G Oliver

This is from the letter we got after the cruise- Shortly before your voyage, we began experiencing an issue with the ship’s stabilizers. While in port in Ushuaia on your embarkation day our technical teams were able to explore below the water line and conduct a more thorough investigation, and discovered the stabilizers were working at a very reduced capacity.

They said anyone who chose to get off would be flown back by them to Buenos Aries from Ushuaia. They would not arrange onward flights from BA, nor would they refund the cruise/give future credit

In Antarctica itself, there was no problem. We are now heading back into the Drake Passage and have been told to take sickness medication and put away all loose items. As we understand it, stabilisers are not working at all.

We are in the ship at the moment. We were told of the issue after we sailed- some passengers asked to go back to Ushuaia to disembark once it was clear South Georgia would be missed. Although the ship did return, they were told they would have to make their arrangements from Buenos Aries home and there would be no refund of cruise fare. Not surprisingly, no one got off- we were held to ransom by Seabourn. We are now returning to Ushuaia a day early to beat a storm in the Drake passage. The 7 days scheduled to/from/in South Georgia were spent going further in Antarctica- brilliant scenery, but did not come anywhere near compensating for what we missed. Captain was virtually invisible- left Expedition team to explain issues whenever he could Compensation of $1k each plus 15% is inadequate and we and others will be taking further action.