Svalbard advice?

[sfvoyage]

1 hour ago, JodiandFrank said:

Dear SFVoyage, 

   Thank you for that information.  It helps.

I would HATE to be assigned to the 6:30AM flight!!!  Did you get any kind of choice?!?!?!

Unfortunately you cannot choose the flight.

[BasandSyb]

Given our experience of travelling over the last 5 months, I’m glad we didn’t arrive the day prior or day of any organised travel arrangements and cruises. We never do.

 

Twice our luggage was delayed by up to 48 hours. The second time it was received only after our vigourous follow-ups and a tour company rep who was exceptional and took no prisoners.

 

Twice we received our luggage which is in hard cases and the contents were wet through. The cases had been left out in driving rain at the airport and water ingress occurred through the 1 cm zip area. The extra hotel time was invaluable in getting everything dried out and repacked. Not every airport places baggage in containers to be unloaded to an aircraft this also includes many large international airports for certain flights. One of these flights was a Seabourn charter. Thankfully none of the clothes and/or packing accessories/shoe bags etc.leached colour - something else to think about when packing. 😵‍💫

 

 

[BOB999]

19 hours ago, trips_ahoy said:

We are on the July 10th trip. I understand that we will be boarding the ship by zodiac. How was that process?

 

In Longyearbyen the ship was at a dock so we debarked (and the next group) boarded normally from a port.  There were other ships that were offloading via zodiac though. Didn't look much fun.

[trips_ahoy]

Thanks for that information. We will hope for a normal boarding at the dock.

[BasandSyb]

Our itinerary and its subsequent updates had us debarking by zodiac from Longyearbyen. Although we considered this potentially an error or fall back position given they had to do some provisioning and refuelling, we were dreading if it actually occurred. Having to wear all the gear and then pack it wet in carry-ons.
 

As BOB999 said some other ships did. It was wet, windy and cold. In port at the time were the Greg Mortimer and a Quark vessel - Ocean something. It looked awfully uncomfortable as the zodiacs were bobbing in the water. Very glad we docked.

[81Zoomie]

On 6/23/2024 at 4:41 AM, BasandSyb said:

Given our experience of travelling over the last 5 months, I’m glad we didn’t arrive the day prior or day of any organised travel arrangements and cruises. We never do.

 

Twice our luggage was delayed by up to 48 hours. The second time it was received only after our vigourous follow-ups and a tour company rep who was exceptional and took no prisoners.

 

Twice we received our luggage which is in hard cases and the contents were wet through. The cases had been left out in driving rain at the airport and water ingress occurred through the 1 cm zip area. The extra hotel time was invaluable in getting everything dried out and repacked. Not every airport places baggage in containers to be unloaded to an aircraft this also includes many large international airports for certain flights. One of these flights was a Seabourn charter. Thankfully none of the clothes and/or packing accessories/shoe bags etc.leached colour - something else to think about when packing. 😵‍💫

 

 

Heading to rainy Oslo next week and then on to Svalbard in a few days.  Hoping Atlas docks at the pier!  I have thought about your wet luggage story.  Bought a can of silicone waterproofing spray and generously coated our luggage including the zippers.  We also packed extra lawn and leaf bags to cover the suitcases for when we have to navigate the trains and walk to our accommodations.  Who knows…. Maybe the sun will shine ☀️🌅🕶️!?!

Edited July 8 by 81Zoomie

[BasandSyb]

We have also always layered our cases with large sheets of plastic - mid-way and on top of each half of the clam shell hard case (the plastic that covers your dry cleaning) - to prevent too much chaos from a wet pack leak. This helped, but long exposure and driving rain had everything wet to damp.

 

Have just been chatting to Bas about this and have clearly tried to move these travel memories to the Indiana Jones warehouse of my mind. He reminded me wet luggage happened three times - 2 Seabourn charters (BA - left sitting on the tarmac for 3hrs+ during a thunderstorm; Longyearbyen left sitting in the rain for us to identify and take inside the terminal for check-in while we were taken on an excursion to the museum pending departure; and Berlin airport after a flight from London City airport that saw our bags go missing for over 48 hours and left in the rain somewhere. Incredulously it was the Monday prior to Good Friday and the ground staff response was it might take two weeks before you hear anything as it’s Easter and the baggage people and courier have gone on holiday. A polite summary of Bas’ response was his surprise there was only one courier in all of Berlin.😇

 

Oh, the fun of travelling!

 

 

[Catlover54]

19 minutes ago, BasandSyb said:

We have also always layered our cases with large sheets of plastic - mid-way and on top of each half of the clam shell hard case (the plastic that covers your dry cleaning) - to prevent too much chaos from a wet pack leak. This helped, but long exposure and driving rain had everything wet to damp.

 

Have just been chatting to Bas about this and have clearly tried to move these travel memories to the Indiana Jones warehouse of my mind. He reminded me wet luggage happened three times - 2 Seabourn charters (BA - left sitting on the tarmac for 3hrs+ during a thunderstorm; Longyearbyen left sitting in the rain for us to identify and take inside the terminal for check-in while we were taken on an excursion to the museum pending departure; and Berlin airport after a flight from London City airport that saw our bags go missing for over 48 hours and left in the rain somewhere. Incredulously it was the Monday prior to Good Friday and the ground staff response was it might take two weeks before you hear anything as it’s Easter and the baggage people and courier have gone on holiday. A polite summary of Bas’ response was his surprise there was only one courier in all of Berlin.😇

 

Oh, the fun of travelling!

 

 

 

🙄

 

"Luxury" travel to places where there are monopolies or near monopolies on services (mostly unnecessary)  is unfortunately not luxury.

It is sad to hear that one of these incidents happened even in Germany (though of course it was Berlin, which has its own unique special service issues).  Germany has undergone a lot of changes  in the last 2-3 decades (and not necessarily for the better). 

 

I certainly hope I never have to disembark out of a Zodiak when I take an expedition cruise, and then have to get out of and pack up wet gear into a carryon (for which we typically have other plans). 

I'd rather plan to spend the night (if possible, i.e., if it is an option ) in the disembarkation port, dry it out, and then fly on the next day.

Or, depending on the gear, just toss it.

 

Perhaps you already covered this (or others have), but what is the procedure for the boots if one rents them  (either on a Svalbard cruise or an Antarctica cruise)?  Does one have to order them to one's home and then haul them in suitcases to the embarkation port (which limits capacity for other luggage), or are they, like the jackets (which are not rented but complimentary) , delivered to the ship?

[BasandSyb]

The expedition ships provide them for use and they are scrubbed after each cruise change over. They are provided “free of charge”.

Haven't done zodiacs on Quest, but assume the same thing for rented boots - they have a stockpile and they remain on the ship. I’m sure someone will correct me if my assumption is wrong.

[Covepointcruiser]

We will embark via Zodiac in Greenland for our September Venture Expedition.   Luxury will only start once we are onboard.   We also disembarked via Zodiac in Greenland on our last expedition on the Venture.   They load your carry ons in the Zodiac with you, fortunately we had dry weather.

[Queen of DaNile]

A general question to those who have done this or a similar itinerary to the Arctic. Were you satisfied with the amount of wildlife you saw? Yes, I read the disclaimer that wildlife sightings are not guaranteed but my concern goes beyond that.

My interest is in wildlife and having done 3 weeks on an expedition ship to South Georgia and Antarctica where there is an abundance of wildlife, I'm starting to rethink if the Arctic is for me. We did three zodiac landings a day and there was always plenty to see. The Seabourn Arctic video is lovely but hiking and gazing at moonscape-like landscapes is not for me. The birding looks great but it did not show much in the way of land or sea mammals. 

While this may be a bucket list trip, and I'd like to do it, I also want to manage my expectations.

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

[TakingFlight]

We are just off the Venture today and we echo your sentiments regarding the Arctic vs. Antarctica. I had to readjust my expectations. Our weather was ok but lots of fog and some rain. Lots of birds around but not much variety. We saw one polar bear in Svalbard, some reindeer and arctic fox and walruses. Greenland had the potential to be much more spectacular but unfortunately the ice prevented us from getting into Scoresby Sound. The upside was that we then saw blue whales and two more polar bear sightings, one with 5 polar bears (mother and 2 cubs and 1male in the area). And I finally saw puffins in Iceland yesterday. All in all I’m calling it a successful trip. 

[reposado]

1 hour ago, TakingFlight said:

 unfortunately the ice prevented us from getting into Scoresby Sound

 

Any guesses if this a long term thing or just not enough summer to melt the ice? We go in two weeks on the venture just wondering...

 

Also I know not all the way but how far in where you able to go in the sound?

 

thank you. 

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, reposado said:

 

Any guesses if this a long term thing or just not enough summer to melt the ice? We go in two weeks on the venture just wondering...

 

Also I know not all the way but how far in where you able to go in the sound?

 

thank you. 

 

There is an area in Scorsby where a lot of icebergs get grounded. It is right near Rode O (Red Island).   Winds, tides, etc. can quickly shift things around.  Even a few days can make a difference. In 2022 we were able to go all the way through. Barely a week before it was blocked. This was in August. 

[where-to-next]

We were rather disappointed with the lack of wildlife on our Svalbard cruise.

The only sighting of polar bears was at such a distance that I might have seen them but more likely was looking at white rocks. Certainly nothing like the images portrayed by Seabourn to promote these cruises.

 

Yes we did see Walrus,  Reindeer and a very obliging Arctic Fox that ran up and down the beach so everyone could get a photo. But overall, no comparison to Antarctica.  

[Queen of DaNile]

5 hours ago, where-to-next said:

We were rather disappointed with the lack of wildlife on our Svalbard cruise.

The only sighting of polar bears was at such a distance that I might have seen them but more likely was looking at white rocks. Certainly nothing like the images portrayed by Seabourn to promote these cruises.

 

Yes we did see Walrus,  Reindeer and a very obliging Arctic Fox that ran up and down the beach so everyone could get a photo. But overall, no comparison to Antarctica.  

Thank you. You've confirmed my fear...that the abundance of wildlife that looks amazing in the promo literature is far from reality.

[BasandSyb]

We did both Antarctic (Feb) and the Arctic (June) this year. I did wonder if we were doing them in the correct order. I now believe we should have done the Arctic first.

While it was a good experience - we did see a few polar bears from a distance; walrus; one zodiac group saw an Arctic fox; a few orcas; some dolphins - most of it was the same half dozen species of birds nesting on cliffs. It was interesting for the first zodiac ride, but I’m more into puffins and Albatross than what we would call seagulls. 
 

The scenery was lovely, some fog and some rain. Usually the best scenery as they “locked” you into the dark dungeon of the Discovery Centre for an hours briefing at 6pm (we ended up ditching them and staying on deck as the ship started to move). So many missed opportunities for sailaways.

 

The upshot - do the Arctic first. The Arctic was - I hesitate to use “let down” as it wasn’t - just different. No shock and awe like Antarctica with the massive mountains. I think it would have been a good prelude to do the Arctic first.

[reposado]

7 minutes ago, BasandSyb said:

Usually the best scenery as they “locked” you into the dark dungeon of the Discovery Centre for an hours briefing at 6pm (we ended up ditching them and staying on deck as the ship started to move)

I heard the briefing was mandatory? Can we just watch on the TV?

[BasandSyb]

We thought so too.

 

In Antarctica it was not recorded, so it was see it live or not have a clue the next day. So many beautiful sail aways spent with the curtains drawn in a dark room.

 

In the Arctic, we found after the first few days the sessions were recorded, so we would watch them on returning to our room at night.

 

Overall, we found the rhythm of the expedition cruises to be hectic. If you were in the later groupings of the day getting back after 5:30pm or later, there was no time for a shower (I'm generally talking ladies here) before the briefing and then you got caught up in the dinner hour - although we are night owls we generally dine no later than 7:15-7:30pm - even then it means not leaving the dining room until 9ish or after.

 

It might suit the expedition crew jumping off a zodiac and doing a briefing prior to hitting the showers and the mess but if you are a guest, who wants to go to a briefing after a hike and then proceed to the dining room the same way? Many did get caught this way or suffer a late dinner.

 

I do get the briefing timing - it would be an agreement with the kitchen not to interfere with the dinner period. It just didn't work for us on late zodiac afternoons of which we had many. The recorded sessions were a blessing.

 

[Queen of DaNile]

12 hours ago, BasandSyb said:

The upshot - do the Arctic first. The Arctic was - I hesitate to use “let down” as it wasn’t - just different. No shock and awe like Antarctica with the massive mountains. I think it would have been a good prelude to do the Arctic first.

Thanks. Good advice but too late for me. I did South Georgia and Antarctica 12 years ago on a true expedition ship, long before everyone started going there. Three landings a day amongst hundreds of thousands of penguins and all kinds of pinnipeds is hard to top.

Think I'll switch our deposit to another expedition where there's a chance for more variety.

[highplanesdrifters]

12 hours ago, BasandSyb said:

they “locked” you into the dark dungeon of the Discovery Centre for an hours briefing at 6pm 

 

 

Isn't that the truth!  We watched on the TV live/recording or ducked out before the mini talks.

 

FYI, the only mandatory briefings are when boarding and zodiac/kayak.

[where-to-next]

The timing of the briefings was terrible! A 5 minute recap and 5 minute plan outline for next day, followed by a 30 minute talk by one of the expedition crew.

Six pm is my pre dinner drinks time, so after the first briefing I skipped the others, retiring to the Constellation bar, which I had to myself.

 

Agree, the expedition crew tried to be enthusiastic with bird life,  "look there's a xyz bird", me thinks it is still looks like a seagull. Did see lots of Puffins. 

[Kiwi Afloat]

Novices all of you (shakes head while smiling). You do know there’s a bar on the way in and that you’re not limited to one drink? How do you think we got through 71 different cocktail varieties in 20 days 😉

oh and @highplanesdrifters I think the daily briefing is mandatory but can be watched in the Discovery Centre or on the TV in your suite. 

[BasandSyb]

6 hours ago, where-to-next said:

The timing of the briefings was terrible! A 5 minute recap and 5 minute plan outline for next day, followed by a 30 minute talk by one of the expedition crew.

Six pm is my pre dinner drinks time, so after the first briefing I skipped the others, retiring to the Constellation bar, which I had to myself.

 

Agree, the expedition crew tried to be enthusiastic with bird life,  "look there's a xyz bird", me thinks it is still looks like a seagull. Did see lots of Puffins. 

Yes, that’s our pre-dinner drink time too for personal reflection on the day. Thankfully the sessions were recorded in the Arctic so we skipped them - many went through to nearly 7pm 😱. Antarctica we did turn about with friends to attend for the necessary information. Don’t know why they weren’t recorded. That way you can forward through the talks of less interest.

Loved the puffins, not so the “seagulls” and their relatives.

[BasandSyb]

The other odd operational element we found on both expedition cruises was opening the bar on level 4 from early afternoon and the observation bar at 6 pm. 
 

On both cruises the only people hanging around the expedition bar were those waiting to be called to zodiacs, and yet there was a bartender standing around for hours only required pre briefing. It’s merely a thoroughfare/waiting area with no view or outlook - another large dark area.
 

On sea days or cruising afternoons when there were lots of people in the observation lounge (the prime reason you pay the extra $ for these cruises) it remained dry. A few resorted to helping themselves.

 

We queried it on both cruises, but it was standard operating procedure.