Live from the infinity - Antarctica

[claimers]

We've had two trips to Antarctica, amounting to almost three weeks and going as far south as 68°, and all but two days featured sunny blue skies.

 

Thank you for your comments.

May we be so lucky.

[Turtles06]

Let me paint a picture here....seas of 20' plus, wind of 60 mph, water temperature 32 degrees and you are climbing into a zodiac for a fun ride to shore where you will slide off into the water to get on shore. Waves are breaking and the spray from the waves is blowing horizontally in the wind..directly at you.

 

This is not fictional...this is what we saw on a smaller expedition ship which used zodiacs to put passengers on board at cape horn to see the monument and get their passports stamped.

 

I agree, going ashore would be a much better adventure...and it's what I wanted to do...but my wife is saner than I am so we compromised on the drive by with tours to penguins. Price was not the issue....

 

For others who might be reading this thread and considering a trip with landings, I just want to say that this is not a picture of anything that I experienced on our Antarctica expedition with Lindblad. We were out in zodiacs many, many times, for landings as well as just cruising, and they were never launched in rough seas or strong winds. Safety concerns were paramount, and in fact our first planned landing on the continent was aborted because the winds were starting to pick up. Not to worry, though, there was plenty more to do that day (we spent a marvelous afternoon breaking through ice in the Weddell Sea), and many landings followed in the ensuing days.

 

To our great surprise, zodiac cruising turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip. It was nothing short of spectacular to be at water level in the Antarctic, getting up close and personal with icebergs, as well as leopard seals napping on ice floes, and seeing penguins from the close-in perspective of the shore.

 

Nothing insane about it.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Turtles06

[ECCruise]

For others who might be reading this thread and considering a trip with landings, I just want to say that this is not a picture of anything that I experienced on our Antarctica expedition with Lindblad. We were out in zodiacs many, many times, for landings as well as just cruising, and they were never launched in rough seas or strong winds. Safety concerns were paramount, and in fact our first planned landing on the continent was aborted because the winds were starting to pick up. Not to worry, though, there was plenty more to do that day (we spent a marvelous afternoon breaking through ice in the Weddell Sea), and many landings followed in the ensuing days.

 

To our great surprise, zodiac cruising turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip. It was nothing short of spectacular to be at water level in the Antarctic, getting up close and personal with icebergs, as well as leopard seals napping on ice floes, and seeing penguins from the close-in perspective of the shore.

 

Nothing insane about it.

 

I must say that I totally agree.

We did an excursion trip with Ponant 2 years ago, did 11 landings in 4 days on the Peninsula and never remotely experienced anything like the OP's description. In fact, we were treated to a wine toasting on the zodiak(s), served from another zodiak, at the conclusion of one of the landings.

 

I am fully aware that an expedition to Antarctica costs more (and usually significantly more) than a drive-by, but with Celebrity continuing to increase prices, I can't recommend strongly enough to compare with a number of the excursion cruises. In many cases the ambiance, food and service are far beyond anything on Celebrity. We've done over 50 cruises on all 7 continents with 8 different cruise lines, but nothing even remotely compares with our Antarctic trip.

[digitl]

Let me paint a picture here....seas of 20' plus, wind of 60 mph, water temperature 32 degrees and you are climbing into a zodiac for a fun ride to shore where you will slide off into the water to get on shore. Waves are breaking and the spray from the waves is blowing horizontally in the wind..directly at you.

 

This is not fictional...this is what we saw on a smaller expedition ship which used zodiacs to put passengers on board at cape horn to see the monument and get their passports stamped.

20' seas and 60mph winds? Are you sure? Care to name the ship?

 

This is way outside anything we have experienced or seen and is positively dangerous. If the weather was even half as bad as you describe then any landing would have been cancelled on the expedition cruises we have taken.

[digitl]

...our first planned landing on the continent was aborted because the winds were starting to pick up. Not to worry, though, there was plenty more to do that day (we spent a marvelous afternoon breaking through ice in the Weddell Sea), and many landings followed in the ensuing days.

 

The same thing happened to us on our first trip. The wind started to pick up and there were a few growlers around at Esperanza and Brown Bluff and so the landings were cancelled.

 

As for breaking through ice: amazing, unforgettable etc etc. We spent several hours ploughing our way gently through metre thick sea ice on our way back north from Marguerite Bay and 68° south last month.

 

To our great surprise, zodiac cruising turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip. It was nothing short of spectacular to be at water level in the Antarctic, getting up close and personal with icebergs, as well as leopard seals napping on ice floes, and seeing penguins from the close-in perspective of the shore.

 

Agreed! It's huge fun. We did it in Marguerite Bay under a clear blue sky. The light on the water and through the icebergs was nothing short of spectacular. That, and the wildlife, made an exceptional day.

 

Nothing insane about it.

 

Nothing insane at all. There's nothing scary about a well organised expedition trip to Antarctica. Quite the opposite!

[JJPacer]

Dear ghstudio,

We will be sailing in February of 2015, but I read your report daily. THANK YOU for taking the time to do this. I have enjoyed your humor, suffered with your frustrations, learned a lot from you (port charge credit, etc.) and some days wished I were there with you RIGHT NOW - not one year from now.

 

If I may, I would like to ask a very serious question. Knowing all that you now know and experiencing what you have just experienced, would you have taken this cruise? Would you recommend this cruise to friends? I so want to see the wildlife…the penguins, the whales, and Antarctica. Did you see enough to make the challenges worth it? You have mentioned a lot of the negatives - which we all need to hear, but did the positives outweigh them? Hope so!

 

Stay healthy and enjoy the next leg of your cruise!

 

I look forward to an HONEST response,

Claudia

 

We were very excited about this cruise. We did have a good time and it was overall a positive experience. We would not take this cruise a second time. This cruise was centrally based on viewing the Antarctic. The Beagle Channel, Elephant Island, etc. You did see some wildlife from the ship, but certainly not an up close and personal type of experience. Absolutely nothing similar to the Galapagos. We went on the Pira Tour in Ushuaia which was excellent. A Must Do! That tour gave you the up close & personal experience with the penguins. We had Patrick Watts tour booked in the Falkland's, but was unable to do his tour. A very few on our ship were able to do the Patrick Watts tour, but you had to be able to take the first tender. If we had it to do over again, I would have booked the ship's excursion to Volunteer Point. Our stop in Puerto Madryn was cancelled. We had plans to do penguin/wildlife tours in Ushuaia, the Falklands, & Puerto Madryn, and we had only one opportunity out of the three.

 

We have seen the pictures from people who have done the expedition sailings of the Antarctic. Their pictures of the ice and wildlife alone are far superior to what we saw on this cruise. If you want the true adventure, up close and personal, we would do the expedition cruise over this cruise. We didn't see any of the stunning icebergs other people have shared pictures of.

 

Doug did a great job on his 'Live' reporting.

[ORV]

Thanks for your reports on this, I've read it all as we are taking a similar trip next year.

 

Just one question regarding the weather. How much of the trip was cold and how much was temperature or warm?

 

Thanks

[crimsonbird]

Thanks for your reports on this, I've read it all as we are taking a similar trip next year.

 

Just one question regarding the weather. How much of the trip was cold and how much was temperature or warm?

 

Thanks

 

When I look back on our outdoor photos of this trip 4 years ago - we were wearing fleece and quilted jackets for most of the trip. Bring headwarmers and gloves too. It's warmish the first couple of days in BA and Montevidao, and then it cools down. Remember too, that when the ship is moving, the chill increases. Hope this helps.

[chicail16]

Nice review and comments from all. Thanks for sharing and the info. I definitely want to do an expedition cruise.

 

Thanks!