Ship/cabin choice for Antarctica cruise

[CruiserNovice123]

Thinking of an Antarctica cruise. Looking at a few options that we are equally interested in itinerary.  So wondering how much the ship would make a difference (Frum vs Amundsen vs Nansen).  
 

And would love any tips or websites or posts that provide guidance on which cabins to choose.  Primarily concerned about feeling stable, comfortable. Willing to pay up for a better room but have heard that fancier upper deck rooms can be kind of too “rocky” in Drake passage etc. 

[CDNPolar]

9 hours ago, CruiserNovice123 said:

Thinking of an Antarctica cruise. Looking at a few options that we are equally interested in itinerary.  So wondering how much the ship would make a difference (Frum vs Amundsen vs Nansen).  
 

And would love any tips or websites or posts that provide guidance on which cabins to choose.  Primarily concerned about feeling stable, comfortable. Willing to pay up for a better room but have heard that fancier upper deck rooms can be kind of too “rocky” in Drake passage etc. 

 

We went to Antarctica on Nansen.  I do believe that their ships are similar.

 

Look to my signature, there is a link to my YouTube Channel with our cruise videos.  One of course is the Nansen and Antarctica.  There is some of the ship on this one.

 

We had two days both directions of 11 metre waves in the Drake Passage, and I would estimate that only 1/3 of the ship passengers were down for meals.  All the sick bags were gone from the dispensers.

 

We were fine with 2 seasick pills a day, other than we wanted to nap in the afternoon.

 

For stable cabin, choose mid-ship and lower deck.  We were deck 8 mid-ship - 829 to be specific - and we were fine, but we were fine in general.  Once you are around the continent, the seas will not be like in the Drake Passage.

 

We specifically chose the cabin we did because it was wide instead of the typical narrow cabin... we had a much bigger balcony, but we did not have glass railing on our balcony, but much wider windows.

 

We both agree with. 7 continents and over 50 countries now, this was our and probably will remain our favourite trip ever.

[CruiserNovice123]

6 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

We went to Antarctica on Nansen.  I do believe that their ships are similar.

 

Look to my signature, there is a link to my YouTube Channel with our cruise videos.  One of course is the Nansen and Antarctica.  There is some of the ship on this one.

 

We had two days both directions of 11 metre waves in the Drake Passage, and I would estimate that only 1/3 of the ship passengers were down for meals.  All the sick bags were gone from the dispensers.

 

We were fine with 2 seasick pills a day, other than we wanted to nap in the afternoon.

 

For stable cabin, choose mid-ship and lower deck.  We were deck 8 mid-ship - 829 to be specific - and we were fine, but we were fine in general.  Once you are around the continent, the seas will not be like in the Drake Passage.

 

We specifically chose the cabin we did because it was wide instead of the typical narrow cabin... we had a much bigger balcony, but we did not have glass railing on our balcony, but much wider windows.

 

We both agree with. 7 continents and over 50 countries now, this was our and probably will remain our favourite trip ever.

Thank you for your reply.  How do you find which cabins are wide ?  By the way Amundsen and Nansen are new; released in 2019 and 2020 respectively but Fram is from 2007. 

[CDNPolar]

4 minutes ago, CruiserNovice123 said:

 How do you find which cabins are wide ?  

 

If you look at the deck plans - this is the Nansen - see the wide cabins mid-ship.

 

The cabin layout is true to the deck plan.

 

[CruiserNovice123]

Thank you. Absolutely amazing video by the way. Makes me want to go. 
 

We have traveled 6 continents but probably only 20 or so countries and our favorite so far was our trip to the Serengeti. It was so good that we cannot conceive of anything being potentially better 🙂. 

[CruiserNovice123]

So, it doesn’t look the wide cabins are available on the sailing I am looking at unless I go with a suite and it’s on deck 9. I can swing the extra money for the suite if I am getting additional value. In this case though the higher deck makes me wonder if in fact will be worse value. 
 

in fact the lowest priced Polar Outside rooms seem to be a bit more spacious and on a lower deck 4&5 than the Artic Superior 7&8. so I am thinking of going with the Polar Outside. 
 

is there a negative with a lower deck (more noise ?). Do the higher category rooms come with any additional privileges ?
 

 

[CDNPolar]

On the Nansen we were in an Arctic Superior with Balcony - XTD Category.  We chose this because of the shape of the room and the wider windows and wider balcony. 

 

This gave us all the basic privileges on the ship, and I think that if you were in a suite, that you could have your meals in the specialty restaurant.  The rest of us had to reserve and pay extra for that option.  We looked at the menu a couple of times and did not see the value, so other than size of the cabin, I am not sure that there are other advantages to a suite?

 

 

[CDNPolar]

16 hours ago, CruiserNovice123 said:

So, it doesn’t look the wide cabins are available on the sailing I am looking at unless I go with a suite and it’s on deck 9. I can swing the extra money for the suite if I am getting additional value. In this case though the higher deck makes me wonder if in fact will be worse value. 
 

in fact the lowest priced Polar Outside rooms seem to be a bit more spacious and on a lower deck 4&5 than the Artic Superior 7&8. so I am thinking of going with the Polar Outside. 
 

is there a negative with a lower deck (more noise ?). Do the higher category rooms come with any additional privileges ?
 

 

 

I don't know that there is a negative to a lower deck, but do note that you will have the expedition staging area where they launch all the zodiac boats, and kayaks etc.  This could have some noise if you were right above.  But in my experience with other ships we generally are on the lowest deck (on Viking) and that does not bring more noise, in our opinion.

 

We have long since however accepted that cruise ships have creaking, squeaking, vibrations, and other noises and it is the nature of the travel.  We just learn to enjoy past these noises, even though in rough seas it can be harder to get to sleep.

 

Although, we slept through the Drake Passage with 11 metre waves!

[CruiserNovice123]

OK; booked (have 24 hours to pay) a mid ship wide suite on the Amundsen.  Its on Level 9; hope the Drake passage treats us kindly.  We do not really have sea sickness; but the reputation of the Drake passage is a bit intimidating. The black friday deal and the ambassador discount on top made it a good deal; so sprung for the suite; I think the wide configuration will be better.

Thanks for your advice.

[CDNPolar]

7 hours ago, CruiserNovice123 said:

OK; booked (have 24 hours to pay) a mid ship wide suite on the Amundsen.  Its on Level 9; hope the Drake passage treats us kindly.  We do not really have sea sickness; but the reputation of the Drake passage is a bit intimidating. The black friday deal and the ambassador discount on top made it a good deal; so sprung for the suite; I think the wide configuration will be better.

Thanks for your advice.

 

Not sure where you are from in the world - your profile does not give your location - but you should travel with some seasickness remedy.  

 

The Drake is known as the "Shake" or the "Lake" so you could get relatively calm waters or crazy high waves.

 

Hurtigruten will supply 2 pills per day per person of seasickness medication, which is a non-branded Dimenhydrinate and I believe at 50mg per tablet.  For us on the Nansen, we had to go to Guest Services and sign a sheet to receive the pills.  We took the same strength - 50mg - of Gravol with us and took one morning and one late in the afternoon and we survived 11 metre waves.

 

Others had the behind the ear patch and many were just not seen out of their cabins for 2 days.

 

 

[CruiserNovice123]

Are you saying that many of the ones that had the ear patch were not seen out of their cabins for 2 days ?  Or a general statement that many were not seen for 2 days ?

[CDNPolar]

11 hours ago, CruiserNovice123 said:

Are you saying that many of the ones that had the ear patch were not seen out of their cabins for 2 days ?  Or a general statement that many were not seen for 2 days ?

 

General statement that many were not out of their cabins.  If I was to estimate, I would say only 1/3 of the passengers were in the dining room for meals.  Perhaps as much as half, but I would say only 1/3.

 

We had 11 metre waves both directions.  It was a fun ride.

 

Many of the folks out for meals could have been wearing a patch, I really don't know.

 

Our doctor would not prescribe the patch to us...  Said too many potential side effects.

Edited December 11, 2023 by CDNPolar

[CruiserNovice123]

By the way, what did you do about insurance ?

[CDNPolar]

2 hours ago, CruiserNovice123 said:

By the way, what did you do about insurance ?

 

Do you mean medical?  Cancellation / Interruption?

 

 

[CruiserNovice123]

Medical/Evacuation.  The insurance that the cruise mandates you get.  We are mid 50s, basically healthy ppl. But Antarctica seems out there. 

[AlanCruise]

Re Insurance, you need to ensure that the policy you get covers the medical + evacuation.
You are not required to have the add ons that cover for example missed ports and confined to Cabin.
If you are in the UK we have the policy that comes from the Nationwide Flex Plus account - with a cost of £13 a month.  The travel insurance is worldwide and includes cruises.
And you also get car breakdown and mobile phone coverage.

[CDNPolar]

7 hours ago, CruiserNovice123 said:

Medical/Evacuation.  The insurance that the cruise mandates you get.  We are mid 50s, basically healthy ppl. But Antarctica seems out there. 

 

That is what I what I thought you were referring to...

So, the cruise line mandated 50K in evacuation insurance.  In Canada I could not get any insurance company to state 50K coverage, and I am covered for personal travel by my company extended medical benefits.  All I could get them to do is give me very loose wording that indicated that they would evacuate me to the best and necessary medical facility away or back home depending on circumstances and the level of urgency.

 

Here is where I question the whole evacuation business for Antarctica.

 

Once you are 5+ hours into the Drake Passage, you are out of range of helicopter evacuation anyway.  The ship has to turn around.  

Once you are cruising around the Continent, there is NO land based evacuation, or helicopter/plane evacuation based on where cruise ships sail.  You are 48 hours plus to help and that means that they ship has to turn around and head back.

 

We had a broken hip in the first 15 or 17 hours of sailing that was because of the seas and the passenger had a bad fall and broke her hip.  The ship had to turn around because we were too far into the Drake for any air evacuation.  

 

The next try was to get close enough to the Cape for helicopter but then it was determined that the winds were too high.  

 

The next try was a ship to ship transfer but the winds were too high.

 

We had to go all the way back to port.

 

Now, if you need evacuation, your insurance would likely be called upon to pay for the helicopter or ship to ship evacuation if that was necessary close to the Cape.

 

We submitted our policy language and it was accepted.  I cannot tell you for sure if my insurance would have paid for a helicopter or not.

[Wildcat85]

I was quoted a much higher figure than 50k  USD for insurance by a variety of companies I considered, including HX, and I bought higher than I was told to be safe. Now I feel I spent way too much money on insurance unnecessarily. 
 

I will say that I think the medical clearance for sailing is a bit of a farce and puts fellow passengers at the mercy at those who falsify their condition or get their doctors to do so. Yes I am aware of someone doing this.  There were enough elderly and/or frail people on my cruise to Antarctica that you would expect an accident if there were rough seas. Fortunately we had mild seas. That said, one person allegedly fell backward off a zodiac. Not an elderly person but not an agile person. It wasn’t too serious because we continued on the cruise and I saw the person later at the dining room. It could have been worse due to the rocks or other factors. Thankfully the zodiac crews were top notch. 

[CDNPolar]

I agree that the medical is potentially a farce... but this is the cruise line's way of limiting their liability if you have to be signed off by a doctor.

 

I will say that our doctor took the whole thing very seriously and one of us had some serious medical issues exposed on the doctor's report and not one question from the cruise line or with the doctor when we boarded...  I was kind of surprised.

[Wildcat85]

13 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

I agree that the medical is potentially a farce... but this is the cruise line's way of limiting their liability if you have to be signed off by a doctor.

 

I will say that our doctor took the whole thing very seriously and one of us had some serious medical issues exposed on the doctor's report and not one question from the cruise line or with the doctor when we boarded...  I was kind of surprised.

I understand that the cruise line wants to use a doctor’s certification in their defense if they get sued. However it is frustrating to know that I paid an outrageous sum for medical evacuation and repatriation insurance with the understanding that, if I got injured, I would be evacuated. Yet someone else can have a fall onboard and my vacation can be ruined because the ship has to turn around because they are not in fact evacuated despite the requirements of medical certification and insurance. 
 

I know age and disability discrimination is a legal problem. But I hope they review the medical certificates, especially for the “lottery” events like kayaking and camping. It can be dangerous to others to have persons with disabilities participating. I am aware of someone who did such activities but lied about their health and it impacted others in the group. 

Edited December 14, 2023 by Wildcat85

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Wildcat85 said:

I understand that the cruise line wants to use a doctor’s certification in their defense if they get sued. However it is frustrating to know that I paid an outrageous sum for medical evacuation and repatriation insurance with the understanding that, if I got injured, I would be evacuated. Yet someone else can have a fall onboard and my vacation can be ruined because the ship has to turn around because they are not in fact evacuated despite the requirements of medical certification and insurance. 
 

I know age and disability discrimination is a legal problem. But I hope they review the medical certificates, especially for the “lottery” events like kayaking and camping. It can be dangerous to others to have persons with disabilities participating. I am aware of someone who did such activities but lied about their health and it impacted others in the group. 

The patient in question may well have have the required evacuation insurance.  Evacuation is a dangerous procedure (to the patient and to all involved), so it is only done if the ship is unable to return to port for a safer procedure.

[PghCruiser84]

5 hours ago, Wildcat85 said:

I understand that the cruise line wants to use a doctor’s certification in their defense if they get sued. However it is frustrating to know that I paid an outrageous sum for medical evacuation and repatriation insurance with the understanding that, if I got injured, I would be evacuated. Yet someone else can have a fall onboard and my vacation can be ruined because the ship has to turn around because they are not in fact evacuated despite the requirements of medical certification and insurance. 
 

I know age and disability discrimination is a legal problem. But I hope they review the medical certificates, especially for the “lottery” events like kayaking and camping. It can be dangerous to others to have persons with disabilities participating. I am aware of someone who did such activities but lied about their health and it impacted others in the group. 

It’s kind of the nature of the beast. Antarctic cruises are going to be full of literal bucket listers who want to see the white continent before they die, and people who have the money to take such a trip, and people who have the time to take such a trip without having to worry about work schedules and paid time off. So it’s going to skew elderly and of course there are doctors who will sign off on such forms if it’s even somewhat within a grey area. And as I was on the exact same cruise as you, I know of several of the people you are likely referring to and it’s somewhat of a miracle that we didn’t have something catastrophic happen that affected our trip, helped in part by the smooth seas.

 

That said, I would be utterly shocked if they reviewed the medical certificates for the lottery activities or really anything else beyond simply who gets to board the ship.

 

And then you add to that the fact that we’re still kind of in a global pandemic and you’re on a ship with a bunch of highly vulnerable elderly folks, even if everyone is vaccinated, but who is actually going to quarantine themselves on a trip like this if they think they have covid? So serious illness is also a possibility.

 

The insurance seems a bit much for someone young and healthy such as myself, but I can see where it could come into play fairly regularly.

[CDNPolar]

13 hours ago, Wildcat85 said:

 However it is frustrating to know that I paid an outrageous sum for medical evacuation and repatriation insurance with the understanding that, if I got injured, I would be evacuated. Yet someone else can have a fall onboard and my vacation can be ruined because the ship has to turn around because they are not in fact evacuated despite the requirements of medical certification and insurance. 
 

 

 

Please, this comment is made with all due respect.

 

You may have all the insurance that is available to humankind but if you or your travel companion suffered a serious heart attack that was sudden and with no prior history or concern, and you were currently alongside the Antarctic Continent, there is NO medical evacuation when you in that geographical position.  The ONLY option the ship as to save your life is to turn around and go back to the Cape at the very least.

 

This is not just about elderly or disabled, this is about anyone that can have a serious unexpected medical event.

 

We talked about this with our travel agent before paying our final payment.  She has much experience with this type of cruise, and she warned us that our cruise could be cut short because of a medical emergency and we rationalized this and decided to accept it.

 

Our cruise did turn back because of a fall and broken hip 17 hours into the Drake.

 

Because of this the ship altered it's planned course and we started in the north instead of our planned southern start.  The first day there were no landings because of weather.  Instead of 5 days of landings we only got four.  We could blame that lost day on the fact that our itinerary got turned around because of the injury.  We will never know.  Regardless, there may be people that lie on their medical forms and doctors that sign them with lies, but there can also be a sudden and unexpected medical event that no one planned for.

 

With expedition cruising, I personally think that this is something that you must accept.

 

It is not about whose vacation/cruise was ruined, it is about saving a life regardless of the circumstance.

[PghCruiser84]

2 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Please, this comment is made with all due respect.

 

You may have all the insurance that is available to humankind but if you or your travel companion suffered a serious heart attack that was sudden and with no prior history or concern, and you were currently alongside the Antarctic Continent, there is NO medical evacuation when you in that geographical position.  The ONLY option the ship as to save your life is to turn around and go back to the Cape at the very least.

 

This is not just about elderly or disabled, this is about anyone that can have a serious unexpected medical event.

 

We talked about this with our travel agent before paying our final payment.  She has much experience with this type of cruise, and she warned us that our cruise could be cut short because of a medical emergency and we rationalized this and decided to accept it.

 

Our cruise did turn back because of a fall and broken hip 17 hours into the Drake.

 

Because of this the ship altered it's planned course and we started in the north instead of our planned southern start.  The first day there were no landings because of weather.  Instead of 5 days of landings we only got four.  We could blame that lost day on the fact that our itinerary got turned around because of the injury.  We will never know.  Regardless, there may be people that lie on their medical forms and doctors that sign them with lies, but there can also be a sudden and unexpected medical event that no one planned for.

 

With expedition cruising, I personally think that this is something that you must accept.

 

It is not about whose vacation/cruise was ruined, it is about saving a life regardless of the circumstance.

Regarding the bolded, with all due respect, if you or your travel companion suffered a serious heart attack alongside the Antarctic continent, you’re as good as dead, but the ship doesn’t have a morgue so it has to turn around.

 

That said, I understand the sentiment, there are plenty of life threatening conditions where your life can be saved even if two days later.

 

Did the passenger who broke their hip seem like the type of person who belonged on one of these expeditions?

Edited December 15, 2023 by PghCruiser84

[CDNPolar]

2 minutes ago, PghCruiser84 said:

Regarding the bolded, with all due respect, if you or your travel companion suffered a serious heart attack alongside the Antarctic continent, you’re as good as dead, but the ship doesn’t have a morgue so it has to turn around.

 

That said, I understand the sentiment, there are plenty of life threatening conditions where your life can be saved even if two days later.

 

The only point I was trying to make here is medical evacuation is impossible until you are in helicopter range of South America so it does not matter what insurance you have.  

 

Oh, and to the best of my knowledge, all ocean going passenger cruise ships are required to have body bags and a morgue capable of storing a body for minimum of one week.