Atlas Ocean Voyages

Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego)

Athens (Piraeus)

Nice

Rome (Civitavecchia)

Lisbon

Dublin

Malaga

Venice

Europe - All

Mediterranean

Antarctica

Europe - Western Mediterranean

South America

Argentina

Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

France

Spain

Greece

Sweden

Turkey

Caribbean - All

Italy

Caribbean - Eastern

Arctic

Excellent

Poor

Average

Very Good

Terrible

World Navigator

World Traveller

Antarctica 5 star destination, Atlas 3 star experience

St. Vincent

Please know that I’m just a regular person, not a TA or an Atlas employee or some sort of influencer. 

We were first introduced to Atlas by a great offer to Antarctica in January on World Traveller, sister ship to World Navigator. Staterooms on both ships are very comfortable. We had the lowest grade veranda cabin which is very comfortable, ample Euro and US sockets, as well as USB inputs, plenty of closet space, great multi jet shower, portable makeup mirror which may be used at the desk/vanity. 

The staff on both ships were delightful. They made me want to move in permanently. All very efficient and capable as well as warm eager to please. 

The food is great. There is a morning buffet but you may order from the menu as well. Same at lunch. On polar expeditions, only the main dining room is open because it’s too cold to enjoy the aft grill. I can’t figure out how they are able to offer such freshness and variety when there is no opportunity to replenish in Antarctica, but the manage it beautifully. The restaurant has a few constants such as steak, salmon and burgers but also offers a changing variety each day. There is also a local menu offered each day on non polar voyages which reflects the local cuisine. In addition, there is a quick grab and go bar open early each morning and for most of the dat if you’d prefer a snack or need a coffee and pick-me-up muffin or snack. Room service also offered all day and night. 

Expedition leaders were informative and fun, while maximizing safety and minimizing human impact on Antarctica. 

With 190 passengers, or less, the ship is cozy and never crowded and one can always find a quiet corner just to enjoy the beautiful views, take a breath and thoroughly relax, knowing you’re being completely and luxuriously cared for. 

I’ll admit that we did not participate in most of the ship’s activities but heard some glowing reviews about trivia and tea time and evening entertainment, which was usually a one man show, not a huge extravaganza. 

I thoroughly recommend Atlas. So much so that we’ve booked our next cruise for spring. Perhaps it’s partly age but Atlas has turned us from skeptics into cruisers and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Couldn’t be better!

Our first cruise.  Living near cruise ports, we have come to despise the mega-ship monstrosities and were looking for a smaller ship.  Atlas fit the bill.  The price was right. The cabin was ideal.  No, not huge but big enough with beautiful bathroom and a nice balcony.  The attention to detail was striking.  Because of the small ship size, access to all parts of the ship made it easy to never feel "cooped up."  Every meal was excellent.  No limit on where to eat.  Wine and cocktails at all venues were great and we never felt we needed to spend extra money on "premium" wines.  Bartenders were as good as they come.  But above all, the staff was just incredible - friendly, genuine, competent and helpful.  While they take a photo of you when you board for security purposes (coming from shore excursions) it is obvious the crew looks at the photos and we were blown away to be greeted by our first names at restaurants, bars or passing various crew members in the hallways.  They went out of their way to accommodate you.  Just can't say enough about the staff and crew.  Room service was prompt.

Minor glitches:  A bit of mix-up with the bus pickup on one of the excursions. Another failure of the bus system for trip into town in Alicante.  Those things should be co-ordinated better.  The one relatively major problem was the Wi-Fi.  It was basically non-functional.  Often attempted to sign in but never got it to work.  Either don't offer it or do it right.

There is no big entertainment production, but a guest singer or two were fine for a little break in the beautiful Dome Lounge.  And the piano player during each night  was wonderful.

We still would never opt for the gigantic cruise ships.  The first thing we did when we got back from our month in Europe was adjust to the time zone change.  The second thing we did, was start planning on our next cruise with Atlas.

What a pleasure

We wanted to try  a smaller ship and the price point was good,,,second person sails free.  Everything except excursions were included.  Our bill at the end of our journey from Nice to Malaga was nine dollars for laundry. The interior of the ship was shiny and beautiful.  The common rooms were very comfortable and never crowded.  The food was very good and the service was excellent.  Very friendly and fun staff.  Pool and hot tub were not crowed and adequate for the number of guests.  First cruise we did not encounter chair hogs.  The excursions were very hard to prebook and were adequate but not exceptional but the included paellq cooking experience was very entertaining and fun

Our room was not large but sufficient.  I am a big packer and got all my clothes in the closet.  Balcony was nice place for breakfast.  Room service was spot on time and enjoyable as well as convenient on early excursion days. Our room attendant was wonderful and all of the service staff was welcoming and attentive.  We would sail with Atlas again

lovely ship and crew

Rostock (Warnemunde)

I chose this cruise because I wanted to see Croatia.  The ship was lovely.  The crew is very friendly!  I had no complaints about my room.  The food was mediocre to poor.  I am not picky but the dinners in particular were terrible to my palate.

You could have a steak or chicken or fish instead of the specials.  They were uninteresting, to say the least, and often served cold.  My waiter on one occasion, suggested I get something else other than the special Portuguese steak.  Boy was he correct.

The piano player --the entertainment sub-par.  I play better!!!  Not having entertainment was not a problem.  The crew did a great job when it was left to them.

The optional tours were also not very good.  Why in the heck did we stop in Albania??  The tour was awful and the place was so sad.  Someone didn't do their work in checking it out.

Lots of work to do!

Tortola

It was with excitement and anticipation that we embarked the World Navigator for a 9-night Aegean cruise. We have previously sailed with SeaDream, Seaborn and Ponant, and were fully aware that this is a new company that is working to find a niche in the market. We love smaller and more intimate ships and this is just Atlas offers. 

Ship is stellar, especially cabin and public areas. Very high quality and we loved the extra space of the Horizon Cabin. You notice that the ship is constructed as an explorer vessel for more rough weather and sea; a bit rougher along the edges, especially when entering outdoor areas including pool deck - but still remarkably high quality. The accessible bow "Waters Edge" is a great invention. Regarding the pool deck, this needs a bit more ambiance on a Mediterranean voyage and we wish they would utilize the out-door areas more for activities such as sail aways. There is great potential, and the staff is amazing. Al fresco Josper-grill dining at night was a real threat. 

The main restaurant is also beautiful with high quality appliances. Some evenings we missed a bit of flavor in the food – although do not get me wrong, everything was more than edible. Make it simple and bring on flavorful Mediterranean food. Make a stronger sense of place. 

This is not the ship you sail if you want show and party every night. However, our cruise director ran a tight and professional show and there was always something to do. We preferred to sit on the deck with a glass watching the sea pass by

Atlas is worth a try! Stellar ship and absolutely fantastic service. Sort out some details and it will be 100%

My wife and I have usually traveled around the world with bikes or just on our own and I always said I would never do a cruise.   When I saw that the Atlas World Navigator took fewer than 200 customers on a cruise, we decided to try it. I had wanted to go to Ephesus for a long time and decided to try the Atlas Greece/Turkey ten-day cruise.  The Atlas cruise definitely exceeded my expectations!

The ship was well appointed, the 170 or so passengers all seemed like friends over the great food and very well organized excursions.  Excursions were an additional cost, but every excursion we chose had excellent guides.  The evening at Ephesus (no additional cost) will be one of the high points of all my years of travel.  Only Atlas passengers were present at the Ephesus ancient Library with a great string quintet “on stage,” along with wine and appetizers, made for a very memorable evening.

Overall,  I would rate all of the food (buffets, morning noon and night) as excellent  (and I’m a foodie) and, sort of a surprise to me , the wine was very good as part of the regular meals and post meals!  The service was incredible, all the “staff” were so professional and more than helpful.   Once you had finally chosen the food you wanted from the very extensive buffet choices usually a staff member would offer to take it to what ever table you had chosen, inside or out on the deck.   I could go on and on, but let me summarize by saying that I found this Atlas Epicurean cruise to be wonderful and I can’t think of a single complaint about the trip, only praise for the way it was handled and for the ship and crew.

Wonderful Adventure on World Navigator 

Having experienced a yacht style cruise for the first time I felt compelled to post my impressions.

We have cruised on ships from 800 passengers to 2600(only 1x) and have spent almost 1 1/2  years in cruising since 1984.

Just returned from three cruises on Atlas Ocean Voyages, World Navigator. What a wonderful way to travel.

The intimate cruise experience understates our impressions of traveling on a ship/yacht with a capacity of no more than 198 passengers. The staff were wonderful. The designed ‘Epicurean Expeditions’ over our three cruise legs never disappointed. We enjoyed wonderful food on the ship and crafted excursions to continue our experience in the Greek Islands and Turkey.

We have been asked by friends, what was your highlight of the trip. Hard to pick one thing. The food, many excursions of Ancient Greek and Turkish sites were extraordinary. Zodiac rides on the ship ‘water toys’, coffee at  ‘Paula’s Pantry’, cocktails in the ‘Dome’ and special dinners at 7aft, were some of the special moments we will remember

Most of all we will remember Nuno the Hotel Manager, and Michael the cruise director and their wonderful staff for making our trip the beginning of our Atlas Experience.

Large Ships, Small Ships…Atlas is now our ship!

34 Days at Sea

Saint-Tropez

I chose this cruise because I loved the itinerary (Rome to Rome visiting Corsica, Sardinia, Capri, Amalfi & Naples), and was curious to try a new small-ship cruise line, as I have had great experiences on lines such as Windstar and Sea Dream. While I am glad that I tried it, my experience paled in comparison to those lines, the main reason being dining/service. 

Information about me: I am grateful to be an experienced cruise traveler (~20 cruises). I have two dietary restrictions, being strictly dairy-free and pescatarian. 

Stateroom: I was very impressed with how new and beautiful the ship was, since it was built just recently in 2021. We had a lovely balcony and wonderful room steward. There was an organizational mix up where a different guest was mislabeled to be in our room (causing a bit of confusion), but it was sorted out. 

Ship Info: The ship has 7 floors, with ample lounges and an indoor/outdoor dining space for the main restaurant, Porto. Everything is high-tech and looks very new. Since Atlas is very focused/known for Antarctic expeditions, the ship definitely seems to reflect that, with a lot of features catering towards it. 

Dining/Service:  I was incredibly disappointed in the food service. I have a dairy allergy, and the menus were consistently mislabeled (ex. "plant-based Moussaka" from the vegan menu being covered with real dairy cheese) with no effort from the staff to accomodate the need. When I was given dairy in a dish after telling Atlas before the cruise, confirming with the head waitress upon check-in, and asking the waitress when ordering, the chef gave an annoyed apology saying it was "too hard to source vegan food, so not all of the vegan menu is actually vegan (70%, he estimated)." In addition to the issues with dietary restrictions, crew members seemed annoyed when asking for anything special (ex. a side of dressing or avocado). Compared to the service of other luxury cruise lines such as Windstar or Sea Dream, I would in the future always choose those lines.  I gave my feedback about the allergy accommodation to the head purser, and he seemed genuinely concerned as some allergies are life-threatening (luckily not for me). I have never written a Cruise Critic review before, but I don't want anyone else with an allergy to feel the fear I did at each meal and lack of concern. I had to advocate for myself consistently and was still given dairy. On Windstar and Sea Dream (even lower priced lines like Holland America or Princess) , it feels like their pleasure to serve you and each server stands out as going above and beyond. On Windstar, for example, they gave me the dinner menu the night before so they could make a special version of dishes without dairy (exceptional service).

Activities/Entertainment: As consistent with other small ships, there are very few activities, which does not bother me at all. Someone looking for robust activities should look for a much bigger cruise line. For example, in a given day, there might be name that tune in a lounge, a zodiac tour around the boat, and something in the lounge at night. 

Children: Of the roughly 200 guests the ship can accommodate, we only had about 90. Within that group, there were only two parties with children, so not a lot of kids which makes sense for a cruise line like this. That said, they seemed to show the children great special attention, for example making them special virgin drinks and showing them the galley. 

Port and Shore Excursions: I loved all of the ports we went to, but the day at sea seemed unnecessary. I got a nice massage during that day, but we were going such a short distance that it felt as if we were not moving (I think we actually did stop for a few hours). We did one shore excursion to the Blue Grotto  that was well organized and as-advertised. 

Disembarkation: Simple and straightforward, although I must admit I was disappointed there was no follow up about my feedback with the dietary restriction. All I would have hoped for is some confirmation that this won't happen to someone else in the future.  

Summary: If you care about a new ship/renovated staterooms and have no strong preference for food or service, this might be a proper choice for you. If you do care about food and/or have allergies, I would look elsewhere in all honesty. Since it's a relatively new cruise line, I hope they are able to improve quickly!

Nice new ship, Terrible for dietary restrictions 

We typically cruise with Viking but my husband wanted to try a smaller ship. And since I love to cook and this was advertised as Epicurean I assumed there would be cooking demonstrations and or classes. There was one cooking session. Advertising this cruise as Epicurean is "false" advertising. The ads are over promised and under delivered. Was also looking forward to going to a lemon farm on the Amalfi Coast which was cancelled

Food on board had a couple excellent dishes but most were a disappointment. No matter how you requested your steak to be cooked, it was always rare. Entertainment was pretty much non-existent. Piano player/singer was a total embarrassment.

The only the on board that stood out was the wait staff which were excellent. They were always right on top of your requests. Also, ship stateroom was excellent especially the shower.

Would never cruise Atlas again. This was a total waste of money

Disappointment to say the least

Dubrovnik

This was our second Atlas cruise - the first one was to Antarctica, and I'd be hard pressed to describe it other than was 
beyond fabulous in all ways: the expedition crew was brilliant, and the history and geography talks incredibly informative. We learned so much!

I can't understand the bad reviews I've read about Atlas because our experiences have been wonderful: the excursions are exceptional, the staff friendly, kind, and helpful (in fact, the last day, the young woman who cleaned our room went out of her way to help me cram my stuff in my suitcase!), and the ship itself is stunning.

Our stateroom was large with a double balcony, and our bed was luxurious. The linens were wonderful. The shower is top notch - another wonderful luxury.

Our favorite place to hang out (other than the balcony off our cabin)  was the Observatory - it's gorgeous with comfortable sofas and armchairs, a super bar that serves all sort of fancy drinks (as well as non-alcoholic beverages), and views to die for. We also spent time in the "library lounge," which is equally as inviting.

If I have one not-so-positive comment, it's that the food was very good, but not every meal was great. There's the typical language barriers when ordering, but things were put right graciously. My room service breakfasts were delightful: smoked salmon with goodies on a bagel, croissants (but they weren't warm), fresh baked dark breads,  strong coffee, marmalades, etc. My one room service dinner arrived quickly and was delicious. Lunches were a great buffet where we could always find something we loved from roast lamb to cheeses to an assortment of nuts and healthy salads - no complaint there whatsoever. 

There were only about 160 passengers on our cruise, which made things intimate but not "intrusive." There was only one child onboard, which for us was wonderful. Everything aboard ship was quiet, calm, and sophisticated. The small ship allowed us to go into passages that other ships can't. 

Entertainment was low-key (other than the cruise director who gave a memorable evening of Elvis songs!), but we certainly don't need big shows and silly stuff to entertain us when a vacation is for new experiences and relaxing.

We've traveled and lived around the world and have taken more expensive and less expensive tours, and Atlas has won our "brand loyalty." Corny as it sounds, it feels a bit like going home again. We've already booked our third Atlas cruise and looking forward to a fourth!

Love Atlas!

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