expectations are why I book this cruise and Atlas and Atlas has failed in the WIFI area.   

 

Joyce,  Please keep the daily journal coming as it is beneficial to  document the pros and cons of Atlas for all.  Plus I enjoy reading your journey and it helps in lowering my expectations of what is advertised as a luxury cruise. 

[keokukjoe]

4 hours ago, joyce Ottawa said:

So… I checked again.  There are no laundry facilities on board. No free laundry either.  Apparently that “changed “.  
Also with regards to the free internet, it is not as advertised either. It’s free for a certain amount of data only. We blew through that in one day. My fault for assuming that like on Silversea or on Crystal free means free for the whole cruise. It doesn’t.  I bought a 45$ package thinking that would do it, but it doesn’t either. They do not suggest turning off your WiFi when not actively using it, no usage of logoff.com as on other ships. So I had to buy another package.  Colour me not impressed!  Rant over for now…

I tried to call our second Atlas advisor, Laura, this am. We started with Alan Pollack. Well, along with Alan(quit) and the Atlas Air guy, Ken Goldberg (retired?), Laura quit. So I spoke to a Lisa at Atlas. She again said that laundry was included and that “standard” internet service is included. Who’s standard???  I was very blunt and strongly advised her to share the comments on CC with the powers that be. I told her that Atlas needs to deliver what they promised as the bad publicity they are generating will literally sink their ship! She promised to call me back by the end of the day. We’ll see. I promise to share anything I find out. 

[amunhbuu]

Wait, so Laura is gone now?? 🤨

[keokukjoe]

Just now, amunhbuu said:

Wait, so Laura is gone now?? 🤨

Yep.