Antarctica Itineraries: opinions?

[alithecat]

We are currently booked on the Silver Wind Ushuaia - Ushuaia, 14 nights, Dec. 5th 2020. It cruises to the Falklands before Antarctica. Given the uncertainty about Covid-19 and cruising this year, we are seriously considering changing this booking to the first voyage of the next season, on the Silver Cloud, 16 nights, Nov. 14th, 2021, Punta Arenas - Ushuaia. Instead of the Falklands it cruises to South Georgia and Elephant Island. It is quite a bit more expensive but from what I have read here, the itinerary is much better.

 

For those who have cruised to Antarctica, I'd greatly appreciate your opinions.

[carefreecruise]

You can just change your booking to the next voyage on the Wind. It goes to South Georgia and the Falklands.  We have done this a year ago and are booked to go again mid December on the Wind. 

[Stumblefoot]

I’ve been to all three destinations.  What I liked about the Falklands is that you can book private tours.  This gave us an opportunity to beat the hordes doing the ship excursion as we had our own range rover.  We were at and had the penguin colonies to ourself for a good 90-minutes before the ship tours began to arrive.  
 

My only concern I would have with your itinerary is the date as it is so early in the season.  We were in South Georgia this year roughly 8-weeks after your date and I’d be worried you’d miss a lot of the babies as they wouldn’t have all been born yet.  For us, the baby seals wandering around and playing on their own was a highlight.

 

And, the farther you move south into the Antarctic peninsula, I don’t know if you’d see many chicks yet as I don’t think many would have hatched yet either.

[alithecat]

To carefreecruise: The 2020 holiday cruise is even more expensive than the 2021 cruise. And it's still risky given the virus situation. 

To Stumblefoot: thanks for the advice on the date. I hadn't thought about the babies.

[RachelG]

I was on the cruise with Stumblefoot and agree with him.  I have been to the Falklands as well, and while interesting from a historical standpoint, no a must do IMO.  South Georgia on the other hand is a must!

[jpalbny]

You will definitely miss seeing the baby penguins in Antarctica if you go mid-late November. We have been to Antarctica twice: once mid-December, once mid-January (earlier this year, with Stumblefoot and RachelG). The first time we saw one or two tiny Adelie chicks; everything else was just eggs. The second time was about 4 weeks later, and we saw tons of chicks. The difference was striking. I liked seeing both versions but the chicks were a real highlight.

The one advantage of an earlier voyage is that the penguins haven't been in their nesting sites too long, so the snow is cleaner and the stink is not as intense. Remember that they park on their nests for a few months, and spew waste in every direction. Late in the season, that buildup becomes rather pungent. 

 

Towards the end of the season, people have described "dead penguin chick" season. We have not yet witnessed that.

 

Totally agree with Stumbles that watching the adorable, playful fur seal pups on South Georgia was one of the major joys of the trip. So definitely try to be there when they are in-season. The unusual thing about King Penguins is that they have early- and late-breeding pairs, and the king chicks take a long time to mature. So if I interpret that correctly, there are always going to be some chicks there - by the time one cycle of chicks has matured, then next group is already hatched.

 

Last point is that both South Georgia, and Elephant Island, are in some inhospitable waters. The winds are crazy. You may miss some landings. We got really lucky on our trip this past January. Definitely worth going - but would I have enjoyed the 3 sea days getting there, if we'd missed most of our landings? Probably not. And don't expect to land on Elephant Island. It's not impossible, but extremely rare from what I've been told.

 

In contrast, the waters around the Antarctic Peninsula are much calmer. The landmass blocks a lot of the current. Drifting ice can block approaches to your chosen landing site, necessitating a plan B/C/D and so forth, but you will almost always find a place to see something spectacular.

 

Enjoy your trip, whichever you choose!

[Fletcher]

If you think a visit to Antarctica will be a 'once in a lifetime' thing, then chose an itinerary which includes South Georgia.  That really is the icing on the Antarctic cake.  The next cruise on the Wind covers the Falklands, SG and Antarctica.  Don't expect too much from Elephant Island - as jpalbny says above, landing is well-nigh impossible and the most you can hope for is a zodiac cruise.  It's not that interesting a place apart from its Shackleton association.

 

As far as wildlife is concerned, the earlier you go means more ice and snow as well as those enormous elephant seals with the big schnozzles on South Georgia.  The later you go you will see the penguin chicks or, as the skuas call them, tasty little snacks.  The Falklands are also brilliant for penguins.

 

Of course, all this is theoretical - my feeling is that the 2020/21 Antarctic season will be a write-off. 

 

The Silversea ships are getting rather long in the tooth these days.  Off course service levels still count for a lot and brand loyalty.  However, if I were planning a return to this region I would be looking seriously at Aurora's Greg Mortimer, National Geographic Endurance and Seabourn Venture, the latest generation of expedition ships.

Edited May 3, 2020 by Fletcher

[cruiseej]

16 hours ago, Fletcher said:

The Silversea ships are getting rather long in the tooth these days.  Off course service levels still count for a lot and brand loyalty.  However, if I were planning a return to this region I would be looking seriously at Aurora's Greg Mortimer, National Geographic Endurance and Seabourn Venture, the latest generation of expedition ships.

 

We and friends wanted to do the trip with South Georgia, and our first choice was the new Seabourn Venture. But Seabourn's trips including SG are several days longer, which is both hard for those who are still working and adds to the expense. The Venture holiday trip next December is about $15,000 per couple more than Silversea for a comparable suite, not counting Silversea including airfare. So we decided to go with Silversea. We're currently booked for this December's holiday cruise, but considering pushing back for a year.

 

We were on the Cloud two year ago in Greenland and had a great trip -- our first expedition-style cruise -- and were generally happy with the ship. For Antarctica with South Georgia, Silversea is using the Wind, which is (hopefully!) undergoing a 2+ month renovation this fall. To @Fletcher and others who have been on the Wind in recent years, do you believe that no renovation can make the ship feel reasonably up-to-date? I'd be happy to choose a new ship like the Seabourn Venture, but those costs ($65k per couple, plus air) are just prohibitive for us. 

[Stumblefoot]

15 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

...but those costs ($65k per couple, plus air) are just prohibitive for us. 

My goodness!  Considering we just did a 15-day trip there for less than one-third that price, I could not imagine paying $65K.

[cruiseej]

4 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

My goodness!  Considering we just did a 15-day trip there for less than one-third that price, I could not imagine paying $65K.

 

Exactly! Part of the problem is that Seabourn only does two trips to South Georgia per season, and they're 21 days long -- so that adds a lot to the cost. And, of course, they're paying for a new ship. 😉  Any carrying half as many passengers as they have on the Quest since they began trips to Antarctica. Now, Silversea is by no means inexpensive, but it's three days shorter, they offer the 10% early payment discount (nothing comparable from Seabourn), and they include free air to South America (Seabourn does not) plus a pre-cruise hotel. The 18-day trip still ends up running around $48,000 per couple all in -- which for us is still a huge cost that dwarfs any of our previous cruises -- but we can't justify stepping up nearly $20k to the added cost on Seabourn, as much as we'd probably love their new ship. (Prices are comparing similar low-deck, mid-ship veranda suites.)

 

So for those who weren't impressed with the Cloud in Antarctica, I'm still interested whether you think a newly-refurbished Wind will feel tired and not well suited, or whether the refurbishment will likely make her feel up to the task.

[carefreecruise]

12 hours ago, cruiseej said:

So for those who weren't impressed with the Cloud in Antarctica, I'm still interested whether you think a newly-refurbished Wind will feel tired and not well suited, or whether the refurbishment will likely make her feel up to the task.

 

I have learned my lesson on what to expect on refurbishments. Silversea is an expert on upgrading some areas completely and other areas just get a deep cleaning.  There can be new cabinets in only some suites types and others only get bathroom upgrades. So don't ever expect to see something that resembles a brand new ship. The Cloud is a nice ship and we enjoyed it immensely down in Antarctica  but they forgot to replace the all the cracked room doors... Small things but can't figure out why they skimp on items the guests will see.

 

The Wind will need some major upgrades to be able to comply with sailing in the south pole area. Added stabilizers, rudder protections, emergency power, clean power emitters and lots of other things, guests will never see. So hopefully We will be on her, late December and will see how much change has been done since our last voyage.   

[RachelG]

19 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

My goodness!  Considering we just did a 15-day trip there for less than one-third that price, I could not imagine paying $65K.

We got a really great deal.  The only reason I could take so much time off work, because I figured it would never happen again.

[WesW]

alithecat; strongly recommend the Silversea Cape to Cape option on either the Wind or Cloud in 2021 or 2022. Tho, u will miss Antarctica and either Drake the lake or Drake the Shake (more likely) you will (most likely) get five landing days in South Georgia.  Plus, u will visit the Falklands and get the added bonus of possibly landing in the World's most remote Archipelago (Tristan Da Cunha) en route to Capetown, South Africa. Since this is a South Atlantic crossing, the price point is significantly less than Ushuaia to Ushuaia.

 

We were booked (but canceled) on the same voyage as Rachel, Brian/Stumblefoot, and JP (in fact, in 2019, gave Stumblefoot and JP) a heads up that the 15 day Ushuaia to Ushuaia voyage this past January was an incredible deal..  The Cape to Cape itinerary was truly a spectacular itinerary except for how the Covid 19 virus crisis affected our last seven days on board.

 

So, please take a look at not only the Silversea Antarctica voyages but also the Cape to Cape voyages.  No matter which itinerary you choose--believe Antarctica or a sub-Antarctica voyage will be one of your most memorable cruises.

Edited May 5, 2020 by WesW

[alithecat]

Thanks WesW. The Wind Cape to Cape in Feb. 2021 looks great. Antarctica, Falklands, South Georgia plus the price is much lower than the other cruises we are looking at. But it's 31 days and we can't be away that long from our "beasts". We are currently favoring the mid-Nov. 2021 Wind sailing to South Georgia. The Cloud 2021 Holiday cruise looks wonderful but we just got a quote on it of around $46K with air for two. We don't want to spend that much.

[vcd]

I am booked on the Silverwind Holiday cruise 2020... I know nobody has a crystal ball but, do you think the cruise will be cancelled? I have until August to get a cash refund, I am not sure I want a credit for a future cruise...Thanks for your input.

[Stumblefoot]

1 minute ago, vcd said:

I know nobody has a crystal ball but, do you think the cruise will be cancelled? I have until August to get a cash refund...

Like I told CruisinBanjo on a different thread, it’s hard to imagine you’ll have the clarity you seek by that time, but you never know.  Stranger things have happened.