Atlantis Med cruise........from hell!

[Ephraim]

I was going to get specific, but I know that if I do, people are going to pick the hell out of it, and many North Americans (who don't live in Mexico or Canada) get really picky if you mention them in generalities, and take every remark personally! So, I won't get specific.

 

What I will say is that cultures are different, and maybe a better and clearer explanation from Atlantis beforehand to those customers who aren't as seasoned would have seriously cut down on this kind of problem.

 

I must admit that I don't like the nickel and diming that sometimes goes on, on cruise ships. Then again, I don't drink, don't do drugs, don't drink coffee, and the ice cream, I can take or leave. For me, it reminds me a lot of Mexico and Canadians.... they just haven't yet figured out what they have to sell to us.

 

Any vacation is basically what you make of it. As I said before, we were shocked at how some people (okay, they were from the middle part of North America) were complaining about the staff, while we were nothing but delighted. And not being from that middle part of North America does have it's advantages and disadvantages. And being pastey white isn't an advantage, people!

 

My partner and I are going on a cruise that leaves one day after the Atlantis Cruise in October, and misses them at every port. Then again, we are also paying about $800 less per person and on the cruise for two more days. And when we went to plan our vacation, we didn't even think about a Gay cruise... somehow it all sounds so superficial, we hardly have any Gay friends.... so why go on a Gay cruise? On the other hand, I wish that someone would start a cruise line that started their cruises out of Havana. It's so cheap to get to from here, a beautiful port city to see and enjoy. And it has one other really nice feature to it :rolleyes:

 

PS: If you are wondering what I mean by the Mexicans not having anything to sell to people in Canada.... Our local supermarket has a full selection of Cuban cigars. We can see a doctor for free to get a prescription. (And in Quebec, the prescriptions are subsidized). We have some of the world's finest gold and silver, as well as heavier leather goods. The only thing left is cheap booze, which we are limited to buying one bottle to bring home... Ole!

[a4drver]

Ah yes - socialized health care & cuban cigars make me want to pack up & leave Miami for the frozen tundra up north right now! I love Canada (& Canadiens) but please don't insult my intelligence with your anti-American spiel dude. Live & let live...

Manny

[ZIPPER]

A truly interesting upcoming cruise would be the Western Standard group cruise to the Caribbean December 4-11, 2005 on Holland America's Westerdam. For those who don't know it the Western Standard is the leading advocate for the independence of the western provinces from the rest of Canada. They're particularly unhappy over the national health care policy and the subsidization of Quebec.

 

Sorry, I try to avoid politics but I couldn't pass on this one.

[RMS Olympic]

Reint, my condolencses on your loss. The pain of losing someone close cannot be deminished by any activity or trip abroad; maybe a diversion, but it takes time and cannot be rushed nor glazed over with holiday escapes....this I am sure you know. As for the romance.........that is something I experienced many years ago.....on a ship it is the worst...you just cant walk away. We all handle romance differently, I know I handled my situation poorly....it was after a year we were on our delayed honeymoon.....he cheated on me and then walked with no explanation. Believe me I still carry the scars on that one.

with these 2 issues draining you emotionally, I do not think any ship experience would have yielded in a good cruise. Lets face it you are human and your hurt is only something you can know, everyone else can only speak from their point of view.

I must say that the people that have responded to your posting were all gentlemen..and I compliment them. At no point did I see the one phrase that pisses me off the most... "get over it".

I hope that your future gay cruise experiences are better....like on a straight cruise...you are in controll of what you do, who you associate with and what activities you part take in.

As to your cruise...I find it most interesting that the older age group on board were in the party mode that much...I would have thought that a there would be less circuit party behavior....not that us over 40 guys cant have a fun time, dance, sing and enjoy the um,,,,,,sights.

As to comparing RSVP and Atlantis...that will go on for eternity with no true winner. I have sailed 8 RSVP cruises and enjoyed all of them except the first one...it was very much like what you just experienced. At for Atlantis...I did their land vacations and was not always happy with the atmosphere...ala circuit party. Perhaps if I was gorgeous and with less a conservative outlook on life I would have fit in better.

But I wonder if it is the passengers and not the tour company that is the issue here. Atlantis does not tell the passengers how to act, but perhaps their marketing attracts a certain clientele.

I embark on the Mexico cruise in about 4 weeks and am very interested in what I will find. I expect the age bracket to be much younger than the European cruise....which might mean more of what you did not like. If that is the case, the ship is big enough for me to have a good time on my oun, just like me on a straight cruise.....I will find my niche.

My hope is to find a nice dining companion to go to chops with.......I like my beef.......

My big question is how the Atlantis team handles the crowd......this is the only thing I expect from them...how they operate. In this arena RSVP excells and are always visible, and not just along for a ride and a personal vacation. I hope to see this in the Atlantis staff. As I am booked on the RIO cruise my concerns are few.......I am there for the sights and I do not expect the circuit crowd to be in the majority. Beside I intend to marry off Rodraad to a South Americansoccer player....what fun that will be.

I intend to go into the Mexico cruise with an open mind and see what happens. I did do one thing to reduce the apprehension..I booked as a single. This way I do not have to worry about whether I like my roomy or he likes me.

If there ia a piano bar on the ship......that is where you will find me.....beverage in hand blessing the fact I am away from work, sailing on a ship and enjoying a beverage while looking at eye candy....I do the same on a straight cruise but worry about who sees me looking that can take offense.

I wish Reint a better gay cruise experience next time.

To all on the Mexico cruise......look forward to meeting you....I have already decided that Chris in DC will be the most popular guy on board...he seems to have a great attitude goin.......

For Rodraad...February is coming...and you will have a great time!!!!!!

Tom

[Ephraim]

Ah yes - socialized health care & cuban cigars make me want to pack up & leave Miami for the frozen tundra up north right now! I love Canada (& Canadiens) but please don't insult my intelligence with your anti-American spiel dude. Live & let live...

Manny

 

Excuse me, it wasn't about being Anti-American, it was about being different. You chose to read something into it, that I never intended. Personally, I would love to be on a cruise that was a lot more international, and a lot more culturally aware. (I'm in the Caribbean, and I'm not really getting much in the way of fresh Caribbean inspired food, for example.) And I think that was one of the points that the original author put forward (his expectation of not paying a tip on drinks, being one example). The same way that in Canada, we wouldn't expect an automatic tip, and we expect that the tax is included if the drink is in a bar, but not included if the drink is in a restaurant. That's cultural. And a through explanation (in writing) would have let everyone be on the same and equal footing, before walking into the situation. It's not fun for the service person, either. To be put in a situation where people are questioning or arguing with something that he has done, when none of it is his doing.

 

No one country is right or wrong, they are just different. We don't look for the same things when we are on vacation. That's just part of being different, neither good nor bad. When I have been in Mexico, in the past, the goods that the stores sell are driven by their number one customer.... and I'm not it. I'm not complaining, I'm stating.

 

As for those particular customers, I would have been just as shocked if they had been Canadian or British. And I was at a shared dining table when a British couple was being rude at a server, as well. I don't like disdain for service people when they are clearly working hard. Especially when comments are made about their English, they are trying very hard and frankly I don't speak their language, so I should respect the fact that they are trying so hard to speak mine.

 

(I wasn't intending to get political at all, and as I pointed out in my original message, I knew that some people would misinterpret things as being about them. That's why I wrote the first paragraph to my original message.)

[etoile]

Oslo, I'm sorry for your loss and I'm sorry you didn't have an enjoyable time on the cruise. When I signed on as crew for RSVP's recent Alaska trip, one of my first questions to the coordinator was basically "is there going to be a lot of drug use?" (I was referring to a circuit party atmosphere.) He said no, that Atlantis was the company known for that kind of thing, and RSVP is not. He said he's sure drug use does take place, but it is all behind closed doors. And while personally I did not see or hear any sex going on, I know it was happening - but it wasn't in my face. I think the difference between RSVP and Atlantis is that things are done in private on RSVP. I haven't been on Atlantis, though, so maybe I'm wrong. And my head could very well have been in the clouds on RSVP and I just didn't see anything I didn't want to see. But I think RSVP targets a totally different group from Atlantis.

[etoile]

Sex and drugs happen anytime you assemble 2000+ G/L folks for a vacation. (ok, now I'm gonna get it)

This is the only part of the post I feel the need to address, as I'm one of the few lesbians posting regularly on this part of CC. Normally I don't differentiate between gay men and lesbians, but this time your statement really doesn't apply to gay women. I have never heard of drugs being common on Olivia cruises. Likewise for sex, although it certainly does happen it is less likely to be public. I'm normally quite happy using terms like G/L and GLBT but I think in this case it does make a difference.

 

Also, you were right when you referred to a "ship full of men" - that's exactly what RSVP and Atlantis are. Both allow women on board, but the top percentage either of them state was 10%. On my recent RSVP, there were 147 women out of about 1,830 passengers. Well under 10%. I think women just prefer Olivia for some reason - personally I can't afford them, and I had a great time on RSVP so I'd do it again. But it's definitely true that women are in the minority, and femme women even more so. (I understand Shann Carr's problem very well. I was even accused of being straight!)

[rodraad]

Tom: rodraad loves the idea of being married to a South American soccer player. But why stop at just one? :D :D I'll take on the whole team

 

Perhaps this thread should die.

 

I've always said a gay cruise is a cruise with two thousand picky queens (minus some women friends thrown in - in case the boat breaks down (thank u Shann Carr))

 

As far as our comments about Atlantis/RSVP - they obviously have a product with huge waiting lists. Wish I had it.;)

[RMS Olympic]

The entire team...well my managers fee for orchestrating that will be immense.....cash only, no I will not take trade.

Too bad you are not on the Mexico cruise...we could plan your wedding, of course I would have to do a quality check on all candidates...nothing but the best for RodRaad the magnificent.

Whats this you do not take your shirt off by the pool.......do you burn easily...if so I will find someone to baste you with lots of grease...I mean sun tan lotion.

Remeber there will only be about 680 passengers on this ship, not the 2000+ you just went through..you lucky dog. Bow wow, woof woof

Tom

[CruisinMaterial]

Perhaps this thread should die.

 

I agree with that assessment.

 

Whalebone... lol... too funny!!! :D

[LVMediaboy]

Hi Etoile,

In an effort to wean off this thread, I responded to your observation regarding the # of women on non-Olivia on a new thread "Gay and/or Lesbian cruise?". It is a fascinating element of any gay cruise.

[Loftguys]

HI - saw your posting and noticed the nic name. we are leaving wednesday morning for your wonderful city for the first time.

 

If you have a chance and would like to meet for some "cruise" talk, email me, daveandjim@bellsouth.net

[RMS Olympic]

I for one loved having women on the RSVP trips.......there should be more.

I am sailing on Atlantis in a few weeks....I hope there will be some real girls on board...not so many want to be's....LOL

Having women on board makes me feel like we are more of a community...not just a slice........

Tom

[rodraad]

Many have agreed we are trying to let this thread die

 

 

It isn't really a constructive thread

[teleskier]

I was on the same cruise as Oslo. I have to say I had some of the same exact experiences that he did. You’re not alone in any of your impressions Oslo. Other acquaintances we knew also aboard felt many of the same things.

 

I had written a several page review of this cruise on Atlantis Cruisers MSN forum but it was deleted by the moderators there each of the three times I tried, saying I was the only person on the trip that didn’t have a 100% positive review, and that such mixed reviews might scare new business away.

 

I don’t feel like expending the energy to replicate a full review all over again. But I will back up what Oslo experienced.

 

My BF and I (16 yrs) had done a RSVP cruise to Europe (our first gay cruise) several years ago. It was an incredible experience. The quality of the people we met was high, they were fellow world travelers, and extremely friendly. We made so many friends, quite a few we still keep in touch with today. It was a wonderful experience from start to finish. The ship was luxurious, the staff was knowledgeable and helpful, and the ship dinners featured fantastic food and stimulating conversations. In total it was just a happy experience wonderfully shared with other social and friendly gay men.

 

Thus we both were incredibly excited to have such another shared communal gay social experience again on this Atlantis trip. Instead we found to our horror, that this Atlantis cruise lived up to its deserved infamous Caribbean "party boat" image in every aspect EXCEPT being social. None of the passengers would interact with each other, a simple "hello" in the hallways was treated with disdain and no one ever said hello back. It was a sterile attitude-filled environment. A far cry from the "let’s all have fun together" happy social atmosphere of RSVP. You may be dancing in your underwear next to 2,000 other faceless boys, but not one would ever dare speak to anyone else next to them. The 12-person dinner tables were the most absurd. No one spoke there either – night after night.

 

Being in Europe did not protect this cruise as it dragged that Caribbean party-boy aspect across the ocean with it. The Atlantis age group was identical to RSVP, whereas their attitude was not. You would be at the dinner table with older gentlemen in their senior years, as they sat there in their 20-yr old gay boy tank tops and circuit wear despite being 60 years older than that, resplendent and complete with their big showy gold chains, and yet they are too good for the rest of the table to say hello to them, where they even give off attitude?? Twilight zone.

 

There are many, many easy things Atlantis and RC could do to make their experience better. Often times it seemed as though this was the very first cruise Atlantis had ever put together. Flighty lack of professionalism, or was that particular gay staff too busy partying to just not care? Missing so many very simple minor things changed the experience from what could have been great into a disappointment. Like having just even one Atlantis staff person off ship as everyone disembarked in unorganized great dismay and total confusion without any directions. Oh yes, and don’t go by RC cruise reviews saying you’ll be onboard in under ten minutes. RC said that’s true of straight cruises, not Atlantis. They want everyone onboard together at 1PM. Be prepared for HUGE hot sweaty lines, took us over an hour to board, and we had done the SetSailPass in advance, others that didn’t took MUCH longer.

 

So for a quick review dump attempt, here are the good and the bad Atlantis cruise elements as we found them:

 

OVERALL: "Disappointing"

GRADE: 5 out of 10

SUBJECTIVE: "Like being on a low-brow mass-market floating Holiday Inn"

 

CRUISE ELEMENT BREAKDOWN:

 

 

 

EXCELLENT:

- Most every show (fav comedian = Poppy from Ptown)

 

 

VERY GOOD:

- All parties (great lasers, DJs, music, tweaked out semi-naked boys)

 

- Party boy circuit atmosphere

- Top deck’s rotating bar

- Poolside BBQ lamb (only excellent prepared food of trip)

- RC room cleaning staff

 

GOOD:

- Schooner bar and its pool tables

 

- Made it to every port and every party

- casual Windjammer buffet often had much higher quality food than dining rooms (e.g., also better quality base items like cheeses and olives; never could figure out why RC dining rooms didn’t share same better quality ingredients from here).

 

SO-SO:

- The Brilliance of the Seas ship itself (big but sterile. sometimes impressive, sometimes cheesy, great theatre, great gym yet it and sauna closes early, all relaxing boys kicked out of pools & hot tubs every late night ‘for cleaning’ the moment anyone else nearby became playful)

 

- Portofino (worth it but just ever so barely)

-

Cruise itinerary totally tailored primarily for 100% party boys with exclusive emphasis placed on parties, shows, and days at sea (to recover from 6AM parties) instead of European ports (happy if you’re 100% party boy, not if you’re 50% party boy but also 50% a port traveler). Many, many boys simply stayed by the pools all day never going into ports.

 

BAD:

- Poor cafeteria-quality food across all dining rooms (even in Chops)

 

-

Dim clueless RC staff (e.g., not one single person at concierge desk ever knew simplest port info like how to get off boat to transit)

- Cheated European itineraries (e.g., brochure "2 days in Mykonos" turned out to be only 15 hours from 1PM to 4AM, barely getting you to the beach before sunset, yet called "two days.")

- Poor weak often lower-shelf drinks at bars. Plastic cups!

- Atlantis events cancelled on whim (e.g., suddenly no Greek buffet as scheduled when many left Mykonos to catch this onboard, blue&white costume party suddenly presented on day of as toga party)

- Poor dim exchange student dining room wait staff (e.g., was going to scream if I got missing-the-concept asked "would you like some ground pepper on your fruit plate?" one more time)

- Small island ports being totally swamped by the presence of our very own mega-boat

- Being such a massive ship meant that you were often moored at ugly industrial freighter shipping yards. RC always had the worst berths of any ship at port, even other freighters.

 

DREADFUL / NO EXCUSE:

- With so many misfires and poor execution and mistakes, the experience oftentimes felt like it was the very first cruise Atlantis had ever organized before.

 

 

- Shockingly poor Atlantis organization. From blue foil packet arriving late the very day before departure even before the cruise began, from start to finish everything always seemed to be haphazardly done at the very last minute. Very poor execution. Atlantis staff rife with gay boy "only want to have fun, not work" primary emphasis in having fun while hamming it up on the cable TV broadcasts where only show and party information is given, never any pertinent port information given (here’s how to get off ship, here’s how the shuttle works, here is a port map, the train station is there, etc).

 

- Not a single Atlantis staff standing off ship to help 2,000 people disembark on last day. No help, no public transit info, no directions, sheer utter 2K crowd chaos - a kick in the *ss goodbye.

 

- No true open dinner seating where you seat yourself. Atlantis upon walk-in nightly assigns you to dinner table with random people who always had "who you are you all to be talking to me" aloof attitude, no conversation, totally silent, very stiff, very unpleasant, next night whole new random people with high attitude, repeat)

 

- Ship atmosphere completely dominated by the sizeable (70-80%) isolated unfriendly stand-and-model arrogant rude standoffish "won’t talk to you unless I can sleep with you" crowd (much worse than normal circuit boy weeks) which was anything but fun, either caused by or further fed by the Atlantis mega-party environment coupled with the impersonal huge ship with little chance of ever making any real interpersonal connections with anyone.

 

- RSVP had knowledgeable extremely helpful staff onboard making each port visit organized and fun instead of a harried hurried crap shoot scramble on Atlantis where no staff even knew where the train station they made you walk to on your own from the shipping yard was.

 

- We’re average people in our late 30’s with average gay bodies and perhaps of average interest. So yeah, no Brad Pitt. Yet we generally make friends and have fun. I’m used to and like circuit party weeks in Ptown. Yet on Atlantis you ended up feeling that you had to be BOTH an AAA+++ crowd Abercrombie and Fitch cover boy AND sexually available with lots of green dots before anyone would even dare to say hi to you. One got the strong sense that even if people WANTED to say hi, they didn’t dare, for fear that if they did say hi to you, that it might upset their own group status. No one EVER said hi back. The Atlantis environment and even hosts themselves seemed to encourage this - "Couples – now don’t use red dots – no one will ever talk to you." How tiresome and old days and 18 year old stand-and-model gay bar environment in dynamics – despite the average age being the same as RSVP, between 35-50. Sad really. I ended up feeling distressed for this ship community, that is, the extremely sterile lack of any community at all.

 

CONCLUSION:

 

 

If you are a 100% party boy who stays by the pool all day and never goes to port, who comes just for the parties, who hates anyone who happens to be way less fabulous than yourself (everyone else) having the nerve to actually talk to you, then this Atlantis cruise is ideally suited and in fact custom tailored for you. Atlantis staff do not seem to listen to user comments or even care. Their cruises always sell out, they have a huge market in the above party boys, and are catering to them. Why should they change? I do not fault Atlantis for going after the 100% party boy market. I just wish that they would be more upfront about what their party-centric atmosphere is truly like, ie, that they are no personable elegant RSVP ship. Atlantis obviously tailors their mass market cruises to focus on shows and parties. And they truly did deliver to that target goal.

 

We did have fun, almost in spite of Atlantis/RC, but had to work very hard to overcome the above cruise obstacles and overwhelming unfriendliness onboard to make it so. Perhaps RSVP had me spoiled and expecting a much nicer and closer camaraderie among a national gay audience that happened to all be on one ship together. We were not alone in feeling this. It was the topic of conversation in most gatherings among friends onboard we knew from Ptown and Boston. In fact it made the northern, reserved, blue-blood Boston bar scene seem downright super friendly by comparison, and that’s saying a lot!!

 

Expect a cold sterile big ship environment not conducive to meeting friendly people, expect to be alone as a couple in a massive sea of distant detached unconnected people, any red dot or not being visibly sexually available means NO ONE will ever talk to you PERIOD, no one EVER said hi back in halls or off ship, takes a LOT of work to make couple friends but we did anyway. So you CAN make this vacation work despite Atlantis, but I don’t think we’ll ever do another one of these compared to our other RSVP cruise experience.

 

To be fair, Atlantis is taking some of the heat here for RC failings and the type of demographic they cater to, but hey, it’s all their trip.

 

Your mileage may vary....

 

 

[ZIPPER]

The last Atlantis trip I took was to Cancun in 2004, and my experience was more of a "Why am I here?" There were some interesting guys, but overall they were the dullest bunch of gay men I had ever met. It wasn't so much attitude, I think a lot of these guys were utterly lacking in social skills. It started with the 45 minute trip from the airport, there were about a dozen of us, and only two of us carried on any kind of a conversation the whole trip. I had the same experience throughout the trip. Most of them did very little besides lay by the pool.

 

It was clearly a real strain on the staff as well, and frankly an embarassment. One time I was coming back from an excursion and caught the start of Miss Richfield doing a routine with a pinata. When one guy, the guy I spoke to in the van, broke open the pinata and the candy spilled out, no one ran up to grab the candy, they called for people to come down and get the candy, no one came (I was above the amphitheater behind a fence), finally they had to draft the front row to throw candy up to the audience. At the parties, Malcolm & company (who I have to give kudos for effort) had to work really hard to get and keep the dancing going. Forget the piano bar, I suddenly found myself singing alone (which is not a good thing!) with Wayne Moore, ultimately they all left to watch some of the other guys dance. These guys were just dull, dull, dull. They didn't sing, they didn't dance, they didn't leave the resort, they certainly didn't go in the ocean.

 

It wasn't always that way. On my first Atlantis trip to Manzanillo in 1998, I found myself on a catamarin on my 40th birthday with about 30 other guys. It was one of the best experiences of my life, I never before been around large groups of gay men and I had a great time and felt totally comfortable knowing how to be gay at 40. The whole group cracked jokes on the bus the whole way back. In Costa Rica the same year the whole resort nearly emptied out each day for the excursions, and people would actually discuss things such as why Costa Rica was more economically developed that the other countries in the region, and the impact of the sandanistas in neighboring Nicaragua. You certainly don't have those conversations anymore.

 

Quite frankly, as Atlantis has become more popular, its attracting increasingly less interesting and fun guys. The fun guys are still out there, but you have to search for them.

[LVMediaboy]

"I had written a several page review of this cruise on Atlantis Cruisers MSN forum but it was deleted by the moderators there each of the three times I tried, saying I was the only person on the trip that didn’t have a 100% positive review, and that such mixed reviews might scare new business away."

 

As one of the mischaracterized MSN Mgrs., allow me to say the above is completely untrue. As any CC reader (with enough time) can see, brevity is not Teleskier's strong point. He was specifically referred to CC since the MSN group is about fun and information for member who enjoy a specific operator -- not bashing the operator while effusively praising another.

[Oslo Dutch]

First of all I would like to thank everybody for their kind, warm and sympathetic replies. My experience with Atlantis has been a very unique one due to very personal circumstances. Something I had to put in the open in order to put the cruise experience into a proper context.

Considering the many different reactions I received from many people, I know any vacation experience is what you make of it yourself. Some found it just like me too much hectic circuit party, while others found it so boring compared to US based cruises. And I am fully aware of the fact when you are feeling negative you radiate it to other people, which impacts the initial contact.

 

If I would have been in a more positive mood and not in the company of an unreliable abusive alcoholic irresponsible self-centered lying pathetic silly little old man, the end result might be been completely different. (As you noticed I am really getting over this unnecessary affair ;) )

 

The main reason I posted my review was to give the other side of Atlantis Events. I felt in previous threads the idea of them being circuit party was always ignored and denied.

If I would have known what I know now, I would have never considered booking them in the first place.

Atlantis is now organizing US circuit parties themselves. We received a flyer about that on the last night in our stateroom. (LA New Year’s Eve for those interested…)

 

Like somebody mentioned the pool seemed to be the cosmic social centre of the ship. (We use to call it soup with meatballs). I was a bit surprised of being frowned at when I actually made an effort to swim. It was not a terribly cozy place as nobody really spoke to each other.

Even though my personal cruise experience still gives me nightmares, According to the basic cruise facts I feel it was not as bad as a previous poster suggested.

 

I have to admit that maybe I can’t really give a proper verdict about traveling single on Atlantis. I imagine you have to socially active and outgoing and put yourself on high profile to meet people. I suppose you just have to try it out yourself.

 

As far as dinner companions I have been very lucky. The first night we ran into two very nice guys from Scotland who became our dinner companions for the rest of the cruise. Later we were joined by some more Brits and two very nice South African gentlemen. This is something I actively encouraged. When we met nice people during dinner I would invite them the next night for a drink in the bar and dinner again, something which worked out really well. But I have heard from people who were not so lucky and got very fed up with this one dimensional boring shallow dinner chit chat with different people every night. Having been on previous straight cruises I learned you have to tackle this problem immediately.

 

And once again the acoustics in the dining room are terrible as I had huge problems understanding people...or perhaps I am in need of hearing aids. On the Radiance class try to get a smaller table and not one of these big long ones. Upstairs the accoustics were far more better than downstairs around the edges. They will seat you according to your preference, and you don't have to wait that long.

 

Being more of the traditional Cunard and British P&O Cruises School I am personally very much in favor of proper dress codes. (or maybe I might have suit fetish) The Atlantis crowd was a very sloppy lot. I was aware this cruise was casual, but one should not wear shorts or tank tops for dinner. (even if it's an expensive brand).

 

Like many posters suggested there are other activities than the parties. However due to my ex and people we met onboard I got sucked into it. Otherwise I would have been on completely on my own (which actually happened for 3 nights). Also not a terribly cheerful experience I would recommend.

 

My ex boarded the ship in Barcelona and had to spend one night on his own before I joined a day later in Villefranche. On that first night he had the honor of being hosted by Rich at his table. Rich was very business like and paid most attention to his business interests. My ex didn’t mind, being an alcoholic he was more than happy with the free wine provided. We met Rich in Mykonos town where he gave us without asking an effective informative description of town and how to get around. That was very kind of him.

 

Cruise Director Malcolm was at the gangway in Barcelona saying goodbye and kissing nearly everybody. This came across as very fake and plastic. Well I am after all aloof, distant, cold, austere, sober, and reptile blooded Northern European ;-). For the rest I didn't have any dealing with the cruise staff. They did their best to accommodate people with appropriate seating for dinner and I have no complaints about them. And in general the Atlantis organization came across as pretty well run.

 

I have to agree that some issues raised on this threat recently have to do with Royal Caribbean. Being a mass market cruise line, my expectations were low and it turned out to be better than expected. I was happy with the food and dinner service provided. Like I said Brilliance of the Seas is a nice ship without most of these ghastly kitschy Carnival interiors. But it's not a chique ship.

 

I have found a 4 minute movie of the ship under this link:

 

http://www.meyerwerft.de/serv_video.asp?what=serv

 

Look under Kreuzfahrt impression and decide for yourself.

 

Having lived in Amsterdam for many years I have learned to deal and cope with an environment where drugs are common place. Just like my fellow Dutch I feel pretty pragmatic about it. It gives you the freedom of choice. And that makes you responsible towards yourself and around you. And to look after others. however on a cruiseship it is pretty much in your face.

 

But considering the current US Crystal Meth epidemic (which is now hitting Europe); I was appalled by the total ignorance of Atlantis of the extensive drug use on board. There were POZ and Bill W. meetings but drugs and safe sex issues were completely ignored.

 

I know I am a very lone voice crying in the desert, but isn’t it about time party organizers like Atlantis also take responsibility for the sane and health of their own customers? However if I see the general attitude of the circuit party enviroment, compassion for each other doesn’t seem to have a high priority. It felt at times like dancing on the vulcano. (maybe a new title suggestion for an Atlantis party)

 

OK, once again thanks for all your replies. Don’t be too put off by this thread and if you want to experience Atlantis do it by all means. You might and probably will have a completely different experience.

 

 

Reint;)

[ZIPPER]

Oslo Dutch:

 

Apparently there were some others on the Atlantis Alumnai board who had similar experiences on the Barcelona to Athens cruise.