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Just back from Silversea Falkland & Antarctica Trip


lithlith
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During the recent east coast blizzard I have had the opportunity to try out a few items. The Bogs boots have worked well with a pair of Superfeet insoles. I was also able to fit an old pair of charcoal inserts. They did not seem very warm so I will buy a new pair and give that a shot. Otherwise my feet did not get too cold but I think taking the charcoal inserts would be an easy precaution.

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During the recent east coast blizzard I have had the opportunity to try out a few items. The Bogs boots have worked well with a pair of Superfeet insoles. I was also able to fit an old pair of charcoal inserts. They did not seem very warm so I will buy a new pair and give that a shot. Otherwise my feet did not get too cold but I think taking the charcoal inserts would be an easy precaution.

 

I will Google, but what are charcoal inserts?

 

I just got my first pair of Superfeet insoles and my ankle is happier than it's been in 40 years.:D

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They call them hand warmers or foot warmers or toe warmers but they are some kind of charcoal product that becomes warm when you open the package and expose them to air. Usually just last a day but you can stretch that by putting them back in ziplock bags. I am at ski resort now and shopping for any little thing that might be useful. Haven't found the old foot warmers that sit on top of the insole. Seems the new thing is the toe warmer that sits on top of the instep of the sock. Between the sock and the boot.

By the way - it is amazing how many pants are advertised as "waterproof" at very low ratings like 5000 mm.

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  • 1 month later...

We did Antarctica and Ushuaia a couple years ago. Great trip. But don't count on any service from the Argentine airlines. They're very unreliable. We didn't have any huge problems, but others did. As a cushion, we went to Ushuaia several days ahead of our cruise departure. We found plenty to do there. In BA, we visited the pope's former church. We didn't attend services there but that would be a cool thing to do. The church is very near the Pink Palace, which is also a cool area. We really enjoyed BA oveall. LittleRedJohn

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  • 1 year later...

My main concern is the weight limit on the charter flight between buenos aires and ushuaia. I am a photograher and my equipment is heavy. Couple that with the fact that this is the 18 day cruise where you are evidently expected to dress a little nicer than usual for dinner at least two nights and that this is the 18 day cruise with a side trip to iguazu falls, and i am stressed to the max.

 

Our instructions are a total weight of 50 pounds checked and 33 pounds carry on. I don’t see how i can do it with my heavy camera equipment.

 

I guess my question is, in your experience, how closely did they monitor the carry on bags both coming and going and did they give the option to pay if you were overweight. Thank you.

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My main concern is the weight limit on the charter flight between buenos aires and ushuaia. I am a photograher and my equipment is heavy. Couple that with the fact that this is the 18 day cruise where you are evidently expected to dress a little nicer than usual for dinner at least two nights and that this is the 18 day cruise with a side trip to iguazu falls, and i am stressed to the max.

 

Our instructions are a total weight of 50 pounds checked and 33 pounds carry on. I don’t see how i can do it with my heavy camera equipment.

 

I guess my question is, in your experience, how closely did they monitor the carry on bags both coming and going and did they give the option to pay if you were overweight. Thank you.

 

We did Buenos Aires, the Falklands, South Georgia, Antarctica and Iguazu Falls on one of our trips with a laptop, three DSLR bodies and a bunch of lenses, long and short, and still made the weight limit. We made it because we decided that the trip wasn't about being a fashion show and so took a limited amount of clothing. Not so limited that we wore the same every day of the trip (as we have seen some do!!), but limited in that it could be mixed and matched and some of it washed easily (clothes dry very quickly in the dry Antarctic atmosphere). Carrying some camera equipment in my pockets helped a little but was more than a little uncomfortable!

 

 

If you can't get the weight down, you may wish to ask yourself which is going to cause you most angst: not dressing 'nicer' for dinner on two nights, or carrying luggage beyond your 23kg and 15kg (15kg sounds higher than usual) limits.

 

In terms of luggage weights being checked; it varies from airport to airport and from day to day. We, for example, have never been checked at AEP, but have at USH and IGR. Others have told of different experiences.

 

Being able to pay for additional weight also seems to vary. We had it made clear to us prior to leaving Buenos Aires for one flight that it was full and we needed to keep to or below the allowances. Nothing extra would be allowed in any circumstances. On another, some passengers were clearly well over the limits but were not challenged. On another I believe we saw payments being taken.

 

Good luck and enjoy the trip!

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If you can't get the weight down, you may wish to ask yourself which is going to cause you most angst: not dressing 'nicer' for dinner on two nights, or carrying luggage beyond your 23kg and 15kg (15kg sounds higher than usual) limits.

 

 

Yes 15 sounds extremely high for the carryon - I fly business and my carryon is increased for 7kg to 10kg. And all my polar trips have been a month long and my duffle bag was usually around 18kg.

 

I agree with Digitl - no one is going to not feed you if you turn up for dinner "not posh enough". Don't angst over the clothing. Are you ever going to see anyone on board again ? Do you care if they don't think you are dressed to "their" standards. Its your trip - do what makes you most comfortable. If bringing the camera gear is your priority - then that is you - so do it - and skip the unnecessary fancy clothes. Really - a plain black pair of trousers and a single posh top roll up nice and small and no one will give a toss if you wear them more than once. They can double as your dinner wear for everywhere else on your trip too.

You don't need gowns and ridiculous get up on an expedition no matter how posh the ship thinks it is.

 

You also don't need 18 days worth of clothes - for either sector of your trip. 3 to 4 days is all you need. The ship does laundry.

 

Re weighing the luggage - they will indeed pull you and your carryon out of the line and measure and weigh and then order you to check it through. I have seen it happen to people in front of me many times. Tourists are generally picked out over locals (who seem to be able to board with 15 shopping bags just fine). So just have your camera gear in the smallest carryon possible - don't put any other junk in there that you wont need on the short flight between BA and USH.

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