Antarctic Experience

[jscheff]

The Seabourn Antarctic Experience is simply amazing.  It will be a memory for the rest of your life.

 

We were particularly lucky 2-1/2 years ago.  We had a Drake Lake crossing, found a lovely iceberg that came out to visit us (think multistory building), perfect weather every day. lots of friendly penguins and a Seabourn first: landing on "fast ice" (frozen ocean) in the Weddell Sea.

 

 

[Thecat123]

Wonder if this was your iceberg?
See our Drake Lake😀

And our weather stayed much the same for the whole cruise

[Ken the cruiser]

We were on a "drive by" Antarctica cruise on the HAL Zaandam back in Jan 2018 and were simply wowed by all the wildlife we saw in and out of the water. But we've always dreamed of following that up with a Seabourn expedition cruise and when the Quest was called back to Antarctica duty due to the delay in the construction of Venture because of COVID, we booked the 24 day Antarctica cruise which included South Georgia Island and are super stoked about going on it this December!! 😎

 

[Fletcher]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We were on a "drive by" Antarctica cruise on the HAL Zaandam back in Jan 2018 and were simply wowed by all the wildlife we saw in and out of the water. But we've always dreamed of following that up with a Seabourn expedition cruise and when the Quest was called back to Antarctica duty due to the delay in the construction of Venture because of COVID, we booked the 24 day Antarctica cruise which included South Georgia Island and are super stoked about going on it this December!! 😎

 

I think you will find the Quest to be a significant upgrade from the Zaandam.  Congrats on picking the South Georgia itinerary . . . 

[Ken the cruiser]

7 hours ago, Fletcher said:

I think you will find the Quest to be a significant upgrade from the Zaandam.  Congrats on picking the South Georgia itinerary . . . 

Probably in a multitude of ways. But then we're paying 3 times as much for the cruise, so I would hope so. 😎

[Fletcher]

28 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Probably in a multitude of ways. But then we're paying 3 times as much for the cruise, so I would hope so. 😎

Don't forget that all drinks and tips are included on Seabourn, plus all those excursions in Antarctica and South Georgia.  No nickel and diming on board and that lessens the cost.  A bit.

[Ken the cruiser]

29 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

Don't forget that all drinks and tips are included on Seabourn, plus all those excursions in Antarctica and South Georgia.  No nickel and diming on board and that lessens the cost.  A bit.

But most of all the memories will be ones we will share for the rest of our lives, and that’s what makes spending the extra bucks more than worth it for us! 😎

[Catlover54]

13 hours ago, jscheff said:

The Seabourn Antarctic Experience is simply amazing.  It will be a memory for the rest of your life.

 

We were particularly lucky 2-1/2 years ago.  We had a Drake Lake crossing, found a lovely iceberg that came out to visit us (think multistory building), perfect weather every day. lots of friendly penguins and a Seabourn first: landing on "fast ice" (frozen ocean) in the Weddell Sea.

 

 

Beautiful pictures, and terrific luck with the weather !  I have been considering Antarctica for years but always worried that I would either not be able to get in and out of a Zodiak, (I now know I can) or would get unlucky and have gray days the whole trip, like an unhappy friend of mine had her whole cruise where she basically saw nothing except fog for 10 days after paying a small fortune.  Fletcher's pictures from there a couple years ago sold me on taking the chance before I get too old, and I was ready to book on SB vs. Hapag Lloyd for late 2020. I had finally retired and had time,  but then Covid hit. 

[Catlover54]

12 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We were on a "drive by" Antarctica cruise on the HAL Zaandam back in Jan 2018 and were simply wowed by all the wildlife we saw in and out of the water. But we've always dreamed of following that up with a Seabourn expedition cruise and when the Quest was called back to Antarctica duty due to the delay in the construction of Venture because of COVID, we booked the 24 day Antarctica cruise which included South Georgia Island and are super stoked about going on it this December!! 😎

 

 

Have you been told whether or not you will need to wear masks on board this December (at least based on current plans, as I realize the rules may  change in a heartbeat)?

[jscheff]

This was our visiting iceberg on the way south.

 

[tjcox9]

Almost midnight on New Year's Eve in Antarctica...........

[Ken the cruiser]

3 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

 

Have you been told whether or not you will need to wear masks on board this December (at least based on current plans, as I realize the rules may  change in a heartbeat)?

We have not heard a peep out of SB either way, but then a lot can change between now and December. Hopefully, SB will require 100% vaccinated guests for all of their sailings until the pandemic has been downgraded, whenever that might be.

[Thecat123]

16 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Don't forget that all drinks and tips are included on Seabourn, plus all those excursions in Antarctica and South Georgia.  No nickel and diming on board and that lessens the cost.  A bit.

And dont forget your FREE 15 or 20 minute memory stick of your cruise which surprised everybody 😀

I believe Seabourn can use a drone now. They werent allowed to use one when we sailed as it might break down and fall in the water

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Thecat123

[Thecat123]

It was quite funny re Seabourns photos

As you can imagine passengers had cameras with lenses on lenses

Several passengers were going to put their best photos on a memory stick then use Seabourns puter to make all the different photos onto one memory stick for all those which participated but Seabourn wouldnt let them as there were photos of peoples faces but I was okay as I was getting a copy anyway

Then to every bodies surprise there was this memory stick taken by Seabourn on our bed on the last night. Nobody knew we were going to get it

[Fletcher]

These Seabourn videos are available on YouTube, such as this one -

 

By the way, I have been searching for a link to a blog posted by a Seabourn regular who I think is known as Van.  He and his partner Ron were incredible characters.  I learned a couple of years ago that Ron (on the left) had sadly died and I lost the link to Van's entertaining blog.  They were on our Antarctica/South Georgia trip and here's a photo of them taken on New Year's Eve. Ron was quiet and shy; Van was gregarious.

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Fletcher

[Catlover54]

1 hour ago, Fletcher said:

These Seabourn videos are available on YouTube, such as this one -

 

By the way, I have been searching for a link to a blog posted by a Seabourn regular who I think is known as Van.  He and his partner Ron were incredible characters.  I learned a couple of years ago that Ron (on the left) had sadly died and I lost the link to Van's entertaining blog.  They were on our Antarctica/South Georgia trip and here's a photo of them taken on New Year's Eve. Ron was quiet and shy; Van was gregarious.

 

 

6 am here in California.  I sat down with my coffee, opened CC (it's always better to look at  that first now before reading the news) and found this wonderful video.  Thank you so much for posting. What a way to wake up!  It helps with post-cruise withdrawal and provides something to look forward to. The drone footage adds a lot to the photo perspectives available.  The Endeavor also offered an end-of-cruise surprise video, with amazing drone footage, on our just completed Iceland cruise (though only 10 minutes) It is the new frontier in photography, at least  for those who can get a permit.

 

I am sorry to hear about your friend Ron.  I remember a couple things written on CC by the pair, but cannot remember the username, which would facilitate finding it.

[whogo]

6 hours ago, Fletcher said:

By the way, I have been searching for a link to a blog posted by a Seabourn regular who I think is known as Van.

Is this the blog? https://vango.dreamwidth.org/2017/12/21/

[Catlover54]

37 minutes ago, whogo said:

Is this the blog? https://vango.dreamwidth.org/2017/12/21/

That was them!  Bookmarked. Thanks.

[Fletcher]

1 hour ago, whogo said:

Is this the blog? https://vango.dreamwidth.org/2017/12/21/

That's it! Thanks so much. 

[Thecat123]

Every time I see videos of Antarctica makes me want to return. On our last cruise at Australia we had to disembark half way through our cruise due to Covid so Seabourn owe us 6 days which really knocks down the price😀 

If you notice in the Seabourn footage one does not really see the faces of the passengers in their videos, privacy? which was the reason why Seabourn would not let us use their puters as our photos had peoples faces

Edited August 11, 2021 by Thecat123

[whogo]

You're welcome and thanks for mentioning the blog, it was a fun, interesting read.

[fudgbug]

On 8/9/2021 at 10:59 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

We were on a "drive by" Antarctica cruise on the HAL Zaandam back in Jan 2018 and were simply wowed by all the wildlife we saw in and out of the water. But we've always dreamed of following that up with a Seabourn expedition cruise and when the Quest was called back to Antarctica duty due to the delay in the construction of Venture because of COVID, we booked the 24 day Antarctica cruise which included South Georgia Island and are super stoked about going on it this December!! 😎

 

It will be our third time to the Antarctic.  Hope to meet you on board.

[wzwjon]

We're looking at an Antarctic cruise in early 2023 and have shortlisted a few ships:

- Seabourn Venture

- Crystal Endeavor

- Hanseatic Inspiration

 

The Venture will be new but we have done a few sailings on Odyssey, Sojourn and Quest and loved them. The renderings of the Venture on the SB website look amazing too.

 

Was wondering if anyone has been on the Endeavour and Inspiration and can share some real-life comparisons. Read some great reviews of the Endeavor (food, service, public spaces) and Inspiration is of the HL pedigree.

 

We would be looking at booking a base cabin although the Inspiration's is smaller than the other two.

 

Thanks! 

 

 

[Catlover54]

23 minutes ago, wzwjon said:

We're looking at an Antarctic cruise in early 2023 and have shortlisted a few ships:

- Seabourn Venture

- Crystal Endeavor

- Hanseatic Inspiration

 

The Venture will be new but we have done a few sailings on Odyssey, Sojourn and Quest and loved them. The renderings of the Venture on the SB website look amazing too.

 

Was wondering if anyone has been on the Endeavour and Inspiration and can share some real-life comparisons. Read some great reviews of the Endeavor (food, service, public spaces) and Inspiration is of the HL pedigree.

 

We would be looking at booking a base cabin although the Inspiration's is smaller than the other two.

 

Thanks! 

 

 

Endeavor has not done Antarctica yet ( this season is the first season), but on our Iceland cruise in July/August, food and service and public spaces were fantastic ( though we were only at 50% occupancy),  and the expedition team was extensive and experienced. I wrote a review and blog.

 

Inspiration had a very good review by CC member Jacqueline in Antarctica a couple years ago ( for food, service, and handling of English-speakers).  I have not been on it yet ( thanks to Covid cancellations ) but have done quite a few HL cruises on the bigger ships, and the food and service was terrific.  I don't yet know how/if  Covid has affected the cruise product, however HL has been going to Antarctica for several years and is very experienced.  Phone and customer service since Covid have not been good on HL, unfortunately, but maybe with a TA you would have better luck.

 

 

[cruiseej]

You might also look at the two new National Geographic/Lindblad ships, which look pretty nice compared to their older expedition ships. They probably don't deliver the same level of luxury Seabourn aims for, but for an Antartica cruise, they might be worth consideration.