Seabourn Quest, Antarctica Season 2, Voyage 1.

[Chairsin]

Since I would likely never wear the parka again is there any sort of program Seabourn facilitates so passengers have the option of donating their ( gently? ) used parka to some sort of relief organization?

 

 

 

 

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[SKP946]

To the person who wrote in the earlier thread ("Quest hit by lightning") to say hello to Joan and Bill. We sat next to them on our Zodiac cruise around Neko Harbour on Thursday.

 

One of the crew dropped his white iPhone while ashore, never to be seen again.

If you are planning to take ashore anything white, tie a coloured ribbon to it, or put some colour on it with a marker pen.

As Roxborough wrote previously, wear something distinctive, I had some lovely chats with ladies who were not my wife !

I took some bright orange flagging tape and tied it to our packs to distinguish them.

The packs are charcoal grey with an excellent, waterproof, bright orange Zip (if you wish to colour co-ordinate)

The Parkas are a light orange with charcoal.

We found walking poles very handy in both icy and slushy (Thursday) conditions

[homolog]

@SKP946

 

Thermal underwear? Check!

Waterproof pants? Rented!

Warm socks? Check!

Balaclava? Check!

Two pairs of gloves? Check!

Hand warmers? Check!

Crocs? Check!

 

Packing is still ahead, the pile of stuff is enormous. Hope to get it into 3 suitcases.

 

How formal were the formal nights? Can't decide whether to pack the tux or not.

 

Chris

[SKP946]

You don't need the Tux

[homolog]

@SKP946

 

Thanks! It'll be our most informal cruise ever.

 

And if you want to stay on for the next leg, it seems that some cabins left unbooked.

 

Best C

[SKP946]

@SKP946

 

Thanks! It'll be our most informal cruise ever.

 

And if you want to stay on for the next leg, it seems that some cabins left unbooked.

 

Best C

 

Dec 20 fully booked, I asked today

Formal Dinner Tonight,

Very few Tux's, (less than 5%) most men in dark suits and all looking very neat, even in Colonnade.

[homolog]

Dec 20 fully booked, I asked today

Formal Dinner Tonight,

Very few Tux's, (less than 5%) most men in dark suits and all looking very neat, even in Colonnade.

 

How strange, Seabourn offered several upgrades to Veranda or Penthouse cabins. At least 7 different cabins to choose from.

Although we're now up to 4 suitcases we leave the tuxedos. And pack some more sweaters. It'll be a hell of a schlep!

[Roxburgh]

How strange, Seabourn offered several upgrades to Veranda or Penthouse cabins. At least 7 different cabins to choose from.

Although we're now up to 4 suitcases we leave the tuxedos. And pack some more sweaters. It'll be a hell of a schlep!

 

You do want a veranda. There is a lot of scenic cruising and, sometimes, you want to enjoy that from the privacy of your own suite.

[MrsWaldo]

I'll second that. Especially when you encounter the first iceberg

[Roxburgh]

I'll second that. Especially when you encounter the first iceberg

 

Which was on your side of the ship but not ours :mad::D

 

Hopefully you or the children were not involved in the madness in the CBD?

Edited December 15, 2014 by Roxburgh

[MrsWaldo]

Thankfully we had been in the city the day before.

 

I had planned to go in Monday and would have been close by, however my plans the weekend before were changed and the markets are only on Sundays so i swapped my days around.

 

Miss W did have friends in the building who had to climb out the window.

 

Because of our gun laws things like this are very rare. :(

 

All the best to you and yours for Christmas

[SKP946]

How strange, Seabourn offered several upgrades to Veranda or Penthouse cabins. At least 7 different cabins to choose from.

Although we're now up to 4 suitcases we leave the tuxedos. And pack some more sweaters. It'll be a hell of a schlep!

 

After crossing the Drake Passage in winds of up to 60 Knots (100+ kmph) I am glad that we didn't accept the offered upgrades, and stayed in our chosen Amidships on Deck 4. Even this morning out in the (inappropriately named) Pacific Ocean I am happy to be low down, the MDR and Colonnade weren't exactly busy last night after we left the shelter of the Chilean Fiords. The Forward Elevators were also shut down again yesterday afternoon.

(An Observation, slim people seem to use the stairs, the not-so-slim use the elevators !! )

 

One couple we met paid the minimum price and were offered (& took) a no cost upgrade from a V1 to a Deck 10 Forward Penthouse. (He suffers (badly) from motion sickness !!)

It appears that upgrades are being offered to paying pax so the lower priced cabins, (A and V1) are available for the 18 Expedition staff and entertainers.

 

There is a considerable increase in moment from the MDR to the Observation Lounge, but Expedition Team member and Antarctic veteran John Fonseca fix for motion sickness has saved me. ie. you plug the opposite to your dominate hand ear,

(Right Handed, ear plug in Left Ear, works for me !) try it.

[countflorida]

We're in Santiago and board tomorrow. This has been a most enjoyable and informative thread. Too bad some of the advice came too late - it's really hard to find hand warmers in Sarasota, even in December. But having survived a near-lifetime in upstate New York, I guess we'll live thru this without them. We did find thermal underwear, on the Internet with 2-day shipping!

 

Thanks!

[MrsWaldo]

You'll stop in Ushuaia first

 

it must be the antarctic mega store;)

 

If you need something for the trip you will find it there

[SKP946]

We're in Santiago and board tomorrow. This has been a most enjoyable and informative thread. Too bad some of the advice came too late - it's really hard to find hand warmers in Sarasota, even in December. But having survived a near-lifetime in upstate New York, I guess we'll live thru this without them. We did find thermal underwear, on the Internet with 2-day shipping!

 

Thanks!

 

Don't worry too much if you haven't something, the onboard "Boutique" has an excellent range of gear, including hand and foot warmers (all foot warmers sold out by Day 4 though, so get in early )(they tell me that that have new stock waiting in Valpariso)

I didn't use, or need the warmers, only Mrs.SKP.

The Boutique even has good quality walking Poles at $140 a pair, or you can rent them at $33 each at Seabourn Square (again, get in early))

The Boutique also has nice overpants for $80, which didn't sell out, I had my own, but didn't need them.

They also have SD Cards and AA batteries.

You could almost outfit yourself completely from the onboard Boutique and as Mrs Waldo said, Ushaia is the place to stock up, there is an good outdoor shop right near the wharf.

Have a great time, we would stay on if there were any cabins available, it was that good.

Tip, the Seabourn Square Coffee Shop is a great meeting place for the Expedition Team at 0615, when they open.

[countflorida]

We'll check out the ship's offerings early, during the cruise down to Ushuaia, and complete our outfit there as/if necessary. Thanks again.

[SKP946]

Seabourn Quest, Antarctic Cruises, Season 2, Voyage 2 (Dec 20, 2014)

The words tonight are " Full House" for Dec 20, Valparaiso to Buenos Aires,

452 pax (including the 18 strong (excellent) Expedition Team on board in Valparaiso,

We had a total of 437 on the first cruise and although we had a slight malfunction, we had an outstanding cruise.

We hope that you enjoy your cruise as much as we have.

Cheers,

SKP (and Mrs.SKP)

[Roxburgh]

Have a safe return home and thanks very much for the great commentary.

[homolog]

Thanks for sharing all the helpful informations with us! Safe trip home!

[Chairsin]

Thank you for taking us along with you on you special journey. You provided so much specific and valuable information to those of us planning on doing this trip in the future. Have a very Merry Christmas and safe journey home.

 

P.S. If you have any additional thoughts or tips about the cruise or are able to post some pics I for one would be very interested.

 

 

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[SKP946]

Thank you for taking us along with you on you special journey. You provided so much specific and valuable information to those of us planning on doing this trip in the future. Have a very Merry Christmas and safe journey home.

 

P.S. If you have any additional thoughts or tips about the cruise or are able to post some pics I for one would be very interested.

 

 

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Chairsin, I tried to "cut and paste" captioned photos from Quest, but just the words came out.

I just tried to attach (small format) photos to a reply to your post, that failed as well. Any tips would be greatly appreciated

[Emperor Norton]

As the avid cruiser is in fact a paid shill could we please not mention him or his blog?

 

CC isn't supposed to endorse certain TAs or pro/paid sites.

[Chairsin]

SKP956

Since I do not subscribe to a photo sharing site I was only able to post photos once I go an iPad. Anyway, please don't worry -- I have been eagerly following your postings and may ask more questions once our voyage there nears. But if you have any post trip thoughts or observations I would be very interested in reading them.

 

 

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[yojimbo]

Thanks SKP for taking us along on your journey!

[LoveBora]

Thank you, SKP; we really appreciate all the details you provided. You've given us a good idea of what to expect on our January Antarctic adventure. One more question, though: how were the walking sticks transported on the Zodiacs?