Just booked Antarctica/SA for 2011

[warmwinds]

This will be our longest cruise ever, with LOTS of days at sea (even more if we can't go to the Falklands due to weather). I'm a little nervous about so many days at sea, but I know many of them have spectacular scenery while we are sailing by so it's a little different than just the ocean blue (which I love, just never did it for days on end).

 

I guess I'm just looking for a little reassurance that so many days at sea are a good thing! Do they schedule more stuff to do on board? Oh, and we booked our favorite aft on the Infinity so we'll get a great view of the passing show.

[kannna]

It's like a TA! but colder with icebergs and penguins! that was my thought process when booking : )

[Denny01]

This will be our longest cruise ever, with LOTS of days at sea (even more if we can't go to the Falklands due to weather). I'm a little nervous about so many days at sea, but I know many of them have spectacular scenery while we are sailing by so it's a little different than just the ocean blue (which I love, just never did it for days on end).

 

I guess I'm just looking for a little reassurance that so many days at sea are a good thing! Do they schedule more stuff to do on board? Oh, and we booked our favorite aft on the Infinity so we'll get a great view of the passing show.

 

We'd love to join you! We took a Transatlantic on the Constellation in 06, a 14-day on the Infinity SA (BA to Chile with stop in Falklands - no Antartica) Jan 09 and now going on our 2nd TA, Rome to FLL on Solstice. We love At Sea days - we have 6 in a roll on our TA.

 

There is a ton to do. There will be additional lectures especially heading into the Southern Seas. There will be extra wine tastings, cooking lectures and some craft type classes. You will have too much to do - but in a Celebrity-style low-key approach that we love.

 

Enjoy it. We found the Falklands to be fantastic - great weather. One of our favorite stops. But my favorite was the Beagle Channel. I think you'll find the sailing to Antartica will top that.

 

Denny

[LongTimeTvlr]

We did a 16 day SA / Antarctica with Princess in Feb of this year. We had 5 days in a row of sailing amongst the penquins and iceburgs. Fantastic.

 

Pleanty to do on board, but far more interesting was the frequent strolls we took along the walkways on the top deck. Fantastic scenery and amazing wild life. Penguins, Whales, albatross' etc. Even the occaisional mad scientist (we picked up 7 from the Polish station as we sailed past).

 

We were never bored. We did spend time reading in the large upper lounge areas with large windows. Could read and watch the scenery at the same time, and when interesting sites appeared step outside for a closer view.

 

One thing to keep in mind, most of the time the ship was moving along at 15 nauts, which creates quick a wind and with the low temps you need jackets and ear muffs to stay outside for long.

[warmwinds]

Interesting about the weather - Buenos Aires is hot that time of year, so I guess we'll have to bring lots of layers. Our aft balcony is protected from a lot of the wind. Did you find the seas really rough, causing seasickness?

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

:) We did the South America/Cape Horn cruise for 46 days from Fla to San Diego this past Jan on RCCL's Mariner of the Seas. What a fantastic tirip -- we had never been cruising for such a long time but were never

bored. About 150 of us on the CC site formed a group named the "Hornblowers" and several of the more "senior" members of Crown and Ancnor planned some fun activities for our sea days. The longest stretch

was the 5 days traveling from the Caribbean down to Uruguay. As the

ship is quite large -- there are alot of venues to keep one interested.

 

 

 

:) As far

as the weather --- remember, January is summer there and even though

the temps in BA will be in the 80's as the ship goes farther south the

air does turn cooler. I think the temps in Ushuaia were in the 50's with

beautiful blue skies and calm winds. The pansies were in bloom which

was nice to see!

 

:D The trip to

Halberton Ranch to walk with the penquins was the highlight of the trip

for me --- only about 30 people are allowed to "walk" among these

cute creatures each day. I was so close I could have touched them (not allowed, though). The entire trip had very calm seas --- in fact, the day we

went around Cape Horn and the lighthouse --- the seas were so calm that

Capt. Johnny apologized for the calm waters. (Some were hoping for a little "rock and roll") :D ---- this was by far the smoothest cruise we have done to date considering the itinerary.

 

Definitely plan for a few layers:

gloves and a warm scarf or earmuffs - just in case. A lined waterproof

jacket with a hood would be ideal. A sweatshirt or two, long pants - perhaps some of the silk underwear --- you will be fine. Packing was a bit

of a challenge as we went from winter to summer to fall to summer to

winter, again. RE: rough seas: I planned accordingly and had a mini pharmacy with us, in case. You may want to

bring the SeaBands and dramamine with you. The ships' doctor also has pills available for this problem.

 

Have a great time, relax and don't worry. :cool: