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On 1/11/2022 at 3:03 PM, PaulMCO said:

If you booked with a TA have them followup 3 weeks after you submitted the request with your bank data.  Quark promised a cruise refund in 4 weeks.  My TA sent them a reminder mail plus I did same stating that if the money was not received at the 4 week mark, I would dispute the charges with AMEX.

You always have that option if you paid with a CC.

 

Did Quark promise any compensation for your wasted trip??

 

I sent a separate request with bills for the extra COVID tests, the air fare, plus the wasted Trip insurance.  I do not expect to receive this as Quark will likely state that the future credit of 25% would cover those items.

 

Best of luck and I am truly sorry your voyage was cancelled.

 

 

Paul:

They added $300 in the refund amount for incidentals and the hotel was paid for through 01/12/2022.  So you could stay at the hotel on their dime if you wished.  Our TA is following up with them  to make sure our refund data is in the hopper.  In about a week I will start doing the same.

Quark cancelled the January 10, 2022 Expedition due to COVID.  We came back to the US on Monday.  I am not too sure these guys are really organized.  Will await our refund.  We have already filed the paperwork.

2 hours ago, smgapp said:

Thank-you for all the info, I am so sorry for the canceled cruises.  We are on the Quark Ultramarine Feb 11 and trying to figure out if best to cancel now or wait... We have a travel agent friend who is in Antarctica now. He had an issue with a different cruise line (not Quark) . They were leaving  last weekend and a few passengers tested positive, they kept the ship an extra night in Ushuaia so they could retest the passengers and make sure  they were accurate positive tests.  The passengers who were positive got off the ship and  are now  quarantining for 10 days in Ushuaia.

smgapp:

We discussed with our TA and decided to give it a couple of weeks and see if Quark is going to cancel for the sake of any penalties they may impose if you cancel now.

Ed

6 hours ago, PaulMCO said:

Best of luck Ed  and hope you are a go.

I see you also post on Trip Advisor as do I (radarman)

Paul:

I figured that was you.  Enjoy the Islands.

Ed

I am getting the feeling that our Expedition which is scheduled for 01/10/2022 may be the first one for the season.  Not to sure I want to be a guinea pig on their first cruise.

Ed

Here is a copy of an email from Quark to our TA:

"Thank you for your email. Yes, as part of our stringent COVID protocols, during routine crew testing on the night of 24th November, some of our crew tested positive for COVID.

Rest assured that we are focusing all our efforts on safely returning to operation so that we can deliver amazing polar experiences for our guests. At this time, we are still planning to operate the rest of our season beginning with December 13th departure.

Should this need to change we will contact you as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding."

I deleted who it was sent to etc. Someone on another board has stated that Quark has cancelled the 12/13/2021 Expedition, but I find that it is still listed on their website.

FYI, my wife and I are on the 01/10/2022 Expedition. But this is really starting to get out of hand on Quark's part.

Ed

53 minutes ago, PaulMCO said:

 

Yes we made it to BA only.  They broke the news to us in the bubble hotel in BA.

I am really pissed at Quark -- THEY violated the bubble.  While they came to SA from the EU, they did stop for an extended period in Montevideo.  Likely they picked up some of the expedition crew there.

So where did the COVID if they were supposed to be in a bubble??

I am pondering posting on Quark's Facebook site and asking them to confirm that the 11/25/2021 Expedition was cancelled due to COVID.  However, I doubt they would respond.  More than likely they would have it removed.

Ed

51 minutes ago, PaulMCO said:

Thank you Ashley,  this been a very unpredictable year.  We just returned from Argentina and we NEVER boarded Quarks Ultramarine.   Quark cancelled the voyage at the last moment as 4 crew members (later updated to 9) tested positive for COVID.  We are really disappointed.

Paul:  Did you even make it Ushuaia or were you held at the hotel in BA?  This explains why the ship has been docked in Ushuaia for the last several weeks.  I will email our TA and see if she can get some type of read from Quark on whether the season will proceed.

Thanks for the update.  Know you are disappointed.

Ed

8 minutes ago, FLRI said:

Post #43 States:

 Ushuaia is not considered safe by other Cruise lines .  Hurtigruten and Crystal will not depart from there,  They are using Punta Arenas.  They are also avoiding airport exposure by chartering their own plane from Miami.  

 

Can you elaborate on why Ushuaia is not considered safe by other cruise lines?

And Crystal is departing from Ushuaia — their charter is MIA to USH. They are not using Punta Arenas. Silversea is using Punta Arenas.

 

 

I am just speculating, but it could be that the cruise lines are "spreading things out" so that there are not a lot of ships in one port at the same time.

Ed

Here is what I know as of today.  Our TA got the notice from Quark earlier this week  My wife and I have already switched our trip to January 2022 and have received our room number.  Everything seems to check out from the standpoint of meeting at the hotel in BA by noon on the first day of the trip, stay at that hotel that night and then transit to Ushuaia and embark on the boat.  No hanging out and walking around Ushuaia they way I read it.  I did check the UA website and find that the Argentinian restrictions are only until October 1, 2021.  I am presuming that they are going to loosen up on the quarantine issue etc after that time.

We are booked on the Quark Expeditions on the Ocean Diamond with the cruise commencing on 02/22/2022.  No flights have been booked yet as we will wait until the final payment is due.  I will post if I hear anything from Quark.

My wife and I are looking at the January 13, 2021 Antartica and Patagonia cruise from Santiago to Buenos Aires.  We have one question, does it make multiple landings in Antartica?  We can not really tell from the Seabourn site.  Most of the posts in this forum seem to show multiple landings.  Please advise, just trying to confirm.  

Thanks.

Ed

If everything works right 95 days.:D

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise on the Azamara Quest over the new year.:) Now we are trying to figure out our next trip on them.

Ed

We just returned from the Tahiti two weeks ago; I carried a Nikon 1 AW1 with both the 11-27.5MM and 10-100MM lens. This camera performed admirably both in and out of the water. I very easily could have left the 10-100MM at home. FYI we carry-on our bags; the Patagonia MLC weighed in at 17.5lbs. I have a small bag that carried my ipad and travel documents. Weights were well with in the ATN's carry-on limits of 10KG or 22lbs.:D

Ed

FlySAS.com

 

SAS Airlines.

 

Couldn't find any dimensions for the small laptop bag or purse. The guy on the phone didn't help either.

Here are the Cabin Bag Allowances for SAS; not bad!:)

The first one's on us Some things in life are too important to check in. When you fly with SAS, you are always allowed one free piece of cabin baggage*.

• The following is the maximum size and weight for cabin baggage onboard SAS flights:
  
  • Height: 55 cm/22”
    
  • Width: 40 cm/16”
    
  • Depth: 23 cm/9”
    
  • Weight: 8 kg/17 lbs
    

   

*Infants under two years of age are not entitled to a cabin baggage allowance

• If you are flying to the US or Asia in SAS Plus or SAS Business, you can bring two pieces of cabin baggage onboard, each weighing up to 8 kg/17lbs.
  
  

• In addition to this allowance, all passengers are allowed to bring a handbag or small laptop bag onboard for free.
  
• Liquids and gels in containers larger than 100 ml (3.38 oz.) are not allowed.
  
• Some of our aircraft are small. If you fly on one, we may ask you to leave your cabin bag at the door, where it will be checked in and returned to you when you leave the aircraft.
  
• There are certain things that you can’t carry on board depending on your departure country and destination. Read the rules for flights to and from:
  

Ed

What airline are you flying?

Ed

I would not buy one down there. Depending on the camera I would check with B&H, Adorama or your local camera store. Definitely the ability to get warranty work or return it will be better.

ED