edgee Posted April 12, 2011 #1 Share Posted April 12, 2011 We returned from what we thought was Celebrity's last Antarctic cruise in February. Word was that due to new restrictions on large ships in Antarctica beginning late this year, only smaller (ie. Azamara, Oceania, smaller HAL) ships could cruise Antarctica. Now an April 8 Celebrity press release says Infinity will visit Antarctica twice in the 2012-2013 season. Does anyone know if the rules have changed, or how this can be? Our Infinity Antarctic cruise this past February was terrific due to great weather in Falklands and Argentina, but we had to abandon Antarctica after just a few hours of cruising due to horrendous weather. Would love to try again! Thanks for any insight anyone can offer on the future (if any) of large ship cruising to Antarctica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillslife Posted April 12, 2011 #2 Share Posted April 12, 2011 We did Antarctica on a small explorer ship with OAT travel this Feb and then boarded the Star Princess in Valpariso - FLL. We were told Princess would not be going to Antarctica again due to the new fuel regulations for the larger ships. I took that to mean all the regular cruise lines (Celebrity, HA, Carnival, RCL, Oceania, etc) would be too big and use the same fuel that is now banned....so your info is different from what we heard on board the Star.... Maybe someone else has more info - or maybe the 'Antarctica' voyage they are talking about does not include crossing the Drake Passage and actually going to Antarctica - maybe they are just calling it that because they go to the Falklands???? Will be interesting to find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper28 Posted April 13, 2011 #3 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I *think* they can still take the larger ships, but they have to conform to the cleaner fuel requirement. The cruise lines don't really want to do that because it's significantly more expensive to do that, but other than cost, I don't think there's anything to stop them. (In fact, from what I can tell, they can't even have on board the heavier crude oil generally used as fuel, so the entire voyage would have to be taken with the cleaner oil, which definitely represents a significant cost.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitl Posted April 13, 2011 #4 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I believe the position is that if they wish to go south of 60º they need to use light crude oil and some of the 'larger' ships can do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcticmom Posted May 1, 2011 #5 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I have no idea what fuel they are using but celebrity is returning to Antarctica in February of 2013. Prices are failrly similar to what we paid in 2010, and only $100 more that the cruises around the horn which makes me wonder about the fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liv4cruzin Posted May 1, 2011 #6 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Some ships may have been built to specs that would allow them to burn more than one type of fuel. The rest have the option of converting their engines to the type that CAN burn the higher priced light fuel. From what I've read elsewhere it's extremely costly to make this conversion. The lines that have the capability to sail there will probably capitalize on it. Hopefully there are enough ships that can go there to offer a variety of choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floridatravelersforlife Posted May 11, 2011 #7 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Infinity burns Jet Fuel A (kerosene) in its turbines. infinity is one of the original ships that were not converted to diesel engines and heavy bunker is what is banned from Antarctica. Good move on the part of Celebrity to leave a few ships to burn light fuel. This also allows Celebrity to burn approved fuels on the Alaska routes Due to strict maritime restrictions, ships plying the Alaskan waters can only burn certain fuels. That's why Infinity always does Alaska. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLACRUISER99 Posted May 18, 2011 #8 Share Posted May 18, 2011 I have no idea what fuel they are using but celebrity is returning to Antarctica in February of 2013. Prices are failrly similar to what we paid in 2010, and only $100 more that the cruises around the horn which makes me wonder about the fuel.Yes, I'am booked on the 02/17/2013 Antarctia RT from Buenos Aires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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