Charting Their Course
WITH STILL A YEAR UNTIL ITS JULY 2021 DEBUT, ATLAS OCEAN VOYAGES’ LUXE-ADVENTURE COMMITMENT I S ALREADY PUTTING THE COMPANY ON THE MAP.
With still a year until its July 2021 debut, Atlas Ocean Voyages’ luxe-adventure commitment is already putting the company on the map.
Looking ahead to the cruise adventures of tomorrow may be Summer 2020’s unofficial pastime, and perhaps no company is encouraging more hope within the cruise industry than Atlas Ocean Voyages. Blazing its own luxe-adventure trail with the launch of World Navigator in July 2021, Atlas promises an onboard experience that is all- inclusive without feeling pretentious, all the while endearing itself to cruisers and non-cruisers alike with bucketlist itineraries packed with destinations that are off-the-beaten- path and thrilling no matter what activity is pursued.
Categorizing a cruise line before the water’s surface is ever broken can be difficult, but the ultra-luxury and ultra-premium niches have never seen anything like what Atlas is pledging. To hear insiders talk of its luxe-adventure, fun-focused leanings, one can’t help but appreciate the unassuming “barefoot billionaire” that Atlas looks to channel and court.
“I worked on board a six-star ship for a couple years, starting out as a receptionist … and most of my time as a shore- ex manager,” remembers Alberto Aliberti, president of Atlas Ocean Voyages. “And I always noticed the best guests were the guys who were so wealthy — and I don’t mean just in dollar signs, but wealth in terms of how they approached their life — [with] an attitude of ‘ Look, I’m here for fun. I’m not here to pass judgement on anyone [or] remake the ship. I’m here to enjoy the experience the ship is giving me.’”
Along with their devil-may-care attitude, Aliberti remembers the accompanying laidback look of so many of these successful entrepreneurs, businessmen, and politicians — “they were always the guys who were walking around in flip-flops, torn-up cargo shorts, and a T-shirt that said Metallica or something on it” — not to mention the one specific billionaire who flipped this particular switch for him.
“So it's taking that person and extrapolating that person not because ‘a billion’ means ‘a billion dollars’ , but ‘ billion’ means a spirit of a person who has wealth in their heart, wealth in their lifestyle, wealth in their experiences,” Aliberti says.
Be they billionaires- or millionaires-inspirit — “we downgraded it to a million because the old term, ‘ I feel like a million bucks today,’” says Aliberti, “and that’s how we want to make our guests feel” — these enlightened
guests are greeted with Atlas’ all-inclusive offerings before ever setting a barefoot step on board World Navigator, as airfare is included in each ticket price. Once on board, the 196 total guests will be welcomed and supported by engaged crewmembers (“not avoided because they’re worried about guest-service comment forms,” says Aliberti) and will find a range of sophisticated, modern accommodations that start with oceanview staterooms and run all the way up to 466-square-foot one-bedroom suites. Overall, almost 90 percent of the suites and staterooms boast their own veranda.
Luxury and wellness are not only a priority on the ship, but assets built in to complement what Atlas offers on land. When World
Navigator welcomes its first passengers in July 2021, it will be embarking on an 11-night Greek Isles itinerary designed specifically for small ships, then a Black Sea itinerary that gives an option for guests to experience a two-day land tour of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Such refined, activity-driven, and even dark forms of tourism are indicative of the experiences Atlas strives to offer that other cruise lines simply can’t. Ones where cruisers get down, dirty, and directly involved in an authentic, on-land way, then have the luxury of returning to the finest accommodations on water, with a piano bar setting the perfect social scene to share the immediate memories and more.
“[ It’s] enjoying themselves like a bunch of guys at a high school reunion,” Aliberti says, “with people who are like-minded in spirit to travel, like-minded in spirit for enjoying luxury, and used to having fun. These people have a standard by which they want to be comfortable in … and we’re giving them an environment where they can just lie back, let it all hang out, and, as I like to say from the old days, tell lies to each other and believe it.” Following the summer in Europe, World Navigator will head west for an equally adventurous mini-season around the Caribbean and South Americas, then settle into Antarctica for the winter. In 2022, sister ships World Traveller and World Seeker will launch, followed by World Adventurer and World Discoverer in 2023.
By then, the world will surely know Atlas’ name.