Hurtigruten Antartica - a few questions please to check my comparisons...

[Raeofsunshinenz]

After researching Antartica expedition cruises thoroughly over the last year or so, I am starting to swing back towards doing a highlights trip on the Fridtjof Nansen.  As much as I'd love to do a 200 person ship, because I'd be travelling with my husband who would happily be more ship based and not be too fussed with amount of time on land, plus our daughter (who'll be about 15 by the time we go) which means we'll be budgeting for 3 people which can bump up costs... I think this ship would be a great compromise on what will suit everyone.  And with package deals inc flights from New Zealand, internal flights, hotels all sorted... it would give me a bit of piece of mind of everything being covered and fitting together.  

 

So a couple of things I wish to clarify to see if my research and trawling of message boards is correct:  Weather permitting, would we expect to have say 2 landing stops a day so with 1 group on land each time, 1 group cruising on boats... then we might get to go on either land or the boats most days once?  Or realistically (even if weather is amazing), should we expect to only to touch land once or twice over the 5 (ish) days we are not sailing the Drake?  I know on the smaller ships we'd be either cruising or on land twice a day if the weather permits, so just wondering how it compares.  

 

I gather they don't do a polar plunge as such?  Or is there a run-from-land 'plunge' usually organised?  I gather camping is a ballot, so very small chance of getting lucky?  30?? out of 500???

 

I gather food is covered, plus drinks during meals.  Are there snacks, and if we needed to eat, could we get something any time - or we'd need to take a decent amount of snacks just in case?  (and yes this is medically related - not just that we are hungry people!)

 

And in case anyone knows covid current rules - my worst fear is getting half way across the world and failing a covid test just as boarding...  so as much as I'd love to go Jan  2024 (i think i saw something about discounts for 15yrs and under so this would be our last chance), does anyone have a crystal ball on this???  but no seriously - what are current rules around testing, masks etc (realistically in practice, rather than just what i read on their site)

 

Any other thoughts appreciated too.  thanks in advance.  

 

 

[jonikal]

From personal experience on a 148 passenger expedition ship with another company,  we were very pleased with the number of daily landings which were never less than two a day. There were no lotteries for landings but rather organized groups which rotated as to who got to disembark first.  In one instance at an abandoned whaling station, the ship actually nosed up the gravel beach.  Our German captain was awesome and the ship allowed passengers access to the bridge for whale and other wildlife spotting and photography.

It was a memorable experience and hopefully yours will also be an equally enjoyable.

[Raeofsunshinenz]

thanks yes and that is what i gather would happen on a 200 person (or less) ship.  And I've already trawled through the options and picked out what ships I'd sail on if that were an option... but dreams are free.  And 3 people travelling to Antartica on one budget is sadly not free!  So looking at whether i'd be happy on a bigger ship.   

[Paul S]

We were on a Roald Amundsen expedition to Antarctica and the Falklands out of Punta Arenas February 2020, immediately prior to lockdown. There were about 350 pax on board - the Far East contingent were missing due to what we now know to have been Covid.

 

You are at the mercy of the weather and plans for the day can change. We were divided into groups, and from memory we did 1 group landing almost every day, though on 1 day I believe we only did a ride in the RIB and on another we did an afternoon RIB ride after a morning landing. However, if the ship is at full capacity it might affect the number of landings. I recall there were additional trips in the RIB for those involved in the peoples' science projects. On one occasion when we couldn't do a daytime shore landing because of the weather, we did an evening visit to a Ukrainian research station and drank home made vodka at their English pub style bar.

 

We are in our 60s, and found one landing per day to be enough. We got around an hour ashore, which we found adequate, but the overall time incurred was 2 plus hours as your group gets called, you have to go get your gear, go down to the RIB platform, wait your turn to get on board, do the run to shore (which on occasions could be quite lengthy), queue for the return journey and then change out of the expedition gear. We found it quite strenuous walking ashore on the rocks, snow and ice, and being buffeted around on the RIB was also tiring. I can't say that we wouldn't have enjoyed a second landing per day, but we didn't miss it, and there was always something to do, whether lectures, science projects, socialising, whale and wildlife watching, sitting in the sauna with panoramic windows watching the ice go by, or just relaxing with a book.

 

For the brave, on one landing there was a polar plunge from the shore.

 

Camping out on the ice was cancelled owing to a lack of snow - the weather was unusually warm and there was a pronounced shortage of snow during our trip.

 

Food is covered. Everybody got to eat on an open service basis in the buffet restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There was also an informal open service restaurant at lunchtimes, but sparsely attended. Breakfast and dinner were also served for suite guests in a separate table service restaurant with two sittings, also available to non-suite guests on a paying basis. On some occasions when the passengers were planned to be out late on shore landings this restaurant was closed and everybody ate in the buffet.

 

There were some snacks put out in the lounge at tea time. Coffee and tea were available free from machines at all times, and paid for better coffees were available in the bar lounge. However, this is not a cruise, and there was no late night buffet nor round the clock restaurant, though I believe that room service was available on a chargeable basis. However, if you have medical problems you should speak to the crew, we found them very helpful, and I'm sure they would be able to organise something for you.

 

Free beers and wines were available in all restaurants during lunch and dinner. There was a better selection of wines in the table service restaurant, and even better wines could be bought.

 

You will have a great time, it's a really special experience. Having done it once (and we thought for the only time) we are booked back on RA for January 2023, and also hope that there will be no Covid related problems for travelling.

[Raeofsunshinenz]

thank  you so much for that informative and helpful reply.  My ultimate dream would be to be on the Jan 10th (2024) sailing for the 10 night trip.  There's lots to work through before then, including having my husband more on board with the idea, but those in depth answers really help clarify some things. Really appreciated.  

Edited August 23, 2022 by Raeofsunshinenz
clarified the date

[khle]

We did the Expedition that included the Falklands in December 2021 on the Amundsen. It was a great trip. I believe we were around 175 passengers at the time (if memory serves me correct). It was right during Omicron and the cruise after us was significantly impacted. No positive test results on board during our trip so all worked out well that way. 

 

I could not have imagined to be on the ship with more people than we were. The ship is great but doubling or even going up to 500 passengers would in my mind cause significant issues. There was max. 1 shore or zodiac cruising a day. For about 2 or so days in a row everything was canceled due to bad weather. However, we did observe the MS Fram and other lines (Silversea or Ponart) were on the shore doing activities on both the bad weather days. I suspect the issue is that a larger ship is more difficult to handle in bad weather and/or the captain was extremely risk adverse. So that was quite disappointing. However, when we were on shore or the zodiacs it was an amazing experience overall.

 

The ship is great, it is very similar to a regular cruise ship - you have a shop, SPA , Gym, Pool, hot tubs, sauna and a couple of restaurants that are non-premium (one pub style and one sit-down). Meals are okay overall. There was one premium restaurant for suite guests but we did not try that one. Service and staff were outstanding. Meals are better on regular cruise ships (such as mainstream lines - NCL, etc.). Meal-times are set. There are no snacks in-between at all. So no round-the-clock food (which is absolutely no issue - but you have to align with meal-times). All of this is very European - so might seem strange to North Americans. 

 

We were lucky and were selected for Camping. Was definitely the highlight of the trip! Amazing experience. It was a lottery and there were a max of 30 people allowed to participate. We would have very much missed it if we would not have been selected. Simply said, amazing. 

 

Falklands were great as well - would recommend a trip that includes the Falklands. A lot of wildlife to observe.

 

Polar plunge with Hurtigruten took place on Deception Island - in the volcanic-warmed water. So not per-se a true polar plunge - but they do offer it! Anyone can participate. A lot of the crew partook as well (from housekeeping to mechanic staff). Was amazing to see.

 

Hurtigruten is a great cruise-line. Absolutely amazing trip. I just can't see this working well if there is anywhere to 500 passengers on the ship. Restaurants would be crowded beyond belief and you wouldn't get much off-ship time at all.

 

If we were to do this again (will be a while, with a baby on the way) - we'd take the MS Fram as they seem to have had more off-ship time and they can handle "bad-weather" days better. Or alternatively a smaller cruise-ship line (at extra costs - that is where Hurtigruten has an advantage - they offer lower overall costs).