Question for AOV Communications Re Parkas on Antarctic Trips?

[jimrpa]

My apologies in advance for not directly messaging @AOV Communications  but apparently, the "messages" feature is disabled on this board 😀

I was on the November 17 World Voyager sailing to Antarctica. Towards the end of the cruise, the gentlemen who was the "Hotel Manager" (a Portuguese, I forget his name), told passengers that they could have their parkas shipped to their homes instead of having to carry them back home. I told him I'd like to take advantage of this service and provided him with my contact details (home address, phone number, etc.) When I hadn't heard anything form Atlas in late December, I asked the Atlas-assigned TA (Avoya Travel) if they could look into it. They then told me that Atlas told them that a shipping container of parkas had been lost, but that I should expect my parka "soon". I just asked them if they could follow up again on this, and they said that they doubted Atlas would have any information, as their assigned Atlas contact was in Antarctica. Additionally, they doubted that Atlas had any at their "home office" and would have to get one from one of the ships. Finally, they kept trying to tell me that Atlas was only making that offer as an informal courtesy (sort of implying that I'm being a jerk for pushing for this). Given that we're about to enter the bitterly frigid northern hemisphere summer season here in Philadelphia, I was hoping to have my parka by now to stay warm on those bitingly cold June nights. Also, it is a cool souvenir of my journey.

Any chance you could look into this? I'm happy to provide my contact details if you have a real mail address.

Thanks!

Jim

[AOV Communications]

Hello Jim,

 

Please send a note to GuestRelations@AtlasOceanVoyages.com for a follow-up on your parka delivery. Could you include your booking #, ship, and sail date to help the team in their research and response? 

 

Best regards, Jason

[jimrpa]

Thanks Jason, will do!

[BigNance]

Hello!

We are signed up for the Jan 5, 2025 Antarctica cruise and are very excited about this trip!

I do have a question about the parkas - Do they run true to size?  do they run large?  do they run small?

 

Thank you!

 

N

[jimrpa]

They’re fairly similar to north face tri-climate parkas. They run true to size for parkas. Keep in mind you may find that to be a bit roomy if you’re not used to technical cold weather gear. This is intentional to allow a bit more room for layering and for movement. 

[BigNance]

Great! Thank you!

 

[GICNJC]

Remember that you will have several clothing layers on when you choose the size.

The do have an excessive amount of pockets, inside straps (to attach items to) and are waterproof.  I love the detachable black vest (no sleaves) for those chilly, but not cold days at home.  Being that bright green, you don't have to wonder about anyone (drivers) not seeing you at night.

[JanR]

On 4/7/2024 at 2:21 PM, BigNance said:

Hello!

We are signed up for the Jan 5, 2025 Antarctica cruise and are very excited about this trip!

I do have a question about the parkas - Do they run true to size?  do they run large?  do they run small?

 

Thank you!

 

N

On our cruise, during the Drake Crossing there was time established for everyone to come down to the Atlas Lounge and try on your parka as well as the boots that are lent to you.  Come down in base layer(s) that you plan on wearing and they will make sure your parka is perfectly sized.

 

I can only assume that this is the practice for all of their Antarctica cruises.

 

PS.  The parkas are warm.  We found ourselves only wearing silk-weight poly-pro pants and shirt under our parka and waterproof pants.   If you haven't already done so, plan on bringing waterproof ski pants.  They'll be perfect.  

 

Additionally, we wore a neck gator and poly-pro cap in addition to gloves.  

 

For camping or if you are just doing a zodiac cruise (you don't always have the opportunity to land), we took a slightly heaver poly-pro shirt instead of our silk-weight.  

Edited April 17 by JanR
Added Post-Script

[BigNance]

4 minutes ago, JanR said:

On our cruise, during the Drake Crossing there was time established for everyone to come down to the Atlas Lounge and try on your parka as well as the boots that are lent to you.  Come down in base layer(s) that you plan on wearing and they will make sure your parka is perfectly sized.

 

I can only assume that this is the practice for all of their Antarctica cruises.

 

PS.  The parkas are warm.  We found ourselves only wearing silk-weight poly-pro pants and shirt under our parka and waterproof pants.   If you haven't already done so, plan on bringing waterproof ski pants.  They'll be perfect.  

 

Additionally, we wore a neck gator and poly-pro cap in addition to gloves.  

 

For camping or if you are just doing a zodiac cruise (you don't always have the opportunity to land), we took a slightly heaver poly-pro shirt instead of our silk-weight.  

Thank you! That is super helpful  We do have waterproof ski pants, we got them for an expedition cruise with Silversea that involved lots of zodiac rides and splashing 😉

It sounds like all of our underlayers for that trip will be sufficient for this one.  We will need to get gloves for this one tho...........