amunhbuu

Staff:

Staff was just amazing.  We received great service from everyone.  Of course, they all knew your name by the second day.  They also remembered your preferences and had drinks ready when you sat down.

Entertainment was split between three performers.  There was a pianist and singer, the cruise director, and a guest singer.  Sometimes all three would perform at the same time.  We did have a cruise staff entertainment evening where the cruise performed some contemporary and some items from their native land.

There were two speakers.  One was focused on history.  The other was focused on sports.  They were both informative and entertaining.  They were also more than happy to continue the conversations after their presentations.

Ship:

The World Navigator was about three months old when we sailed her.  She is a lovely ship and reminds me of a small modern cruise ship vs. similar sized ships I have been on which have felt like large yachts.

Deck 3 is where we got on the tenders.  There are also porthole cabins that are not currently in use.  The lockers for Antarctica are down here as well.

Deck 4 is where the facilities are.  Checkin Desk, Gym, Future Cruises, Excursions, Medical, Shop, and Spa.

The gym had two treadmills, a recumbent bike, and a normal bike for cardio.  There was a bench and dumbbells from 1KG to 10KG.  There was a magnetic pulley device you could adjust tension on.  There were also a variety of mats and exercise balls.

Deck 5 has two interesting features apart from the cabins.  Aft holds “The Living Room”.  It is a large expansive deck with couches you can go back and relax on.  Forward holds “Water’s Edge”.  This is an observation deck with a heated bench to go out and see where the ship is going.  There are two bulkhead doors you need to go through to get to it.

Deck 6 is where the bridge is.  It is a very modern bridge.  Very clean.

The pool is on Deck 7.  It is a raised platform with two hot tubs.  They are saltwater pools.  They did struggle to keep the hot tubs hot.  There is also a forward observation deck.

There is a jogging track on Deck 8 that you can access from Deck 7 aft.  15 laps are a mile.  There are four exercise devices at each corner.  The helipad is up here as are the two cranes to lower the zodiacs and jet skis.

The theme of the ship is a modern & chic.  Think mid century modern and mad men.  The walls are covered in a faux dark wood pattern.  After a while, the pattern got to me, but I tend to pick up on repeating patterns pretty quickly.  The furniture was mostly comfortable with a variety of types and bright colors.  It will be interesting to see how the scheme ages.

We had a standard balcony cabin on Deck 5.  It was a very nice cabin.  I thought the bedding was very comfortable.  The highlight of the cabin was the shower.  There was an overhead rain shower, a handheld shower, and three jet showers from the wall.  I really miss that shower!

We got a chance to tour some of the other rooms and they all look nice.  No super large suites that you would find on a larger ship.  We also were able to check out the horizon cabin that we will be in for Antarctica, with the dropping window.

Long Version:

Embarking:

Flights out were fine.  We had one kerfuffle when the board told us our flight to Lisbon was delayed due to airport closure.  No one knew what that meant.  Someone in a uniform finally said it was generally trying to time incoming international flights.  I was thinking, these are planned in advance, not sure why they are doing same day timing.  Eventually, we left at our original time and showed up five minutes early.  /shrug

Took us about an hour and twenty minutes to get through customs.  Felt like I was in line for a ride at disney world.  So much for social distancing.  Got to the customs agent and started to hand over the covid testing and he just said the airline already checked it, he didn't care.

Got our luggage and found a sign for Atlas.  Person standing behind said sign was not for Atlas.  Finally, someone spoke up and took us to a group.  We walked out to our bus.  We waited for a few more people to show up.  I think that there were eleven of us total.  We took a pleasant ride through Lisbon to the Cruise Port.

Here is where a major kerfuffle happened.  We got dropped off and gave our bags to the porters.  We were filling out our covid testing paperwork and noticed everything said Oceania on it.  At first, we thought maybe Atlas being a small cruise outsourced the testing to Oceania, but the more we thought about it, that didn't make sense.  So we went back to the porters.  After we explained everything, he went running after our luggage as it was being loaded on the wrong ship!  We managed to get our luggage back and walked down the port to the World Navigator which was about a third of a mile away. 

Then there were more kerfuffles at the smaller port and a lot of uncertainty.  They finally let us into the terminal to sit down.  After a while, someone from the ship came down with some water.  Then we all sat there for a while.  Then the nurse came down and asked for our covid forms.  She was then surprised that none of us had received the form that she was talking about.  So we all had to fill out our forms by hand there.  After that we were processed by travel party to get a covid antigen test to be able to board.  That took about five minutes to pass through once you were selected.  Once we tested negative, we were able to board.  We were directed to the Atlas lounge where there was some welcome wine.  They began to check us in via a mobile device. 

Since we were a bit early, we were restricted to the Atlas lounge.  Then they prepared a buffet lunch for us.  We saw the owner of Mystic sitting at the captain's table with a bunch of people in suits. It looked like a board meeting was going on, so we all ate outside in the open space.

We went back to the Atlas lounge.  Then we got access to our cabin and were able to drop our stuff off.  After that we went exploring for a new home for the next sixteen days.  The ship is pretty small (around 10k GT).  This did not take long.

That evening everyone met up in the Dome for sail away.  We had drinks and could walk out on the deck in front of the Dome.  Sailing out of Lisbon was nice.  And that was the start of the cruise!

Short Version:

Despite some kerfuffles, we had a great time.  Food was great for what it was.  We had a different menu in Porto every night.  Liquor selection was fine.  Wine selection was meh, I mostly stuck with the Champagne which was acceptable for its price range.  Staff was amazing and bent over backwards to help out.  Seems like there is a disconnect between what the Miami Atlas HQ promises and what is communicated to the ship.  We are looking forward to our Antarctica cruise.

3 hours ago, amburfin said:

Oh, fantastic! I was trying to work out (no pun intended 🤪) why two people from the same cabin would not be permitted to use the facility simultaneously. Hubs said not to overthink it;  besides, policies can and do change frequently. Thank you!

Your husband sounds like a smart and wise man.  I bet we will get along.

Ugh, we leave in a week and that is not what we were hoping to hear.  Stinks that they are not living up to expectations.  Sounds like they went all out when the owner and his friends and then the paid TAs were onboard.

Sounds like we might have to purchase some wines in port before the crossing.

Tour of the World Navigator:

Thanks for the info!

Enjoy your trip!!

Some good news on the Antarctica front:

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/25863-world-navigator-confirmed-to-sail-inaugural-antarctica-season-this-november.html

1 hour ago, Cybele 727 said:

Hi all, we have really enjoyed the cruise. There has been no corkage fees for wine brought from shore. I feel that the people here on board are really trying to get up to speed and are not just interested in collecting your money. They are really trying to build something nice but can only handle the problems that bubble up to the surface. 
There are some major wiring issues that will be addressed when they stop at Lisbon. Internet continues to be a problem but I told all my friends I was on vacation and haven’t been on much. 
my biggest problem is laundry. So far they have done two free loads for us but we only can send socks, PJs and t shirts.  I have hand washed a couple of my good things and they did a good job ironing them. But most of my clothes at this point are dirty and wrinkled.  Amazing that laundry is such a big deal !

  The champagne is not good but I have been told that they have 2 nice Proseccos. I will try them tonight.

Thanks for the update!  If the Prosecco and Champagne are at the same price point, the Prosecco will usually win.  😉

My experience with included cruise line wine is that there is usually one wine of each kind that is acceptable, but you won't find anything amazing.  Generally $10-$17 retail mass produced wines.

I had hoped (many moons ago) when I was being sold on Atlas and they were talking about showcasing Portugal wine and cuisine that we would get some nice Ports.  However, given the feedback so far, I am keeping my expectations low.

If you have the opportunity to take any pics of menus and wine lists, it would be much appreciated!

Thanks and enjoy your time onboard!

7 hours ago, Cybele 727 said:

Hi, we are really enjoying the cruise so far. The people are wonderful and the food is execellent  . 
There are approximately 76 passengers on board. 
We have just heard that laundry can be pressed when returned. No irons available to borrow from the front desk. 
there are both 220 qnd 110 here on board ( curling irons from the US will work! ) 

for you Starbucks fans……🥲coffee is really poor, bring your own pods for the room !  We bought L’or and they fit the machine. 
wine….there are approx 3 wihites and 3 reds available for free. 
Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc ( both 6 Hats ) and Riesling ( German)

Syrah ( (6 hats), Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander RE ) , JovenTemprano  (Spanish )

I found the Sauvignon Blanc (6 Hats ) was my go to for white., And we bring red from on shore.  
Wine list does not look bad and prices fair.  They don’t mind you purchasing wine on shore to open at dinner.

I am still  trying to figure out how to get my clothes ironed as I like to take care of my good things myself and don’t want to appear that I always sleep In my clothes !!  
But we are happy to be cruising again !!

Thanks again for keeping us updated!

Are there any sparkling wine choices?

Have fun!

2 hours ago, keokukjoe said:

Newest EU requirements for US citizens in this NYTimes article. So far only Italy has changed. Spain has not but will re-evaluate on 8/5.

https://www.nytimes.com/article/eu-us-travel-restrictions.html

Thanks!  NY Times is behind a paywall for me.  Here is a similar article:  https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/italy-applies-eus-recommendation-imposes-strict-travel-restrictions-on-us-visitors/

I posted this previously in our Antarctica roll call.  Who know what things will actually look like when we hit that season.

https://en.mercopress.com/2021/08/26/celebration-in-ushuaia-cruise-season-authorized-to-begin-on-20-october

25 minutes ago, jwsfun said:

Documents just arrived and they are stunning.   Athens here we come. ( unless the US gets closed out of the EU, which is a thing right now).  I’ll be keeping you all informed along the way when we sail on 9/18. I’ll be looking for those unexpected surprises, that will delight and wow. I’m letting go of the Laundry/ Wifi stuff but wish we could get an update on the progress of wifi and an ETA on the “wiring” issue being fixed. I need this vacation and I’m pulling for you Atlas.  Please come through with an amazing product worthy of these price points. 

Best of luck and we look forward to hearing of your adventures!

1 hour ago, Cybele 727 said:

I just went into My Atlas to see the vaccine form and noticed that 1/2 of our beverage choices were deleted. They have limited the choices available in room beverages. There was a whole list of beer , now there is Bud or Luffe…2 choices. And no champagne for me !

is anyone else on the Sept 6th sailing out of Athens ??

That happened last week sometime.  I had filled all of my options out and then my wife tried hers a couple of days and the options were all gone.  Did a bunch of research on the options and all gone!  😄

1 hour ago, keokukjoe said:

Guess what? I just went to MyAtlas and there is no place to upload the CDC certificate!

Yeah, my wife tried it right away and said the form was broken.  😄

And then it reset other information again.

Just got an email:

Please be informed that Atlas Ocean Voyages is requiring proof of Covid vaccination from all guests, beginning with World Navigator’s October 4, 2021, voyage. We are adjusting our mandatory vaccination requirement in order to meet the ever-changing local destinations’ Covid protocols and best ensure an uninterrupted and safe guest experience.

We request all guests to upload into MyAtlas, in advance, a valid certificate detailing that you have completed your vaccination at least 14 days prior to embarkation. You can access MyAtlas via www.AtlasOceanVoyages.com under the Booked Guests tab or click here.

3 hours ago, keokukjoe said:

Looking forward to your review. Have a safe trip home. One little question: is there a retractable clothes line in the shower? It's interesting that Atlas is willing to only launder underwear. I always  hand wash my own and never trust those garments to a cruise laundry! Thanks. 

I suspect we will be packing lots of laundry detergent for the TA!  😉

1 hour ago, saddledowndani said:

Here is the laundry solution during our cruise. Not sure if they will continue with the complimentary undergarments but it was at least something for us that were under the impression that laundry was included. 

Thanks for the update.  Disappointing, but not surprising.

I hope you are enjoying the cruise nonetheless!

Just logged back in. A bunch of the minibar drink options have been eliminated.  Not a huge surprise about that.

It changed on us the other day.  I had to reenter a bunch of information...  🤭

2 hours ago, Katosmama said:

When I looked at the entry requirements for Argentina via the embassy website it seemed to indicate that there was an exemption if Argentina was used as a stopover and you stayed less than 24 hours? Perhaps Atlas is banking on that with their charter flight, that you will only be in Argentina a few hours as they take you directly from the airport to the ship.  

I think that may be a saving grace given the bubble that Atlas should be able to create.

I am not sure anyone really knows right now.  Given the rating of Portugal and Barbados' entry requirements, it is hard to see how that cruise will happen in its current form with the Barbados celebration.

Glad you are still enjoying the trip!