Evening Dress in Antarctica

[Tutuma]

We are planning a November Antarctica cruise on Venture.  We are multi Seabourn cruisers. Always dressed up a bit.  However, interested if there is a more relaxed attire for the evening dinners for this type of cruise/expedition.

[offtoalaska]

We sailed on the Quest Dec 2019 for a 24 day  Antarctic holiday voyage from Buenos Aires.  DH wore his tux several times and was not out of place.  We do like to dress for dinner but we fit in with the rest of the passengers.  Do keep in mind that Christmas and NYE occured during our trip.  A November trip on the Venture might see a different mix of dress.  

[Hobar]

2 hours ago, Tutuma said:

We are planning a November Antarctica cruise on Venture.  We are multi Seabourn cruisers. Always dressed up a bit.  However, interested if there is a more relaxed attire for the evening dinners for this type of cruise/expedition.

We are on that cruise, too.  I hear that luggage is limited due to the flight from Ushuaia to BA, and my understanding is that there are no formal nights.  Also hear that Venture is more casual than the larger SB ships. So we will be leaving formal dress home in order to have room for more cold weather gear.  (My indulgence will be my “formal” shoes.). See you on board. 

[Kilroyshere]

Evening Dress in Antarctica:

 

A Type S Cold Water Immersion Suit...?

 

🙄

[JMB56]

I would be interested to hear if anyone who have been on Venture, either last winter in the Antarctic or currently in the Arctic/Iceland, can report on the dress code and how people are dressing for dinner in general.

[markham]

Just left Venture, a truly beautiful and well designed ship in every way.

 

There was no formal wear, it was classy though, and few men wore jackets. I did, in lieu of a sweater, to provide warmth on my frequent strolls out on deck. And I am pleased to say there was little of this palaver issue around old jeans, “designer” or otherwise. At least this lot of Venture passengers were neatly turned out. Maybe they have nothing to prove by living up to the decor standards of the ship itself.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[Covepointcruiser]

We also found many blazers in the evening on the Venture.    The temperature inside was quite cool making those jackets comfortable.   Needless to say we saw no shorts or tank tops inside except in the gym.   It might be different on an Amazon cruise or trans Atlantic or Pacific.

[Rothko1]

A blue blazer is a pretty easy thing to bring along, because you can wear it on flights, etc. and it's very convenient for warmth, comfort, extra pockets, etc.  I have a special Brooks Brothers' travel blazer that I bring on cruises; it wrinkles less and still looks great.  A tie is so small you can tuck it into a shoe.  And viola, you will look good enough for anything other than a black or white tie formal event.

[SLSD]

10 hours ago, Atmavictu said:

I was on the Venture in Antartica last December. The dressing code was pretty wide, you could see a few people wearing a full suit, most  people wearing a blazer or just a shirt and some guests went fully informal even on the main restaurant (sweater and jeans). I think they have recently sent an email saying jeans are now  allowed on the expeditions ships. So you shouldn't worry too much nor pack your fancy suits if you don't want too.

The captain welcome was also pretty disappointing, captain talked 5 minuted and then he disappeared not to be seen again and it was still way too early for dinner....

 

And in all honesty, the main restaurant was my least favorite place on the ship, it feels dated and dull, the wine was pretty mediocre and the food felt also a bit uninspired. I actually preferred the other two dining options.

Uninspired is how I would describe the food in The Restaurant on Ovation on our recent cruise.  It tasted fine, but was not exciting at all.  

[KnittingCruise]

On 6/21/2023 at 8:33 PM, Hobar said:

We are on that cruise, too.  I hear that luggage is limited due to the flight from Ushuaia to BA, and my understanding is that there are no formal nights.  Also hear that Venture is more casual than the larger SB ships. So we will be leaving formal dress home in order to have room for more cold weather gear.  (My indulgence will be my “formal” shoes.). See you on board. 

Does anyone know the luggage limit?  On Pursuit in November for Antarctica and want to plan ahead..

[BasandSyb]

We are on Pursuit in February 2024. The Seabourn itinerary states the luggage limit is 34kg total weight per person checked across a max of two bags per person. I assume it’s the same for November 2023.

 

Thanks for posting the query as we are also trying to look practically at our luggage. (Living in a hot climate we will have to purchase cold weather gear and then donate it to the charity shop in the hope they can turn it over).

 

Our beef at the moment is that we are also doing the Arctic in May/June - Leith to Longyearbyen with a charter flight ending in Oslo. The limit for that flight is 23kg total weight per person checked.

 

We understand there are charter flights involved, but how can Seabourn provide a luxury product and not link luggage to business class luggage allowances AND/OR aim to make the allowances consistent 34 vs 23kg. Given we live at the end of the earth, when we travel we go for a while as it takes us 24 hours to get anywhere. 23kg is an economy flight for week’s getaway, 34 is starting to get a bit more realistic.

 

For this trip we decided to keep travelling for the several weeks between cruises with RTW flights given it was more cost effective. Business class allows us 45kg plus each throughout. Seabourn is 34kg first cruise and then 23kg. These days the staying alive pills take up half the case for that period of time.

 

At least we can cut back on evening wear for the cruises. I won’t be wearing jeans, but I may end up dining in hiking boots 😀

 

I guess this harks back to an earlier post about people and what they wear on board. You never know what they are doing, where they are going, or if their luggage actually arrived on time for the cruise! What to do with 2 x Seabourn jackets will be the next 1st world problem.

[Khareef]

1 hour ago, BasandSyb said:

We are on Pursuit in February 2024. The Seabourn itinerary states the luggage limit is 34kg total weight per person checked across a max of two bags per person. I assume it’s the same for November 2023.

 

Thanks for posting the query as we are also trying to look practically at our luggage. (Living in a hot climate we will have to purchase cold weather gear and then donate it to the charity shop in the hope they can turn it over).

 

Our beef at the moment is that we are also doing the Arctic in May/June - Leith to Longyearbyen with a charter flight ending in Oslo. The limit for that flight is 23kg total weight per person checked.

 

We understand there are charter flights involved, but how can Seabourn provide a luxury product and not link luggage to business class luggage allowances AND/OR aim to make the allowances consistent 34 vs 23kg. Given we live at the end of the earth, when we travel we go for a while as it takes us 24 hours to get anywhere. 23kg is an economy flight for week’s getaway, 34 is starting to get a bit more realistic.

 

For this trip we decided to keep travelling for the several weeks between cruises with RTW flights given it was more cost effective. Business class allows us 45kg plus each throughout. Seabourn is 34kg first cruise and then 23kg. These days the staying alive pills take up half the case for that period of time.

 

At least we can cut back on evening wear for the cruises. I won’t be wearing jeans, but I may end up dining in hiking boots 😀

 

I guess this harks back to an earlier post about people and what they wear on board. You never know what they are doing, where they are going, or if their luggage actually arrived on time for the cruise! What to do with 2 x Seabourn jackets will be the next 1st world problem.

I really don't understand the need for a lot of packing especially in Antartica. You are provided with Parka and boots and binoculars, all sorts of bathroom amenities, there is no formal night and it is a less than a 2 weeks cruise. Plus you have free laundry on deck5. Merino wool stuff as a base layer is great because you can wear it multiple days. BTW Nobody really cared about how people were dressed up, actually those who dressed up formally the first few nights ended up wearing more casual stuff as the days went by.

 

I think I had way less than 20 kilos all together and I actually did overpack (I did 1 laundry).

 

Light luggage is indeed the key for a good healthy trip. There were some people with tons of stuff at the Ushuaia airport and they did look a bit like fools and out of place.

 

Plan ahead what to wear and add 1 laundry and you really need clothes for 1 week. Heavy jackets are useless since you'll be wearing the orange Parka all the time. You can even ditch the blazers all together, or just bring 1. Economy of forces...

[BasandSyb]

As said, we travel so far we don’t go for just a week or two.This time we are doing 3 cruises (21, 11, 26 days), travel in between and are away for 4 months. You do need some clothes rotation to cover weather, adventuring, dining. 😀

[cruiseej]

50 pounds (US)/23 kg has long been the standard for domestic flights in the US and most non-transcontinental aircraft. 

 

70 pounds (US)/32 kg is the standard for business and first class among US and European airlines. 

 

I've never been aware of any airlines which allow 99 pounds/45 kg in a single bag. Or did you mean that was total weight for two bags?

 

We just visited Antarctica last winter on Silversea, a 21-day trip, and we had the same 50-pound checked limit for their charter flights to the tip of South America. I think all the luxury cruise lines using charter flights for similar expedition trips use the same standard. For the international trip from the US to Chile in business class, we could take two 70-pound suitcases each, so if we were continuing our travels after the expedition, I would have looked into whether we could store a bag in Santiago during our expedition trip.

 

I think the optimal solution in your case traveling for four months is to be able to ship some luggage from place to place: home to a hotel or cruise ship, or visa versa. For instance, can you ship a suitcase to Oslo to pick up/have delivered to your hotel after your expedition trip?

 

 

[BasandSyb]

Thanks, yes, that’s what we’re going to have to do. It’s just uneasy feeling these days sending luggage separately not knowing when you will see it again. We will have to get some trackers. The reference to 45 kg or more was across multiple bags, which we are allowed with a number of airlines given business plus status credit. 32kg total each would solve our problems and provide himself room for a couple of pairs of size 12 shoes😇
 

[cruiseej]

As someone who wears size 13 Wide shoes, I feel your pain! 🤣 (I often get to bring only one pair of evening shoes for the duration of our travel!) 

 

Unfortunately, the 23 kg/50 pound per person limit is what we've seen on both Silversea and Seabourn for charter flights to/from excursion cruises. It hasn't mattered if we were on a large plane (our flight from Kangerlussuaq to Reykjavik a few years ago was on a chartered 767, surprisingly) or a small plane (like the Avro regional jets we had this past year flying between Santiago and Puerto Williams). 

[BasandSyb]

😩we were wondering the make of aircraft as we do a bit of regional travel. Seems it doesn’t matter.

Thanks to the OP for raising the question.

[hoya68]

11 hours ago, cruiseej said:

As someone who wears size 13 Wide shoes, I feel your pain! 🤣 (I often get to bring only one pair of evening shoes for the duration of our travel!) 

 

Unfortunately, the 23 kg/50 pound per person limit is what we've seen on both Silversea and Seabourn for charter flights to/from excursion cruises. It hasn't mattered if we were on a large plane (our flight from Kangerlussuaq to Reykjavik a few years ago was on a chartered 767, surprisingly) or a small plane (like the Avro regional jets we had this past year flying between Santiago and Puerto Williams). 

We were on Silversea Antarctica cruise (never again) last November and the weight limit was never clearly announced and like most things (e.g., COVID protocols) was not enforced anyway. I would hope Seabourn would set a policy, make everyone aware of it, and enforce it.

[cruiseej]

2 hours ago, hoya68 said:

We were on Silversea Antarctica cruise (never again) last November and the weight limit was never clearly announced and like most things (e.g., COVID protocols) was not enforced anyway. I would hope Seabourn would set a policy, make everyone aware of it, and enforce it.

 

We were on Silversea in December, and it was communicated what the luggage limits for checked and carry-on baggage were, via a letter from Seabourn in My Silversea > Documents. Here's a screenshot of part of it:

 

It appeared that most people tried to live within the limits. I did see one family show up at the hotel on the day of embarkation with two suitcases per person; their bags were being weighed and they were having discussions with the SS ground representatives, who were in turn talking to the airline — but they were eventually able to get all their luggage on. Unless the plane was truly at space capacity or 100% weight limit for the weather conditions (and how do they determine that without weighing the passengers?), who would it have served to tell them "you should have known the rules, so we can't let you take all your luggage"? 

 

I had a duffel bag with our boots and a few loose things and I asked at the desk if they wanted me to carry it on — it met the weight limit, but with the boots it was a big large for a carry-on on a small plane with small overhead compartments — or if they'd prefer to check it, as some airlines to do conserve overhead space. They said it could be checked, so we checked three bags. That violated their policy, yet it made sense: it was the same total weight going aboard the plane, and it left more overhead space for others. Enforcing the rule strictly would have worked, but it would have helped no one.

 

So yes, there should be a policy, it should be communicated to passengers before their trip, but then common sense should prevail where there are questions or problems.

 

[Hlitner]

I guess a Penguin Suit would always be acceptable in Antarctica 🙂

[highplanesdrifters]

20 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I guess a Penguin Suit would always be acceptable in Antarctica 🙂

There was a gentleman who had a Penguin onesie on our trip.

[whirldcruzrs]

On 6/26/2023 at 7:36 AM, Rothko1 said:

A blue blazer is a pretty easy thing to bring along, because you can wear it on flights, etc. and it's very convenient for warmth, comfort, extra pockets, etc.  I have a special Brooks Brothers' travel blazer that I bring on cruises; it wrinkles less and still looks great.  A tie is so small you can tuck it into a shoe.  And viola, you will look good enough for anything other than a black or white tie formal event.

Theory makes a wrinkle-free blazer / sport jacket.  

[ewsr]

Is it a good idea to bring waterproof shoes/hiking boots for on deck wear? If it’s wet. Assuming the boots Seabourn provides are only for going ashore, or are they available throughout the cruise.

[Khareef]

On 9/30/2023 at 7:56 PM, ewsr said:

Is it a good idea to bring waterproof shoes/hiking boots for on deck wear? If it’s wet. Assuming the boots Seabourn provides are only for going ashore, or are they available throughout the cruise.

Provided boots are for landing only. Deck wear any shoes of your liking but of course you want something with a good grip (it can be wet), confort and warmth. So any running or hiking shoes is fine, I would avoid boots for deck wear, they are heavy and bulky. People were wearing all sorts of sneakers I think.

[florisdekort]

To those who comment with “on Quest…”, Quest has formal nights. Venture and Pursuit do not.