Atlas first impressions, 1/4/24 sailing

[Michael_A]

Hi All,

 

I am currently at the Hilton in Buenos Aires getting ready to transfer to AOV's charter early tomorrow. As such, I am "officially" in AOV's customer bubble and wanted to share some impressions. I'll follow up in more detail upon my return.

 

AOV has a very nice, professional, presence in the Hilton's lobby. It includes signage, a very knowledgeable and friendly ground staff, and really seems to have their act together.

 

Unfortunately, upon my arrival at EZE, American Airlines lost one of my bags! This took about an hour at EZE meeting with their (AA's) luggage reps where they filed a claim and stated the bag never left the last departure airport (DFW). They are unable to get it to Ushuaia in time to be put on the ship; I will have to recover it on my outbound flight whereby is is SUPPOSED to be secured at the ticket/check in counter at EZE. If that's the case, nothing is lost, but there is some cold weather gear (namely boots and my girlfriends jacket) that we/she won't have the use of... but back to AOV for a minute...

 

We had AOV arrange ground transport from EZE to the Hilton for us. We were met in the arrivals hall, and even though we were delayed due to the above baggage issue the woman meeting us was friendly, professional, sympathetic, and genuinely helpful. She imparted a LOT of insights about BA, money stuff, places to see, and suggested several places for us to shop for some immediate replacement items (toiletries, stuff like that...). Within walking distance of the Hilton we got re-provisioned at a small pharmacy a block or so away, found a really nice cool weather coat for Lisa (nicer than the one that is now MIA with AA...), decided we really didn't need to exchange cash since my AMX was working everywhere, had lunch, and then checked in at the AOV desk.

 

The woman who collected us up at the airport had briefed the AOV desk staff, and they suggested we go boot shopping (about the last item MIA, and really needed when out on decks in the weather on the ship) in Ushuaia and would brief the guides to allow us to do so and make recommendations! It's not their problem American Airlines messed up, but so far everyone is willing to help and go the extra mile which is so encouraging and appreciated.

 

We are assigned to the "purple" (color coded) bus to go to the charter very early in the AM. An early grab and go breakfast is available for AOV passengers, as well as a light meal on the flight and bus tour. An AOV representative chaperones guests on the charter both ways, and the Atlas desk is manned starting at 3am for questions and follow ups.

 

Not sure how our particular situation will unfold, fortunately the missing bag is probably the least essential items that don't seriously endanger the trip or keep it from being a go (the other bags would have been serious deal breakers) so after collecting ourselves up from the initial shock, formulating a plan (with AOV's help) I think we are back on course.

 

Anyone can put shiny packaging around a product or service, but you don't learn just how much integrity may be behind it until stuff doesn't go as planned. In my case, they have truly acquitted themselves and been willing to go out of their way to be helpful. I am hugely impressed. And we haven't gotten on board yet!

 

Kudos to their ground support team!

 

Pics and more details to follow upon our return!

[GICNJC]

Great to hear.  We are on the Jan 15 World Traveller and will be spending five days in BA before doing the charter.  We have packed our "Antartica Bag" and have included a smart tag. Hopefully it does not get left in Toronto Ontario.

We learned last spring on a trip to Baltic, two of our bags missed the connection flight.  Because we were able to tell lost baggage exactly where they were (T2 in Paris) and had pictures we had taken before the flight, they were returned to us in about 40 hours.

Make sure you make a lost baggage claim with the airline for appropriate compensation.

[Michael_A]

All, the cruise was simply fantastic! It greatly exceeded my expectations on pretty much every level. I'll do a more formal review in a bit... I am still traveling back. But on board I did a video of the journey in almost real time that was played on the ship the last day were were on and I was humbled by how many passengers and crew came up and said it in some way caught the spirit of this very special cruise... Consider it a preview of an Atlas cruise if you are considering one!

 

[venicecruiser]

Beautifully done!  Thanks so much for sharing.

 

Claudia

[ridethetide]

Stunning video. Exactly as it was. I just returned home today. I was with you on the World Traveller, seated for meals being pampered by Edison. The expedition exceeded all of my expectations. You are most talented.

[Michael_A]

We got our missing bag back at EZE. It was hell. Standing in 3 lines for a total of 3 hours, each time to be told to go stand in another line. Finally found the "secret room" in terminal A (behind counter 1-4, a door marked a24) where the AA lost luggage can be retrieved, it was unmarked, unmanned, and when some unidentified personnel walked out I saw my bag close to the now open door and simply reached in and grabbed it. Didn't understand what the guy was saying to me in Spanish, but he didn't call security, I got my bag, and proceeded to climb out of THAT layer of hell that is American Airlines operations at EZE....

[kd9]

nice video.  hope to see more once you have chance to create a complete one.

 

which iceberg did you guys pass by?  Just curious.  Seems to be large.

[Michael_A]

Thanks. It was a BIG iceberg, but not THE big one... this one was maybe a 1/4 mile long and much taller than the ship. It was impressive!

[Michael_A]

Here is a pic of Atlas' lobby desk at the Hilton in BA, taken around 3:30 AM just prior to the shuttle bus departure to EZE airport for the charter flight.

[Database]

Very nice video!  Thanks for sharing. 

It was a wonderful voyage!

[jimrpa]

Did you have to get special permission from Atlas to use the drone? Were there any restrictions on use?

[Michael_A]

Drones are restricted in Antarctica, the permitting to use one can take months. No drone was used in the video I did; I was fortunate to be using a preproduction 360 degree camera which, on the end of about an 8 foot boom pole, can create the effect of a drone shot.

[jimrpa]

Ah, cool. The aerial shots fooled me. I knew about the drone restrictions in Antarctica, hence my question.