amunhbuu

Thanks for the update, @joyce Ottawa!

2 hours ago, joyce Ottawa said:

It’s a good article, except for the wine menu issue. My husband is pleased with the number of wines offered (6-10) reds. He didn’t look at the whites ( I don’t particularly like wine).  

Thanks for the update!

8 hours ago, joyce Ottawa said:

Thank you!!

So basically, I can get a sandwich in my cabin.  Would love to see a menu or the selection at Paula's Pantry if you have time.  But don't put yourself out.  Appreciate all of the info you have provided so far!

When I think of all inclusive luxury cruises, RSSC is the first thing that pops into mind.  This is slightly different from what RSSC offers: https://www.rssc.com/experience/cuisine/room-service

10 hours ago, AOV Alberto said:

Hi everyone. Alberto here.

 

 

 

I am on board World Navigator right now and am acutely aware of these issues.  These topics are significant and a high priority for us. 

 

 

I regret there has been a miscommunication about our laundry service from our web and marketing team. We mistakenly communicated an element planned for World Traveller, our second ship currently under construction. Although not announced yet, we will offer a complimentary guest launderette on that ship. Regrettably our promotions team inserted that new amenity into our current ship, World Navigator. That insertion has misled readers to infer all laundry was complimentary, while we had only meant to convey that the launderette would allow guests a chance to do laundry at no charge. As many have seen, the travel documents we issue to guests do not include this incorrect information.

 

 

 

Regarding internet, please bear with us as we continue to adjust our communications systems, including our Wifi. During our positioning voyage to Athens, we finally stress-tested the system with a high volume of users and discovered a technical issue with the newly installed system. As such, we had to fall back on limiting Internet access while we correct the issue. We continue to look forward to offering our guests a complimentary WiFi service that will meet their basic internet needs. However, we have always stressed that our included internet would offer basic capabilities, while guests would have an opportunity to upgrade to a higher-capacity transfer rate for an additional fee.

 

 

 

We sincerely appreciate everyone giving us an opportunity to serve you and I apologize for any confusion and inconveniences. Please know that our onboard team is working hard to align our experience with our product definition, and we are looking forward to delivering a more encompassing, high standard of service.  We are confident that these elements of the guest experience will very soon equal the otherwise high-quality shipboard experienced everyone on board is already enjoying on our wonderful new ship. 

 

First, thank you for coming here to address the issues.

Unfortunately, in my humble opinion this is a poor response.  Not only did your website state that laundry services were included, but your sales team pushed that message to multiple people including myself.  So this is not just as simple as blaming the intern for a website issue.  This was a message your company endorsed. This is like starting up a brand new restaurant with celebrity chefs and experienced restaurateurs and not having utensils.  And then blaming the $5/hour server and telling the customer to eat with their fingers.

Ultimately, from my perspective, the laundry isn't a huge deal. But it is a breach of trust.  Now I am wondering what other promises I was made that will be broken.  Will we really have a charted flight for our Antarctica cruise or will that be another marketing mistake?

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I have been trying to be patient given all of the circumstances. But this situation was in your control.  This is a self inflicted issue.  I understand today's world a complex beast.  And I realize these are first world problems we are talking about. 

You had a whole group of people here who took a chance on an unknown product solely on the word of your staff and your marketing team.   And we were lined up to sing the praises of the product.  There was a lot of excitement around. I have tried to get others to join us on our cruises.  You have seen others have said similar things.  At this point, I regret any of the promotion I have done of the product.  And you might lean on whatever positive press you are getting from those who have had their vacations comped and are currently blogging.  But future paying customers are going to see these conversations.  What could have been a positive moment for you and your company has turned into a negative one.

I am sure as a U.S. Naval Academy and a former U.S. Marine Corps Infantry Officer you were taught about accountability of leadership.  To quote another naval officer, "“It’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate”. Given complaints about on shore and now off shore operations, I ask what is it that you are preaching and tolerating?

9 minutes ago, joyce Ottawa said:

Thanks for the chuckle this morning!

I do hope things are going well despite the bumps and that you are enjoying your trip!

That is disappointing to hear.  I have been trying to give everyone a break given the difficult circumstances of the past 1.5 years.  But this sounds like them shooting themselves in the foot.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/atlas-ocean-voyages-cruise/

41 minutes ago, keokukjoe said:

Yep.

I have no idea what the turnover rate looks like in this industry, but I know I have been contacted by the same person from SilverSeas for close to 10 years.

Wait, so Laura is gone now?? 🤨

Tagging @AOV Alberto in this thread for his awareness.

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. 

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.

Haven't seen anything from any actual passengers yet.

I think these are similar text:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/atlas-ocean-voyages-cruise-line-debut

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/6361/

Another thing I realized a couple of months ago is that they already had a sister ship to the World Navigator, the World Explorer which is chartered by Quark.  Not a lot of reviews on that either.

Best of luck!

Best of luck!  We will all be keeping a close eye on any updates.

32 minutes ago, saddledowndani said:

So we are doing 2 nights pre-cruise in Cairo. I guess we are going to have to land and immediately find a place to get a Covid Test so we will have it on the 3rd day. And we are fully vaccinated. Fun. Wish this info had been on something coming from Atlas. We leave in 3 weeks and have nothing in writing from them but our itinerary which only says it’s our responsibility to make sure we have the appropriate tests for the itinerary. 

Ugh...

I have found them to not be responsive lately.

Thanks!  That brought back some memories.

We had Gabriel and Martha on our Xpedition cruise two years ago.

Just got an email from Atlas with some information on the dining options available:

https://atlasoceanvoyages.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AOV_WNAV_DINING_PROGRAM_DIGITAL_BROCHURE.pdf?utm_source=FG&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HCN.0715E

We haven't picked excursions yet.  We noticed when looking over the list that there were no times listed.  Did someone provide you that info @keokukjoe?  Didn't know if we could do multiples per day?  The ones we are really interested in are in Portugal and the Canary Islands.  We have been to the Caribbean islands multiple times.

We booked the TA on 2/12 and our Antarctica on 1/29.  No loyalty numbers for us.  Even when they rebooked us for Antarctica on 4/21 due to the charter there is nothing in the invoice.  🤷‍♂️

Hmm.. We do not have loyalty numbers on our two invoices.  Must have been too early!  😄

41 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

I’m really interested to see information about included (and optional) excursions. It is very hard to think about booking an all inclusive cruise without seeing how good the included excursions are and how expensive the optional ones are. I realize that excursions in the Mediterranean are not going to be the same as the Norway cruise I am considering but seeing something is better than nothing. I hope that anyone with an early sailing date will post some information. Thanks in advance. 

You can find some of the excursion information.  But I am guessing everything is subject to change at this point.

https://atlasoceanvoyages.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/AOV_ICONIC_GREECE_ITALY_EXCURSIONS.pdf

https://atlasoceanvoyages.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AOV_9_NIGHT_ATHENS_TO_CAIRO_IMMERSIVE_EGYPT.pdf

I think a lot is unknown.

We basically rolled the dice on two atlas cruises over the next 8 months. I am very intrigued by the product being a smaller ship + the "adventure luxury", which fits our style.  We don't want the pomp and circumstance of silver seas and Cunard.  I just want to be treated well and individually, which becomes harder the more people that are on the ships. 

I don't believe so.  Their website is mostly a billboard.