cyrreb

We booked #5501 on the Whisper (sister ship) for a recent cruise. When we boarded we had been reassigned to another stateroom. I am also interested in answers to Cap_Scarlet’s question.

The jackets we got for the Antarctic (2018) consisted of a puffy vest and an outer shell.  Made by Haglofs, they are much more attractive and practical than the old style. 

Sebamed soaps and shampoos are available if you don’t want the perfumed stuff. 

Library is small, and most books are about geography and nature.  There is a section of passenger-donated books, where you may find best sellers. 

I envy you your upcoming trip. We did the Arctic with Explorer in 2015. It was so wonderful I’d go again in a minute. If you embark or debarked from Tromso, make sure you eat here:  

https://fiskekompani.no/en/.

Silversea is the absolute best. Officers, staff and crew are superlative!  Our last two cruises were crystal and viking (gak, blah, yuck), and I kept thinking, “what a waste of time and money” when we could be on the Explorer. 

54 minutes ago, ABoatNerd said:

 

Thank you very much CharTrav.  This information is not aligned with the earlier post that I quoted about Bodo being missed due to a lack of tugs. These are 2 very different explanations.

 

A key question will be - did the Sky have mechanical issues before the incident or did the engines suddenly and without warning fail.  This is a huge question and points right at the heart of Viking Ocean corporation.

Bodo was skipped on the cruise that began Mar 2 from Tilbury.  We were told that high winds made it unsafe.  I seem to recall hearing that the same cancellation (with the same reason) had happened on at least one cruise before ours.   Perhaps Bodo is just not a safe port for large ships in Feb and March, and shouldn’t have been on the itinerary.  Remember, this is the first season that Viking has offered a Northern Lights cruise.  

We saw 2, from a very great distance.  Fortunately, our cruise (Explorer July 2015) ended in Longyearbyen, where there were many fine taxidemied specimenes available for life-like closeup photos.  

But there are so many other wildlife and natural attractions to see that missing the polar bears wasnt a big deal.  It’s a wonderful trip and a wonderful ship and crew.

21 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Thank you all!

 

Do any of the stops on the Antarctica cruises include a visit to a research base? I heard that some of those have bars/gift shops ad thought it would be great to visit.

Our Explorer trip (Feb 2018) stopped at Port Lockroy.  It’s no longer an active research base, but a museum, gift shop and post office.  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/antarctic-exploration-museum-post-office