JanR

Princess was the other line that we were considering for our WC as the cost was within our budget along with MSC. What ultimately swayed us was the itinerary. The destinations seemed much more vanilla and if I remember right the port vs sea day ratio was only about 40%.

Our February cruise went down the peninsula. We were told we would not see Emperor Penguins as they are more often associated with being farther north and east. We did see tons of Chinstrap, Gentoo, and Adélie penguins. I'd advise not to go into this journey thinking you're missing something by not seeing Emperor Penguins. . .I had thought we had researched and prepared a great deal for our trip and was completely blown away by everything we encountered. Have a great trip!

On our cruise, during the Drake Crossing there was time established for everyone to come down to the Atlas Lounge and try on your parka as well as the boots that are lent to you. Come down in base layer(s) that you plan on wearing and they will make sure your parka is perfectly sized. I can only assume that this is the practice for all of their Antarctica cruises. PS. The parkas are warm. We found ourselves only wearing silk-weight poly-pro pants and shirt under our parka and waterproof pants. If you haven't already done so, plan on bringing waterproof ski pants. They'll be perfect. Additionally, we wore a neck gator and poly-pro cap in addition to gloves. For camping or if you are just doing a zodiac cruise (you don't always have the opportunity to land), we took a slightly heaver poly-pro shirt instead of our silk-weight.

It sounds like Atlas went to three ships faster than they anticipated when in late 2023 the Voyager was transferred over from Nicko Cruises. Without this transfer, I believe the plan didn't call for Atlas to be at 3 ships until the seeker in 2025. Only a guess, but I think the real driver was the World Explorer which was being chartered to Quark Expeditions. I imagine Mario Ferreira realized that it would be more advantageous to sell this vessel to Windstar than continue to charter it out. As the World Seeker was not needed to build out Atlas to 3 ships anymore, it was rolled into the package for Windstar. Again, only a guess.

Sorry I did not see this until now. I would humbly suggest that while we all can have different opinions based upon our own personal experiences, it is probably ill-advised to attribute the differences in these opinions based upon your perceived sense of "higher expectations." Fortunately, I am not offended as I know what my expectations of food are as we regularly seek out cuisine from all sorts of venues whether it is the hawker centers in Singapore, curry stands in India, fish markets in Korea, or our regular hunt for Michelin-starred restaurants in each city we visit. So I think that the better explanation to why we might differ on the food of a particular cruise line is not due to your superior food taste (which I am sure is exquisite), but perhaps that we have had different experiences and it is the difference in these experiences that form our opinion. Did I think that the MSC Poesia's food was at the top of cruise line food? No. Did I believe that the food on the MSC Preziosa was worthy of commendation? Yes . . . especially in the Yacht Club-only restaurant. But likewise, we found that the food on our recent Viking Sky was far below that on the MSC Poesia--especially its buffet which I would rank as the worse I've experienced on any cruise ship since the Pandemic. Likewise, I was greatly disappointed with the food we had on our Oceania Regatta cruise and was shocked to discover that I had better steaks on the Poesia than we had on the 24 days on a ship from a line that touted they had the "finest cuisine at sea." With this said, do I believe that from my one sailing on Viking Ocean that their food will always be as miserable? No. Would I make the same condemnation of Oceania's food? Absolutely not. I am currently on the Oceania Vista and can attest that it is in the top 3 of cruises we've taken since the pandemic--as better than the Marina and Regent Splendor and just a bit below the Explora Journeys. Now, reasonable people can disagree on the ranking I put forward in my previous paragraph. But I would chalk these differences upon solely to different experiences and would not be so bold to suggest that their food expectations might be lesser than my own. My two cents . . . Your mileage may vary . . .

The word "magical" when used to describe an experience might be considered by many to be trite, but it truly is the best description of our February 11-day journey to Antarctica on the Atlas Navigator. From the day we arrived in Buenos Aires and arrived at our complimentary hotel, we felt Atlas's arms embracing us into what we now consider to be the best trip of our lives. Just as Atlas's representatives at the hotel had explained when we arrived, early the next morning we (and the other Atlas guests) were loaded into buses to whisk us to our chartered flight to Ushuaia. Our luggage had been gathered the previous evening and when we arrived to Ushuaia, they were taken to the ship while the guests were boarded onto comfortable busses for our complimentary excursion to witness the beauty of the Tierra del Fuego National Park along with an engaging and informative guide. Our excursion concluded by driving onto the pier right to our ship. The ship's general manager, Nuno Da Silva, jumped on board and explained the embarkation process which had groups of about 10-12 passengers at a time walking up the gangway to the ship where we were escorted into the Atlas Lounge, offered a glass of sparkling wine, in-processed and released to go explore the ship and our room which was ready for us along with our all of our luggage. We had a B1 Veranda which was comfortable, nicely appointed, and perfect for this voyage. To our pleasant surprise, there was plenty of drawer and shelf space for all of our clothes (which was something that its newer sister the Atlas Traveler lacked). We had expected to set sail that evening for the Drake Passage, but before we even boarded the ship Nuno had explained on our bus that we would be leaving the following evening instead. At the evening briefing, the captain and our expedition guide leader explained that a storm system was moving through the passage and the captain decided to delay our sailing for 24 hours to avoid the storm. While disappointed that we were missing a day in Antarctica, it gave us the opportunity to explore the beautiful town of Ushuaia. As briefed, after our full day in Ushuaia, we pulled out of port for our 2 day crossing of the Drake Passage. We had heard that we might experience the "Drake Lake" or the "Drake Shake". While we certainly did not have the "Drake Lake", we our version of the "Drake Shake" was not as violent as we feared. Yes, the motion sickness bags were put out at the elevators, outside decks were closed, and for a time the elevators were disabled as the 5-6 meter surge kept us swaying left and right, most everyone made the crossing in good spirits--made easier by the complimentary beverage package that Atlas provides. During the passage, all passengers attended the briefing by the expedition crew mandated by international treaty for everyone who would be landing on the continent. It was here that we realized two things. The first was our incredible fortune to have this team with us. The expedition team leader, Jonathan, was as experienced as anyone could have wished. This was his 27th season in Antarctica and was truly amazing. We would come to love his calm, gentle wake-up call over the ships speakers of "Good Morning, Good Morning" signaling that we were about to begin on another amazing day of landings. His team also were very experienced, each bringing to the team different specialties. Their series of briefings given during the Drake Passage gave us 100% confidence in what we were going to experience during our landings. The second realization we had was that this was a cruise unlike any other we have had. On most other cruises, guests had different objectives as they all selected their own experiences each day. On an Atlas Antarctica cruise, the entire ship from crew to passengers were unified in one mission--the exploration of Antarctica. This dynamic was something we've never witnessed on any cruise and was invigorating as each day we awoke as one team ready for the adventures to follow. The last night of the passage, we gazed in wonder at a few icebergs spied in the distance and exclaimed with glee at the sight of whales. We now laugh at how excited we were at these sights as the next morning we found ourselves completely immersed in all that Antarctica is. That morning we woke to a wonderful sunrise and realized that instead we no longer looking at distance ice bergs, but our ship was slowly pushing its way through an ice flow in between the Antarctica Peninsula and its islands. Then we began to see seals on several of these ice sheets including one ice sheet floating on the water measuring about 1 kilometer in size. Before we knew it, we heard Jonathan call for the first group to move down to the Atlas Lounge to prepare for our first landing. Because our ship only had 146 passengers (150 is the maximum on Atlas's Antarctica cruises), the passengers were grouped into four groups. Each group would make two landings (or zodiac cruises) a day with one in the morning and one in the afternoon. For this very first landing, our destination was that kilometer-sized ice sheet as we were literally going to walk on water--only the second time that Atlas had made an icesheet landing. We were the last of the four groups to make the landing. Each of these groups would be divided onto different zodiacs of no more than 12 people. Our boat's group were led by two expedition team members. To emphasize our trust in our expedition crew, when we started to hear and then see the ice sheet we were walking on crack and begin to separate--even making our movement back to the boat's original position impossible--we had no worries at all. This first landing of "walking on water" was just the first amazing experiences we would have on our landings and zodiac cruises we would participate in twice a day for the next four days. Penguins galore (yes, they stink. . .but are so very cute), seals at nearly every location, and so many whale sightings that made all other whale interactions we had had before seem so pedestrian. Yet, we participated in two other additional experiences which we will never forget. The first was the polar plunge into the Antarctic waters which--due to the water's salinity--was below 32 degrees. Cold? Beyond our wildest dreams! But it was entirely worth it. The second was our evening we camped overnight in the snow and ice of Antarctica. After dinner, our group of 20 guests loaded into our zodiacs and made our way to shore, met by a welcoming committee of about 150 penguins, and then began to dig our knee-deep holes into the snow which would be home for the evening. Then upon a vinyl ground cover and foam insulation mat, we climbed into our sleeping bag for the evening--notice there was no description of a tent as there was none. While it was not the most comfortable sleep we've ever had (hint, make sure to dig the bottom of your hole to be more even and level than we did) it was an evening unlike no other. At 3 am the winds would sweep the clouds away and reveal the majesty of the stars above--unhindered by any light pollution at the bottom of the earth. On board, the Atlas Navigator proved itself to be worthy of the word luxury. A major reason for this is due to attitude of the General Manager, Nuno, who is the most engaged GM we've had of any cruise. He is everywhere checking on guests and making sure everything is just right. The crew follows suite. We were told on our previous cruise that the crew must have at least 5 years experience before being hired on Atlas, and it shows. But also is evident is that this is a happy crew who even privately admit they are glad to be working on this line as opposed to the lines they came from. Atlas does several simple things that helps keep morale high. Not only are crew are given opportunities to make landings during their contract, but the line provides them with free WIFI which is greatly appreciated. These things make a happy crew. And when you have a happy crew you have a happy ship which results in a happy cruise. Beyond the amazing service, we in the main dining room we had some of the best food we've had on a cruise ship since the pandemic. Due to its size, the Atlas ships feel much more like a river ship with just one restaurant, a couple of lounges and a small gym and spa. But it is elegantly appointed and perfectly sized for its complement of guests. Although the spa is small, we are amazed at the size of its complimentary sauna which is one of the largest we've had on any ship--plus it has a full window out to the sea which makes the experience even that more relaxing. Entertainment was once again very similar to a river ship. Interestingly, we realized that our cruise director was the same as our very first cruise we experienced in 2005 on the Paul Gauguin--one of the best CDs we've ever had. Yes there were a few minor issues--limited room service menu, a complimentary WIFI package that seems to be more akin to what you would have had in 2007, and . . . well we are sure there had to be something else. Yet, for all intents and purposes, we leave this experience with the attitude that it was nearly the perfect way to have visited this 7th continent.

We had the great fortune to be on the World Navigator on the 11-day cruise on 6 February. Even before we got off the bus to board the ship, we were told there was a change to our plans which would be explained at the briefing that evening. True to their word, in the auditorium that evening, the leadership showed us weather maps forecasting wind and wave conditions that showed a storm system going through the Drake passage.It was explained by the captain that instead of leaving that evening for Antarctica we would depart the following evening to stage in the Beagle strait/channel while the storm passed and make our transit the following morning. Each day of our cruise, a weather forecast was presented during each days recap complete with maps. Before our last day, the weather forecast showed another storm going into the Drake and the discussion that the Captain had was whether we were going to leave early. Instead, the captain decided to stay for the two landings and then race east across the Drake to get in front of the storm and then tack back to port—which is what we did. We do know that we saw all three Atlas ships in port the morning we arrived as at least one of them had to cut the journey by a day. Certainly, we were disappointed that we lost a day in Antarctica that first day—although it was nice to explore Ushuaia. But we did not have the unfortunate lack of communication that the OP experienced. Rather, we were fully made aware of the situation and the rationale that was used for each decision. Although, there were probably opinions that I didn’t hear—truly everyone we talked to expressed disappointment but understanding with the decisions taken. Ours is absolutely a science experiment where n=1, but we are fortunate that we did not have the same experience as the OP. Instead, we had a truly magical experience on Atlas in Antarctica. Your mileage may vary. . .

Yes. We thought the food was as ok. Not everything was a hit, and there were misses, but we always were able to find something that was decent. Our stand-bys if nothing in the rotating menu didn’t interest us was the steamed salmon and the sirloin. Both were nearly always good and to be truthful, the cooks nailed the temperature in the thin steaks more consistently than the cooks on our most recent Oceania cruise—including the Polo Grill. The buffet was decent—buoyed by one of the largest salad bars I’ve seen at sea, a similar assortment of fresh and unique fruits (snake fruit on the buffet fruit bar, really?), and some of the best pizza I’ve had on any ship.

We completed the MSC Poesia World Cruise. The menu in both the main dining room and buffet changed nearly every day. While a portion of the menu stayed the same, the left side of the menu was always different--with few repeats over the 118 days. The ship also sought to celebrate the cuisine of whichever region we were visiting--with differing levels of success. What did become tiring was only having two food venues--despite the menus in them changing (The Posesia's specialty restaurant was changed into the arts-crafts center for the WC). However, that too isn't that huge of an issue. At home, in a month we have a collection of maybe 4 restaurants that we move between whenever we eat out over a month. The difference with a WC is (as others have noted) you will be in a series of ports--many overnight--which actually expands the number of venues that you will be able to dine from during the 110+ days of the WC. So, while there are reasonable reasons to decide against embarking on a WC (cost, time away from family, etc.) the OP's concern of having the same food We completed the MSC Poesia World Cruise. The menu in both the main dining room and buffet changed nearly every day. While a portion of the menu stayed the same, the left side of the menu was always different. The ship also sought to celebrate the cuisine of whichever region we were visiting--with differing levels of success. What did become tiring was only having two food venues--despite the menus in them changing (The Posesia's specialty restaurant was changed into the arts-crafts center for the WC). However, that too isn't that huge of an issue. At home, in a month we have a collection of maybe 4 restaurants that we move between whenever we eat out over a month. The difference with a WC is (as others have noted) you will be in a series of ports--many overnight--which actually expands the number of venues that you will be able to dine from during the 110+ days of the WC. So, while there are reasonable reasons to decide against embarking on a WC (cost, time away from family, etc.) the OP's concern of having the "same food" really is a concern that doesn't actually meet with the reality of a WC. My two cents . . .

Just reporting on what we see right now. It currently doesn't resemble anything that would ordinarily be considered Bristol Fashion.

Truly, if it was just a matter of a "little rust here and there" then it wouldn't bother us. We do love the small size and layout of the ship. But, on top of the rust is oxidization of the copper window sealings, neglected hand railings, 4 days at the equator with limited A/C, and the ripping out of items (tossed into an area like you might find in my son's bedroom) on the sports deck to make room for two refer containers (indicating that things down below with refrigeration might be askew). Every cruise ship (including the Marina) on every other cruise line we've been on does not have this combination of indicators that demonstrates neglect of the vessel we are sailing on.

DW and I are currently on the Oceania Regatta. Before we sailed, we knew it was a ship that was built in 1999 and expected that the architecture of the ship to be dated and but we love the layout of the ship. It apparently went through a refurbishment last year in 2022 and the decor (especially in our cabin) seems to be light and contemporary. However. . .we boarded in Singapore and have been in Indonesian waters for 4 days and were frustrated to find that the air conditioning on the ship was not working. Our cabin became nearly unsleepable at night and we found ourselves sweating in Martinis while we were getting a pre-dinner cocktail. As of yesterday, the A/C seems to be working better. As such, normally this would be a hiccup that we would understand as sometimes things break. That's life. However, there are other things that we see on the ship that either indicates maintenance of the ship is woefully deficient or the ship is so old that the best of intentions by the maintenance crew just can't keep up. As we walk around the ship, it is easy to see rust pretty much throughout the ship. Mainly this tends to be at the base of metal support structures. Likewise, multiple areas around the ship the railings are bleached and worn--much like what happens to teak patio furniture if you don't continuously provide loving care to them. In the main dining room by the windows we noticed that the copper fitting surrounding the windows are oxidized. Then there is deck 11. Deck 11 is the sun deck where the deck plan shows a putting green, shuffleboard and other common sports. While the putting green is up there, everything else...to include the AstroTurf (it is conveniently rolled up and sits on the deck), has been ripped out. While there are the bench-like containers that still contains the shuffle cues and discs, the actual shuffle board has been likewise ripped out. The other parts for the shuffleboard and what looks like what might have been cornhole are still up on the deck, now crammed into the ship structure found at the center of the deck. In place of where these sporting activities may have been are now two 20-foot refrigerated cargo containers. When you are up there, it looks like Oceania has taken their small luxury ship and replaced it with a cargo container vessel. I've written and rewritten this post four times now trying to make sure I have the right tone. We are enjoying our cruise. The crew are great (although short handed) and we love the itinerary (with really good ship excursions). But since August 2022, DW and I have sailed on about a dozen cruises on six cruiselines from MSC to Regent and none of those ships--including the Oceania Marina and the NCL Sky which was built the same year as the Regatta--have we commented on the apparent neglect of the ship. To be clear, we don't care that there is no more shuffleboard on the ship. Nor would any one of the other issues really have come to a level of comment on their own (OK, maybe the A/C). But the combination of these issues makes us wonder about Oceania as a line, or at least the viability of these R-class ships. My two cents...your mileage may vary.

DW and I have been traveling over the last 18 months extensively (including a World Cruise). I can only give my experience through this, understanding that I am an American and the protocol for UK citizens may be differently—although it didn’t seem to be the case for most countries. 1. We did our own research for each of the countries we were visiting. This included our US State Department website as well as the embassies of each country to our country. We made our own spreadsheet of this information. 2. Fortunately, China was the only country that required a physical visa from their embassy or consulate. We were prepared to do this but our WC deleted China from the itinerary as the country was slow to open up to tourism. China’s procedures might have changed since then. 3. For all other that required a Visa, they were all e-visas which we did online. Some required these to be completed prior to arrival, others were issued on arrival. We concentrated at home on those that needed to be done ahead of time. Note that some countries have a limit on how early you can file for a visa. I think India was that way, so we did those on the ship. 4. Also, we found that many of the e-visas that were to be granted on arrival, the cruise line either did those on our behalf or gave instructions on-board. I’ll caveat that we were sailing on MSC and not P&O so the procedures very well may be different. As long as none of your countries require a visa from their embassy/consulate (like our China is experience) don’t fret too much about it. It is a pain, but in the end will not be a severe obstacle.

Hank, We are glad to hear of your experience on Explora Journeys as we will be sailing on her in January!

We’ve done several B2Bs. They are rather easy. If NYC is the first American port after leaving Canada, you will need to depart the ship for immigration. The amount of time varies with the number of passengers as well as the process of the port. When we did a B2B out of Miami on NCL, B2B passengers were given a time to gather in one of the lounges where we were escorted off the ship and to the VIP lounge. After about 90 minutes we were escorted back in the ship. If you have an American port before NYC, you’ve already done immigration so that won’t be an issue. Normally, we found that you’ll need to go to guest services or your concierge to get a new ship card for the new cruise as the ship does consider your experiences as separate cruises. Have a great voyage!