Antarctica now

[shepherd really]

Getting reports from the Marina on their Antarctic drive by. They are in the Lemaire channel and getting some great views of whales, icebergs and lots of other wildlife. 
 

I just wanted the naysayers to know their reading of the laws regarding cruise ships in Antarctica not being allowed close enough to see anything was completely wrong. 
 

now I’m stoked for next years cruise 

[mauibabes]

We are on board Marina now and it is a fantastic cruise, definitely do not miss it.  We are sailing close bye through the various bays and I would suggest you’re bringing along a pair binoculars and if you have 35 mm camera’s with some great lenses, definitely bring them. 
 

it is SPECTACULAR to say the least. 
Mauibabes

[shepherd really]

2 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

We are on board Marina now and it is a fantastic cruise, definitely do not miss it.  We are sailing close bye through the various bays and I would suggest you’re bringing along a pair binoculars and if you have 35 mm camera’s with some great lenses, definitely bring them. 
 

it is SPECTACULAR to say the least. 
Mauibabes

I bought binoculars for the January ‘22 cruise that was canceled,I rebooked for next year and  I’ll definitely be bringing them along. Enjoy your cruise, I’m really enjoying all the pictures people are posting on the site that must not be named.

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, mauibabes said:

We are on board Marina now and it is a fantastic cruise, definitely do not miss it.  We are sailing close bye through the various bays and I would suggest you’re bringing along a pair binoculars and if you have 35 mm camera’s with some great lenses, definitely bring them. 
 

it is SPECTACULAR to say the least. 
Mauibabes

 

Can you see icebergs, majestic icebergs?

If so, any chance of a photo!?

 

ENJOY... that's a trip we'd love to take!

(Alas, we may have missed our window for that particular trip, but we got in almost everything on our big list. 🙂 )

 

GC

[shepherd really]

25 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Can you see icebergs, majestic icebergs?

If so, any chance of a photo!?

 

ENJOY... that's a trip we'd love to take!

(Alas, we may have missed our window for that particular trip, but we got in almost everything on our big list. 🙂 )

 

GC

This is not an expedition cruise.  There is no need to climb into or out of zodiaks.  All you have to do is ride on the ship and enjoy the scenery, so if you have mobility issues, this is a fine way of seeing Antarctica.

 

I've seen pictures from this trip, it looks spectacular.

[Spotbattman]

I have been reading these posts too. The pictures look amazing. We board Marina on 7th Feb to do the same itinerary in reverse. Weather reports are suggesting it is cold - 1degree celsius. Hats and gloves required. Also that it is chilly around the ship too! Icebergs, whales, penguins etc -  all seen from the decks and balcony of the ship. Hoping for more luck than they had at the Falkland Islands and that we are able to land. Getting very excited for our trip. 

[johnlcruise]

On 1/27/2023 at 10:29 AM, mauibabes said:

We are on board Marina now and it is a fantastic cruise, definitely do not miss it.  We are sailing close bye through the various bays and I would suggest you’re bringing along a pair binoculars and if you have 35 mm camera’s with some great lenses, definitely bring them. 
 

it is SPECTACULAR to say the least. 
Mauibabes

We are also on the Marina. And want to say. We are also enjoying this Most Excellent Adventure. 

Please remember your binoculars.  They do come in handy.

Even though we are getting close enough to see a lot. But the binoculars really makes it more spectacular. 

And the OLife Antarctic Speaker Series are outstanding. 

We have four speakers on board. Each a professional in the subject of Antarctic. 

[bob brown]

Thanks for the report!

We are aboard the Insignia, headed your way (we should be passing by you on the night of the 7th),      
and even though we have landed on Antarctica from a previous expedition ship voyage, we are looking forward to seeing it again from this perspective…😎

[NewSalty]

20 hours ago, johnlcruise said:

We are also on the Marina. And want to say. We are also enjoying this Most Excellent Adventure. 

Please remember your binoculars.  They do come in handy.

Even though we are getting close enough to see a lot. But the binoculars really makes it more spectacular. 

And the OLife Antarctic Speaker Series are outstanding. 

We have four speakers on board. Each a professional in the subject of Antarctic. 

It looks like you guys are getting a little bit of the "Shake" on your northward passage?

[janecambridge]

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by janecambridge

[Condocat]

37 minutes ago, janecambridge said:

 

 

IMG_7742.MOV 1.11 MB · 1 download  

 

TY Jane!!!

[pinotlover]

Calm day in the Drake Passage. My brother did that in 30 ft seas and 50-60 knot winds. Great for weight loss! 🥺 Those few that could or did eat did it room service. Brother said People too scared to even attempt to walk the hallways.

[mauibabes]

@bob brown

on Marina now and we ran out of Drakes Lake luck. Definitely major wave action and winds. I am sure at least 2/3 of the guests are hunkered down in their rooms because as I have walked around the Terrace and Horizons, you can count the people using fingers and toes and had some left over.  Since you will be heading into this in a week or so, GOOD LUCK. We have weathered some major forces in the North Sea before on Insignia but this has been our worst experience to date.  Let’s hope when you get to Ushuaia your luck holds and you don’t experience this. 
 

No matter what, this is an awesome cruise and itinerary. 
Mauibabes

[GeezerCouple]

39 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Calm day in the Drake Passage. My brother did that in 30 ft seas and 50-60 knot winds. Great for weight loss! 🥺 Those few that could or did eat did it room service. Brother said People too scared to even attempt to walk the hallways.

 

How in the world do they even deliver room service under those conditions?

 

The worst seas we've been in to date (which thus far confirmed no sea sickness, although terror might someday apply...) was off the Norwegian coast, on Hurtigruten.  Fortunately, this was before the unfortunate Viking Sky "mishap", or "terror" may have been apt for our situation.  We were in the same area.

 

The captain announced that starting in the evening, we would have "rough weather" or something like that.  Well!  It started, and "hey, this is interesting..."  And suddenly, we were having trouble sitting upright; we had a suite, and were in the LR.  We decided "in bed" would be safest, but it was almost too late.  We couldn't even stay upright supported by a wall.  So, down on all fours we each went, and still with some difficulty, crawled toward the safety of bed... and stayed there til morning.  We had an aft suite.  I've heard that forward cabins can get "rocky", but didn't think it tended to be worse aft (?).  The foreward webcam showed a lot of impressive water action.  We eventually did fall asleep, so I don't know how bad it got.

 

And that reminded me of reading reports of older ships in the Antarctic, where there were nets on the sides of the beds, to catch someone being tossed out of bed...!?  (Don't know if that is true, but... I guess it could be, especially with older ships?)

 

>> So... how does the crew operate under those conditions, and much worse, I assume!?

Some crew could get strapped in to their seats.  The Captain comes to mind.  It would be reassuring to know that she/he was going to stay at the helm!

But what about other necessary activities.  Our "storm" passed reasonably quickly, only a few hours, but not all do.

Seriously, how does the crew keep up the critical duties during *really* bad conditions?

 

GC

Edited January 29, 2023 by GeezerCouple

[pinotlover]

Geezer;

 

He told me it lasted about 18 hours for them. They got terribly sea sick. Said everything on the ship was shut down. They didn’t eat a thing for about 24 hours. However, room service had to continue. There were people with diabetes and other problems that had to get food regularly on a schedule.

[kimanjo]

36 minutes ago, mauibabes said:

@bob brown

on Marina now and we ran out of Drakes Lake luck. Definitely major wave action and winds. I am sure at least 2/3 of the guests are hunkered down in their rooms because as I have walked around the Terrace and Horizons, you can count the people using fingers and toes and had some left over.  Since you will be heading into this in a week or so, GOOD LUCK. We have weathered some major forces in the North Sea before on Insignia but this has been our worst experience to date.  Let’s hope when you get to Ushuaia your luck holds and you don’t experience this. 
 

No matter what, this is an awesome cruise and itinerary. 
Mauibabes

 

I pop into cruismapper every once in a while to see what's going on.  It says seas are 6.9 m and 15 knot winds.  When we crossed we had 4 m seas, and we were out and about, and were some of the few.  I can only imagine 6.9 m. WOW!!!

[GeezerCouple]

6 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Geezer;

 

He told me it lasted about 18 hours for them. They got terribly sea sick. Said everything on the ship was shut down. They didn’t eat a thing for about 24 hours. However, room service had to continue. There were people with diabetes and other problems that had to get food regularly on a schedule.

 

Thanks.

I do believe that certain services continued; some simply are not optional!

But ... how!?

 

This next question is not facetious:  Does someone put on a backpack and crawl down the hall with supplies in containers when the ship is *really* being tossed around?

[Okay, yes, laugh! But maybe an answer between chuckles? 😉 ]

 

DH and I were just discussing this, thinking back to that evening off the coast of Norway, and wondering... how could *anyone* get around other than crawling?

GC

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Thanks.

I do believe that certain services continued; some simply are not optional!

But ... how!?

 

This next question is not facetious:  Does someone put on a backpack and crawl down the hall with supplies in containers when the ship is *really* being tossed around?

[Okay, yes, laugh! But maybe an answer between chuckles? 😉 ]

 

DH and I were just discussing this, thinking back to that evening off the coast of Norway, and wondering... how could *anyone* get around other than crawling?

GC

Good question!! 
 

Another comment he made saying they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and I’m sure this issue would be ten times worse on Oceania. The restaurants were shut down and the kitchen supporting room service and the staff were in survival mode. The RS menu was the only thing available.

 

After the emergency had passed, all the complaining from people over the kitchen not being able to meet their culinary disabilities during the storm. They couldn’t eat anything on the menu! 🙄!! Complain, Complain.

[osandomir]

3 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Good question!! 
 

Another comment he made saying they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and I’m sure this issue would be ten times worse on Oceania. The restaurants were shut down and the kitchen supporting room service and the staff were in survival mode. The RS menu was the only thing available.

 

After the emergency had passed, all the complaining from people over the kitchen not being able to meet their culinary disabilities during the storm. They couldn’t eat anything on the menu! 🙄!! Complain, Complain.

All this is very predictable, especially when you are traveling to the particular regions. If you have certain limitations just don’t go rather than complain later. Some companies even have you sign a waiver that you are participating at your own risk.

Edited January 29, 2023 by osandomir
Added content

[osandomir]

2 minutes ago, osandomir said:

Duplicate post.

Edited January 29, 2023 by osandomir
Duplicate post

[friendsoftulie]

Wow!  No Drake's Lake this trip.  Continued safe travels to you all, and really sorry they cancelled Port Stanley.  I'm braced to probably miss it too on Feb 25.

Did you all bring your own motion sickness remedies or is Marina handing them out?  One more trip to CVS if not.

Thanks so much for posting while aboard....it is very helpful for those of us on the next segment.

 

Cheers, Frank

[JRIH]

28 minutes ago, friendsoftulie said:

Wow!  No Drake's Lake this trip.  Continued safe travels to you all, and really sorry they cancelled Port Stanley.  I'm braced to probably miss it too on Feb 25.

Did you all bring your own motion sickness remedies or is Marina handing them out?  One more trip to CVS if not.

Thanks so much for posting while aboard....it is very helpful for those of us on the next segment.

 

Cheers, Frank

Ya, do yourself a favor.  Even if you don't normally get seasick, use the patch or other seasickness medication when crossing the Drake.

[osandomir]

Normally you can get seasickness medication at the front desk when you need it. We also bring some with us just in case. I always was prone to seasickness, but not that much on Oceania ships later. These cruise ships designed to withstand the waves pretty good. When you are going to Antarctica though, it’s better to be prepared for some shaking most of the time.

[friendsoftulie]

Thanks.  Taking your advice for sure.  Enjoy your last week down there.

[hawkesbaynz]

Looking forward to it in next month. Thanks for the reminder about the binoculars. Already purchased the anti-emetics and seasickness medications. Hopefully ours will be calmer……… and get to the Falklands.
 

Enjoy the remainder of the cruise.