LIVE (hopefully) MS Fridtjof Nansen Highlights of Antarctica November 9 - 19th

[patrickmoran]

We leave Monday night from Miami for BA. We are in our early 70s and have done many ocean cruises, including one around the Horn. I plan to post regularly depending on the wifi connectivity. There is not alot of details of past cruises on the boards. If there are others on the cruise, please feel free to contribute.

The cruise includes 1 night in BA at the Hotel Emperador, flights to and from Ushuaia, 10 nights cruise to Antarctica with 5 days of landings. We will fly home directly after the cruise (going to be a long "day").

[CDNPolar]

OH. Great !!!! 

 

I am excited to see what you are posting.  We do the exact same cruise leaving December 28th from BA.  Same except we are going one night earlier to the Hotel Emperador on our own and the we have the flights to Ushuaia on December 29th.

 

Most interested in your experience with:

 

• The Drake Straight - was it rough was it calm was it in between?
• Once you arrive, the excursions, what is the lotto system to get some of the excursions like kayaking?
• The food, the ship in general....
• Clothing we should pack. (We are from cold Canada and the summer temps in Antarctica are mild winter temps for us...)

 

So excited because there is so little activity in the Hurtigruten forum.  I posted a roll call months ago for our cruise and have only had one person respond.

 

Safe travels!

 

 

[zaxanon6]

So excited for this! I will be on the same sailing as CDNPolar. Would also be interested in what the time in Ushuaia is like and what's going on in the science center and the citizen science program.

 

Travel safe and have a great time!

[patrickmoran]

We flew down Monday night. We arrived about 9:30am. It took about 30-40 minutes to clear immigration. Got our bags and signed up for a ride to the hotel. Charged the 8,000 peso fee. We had to wait 30 minutes for a driver. Unfortunately there was a bad accident on the tollway into BA. It took 3 hours for a ride that should take less than 1 hour. 
we got to the hotel around 2pm. Our room wasn’t ready so we got an upgrade to a suite for no charge!  Within a block of the hotel there is cluster of restaurants. We ate at the steak place. Very good. At the hotel I was able to exchange a $100 for pesos. The hotel offered $250 for $1USD, exactly the rate I wanted. Not full “blue rate” but much better than the official rate. I paid cash for dinner which was the equivalent of $85 USD with tip. We got a pound and half beef tenderloin to share for $32USD! 
Wednesday we were up at 5:30 am for H’s bus at 6:30 am.  The charter flight was full. H provided a continental breakfast at the hotel and airline served a bigger one on the way. We got on H’s bus to the ship. We had an hour in Ushuaia since the cabins weren’t ready. Before leaving the airport, an H employee checked us in and gave us our room keys. We had been upgraded to an obstructed balcony cabin from an ocean view cabin!  
Dinner was a buffet and was ok but disappointing. Dinners have been better since then as I’ll tell you in the next post. 

[CDNPolar]

Thank you for sharing.  Some questions:

 

1. Were you PCR tested at the hotel?  Hurtigruten now suggests on their website that we will be tested in Buenos Aries and if positive we will not be able to board the ship the next morning.  Was this your experience?
2. Was the transfer from airport to hotel not included in the cruise fare?  Was this not provided by Hurtigruten?
3. How is the Emperador in general?  We come in one day early and have two nights there.

 

Very curious how the Drake Strait is for you!

 

 

 

 

[patrickmoran]

We had to get a Covid test at the hotel which will be charged to our ship account (65 euros each). We had a negative test from home that should have been good per H’s policy but nooo.

Hotel was fine. Bed was super comfortable. 
Transfer is not included with cruise fare unless you get H to book your flights. 

[patrickmoran]

Thursday was a sea day crossing the Drake     Passage. According to several staff, the seas were low to moderate wave heights. The ship was rocking and you had to hang on to be safe. We are using patches and had no problem with seasickness. There were a number of lectures; one was mandatory (shore safety). 
The passage was going quickly so they announced that Friday afternoon we would be able to do landings. 
We went to bed with penguins and whales dancing in our dreams. 

[CDNPolar]

On 11/11/2022 at 10:27 PM, patrickmoran said:

 Before leaving the airport, an H employee checked us in and gave us our room keys. We had been upgraded to an obstructed balcony cabin from an ocean view cabin!  
 

We are concerned about this "upgrade" - did you have any say over the upgrade?

 

We carefully selected our cabin based on research we did and we have a mid-ship cabin that we would be really upset if they move us to forward or aft.  We want mid-ship.

 

Can you guide us more on this upgrade?

 

 

[patrickmoran]

We had no say in the upgrade. The first we knew about it was when we got our room keys. You could call H and request no upgrade unless consulted.
For us, the upgrade was great. I believe we got it is because the ship is not full. The captain said we had 385 passengers. They can have up to 500 and the ship’s capacity is a bit higher than that. 
 

[patrickmoran]

Each morning they announce the Covid count. We had 1, 2, 3, then 6 so far. Mask wearing went from casual to most everyone wearing them. Staff wear them all of the time except on excursions. 

[CDNPolar]

20 hours ago, patrickmoran said:

Each morning they announce the Covid count. We had 1, 2, 3, then 6 so far. Mask wearing went from casual to most everyone wearing them. Staff wear them all of the time except on excursions. 

Interesting that they are announcing the covid counts.  I guess with the Majestic Princess in Sydney and 800 covid cases they are being very transparent.

 

Also interesting that all the PCR tests missed these cases.

 

Do you feel "covid safe" on this ship and the way that the crew are handling it?  We have never sailed Hurtigruten before.  We have sailed Viking Ocean many times and they have daily PCR testing and PCR labs installed on every ocean ship.  In the past they used electronic trackers that everyone wore as well so that they could assess proximity to anyone that did test positive. 

[patrickmoran]

I feel safe. Covid isn’t the danger it was 2 years ago. I’m fully vaccinated and boosted and had Covid twice this year. My symptoms were mild even though my immune system is compromised. 
Staff wear masks all the time and most passengers are wearing them. 

[patrickmoran]

We’ve had 2 landings and 1 canceled because of conditions. The 2 landings were in the afternoons, starting at 2pm. It takes about 6 hours to get everyone ashore. You are allowed 1 hour ashore. During the 1st landing there were moderate waves and we got soaked. It is imperative to have waterproof pants and gloves. I would recommend ski goggles also. The jacket that H provides is waterproof but not insulated. I wore 3 layers under the jacket and was warm. I wore 2 pairs of long underwear and 2 pairs of socks and was fine. 
They assign the passengers into groups and rotate them for landing times. Our group was last for the 1st landing and 1st for the 2nd. Generally you will see many penguins at each landing. I saw whales during the 1st. There is the occasional seal and bird. It is early in the season. The 2nd landing site was challenging to get up onto the snow pack and a more strenuous walk. 
Besides landings, H provides cruising. They use the boats to sail around. I haven’t done that yet. Biding my time. 
Extra excursions for snowshoeing, kayaking and camping are available at extra cost. I wasn’t interested so I can’t provide any further details.  
 

[CDNPolar]

Thank you for this update!

 

Great tip on the waterproof pants...  we don't have those yet and I don't remember them being recommended?

 

Can you comment please on the temperatures when you are landing?

Edited November 14, 2022 by CDNPolar

[patrickmoran]

Temperature is usually around 32°F. Wind has been calm to 20mph. Generally cloudy and can be snowing. 

[HeadNorth]

Thanks for the posts so far - going on a future cruise on the Nansen and it's really interesting to be able to read your experiences.

[RR01]

Hi Patrick,

 

Many thanks for your posts - they are very helpful.  We are scheduled to depart next month on the Amundsen and I am sure that the information you have shared here will be very useful for us.

 

Are you flying out of Buenos Aires on the same day your cruise ends in Ushuaia?

 

We have a 10pm connection on the same day and are curious to hear how easy/difficult it will be to make the connection.

 

Many thanks,

 

RR

[CDNPolar]

34 minutes ago, RR01 said:

Hi Patrick,

 

Many thanks for your posts - they are very helpful.  We are scheduled to depart next month on the Amundsen and I am sure that the information you have shared here will be very useful for us.

 

Are you flying out of Buenos Aires on the same day your cruise ends in Ushuaia?

 

We have a 10pm connection on the same day and are curious to hear how easy/difficult it will be to make the connection.

 

Many thanks,

 

RR

RR, this remains a mystery, but on some digging and discussions in forums like Trip Advisor, below I have pasted an apparent response from Hurtigruten:

 

Return flights from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires are confirmed a couple days prior; guests will be notified of the return time on board the ship. Due to late notice about the return charter flight times, and the changing of airports, we strongly recommend planning a 10 p.m. or later flight, or an overnight stay in Buenos Aires at the end of your cruise. We are unable to accept responsibility if you miss your booked return flight in the event of a delay of the flight between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia.“

 

From the above and other discussions I have read, it would seem that not all the charter flights necessarily depart and arrive at EZE which is where I assume that you are flying from?  You could be landing back in BA at a smaller regional airport and have to arrange transport to EZE.

 

Because we could not get absolute information from our TA on this, we decided to extend our stay in BA for a few days, thus eliminating the fear or concern of making a flight the same day as the return from Ushuaia.

 

I find it interesting that they don't tell you - and perhaps Patrick can confirm this fact - when your flight time is until "a couple days prior".  How is one to plan for this?

 

Also in this apparent response from Hurtigruten, they are denying any responsibility for a missed flight out of BA based on your return after the cruise.  

 

I suppose the question is, IF you booked your air through Hurtigruten, when would they book your flight home?

 

We could not book flights through Hurtigruten as they have no contract rates for Canadian travellers.  We had to book our own air.

 

Interesting to see this play out.

 

This is our first experience with Hurtigruten and there are bits and pieces that we find frustrating - this being one of them.

[CDNPolar]

On 11/13/2022 at 8:33 AM, patrickmoran said:

Each morning they announce the Covid count. We had 1, 2, 3, then 6 so far. Mask wearing went from casual to most everyone wearing them. Staff wear them all of the time except on excursions. 

Any update on Covid count?  Just curious on how Hurtigruten is handling this overall.

 

We have sailed Viking during Covid and they have PCR labs on the ocean ships and test all crew and passengers daily.  Viking were successful in preventing outbreaks like just happened on the Majestic Princess in Australia.

 

 

[CDNPolar]

Purely out of curiosity, what is the demographic of the guests on board?

 

What countries are people from and is there one country that has a majority?

 

This is one of the things about cruising that I love - meeting people from around the globe.

Edited November 16, 2022 by CDNPolar

[RR01]

Hi CDNPolar,

 

Trying one more time as my posts keep getting deleted... re-posting a refined version of my prior post.

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my question. I have been in touch with Hurtigruten on this topic and they informed me that our return will be to EZE, not AEP (the one closer to downtown). They indicated that the AEP arrivals are for passengers with a post-cruise itinerary with Hurtigruten. I am aware of the 10pm recommendation and our flight leaves a little after 10pm.

 

The ship is scheduled to arrive at Ushuaia around 8am in the morning - which should (hopefully) give us ample time to get back to EZE on the same day (barring any weather related delays).

[patrickmoran]

Return flights to EZE are scheduled to arrive at 12:15 and 3:25 pm. We are flying out at 11:50 pm the day that we arrive. A flight at 10 pm won’t be a problem. 

[RR01]

Thank you very much for the information Patrick - much appreciated. This is exactly what I was looking for.

[harrywpb]

On 11/17/2022 at 9:31 AM, patrickmoran said:

Return flights to EZE are scheduled to arrive at 12:15 and 3:25 pm. We are flying out at 11:50 pm the day that we arrive. A flight at 10 pm won’t be a problem. 

Hi Patrick 

We are really enjoying this thread because we are booked on this ship and itinerary for January 2024.  Thanks for the time you are putting into this.  We live 50 miles south of you in West Palm Beach and would love to talk to you when you get home.  However we have no idea how to make a personal contact on Cruise Critic.  We have some questions and appreciate all the first hand knowledge from a fellow cruiser.  We too are avid ocean cruisers (40+) and have been to Ushuaia while cruising around South America.  After observing the expedition ships while there we have wanted to do this trip ever since.  We also have been to Buenos Aires a few times and loved it.  We will follow this thread and look forward to this adventure.  Please let us know if you have a contact you can share.  

Thanks again.  Smooth sailing!

[ronpes]

Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to post this. I wish I had found it sooner. 

We are on this ship and doing the same as you in January 23 although we are doing the additional Iguazu falls section afterwards.