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Polar plunge

Hobar

By Hobar,
in Seabourn Cruise Line

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jjs217

jjs217

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14 hours ago, Hobar said:

Anyone know if Antarctica itineraries schedule a polar plunge?  

It is one of the highlights of an Antarctica sailing, and they will try to schedule one.  The seas have to be right, but they know this is something people really want to do.  I was surprised how many of the crew participated - even the Captain and the ship's doctor.  On our cruise, I believe they said 78 people took part.  My husband did it on the Dec22/Jan23 cruise.  We are going back in Jan24 and we will both be doing it then.  I'm actually looking forward to it.  I felt so left out last time because it created a special camaraderie amongst those who took the plunge.

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Hobar

Hobar

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@jjs217 your post added to my excitement, and how great that you get to it in January.  I am curious  - was Antarctica so fabulous that you are going again?? I thought this was a once in a lifetime.  How fun that the Captain and doc do it, too.  Extraordinary events do bring a special camaraderie.

As @toseaornottosea posted, there will not be advance warning, so I guess I will just have to be prepared 24/7 🙂  

This will be very interesting for me since I do not go in my pool until it’s at least 90 F, but I am determined.   Between this and the white water rafting, this may be my best SB cruise ever.

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jjs217

jjs217

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14 hours ago, Hobar said:

@jjs217 your post added to my excitement, and how great that you get to it in January.  I am curious  - was Antarctica so fabulous that you are going again?? I thought this was a once in a lifetime.  How fun that the Captain and doc do it, too.  Extraordinary events do bring a special camaraderie.

As @toseaornottosea posted, there will not be advance warning, so I guess I will just have to be prepared 24/7 🙂  

This will be very interesting for me since I do not go in my pool until it’s at least 90 F, but I am determined.   Between this and the white water rafting, this may be my best SB cruise ever.

As I mentioned on another thread on this board, for us, it is worth going back.  We were on the Venture Holiday Cruise in Dec 22 that had quite a few unusual problems and we were unable to get to the South Georgia Islands as scheduled.  That is the main reason we are going back.  Because the other cruise got all jumbled up, Seabourn did offer us, what I believe, to be a good deal to go back.

 

The funny thing with the polar plunge - before we even left for the cruise, my husband was pooh-poohing it, and saying how ridiculous and why would anybody want to do that, blah, blah.  Then even when we were on the ship, I would ask him, "Are you sure you don't want to......." and his response was the same.  "No".  Well we got back from a zodiac cruise one day and they had already started the plunges, and my husband saw how much fun everyone was having (Seabourn offering pre-plunge shots of Jaegermeister and post plunge spiked hot chocolate was helping with the atmosphere - if you know what I mean.)  He said, "Oh, I've got to do this." I'm standing there gob-smacked and didn't even think of joining him.  You can do a double plunge with your loved one.  They take pictures too, so it's a nice keepsake.

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cruiseej

cruiseej

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For all those extolling the polar plunge, I just want to weigh in with the contrary position. I have no desire to jump into freezing water just to say I did it! 😀 I watch from a convenient viewing spot and applaud those who choose to partake, but I haven't been even remotely tempted to join in. (I don't drink Jaegermeister, and I could get that, or a hot chocolate, on the ship without getting cold and wet!) I'm not in any way discouraging anyone who wants to try it from doing so; I'm just noting there are also plenty of us who are happy to observe, cheer on, and stay warm and dry. 🤣

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Mr Luxury

Mr Luxury

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25 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Good thing about the plunge is Seabourn realizes it is dangerous.    You will have a rope tied around you in case you have a heart attack or stroke after hitting the water.   They also have a doctor standing by but I don’t know if the AED is nearby so you can be resuscitated.

No worries,there is a Mortuary on board.

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skybluewaters

skybluewaters

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26 minutes ago, 2SailingNomads said:

On Ponant they require an EKG within the last 12 months to participate.

 

Useless.  Many people with severe, asymptomatic heart disease have a totally normal EKG.

Ponant may be trying to reassure its passengers, but a normal EKG does not rule out underlying coronary heart disease.

 

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Hobar

Hobar

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8 hours ago, jjs217 said:

You can do a double plunge with your loved one.  They take pictures too, so it's a nice keepsake.

I just read this post to my husband (Bar), and he said, “Or I can do it with you.” 

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offtoalaska

offtoalaska

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I took the plunge on New Year's Day 2020; the crew on the Seabourn Quest did a great job in organizing the event.  I don't recall the no. of participants but it was dozens on that sunny day off the coast of Base Aerea Antartica.  I love looking at my certificate on my desk.  Don't recall Jaegermeister but a group of us went to the whirlpools on the pool deck and enjoyed shots of Becherovka, a Czech herbal, liqueur (heavy on clove, cinnamon and star anise flavors.)  My DH did not participate but did cheer me on.  Go for it if you're healthy;  I was 72 at the time and plan to do it again at some point in the future.  The water temperature was 34 degrees F.  Air temp was around 40 degrees.

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jjs217

jjs217

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20 hours ago, cruiseej said:

For all those extolling the polar plunge, I just want to weigh in with the contrary position. I have no desire to jump into freezing water just to say I did it! 😀 I watch from a convenient viewing spot and applaud those who choose to partake, but I haven't been even remotely tempted to join in. (I don't drink Jaegermeister, and I could get that, or a hot chocolate, on the ship without getting cold and wet!) I'm not in any way discouraging anyone who wants to try it from doing so; I'm just noting there are also plenty of us who are happy to observe, cheer on, and stay warm and dry. 🤣

That's the wonderful thing - Seabourn doesn't make you do it.

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jjs217

jjs217

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46 minutes ago, Viking1966 said:

I will take the plunge on our upcoming cruise to Antarctica on the Venture. I hope they will have some Aquavit available pre and post-plunge. So much better than Jaegermaister.  

I don't know if they have Aquavit on board, but if they do, the bar is open...............

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Khareef

Khareef

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On 9/14/2023 at 6:07 PM, jjs217 said:

As I mentioned on another thread on this board, for us, it is worth going back.  We were on the Venture Holiday Cruise in Dec 22 that had quite a few unusual problems and we were unable to get to the South Georgia Islands as scheduled.  That is the main reason we are going back.  Because the other cruise got all jumbled up, Seabourn did offer us, what I believe, to be a good deal to go back.

 

The funny thing with the polar plunge - before we even left for the cruise, my husband was pooh-poohing it, and saying how ridiculous and why would anybody want to do that, blah, blah.  Then even when we were on the ship, I would ask him, "Are you sure you don't want to......." and his response was the same.  "No".  Well we got back from a zodiac cruise one day and they had already started the plunges, and my husband saw how much fun everyone was having (Seabourn offering pre-plunge shots of Jaegermeister and post plunge spiked hot chocolate was helping with the atmosphere - if you know what I mean.)  He said, "Oh, I've got to do this." I'm standing there gob-smacked and didn't even think of joining him.  You can do a double plunge with your loved one.  They take pictures too, so it's a nice keepsake.

 

I heard from some people that were in your antartica cruise that the stabilizers broke down and you made it to the Falklands right? So did they repair the stabilizers there? How did you make it back to Ushuaia?

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Hobar

Hobar

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On 9/15/2023 at 4:56 AM, robertmartha said:

Totally agree Hobar - if an opportunity presents itself - take it. And agree completely on having the opportunity to sail on Seabourn - after the first day on our first sailing my wife looked at me and said there is no going back 😂

I so fondly remember our very first sailing back in 2002, and we promised ourselves we would try to sail SB every year.  (My mom introduced us and we were ecstatic that very first day.)  We tried Silversea and SeaDream, but Seabourn remained our favorite.  Things have changed, but so has the world and, for us, we only see the positives.  It’s just like “coming home” (assuming you love your home) every time we board.  Looking so forward to the next adventure, and it will be, fittingly, on the Venture.  

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Hobar

Hobar

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2 hours ago, Khareef said:

 

I heard from some people that were in your antartica cruise that the stabilizers broke down and you made it to the Falklands right? So did they repair the stabilizers there? How did you make it back to Ushuaia?

Our Venture sailing for this past Spring was cancelled to take the ship out of service to fix the stabilizers.   

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Hobar

Hobar

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@BasandSyb you are too funny.  I see you are from Australia.  We have wonderful Aussie friends we met on SB several years ago - we met them at the SkyBar, of course 🙂 after a day in Petra.  Fast forward a couple of years and they surprised us on a cruise in Asia that they knew we would be on; they appeared at check-in!!!!  Oh gosh - it was the best, that is, until this past summer when they surprised us on our Iceland cruise for my husband’s 70th.  (They donned wigs and walked up to us in the TK Bar.). It was a long way to travel for them and they are very, very special people.  (We even went to their daughter’s wedding in Ireland a couple of years ago.)  Maybe we will have the pleasure (and fun) to meet up with you on a sailing sometime.

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