13 or 15 day Antarctic cruise

[cccole]

I am currently looking at both of these itineraries.  I always think more days is better but the map is a bit confusing.  Any comments on these two itineraries?  

 

Thank you, Cherie

[dreamercruise]

I have not looked at the two itineraries, but my suggestion is to take the one that also also goes to South Georgia.  Think the trip should be longer than 15 days, and is more likely 18-20.  If the itinerary starts in Buenos Aires and the cruise starts in Ushuaia, you will need to spend one night in BA before taking the early morning flight to Ushuaia.

With the South Georgia itinerary  (and probably includes Falklands Islands),  you will go through Drake Passage only once - a bonus.

[cccole]

Thank you.  South Georgia Island does not seem to be included in the 13 and 15 day itineraries.  I have not seen an 18 day trip but will research.  Thank you,  Cherie

[biggerbearmom]

Viking now offers a 19 day itinerary that includes South Georgia Island, with the lowest rate starting at $19,995.

[donaldsc]

Several posts on this thread have suggested that an Antarctica trip should include South Georgia.  Although South Georgia is a wonderful place to visit (I did a Falklands and S Georgia trip where we had 10 days just on S Georgia) and will be the trip of your life but including it as part of an Antarctica trip is a major mistake. 

 

Look at a map.  If you do just Antarctica you cruise due south from Ushuaia and the round trip distance from Ushuaia to Antarctica is about 1400 nm and takes about 1 1/2 days each way of sea time off your trip.  Yes the southern ocean gives you the opportunity to see lots of birds and some icebergs but you are doing the cruise to be on the southern continent and the 3 days to and from time is a necessary waste of time.

 

Now look at the map if you add South Georgia.  You have to cruise east to South Georgia and then southwest to Antarctica and the 1400 nm cruise to get to your destinations becomes a 2900 nm cruise.  You end up spending a much larger percentage of your trip time getting there as opposed to being there.  You end up with maybe 2 or 3 days maximum on South Georgia.  The island deserves more time.  

 

South Georgia or maybe South Georgia  and the Falklands where you spend 2 or 3 days on the Falklands plus your time on South Georgia is only 2300 nm and be a trip by itself without visiting Antarctica.  You then do another trip just to Antarctica which as I said above is only 1400 nm so you end up with enough time on Antarctica.

 

I will add that trying to do the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica makes even less sense.  True that doing the 3 places only adds a minimal distance traveled to about 3100 nm but you end up with only a minimal amount of time at each place.  

 

Too many people just don't bother to look at maps and to consider sea days when planning cruises.

 

DON

Edited January 21, 2023 by donaldsc

[cccole]

Thank you Don,  I did look at the map and it seemed like a huge distance to do South Georgia.  I appreciate your detailed info which supports my first impression.  I think we will stick with Antarctica for our first trip and really like the Viking itineraries.  Now just deciding on 13 or 15 days and which month might be best.  I know that there are no guarantees for weather.  

Thank you to everyone for the responses.   Cherie

[donaldsc]

27 minutes ago, cccole said:

Thank you Don,  I did look at the map and it seemed like a huge distance to do South Georgia.  I appreciate your detailed info which supports my first impression.  I think we will stick with Antarctica for our first trip and really like the Viking itineraries.  Now just deciding on 13 or 15 days and which month might be best.  I know that there are no guarantees for weather.  

Thank you to everyone for the responses.   Cherie

 

These are 2 sites that are very useful for finding out sea distance and/or cruise times

 

ports.com.  http://ports.com/sea-route/port-of-dutch-harbor,united-states/port-of-kodiak,united-states/#/?a=0&b=4809&c=ushuaia&d=Port Lockroy, Antarctica

 

https://www.bednblue.com/sailing-distance-calculator

 

DON

[hbtraveler]

On 1/20/2023 at 2:25 PM, cccole said:

I am currently looking at both of these itineraries.  I always think more days is better but the map is a bit confusing.  Any comments on these two itineraries?  

 

Thank you, Cherie

Looking at the two itineraries, it seems the only difference is that you spend 2 more days in Antarctic waters.  The trip down looks the same and the trip back also looks the same.  Since the weather can be finicky, more days gives you more opportunities to get ashore if the weather doesn't cooperate.  So, if you can afford it, it would seem the longer trip would be better.  BTW, the map is deliberately vague, since the landing locations can vary from trip to trip.

[Heidi13]

8 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Several posts on this thread have suggested that an Antarctica trip should include South Georgia.  Although South Georgia is a wonderful place to visit (I did a Falklands and S Georgia trip where we had 10 days just on S Georgia) and will be the trip of your life but including it as part of an Antarctica trip is a major mistake. 

 

Look at a map.  If you do just Antarctica you cruise due south from Ushuaia and the round trip distance from Ushuaia to Antarctica is about 1400 nm and takes about 1 1/2 days each way of sea time off your trip.  Yes the southern ocean gives you the opportunity to see lots of birds and some icebergs but you are doing the cruise to be on the southern continent and the 3 days to and from time is a necessary waste of time.

 

Now look at the map if you add South Georgia.  You have to cruise east to South Georgia and then southwest to Antarctica and the 1400 nm cruise to get to your destinations becomes a 2900 nm cruise.  You end up spending a much larger percentage of your trip time getting there as opposed to being there.  You end up with maybe 2 or 3 days maximum on South Georgia.  The island deserves more time.  

 

South Georgia or maybe South Georgia  and the Falklands where you spend 2 or 3 days on the Falklands plus your time on South Georgia is only 2300 nm and be a trip by itself without visiting Antarctica.  You then do another trip just to Antarctica which as I said above is only 1400 nm so you end up with enough time on Antarctica.

 

I will add that trying to do the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica makes even less sense.  True that doing the 3 places only adds a minimal distance traveled to about 3100 nm but you end up with only a minimal amount of time at each place.  

 

Too many people just don't bother to look at maps and to consider sea days when planning cruises.

 

DON

 

Don,

 

I concur with your point that South Georgia adds considerable distance to an Antarctica cruise, but your 1400 nm from Ushuaia may be a little high.

 

At 17 kts, a ship covers a shade over 400 miles per full day of steaming, so 1.5 days steaming would be about 600 miles. If the distance was 1,400 nm that would cover over 20 degrees of Latitude, which would place the top of Antarctica at 78 S.

 

I'll suggest the distance from Ushuaia across Drake Passage to the first stop is 575 to 625 miles.

[cccole]

Don, thank you for those links.  A fun way to calculate distances.  

 

hbtraveler, thank you for the info on the 13/15 day cruises.  I agree that 15 is better than 13 in hopes of making landings.  We just need to decide on the month now.

 

Heidi13 - the number of miles seems enormous but when I'm not driving and it is scenic I will look forward to it.

 

Thank you to everyone, Cherie