Just last month, Atlas Ocean Voyages made a big announcement: a third vessel, World Voyager, is set to debut in time for the 2023-2024 Antarctica season. The 198-guest expedition yacht will be a sister ship to the line’s World Traveller and World Navigator, marking the third vessel in its Explorer Class fleet.
It’s impressive news for the relatively new expedition cruise line, which is working to make a name for itself as a provider of immersive, upscale, smallship journeys. We sat down with James Rodriguez, president and CEO of Atlas Ocean Voyages, to learn more about how the brand plans to do so.
What differentiates Atlas from other expedition lines?
Atlas is a year-round expedition product. What we mean by that is we do Antarctica and the Arctic, but we’ve created an expedition product for the Mediterranean, as well, and that’s a bit of a differentiator for us compared to other products.
We think that cuisine is one of the most important things when people go on a European vacation. So, we wanted to build a program around epicurean exploration in the Med. Everywhere from the British Isles all the way to the Greek Isles, we have these expeditions that are focused on the culinary experience, [including during] shore excursions.
James Rodriguez, president and CEO of Atlas Ocean Voyages
Credit: 2023 Atlas Ocean VoyagesHow does Atlas immerse guests in the destinations they visit?
We have fewer than 200 guests onboard our ships. In Antarctica and the Arctic, you can only have 100 guests per landing. The size of our ships really gives us an advantage. In the Med, we are in port longer, so that we can immerse our guests in the cultures of these places. We’re there at 11 p.m., or we do a lot of overnights, so guests can get a feel for the places we go.
We’re also able to get into ports that larger cruise ships cannot. And that gives us the flexibility to create these really unique itineraries that mix the ports that people know about with these out-of-the-way places that nobody else has been to.
What new developments can we expect from the brand?
We are getting a third ship for the 2023-2024 Antarctica season, which is exciting. There’s just such high demand for Antarctica right now. So, we’re adding World Voyager, which is actually a ship that was built right before our first ship, World Navigator. We’re taking possession from Mystic Invest, which has chartered that ship out to Nicko Cruises, and will be doing a refit to bring her up to the standard that Atlas has for its ships.
How does Atlas work with and support travel advisors?
I started my career on the travel advisor side, so I’m always thinking: “How is this going to be viewed from an agent’s perspective? How will they present this to their clients?” We’ve built an online travel agency center where advisors can get resources, we have a very healthy commission structure, we have incentive programs to help our advisors build revenue … and we just expanded our sales team.
This past season especially, we tried to get as many agents as possible onboard to experience not just our product, but the overall expedition product. We offered some reduced rates to our advisors, and now we’re doing the same thing with our epicurean experience.
I started my career on the travel advisor side, so I’m always thinking: 'How is this going to be viewed from an agent’s perspective? How will they present this to their clients?'
Why is now such a great time to book with Atlas?
The value proposition. We’re offering a luxury experience in Antarctica similar to that of the high-end lines — but at a lower per diem rate. And that’s only because we’re trying to introduce our product and get our name out. But we will compete head-to-head with any type of luxury product, especially in Antarctica, from an experience standpoint. And then if you look at the Med, we’re providing a luxury experience on a smaller, more intimate ship, and our per diems are a bit lower than the high-end luxury or yacht cruises.
Right now is the best time to book an Atlas cruise, because once we’ve established the brand and have built a solid consumer base, you’re going to see our per diems go up. I’d say we’re the best value in luxury expedition cruising right now.
