Review - Hurtigruten Fridtjof Nansen Highlights of Antarctica December 28, 2022

[CDNPolar]

Just got home yesterday - Friday January 13, 2023 - from our Highlights of Antarctica cruise on the Fridtjof Nansen.

 

A few notes of interest:

• We booked this cruise over two years prior to the sail date.  I think 27 months in advance.  
• We flew into Buenos Aires a day earlier to ensure that there were no travel delays that would prevent us getting to the ship on time - no way to "catch up" with this cruise if the ship departs without you.
• We packed the following in our carry on in case our checked luggage was lost - Gloves, hat, scarf, wool under layers, wool heavy socks, waterproof pants, fleece top, and down jacket.  If you lose any of these then you are not going to be comfortable on the landings or zodiac cruises.
• We did NOT get prescription medication for sea sickness, but did take with us powdered ginger capsules, and Gravol 50mg.  Some of the prescriptions medications have side effects that we did not want to risk.  Our MD suggested the Gravol and to take at as much as 100mg every 4 hours if necessary.  We had 5-7 metre waves on the Drake Passage and we each took one 50mg Gravol in the morning and one in the late afternoon and we were perfectly fine.  MANY on the ship did not leave their cabins on these days.
• We did buy Reliefband at about $120 each and in our opinion they did nothing.
• We purposely booked a mid-ship cabin to reduce the movement that we would experience

 

Now to the review:

The Hurtigruten experience starts with one night in a hotel in Buenos Aires (BA) and then an early morning call (2:30am) for your charter flight to Ushuaia.  We go with the flow of travel over the many that complain constantly.  If we leave the hotel at 2:30am, then there must be a reason for it.  You are flying a small charter flight with no upgrades available and it is a 3 hour flight.  Again, just go with it.

 

We arrived in Ushuaia at about 11am and cannot board the ship until after 2pm so we were let loose on the little city.  We found a seafood restaurant that had the best fresh crab we have ever had and started our trip that way.  Fabulous meal.  The restaurant was La Cantina Fueguina De Freddy.  It is on the main shopping street in Ushuaia.  

 

We boarded the ship and were immediately impressed with the decor of the ship - not overstated but still elegant enough.  We were very happy with our cabin as it was well appointed and very comfortable.

 

We headed out that night and hit the Drake Passage after we had fallen asleep.  I woke in the middle of the night knowing we were in rough waters because I was literally rolling side to side in the bed.  Next morning after being up for an hour or so was when we decided to take the Gravol.  We were not really sick at all, but there was a "Twinge" that was there.  The other thing recommended is to eat.  You should have food in your stomach to reduce the effects.  It was also "fun" to learn how to walk around the ship in these kinds of seas.  We have been in what we considered rough waters before, but nothing like this.  You are advised to always have one hand on the ship - either a wall or a handrail.  Always remember that if the ship lists or rolls to the left, it is going to go back to the right.  This is where people lose their balance when they are not prepared for the opposite action.

 

Unfortunately about 14-16 hours into sailing we were informed by the Captain that we were turning back to Ushuaia to evacuate an ill guest.  We did not know then what the issue was, but later found out that it was a guest that fell due to the rolling of the ship and broke her hip.

 

This put us behind, but everyone seemed to take this in stride, and we have to remember that we could have been that person that needed medical attention.  Once you are in the Drake Passage, there is no helicopter evacuation or fixed wing evacuation.  Only thing the ship can do is turn back.

 

The itinerary has time built in for things like this and the Captain turned our itinerary around so we would not lose any days of landings and activities.

 

We arrived for our first day near the continent at Deception Island with both a landing and a boat cruise anticipated.  Unfortunately the weather was not good and we could not do either.

 

As we moved through the rest of the itinerary we had fabulous weather and had landings, boat cruises, camping, snowshoeing, and kayaking, as anticipated.

 

The biggest part of my review will be the Expedition Team.  One word describes this team.  AMAZING  Amazing in every way.

 

The expeditions - the landings - the kayaking - the snowshoeing - the Penguins, Whales, and Seals - this is why you go to Antarctica.  You need a great team to bring you an experience that is memorable and exceeds expectations, and this team did just that.

 

This team and every member on this team was personable, fun to be around, knowledgable, and WORKED VERY HARD everyday to ensure that we had a great time and the best experience possible.  This team deserves a standing ovation.  They don't have an easy job getting all of us non-kayakers, non-snowshoers, non-hikers in and out of zodiac boats and on and off of landing sites that are not landing sites, they are raw and rough coast lines that are NOT built for ease of in and out and up and down.  I am in reasonable shape and still almost landed in the water during the transfer from the kayak back to the zodiac.  Yes, these transfers are done in the water away from the ship.

 

I cannot say enough about the Expedition Team.

 

The food and the service in general:

 

• The buffet was always different for breakfast and lunch each day and frankly we felt the buffet food was better than another luxury line that we frequent.  That clue is in the signature....
• The menu dinners however were adequate.  Nothing special, but nothing wrong with the food either.  
• There was one "burger joint" beside the main restaurant that did not excite us either.
• There is one "pay for extra" restaurant that after looking at the menu we were not even going to try to get a reservation.  Simply not worth it if the food is coming out of the same kitchen.
• The service in the restaurant was a bit lacking, but it was buffet for 2 of 3 meals a day.  We found a team of two servers that we loved and we asked for their section from that point forward. These two were attentive and personable.  (We however were not on this ship to be wowed by the food or the servers, we were on this ship for an Antarctic experience which we were ecstatic about.)
• The guest service desk and team were great and immediately reacted to any need that we had.

 

The Lottery for excursions and general flexibility:

 

• Sign up for what you want to do - kayaking, showshoeing, camping, etc., but keep in mind that you may not get one or any of your options.  It is truly a lottery.  Some cabins got 2 and 3 options, and others got nothing.
• You must be flexible.  The activities and the plans will change in a minute as the weather can change in a minute.  You have to be prepared for plans that you looked forward to go away with little notice.   The one great thing about 24 hour a day light is that if you have a bad day today, and tomorrow is great, they can run the expedition excursions well into the night.  We left for our snowshoeing at 8pm one night.

 

Overall thoughts:

 

• Would highly recommend Hurtigruten and this cruise.  We got everything and more that we expected from this cruise.  We are seasoned world travellers and have learned that most people raise expectations and end up disappointed.  We take everything as it comes and at face value and understand that with travel, there are delays, cancelations, problems, and challenges, and it is not what happens but how you handle it.  We were not without issues on this trip, but you will not hear us complaining especially when the core purpose of this trip exceeded our expectations.  Many had issues with the time we had to leave the hotel on the first night and are going to write letters to Hurtigruten - go ahead - but in the end, did this distract from the experience in Antarctica?  For us no.  Are we going to attack Hurtigruten about this?  No.

 

 

We LOVED this cruise and the experience.  End of story.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by CDNPolar
Formatting

[HeadNorth]

Thank you for the very helpful report. Delighted to hear that you had such a wonderful experience and were very impressed by the ship overall. We're heading north rather than south but have been keen to hear views on the ship. We have a while to wait for our trip but are looking forward to it!

[JCN51]

Thank you so much for such a great report. I am setting off for BA on Monday and very much looking forward to this trip. Thank you for your tips. 

[shortme]

Yes, fabulous report. We are on the Jan 28th package. Are very excited!!!

 

[CDNPolar]

2 hours ago, HeadNorth said:

Thank you for the very helpful report. Delighted to hear that you had such a wonderful experience and were very impressed by the ship overall. We're heading north rather than south but have been keen to hear views on the ship. We have a while to wait for our trip but are looking forward to it!

 

This was our first Expedition ship and we have been Viking Ocean and River diehards.  We were wondering how we would find the ship, but in general, it is very clean and nice.  There is nothing overall that I could be negative about with the ship, the cabin, and the decor.

 

We are now considering heading North for an Expedition in the future too after this experience.

[CDNPolar]

2 hours ago, JCN51 said:

Thank you so much for such a great report. I am setting off for BA on Monday and very much looking forward to this trip. Thank you for your tips. 

 

Oh my goodness, you will love it.  The problem that you will face as we are now is that no picture will tell the emotion that you feel when you see the landscapes, the ice, the penguins.  The pictures will be your memory of the real thing but no one that you show the pictures to will get the same feeling as you will being there.

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, shortme said:

Yes, fabulous report. We are on the Jan 28th package. Are very excited!!!

 

 

Enjoy!  

[edhopper]

Thanks for this. We are on the Amundsen Antarctic Circle Feb. 13. You gave some great info, especially about the 2:30 wake up, which isn't in the Hurtigruten info. I was also was wondering when they left port. Good to know.

Edited January 14, 2023 by edhopper

[CDNPolar]

On 1/14/2023 at 2:27 PM, edhopper said:

Thanks for this. We are on the Amundsen Antarctic Circle Feb. 13. You gave some great info, especially about the 2:30 wake up, which isn't in the Hurtigruten info. I was also was wondering when they left port. Good to know.

 

There was coffee and I think some muffins available as of 1:30am in the basement ballroom of the hotel - this was something that some were complaining about, they wanted full breakfast.  It's 1:30am - who is eating breakfast?

 

The charter flight will give you a ham/cheese bun and a drink/coffee only during the three hour flight.  Perhaps there was an additional "snack" item too.

 

The Ushuaia airport level where these fights take off from is small and very crowded.  There are all kinds of early flights to other areas in South America - the departure gates were full to overloaded and many were sitting in the corridor and on the floor.  All seats were taken.

 

You bus to the aircraft from there.

 

The ship left port at 7:00pm that night.

 

When we got to the ship, there was a Viking ship in port - anchored, not at the pier - that was to have left the day before and it remained in port because the Drake was too rough.  We left at 7pm, but the Viking ship remained and did not leave until the next day.

 

We were "warned" by many - be prepared to be flexible.  Everything is weather dependent, including the departure the first night.

[CDNPolar]

On 1/14/2023 at 2:27 PM, edhopper said:

Thanks for this. We are on the Amundsen Antarctic Circle Feb. 13. You gave some great info, especially about the 2:30 wake up, which isn't in the Hurtigruten info. I was also was wondering when they left port. Good to know.

 

Also you won't find out what flight time of three that you will be on returning from Ushuaia to BA until perhaps 2 days before being back in port.  

 

Be aware that if you are flying out of BA the same day the cruise ends, that Hurtigruten does not recommend a flight out earlier than - I think - 9:00pm that night.

[edhopper]

Thanks again. Fortunately we are staying in BA for a few days after.

[edhopper]

CDNP, could you go over the night before the flight again. You said there was a wake up call at 2:30am, but people wanted breakfast at 1:30 am. (did anybody sleep? 🙂 ) I thought the flight was at 7 or 8am, what time did the bus leave the hotel? 

Was relaying this info to my wife and trying to work out the timing.

Yes, I know, we will go with the flow. As long is there is coffee along the way, we are fine.

[CDNPolar]

9 hours ago, edhopper said:

CDNP, could you go over the night before the flight again. You said there was a wake up call at 2:30am, but people wanted breakfast at 1:30 am. (did anybody sleep? 🙂 ) I thought the flight was at 7 or 8am, what time did the bus leave the hotel? 

Was relaying this info to my wife and trying to work out the timing.

Yes, I know, we will go with the flow. As long is there is coffee along the way, we are fine.

 

 

Absolutely. 

Assuming that you are staying at the Emperador Hotel, when you arrive the day before you will go through covid testing in the lower level ballroom.  At this time you will be given the time of your flight and the pick up time of the bus.  You will also be given luggage tags and the time that your luggage must be in the hallway that night for pick up.  The luggage will go separately to the airport from the busses on a luggage truck.

 

Our PICK UP TIME was 2:30am - meaning our bus LEFT the hotel at 2:30am.  I think that when we left there were four buses all staged in a row to depart.

 

Yes, the coffee was ready in the lower level ballroom at 1:30am.  

 

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6am.  We were at the airport at 3:30am'ish and thought that this is ridiculously early, but the airport was buzzing with people and flights leaving at 4:30am and 5:00am.  The airport departure lounge was standing room only and hundreds were sitting on the floor.  As a seasoned world traveller, I reasoned that for a charter of this size, if the time is cut too short, there would be all kinds of potential issues with lines, people not down in time, etc., and I then supposed that even though this was probably one hour too early, it was just one hour.

 

There will be at least 3 charter flights all with staged departure times - I think by 30 minutes - and whatever bus number you were on to go to the airport you will look for in Ushuaia when you land.  The worst part is that our flight was an hour delay.  We were all on board for 6am but then we sat on the tarmac for 60 minutes with no explanation why.

 

When you land in Ushuaia you will identify your checked luggage and leave it with Hurtigruten representatives and it will go to the ship and you will go to your bus and be taken to a parking lot a stones throw from the ship and then you have several hours of free time in Ushuaia.  They will not allow you to walk to the ship when you want, you have a bus departure time from that parking lot to go to the ship.

 

You will be issued your cruise cards and lanyards on the bus when you arrive in Ushuaia, so the check in on the ship is basically scanning your cruise card to indicate that you are on the ship.

 

In the first couple of days there are many things that you will have to do in preparation - you will be given an "animal" group name and you will go with your animal group to do all of these things.

 

Everyone will do the Muster drill on day one before departure.

 

The other activities are and some of these are day one, and some are day two / three while in the Drake Passage.

 

Picking up your Hurtigruten red jacket

Picking up your rubber boots and your animal patch that you velcro to your jacket

Vacuuming your outerwear 

Attending mandatory seminars on the rules/laws of Antarctica

 

All of these activities will be by animal group and some with tight timelines.  The first couple days I listed all the activities and seminars on a piece of paper to keep it all straight.

 

Lots of groups and activities are listed and posted on the wall of Deck 5 around the elevator.  This is where you go to see if you have made the lottery for some excursions like snowshoeing or kayaking.  This is also where your return flight schedule will be posted near the end of the cruise.

 

NOTE that the Expedition Team announce the animal groups for landing, and you may be in your cabin when this is happening waiting to get ready because what you have to wear is too hot to dress too soon.  The announcements are not heard in the cabin unless you enable the phone speaker to do so.  This phone speaker also defaults to off if you make a call to the reception desk or anywhere else on the ship - you have to turn it back on after a call.

[edhopper]

Great info CDNP. Thanks so much.

[cccole]

Really great review.  I'm wondering what do those who do not win the lottery do?  Do those with a more expensive cabin get preference in the lottery?  I might be a bit cranky if I was on a cruise to Antarctica and was unable to experience the adventures I am hoping for.  I'm flexible when traveling but this is a trip when flexibility does not always allow for substitutions.  The food is not the big deal for me, because I would not be planning or cooking, but the activities are really important. If you don't win the lottery do you have other fabulous options?  Again, great review.  Cherie 

[frankh1969]

What time is the flight back to Buenos Aires? Looking to book a 430 pm flight back to Canada.

 

[CDNPolar]

10 hours ago, cccole said:

Really great review.  I'm wondering what do those who do not win the lottery do?  Do those with a more expensive cabin get preference in the lottery?  I might be a bit cranky if I was on a cruise to Antarctica and was unable to experience the adventures I am hoping for.  I'm flexible when traveling but this is a trip when flexibility does not always allow for substitutions.  The food is not the big deal for me, because I would not be planning or cooking, but the activities are really important. If you don't win the lottery do you have other fabulous options?  Again, great review.  Cherie 

 

We did not ask, but the Expedition Crew claimed that the lottery is a real lottery.  You sign up and then randomly you are chosen - or not - to do 4 or maybe 5 different activities.  The activities in the lottery are:  Snowshoeing, Kayaking, Camping, Science Boat, and one other that must have been insignificant to us because I cannot remember.

 

All of a sudden there is an announcement and the results of the lottery are posted on the wall of Deck 5 atrium.  The crowds rush and you battle the crowd to get close enough to see if you were chosen.

 

We got one of four that we signed up for, but it was clear immediately as I looked across the lists that one cabin number with 3 people in it was chosen for 3 different things.  Why it is clear to see is we were two in the cabin and then our cabin number appears twice in the list indicating that both of us go.  This cabin appeared three times in a row on the lists and just stood out.

 

We talked to 2 couples that signed for 4 things and got nothing, where one cabin of 3 people got three things.

 

Is it fair?  To the cabin that got three things yes, but to the cabin that got nothing, no.

 

It is a lottery.

 

The truth of the matter is this:

 

Only 100 people can go ashore at one time and the expedition crew are busy with transiting people back and forth.

 

Only 16 people can kayak at one time and it takes almost 2 hours to get that 16 suited up, briefed/coached/trained and then out and back in.

 

Camping has a limit too.

 

The science boats have a limit as there are limited science expedition team.

 

All of the above is also dependent on weather.  If the weather changes - which it does in a minute - then excursions are cancelled or moved to another destination.  We lost all excursions in our first day of five days at the continent because of weather and you cannot make that time up.

 

Lottery "winners" are also chosen as Group A, B, C etc.  If A is to go this morning and weather does not permit, then B gets bumped and A goes in their time slot.  If this continues, some of the lottery winners get bumped all together and are out of luck.

 

We were coached by our TA many times and by the posted information from Hurtigruten, that you must be flexible and ready to accept changes in schedule and activities.  It is conceivable that you could have several days of poor weather that severely impacts excursions.  For instance, we never go the polar plunge because the two places that were set for people to participate the weather or conditions were not ideal, so it did not happen at all.

 

If you want to guarantee that you are going to get the expedition excursions you want, then you want to travel on a smaller ship.  We had friends go on a much smaller ship and they got every activity and also got to land on the continent twice a day.  We were only promised once a day at best.  Smaller ships have more flexibility to ensure that you get what you want, but weather still can impact what they can and will deliver.

 

You cannot go into this with the expectation of Kayaking and then be devastated if you don't get it.  If you go on a cruise like this with that expectation you will most likely be disappointed and there is no recourse with the cruise line.

 

Oh, and no, having a more expensive cabin does not give you privilege in the lottery, or it would not be a fair lottery.

 

If you don't win the lottery do you have other fabulous options?  If the weather is good, you have one landing per day and potentially a boat cruise that are promised to everyone.  Other fabulous options are gaze at the enchanting scenery from your balcony, or the Explorer Lounge with a drink?  There is nothing much else to do on this ship if you are not on excursion other than gaze at the landscape, the icebergs, and whale watch. 

[CDNPolar]

3 hours ago, frankh1969 said:

What time is the flight back to Buenos Aires? Looking to book a 430 pm flight back to Canada.

 

 

STOP STOP - no, do not book a flight that early back to Canada.  I believe that the Hurtigruten information states to not have a connecting flight in BA before 9:30pm the same day.

 

The first flight - of three - that we were on did not leave Ushuaia until 12:30pm and these small charter airlines are often late.  This is a 3 to 3.5 hour flight so the first flight would not get you back in time for that.

 

The second flight was 1:30pm or something but the last flight did not leave Ushuaia until 8pm.  

 

These flights are only announced as to the departure time - like the lottery - on the wall of deck 5, about 2 maybe 3 days before the end of the cruise.

 

I would personally recommend that you stay the night in BA and fly home the next day.  Safest option.  We stayed 4 days in BA on our own after.

 

There were several people that were on our first flight out of Ushuaia that had 9pm'ish or 10pm'ish flights out and they were good.  If you are intent on going same day, then book as late as possible but cover this with Hurtigruten before you pay for the flight or you may be having some expensive change fees.

[CDNPolar]

36 minutes ago, jonikal said:

 

 

 

Right on!  We knew that we were faced with a lottery on the size of ship we were travelling and we would not have liked it if we got nothing, but we were prepared for getting nothing.

[edhopper]

How often were there other ships at your stops?

[jonikal]

We encountered no other commercial vessels at any of our stops.  We did see some private masted yachts near Port Lockroy.  Once we returned to Ushuaia we pulled up next to one of the smaller Princess ships and we felt very small indeed!  

Being in a small ship we were also allowed access to the bridge for wild life watching at any time.

 

 

[CDNPolar]

2 hours ago, edhopper said:

How often were there other ships at your stops?

 

We had to wait for one smaller ship to leave the area at one landing point before we could land.  There is a max number of people allowed on the continent at one time at any landing point, so if a ship is there you cannot start your landing.  This is not per ship max, it is a max at that landing point.

 

We passed and saw other ships, but there was never another ship landing at the same time, or kayaking in the same bay.  

 

My impression is that the ships book these landing points in advance and have to stick to their times otherwise it would always be chaos.   We looked frequently on the cruise tracker and there were often 15+ ships on the vicinity map.

[cccole]

CDNPolar, Thank you for such a detailed explanation.  The good news is that, weather permitting, all guests have one landing per day and possible boat cruise.  Only the exceptional activities are included in the lottery, if I understand.  I was afraid that most activities were lottery controlled.

 

Watching the beautiful scenery while cruising this area would be amazing.  Thank you again for the post and reminding us of needing to be extremely flexible.  Cherie     

[CDNPolar]

7 hours ago, cccole said:

CDNPolar, Thank you for such a detailed explanation.  The good news is that, weather permitting, all guests have one landing per day and possible boat cruise.  Only the exceptional activities are included in the lottery, if I understand.  I was afraid that most activities were lottery controlled.

 

Watching the beautiful scenery while cruising this area would be amazing.  Thank you again for the post and reminding us of needing to be extremely flexible.  Cherie     

 

Yes, you are correct, you should get one landing per day and boat cruise where they run them - all weather permitting. 

 

The lottery excursions are:  Camping, Snowshoeing, Kayaking, and Science Boat.

[edhopper]

Where there any extended hikes?