i have about 9837483 questions about antarctica

[Capt Tom]

ill try to limit it to a couple. :)

 

i started researching antarctica this weekend. i am aware that you can only actually land there if you are on a ship that has less than 100 people. i am seriously looking into this and if anyone has ANY tips or advice, i would greatly appreciate it.

 

but in the meantime, the larger ships that go there (such as holland america), what do they do? just a quick drive-by "hey theres antarctica!" and thats it? whats the appeal in that? im seriously asking because obviously a trip like that is thousands of dollars less than the smaller ones. im probably only going to get there once in my life, i should splurge right?

 

 

It is according to what you mean by landing in Antarctica. If you mean the ship itself mooring alongside the islands that may only be done by a relatively small vessel. However the bigger vessels have Zodiacs (rubber rafts propelled by an outboard motor) that take you right to the landing ansd a staff that helps you out of the Zodiac onto the island (Make sure you have rubber boots) I suggest that you check this out with the agent or cruise line. By the way beware of any promises of making x amount of shore excursions because you havbe to read the fine print about the Master's option of skipping their call because of weather, seas etc.(very common)

[donaldsc]

ill try to limit it to a couple. :)

 

i started researching antarctica this weekend. i am aware that you can only actually land there if you are on a ship that has less than 100 people. i am seriously looking into this and if anyone has ANY tips or advice, i would greatly appreciate it.

 

quote]

 

You have it almost right. They can only put 100 people on land at a time.

 

I did a cruise on the Nordnorge which held about 350 people. They put people on land in shifts. Most days they did 2 landings and we did 9 out of the 10 planned landings which I have been told is amazing. Normally, they let you stay on land for 1 - 2 hours.

 

The only place we did not land was at Cape Horn because of a for 10 storm. IMHO, experiencing the force 10 storm was better than a landing anyday.

 

If I had my druthers, I would go on one of the icebreakers since they do a lot more landings but they are also at least twice as expensive.

 

Also IMHO, going on a large ship that simply cruises by places is a total waste of money. That would be the equivalent of seeing London by cruising non-stop up the Thames. You haven't lived until you are standing still and the penguins come up to you. Or even better, watching 2 penguins doin' it - I have pictures of that activity.

 

DON

[Tarheelbelle]

donaldsc,

I enjoyed reading what you have written. It is really whetting my appetite--January 2008 seems so far off!!

[KANDS]

I am planning an Antarctica trip in 2008/2009. Does anyone know anything about purchasing "Travel Insurance" for this type of trip?

[Bookish Angel]

I bought travel insurance for my January 2007 trip to Antarctica. I bought a policy that covered up to something like $500,000 per incident; if you have to be airlifted out of remote Antarctica you want to be sure your travel policy has enough coverage for that.

[2552phxcrzr]

Quark required that we have travel insurance that covered medical evacuation costs for a minimum of $100,000. We bought our plan fromTravelguard if I recall correctly and did it in increments - first for the amount of our deposit, then for the additional expenses such as airfare, etc. (as we incurred them), and finally for the balance of our cruise fare. In this way, we did not have to pay the full premium up front.

[Mel]

We have just started researching an Antarctic trip for either January or February/09 and so far, I think we have narrowed it down to either Hurtigruten (Nordnorge) or Discovery Cruises. From past experience, could anyone tell me how many landings in Antarctica we could expect with either of these companies? We plan on taking a 19 or 20 day itinerary, but only 4 or 5 will be in the Antarctic. This may seem like a minor issue to many, but to me it's important - - how was the food on these ships? I would like to keep the price including air, etc. below $10,000. p/p but definitely want landings in the Antarctic and comfort, with decent food - any other ship recommendations? Any and all information you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

[Alexat2]

:)

i started researching antarctica this weekend. i am aware that you can only actually land there if you are on a ship that has less than 100 people."

 

Didn't look through the whole thread, and maybe someone else has already pointed this out - but this just isn't true. The rule is they can only land a limited number at one time. Both Discovery and the Marco Polo - both 800 passenger luxury cruise ships - sail to Antarctica and LAND passengers in several location in Antarctica. They do reduce their number of passengers on board so they can guarantee that everyone can go ashore at each stop and obey the landing restrictions.

 

The main reason that the other "cruise ships" only do drive bys is they don't have ice strengthened hulls and can't get that close. The only other "cruise ship" I'm aware of besides the Marco Polo and Discovery that are rated for ice is the Regent (formerly Radisson) Diamond.

 

Lydia

[Enjoyin' Life]

Mel, my husband and I are taking Discovery on Feb 7th for the Antarctica & Chilean Fjords 20 nights trip. Through Discorvery we booked roundtrip air from Spokane, WA and an outside room on the Pacific Deck, midship, for just shy of $15,000. I'd be more than happy to post our experience and opinion upon our return.

Ramona

[Jade13]

We have just started researching an Antarctic trip for either January or February/09 and so far, I think we have narrowed it down to either Hurtigruten (Nordnorge) or Discovery Cruises. From past experience, could anyone tell me how many landings in Antarctica we could expect with either of these companies? We plan on taking a 19 or 20 day itinerary, but only 4 or 5 will be in the Antarctic. This may seem like a minor issue to many, but to me it's important - - how was the food on these ships? I would like to keep the price including air, etc. below $10,000. p/p but definitely want landings in the Antarctic and comfort, with decent food - any other ship recommendations? Any and all information you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

We are also looking at options for Feb 2009. We need the shorter 14 day vacation. Right now Discovery and MS Fram do not have their schedules posted. I looked at the Corinthian II but don't like the fact payment has to be by check or money wired. A&K has 100 cabins on the Explorer II and the prices are really high.

[Tarheelbelle]

I am sailing solo on Discovery January 2008. Wow--65 days from now I leave for the land portion of my trip! [i booked the trip so long ago in April of this year!] I do feel that the price I got for a solo booking was better than I was quoted for other cruiseline that had a similr itinerary. I plan to post a review of both the cruise and the precruise excursion to El Calafate glacier/Ushuaia after I return. I know that does not help any of you now--sorry. But I hope that it will help some people who are looking to book in early 2008 for 2009.

[Yungs]

The name is Vantage travel, they also had a big group on our Far East cruise last fall. I was in email contact with someone on the sister ship Nordnorge one week earlier to us & he said they had best prices in USA. Several Americans had been before but said when they had a flyer from Vantage the price was such that they had to go again! Next year a new ship the Fram replaces Nodkapp in Antarctica & is purpose built for the job but Nordnorge will also go down & presumably be a few $ cheaper. Oh one other thing, they loan boots. they are kept in tempory racks in what is car deck in Norway, you assemble there & put boots on before boarding polarCirkel boat.

 

Hey minke, I have just started researching Antarctica trips and you're right, the price is great with Vantage. Thanks for the tip! Only problem is that they don't have any trips for the 08/09 season, only for Feb 08 which is too soon for us. Does anyone know if they will be getting them? Or if any other companies out there have matching prices? I don't want to wait around and hope that we can get a good price with Vantage, only to miss out completely. Email me nucluck@yahoo.com.au please, I wouldn't mind being referred so I can get the $100 per person credit :D .

[minke]

Yungs, I got your message & thanks for the nice comment on my webshots photos, incidentally I have just added another album from that trip - better late than never. I did not go with Vantage so cannot help, I think they had a party of around 175 all Americans. I am in UK & booked direct with Hurtigruten. I see you are in Brisbane, one couple (out of 6 Aussies) were from that area, they are the 2 leading in the march of the blue jackets photo. Queensland is a big place so I doubt if you you know them! They combined with a pre-cruise trip to Chile flying via NZ.

[Jade13]

The main reason that the other "cruise ships" only do drive bys is they don't have ice strengthened hulls and can't get that close. The only other "cruise ship" I'm aware of besides the Marco Polo and Discovery that are rated for ice is the Regent (formerly Radisson) Diamond.

 

Lydia

 

Is Discovery rated for ice?

 

Where is a link to the Regent Diamond? I have not see that ship under any Antartica specialist/TA. Is it in Antartica? How many passengers?

[Mel]

Ramona and Tarheelbelle,

I look forward to reading your reviews when you return from your Discovery journey! Mel

[Enjoyin' Life]

If Santa was paying attention I should have a new camera for our trip and will be able to include some photos of the ship. :D Do you have a trip booked with Discovery? Discovery said we should have our marching orders the first week of January. I'm interested to see what they have booked for our flight from Spokane.

Ramona

[Tarheelbelle]

Ramona,

I leave on January 11 for the precruise extension and then sail on January 17. My documents were shipped on December 12 and arrived on December 14. I hope that your air connections are as good as mine. I am on Delta with great connections [Charlotte to Atlanta, then Atlanta to BA nonstop]. My precruise hotel is Sheraton in BA; post cruise is the Melia.

[Bruce4fun]

Has anyone ever taken the shore tour excursion which is a $2199 flight from Punta Arenas to Antarctica? It visits Villa Las Estrellas, the Chilean research station.

Really want to land there and see it?

suggestions?

Thanks,

Bruce4fun

[SanJoseCruiser]

Bruce4fun asked:

 

Has anyone ever taken the shore tour excursion which is a $2199 flight from Punta Arenas to Antarctica? It visits Villa Las Estrellas, the Chilean research station.

Really want to land there and see it?

suggestions?

Thanks,

Bruce4fun

 

I was on the Star Princess January 10 trip to South America and Antarctica. They had this flight from Punta Arenas. It was CANCELLED. According to Joe May, the port lecturer (108 times around the horn according to him), they only get the flight to Antarctica off the ground once, maybe twice per season. 80% cancellation rate. Unfortunately, Princess doesn't tell you that ahead of time. (We didn't book this particular tour)

 

The cruise itself WAS AMAZING. Smooth as could be round trip. 2 sparkling sunny days in Antarctica, and the other 2 days were not too bad either. Tons of wildlife around the boat. We just got really lucky with the weather. And the weather makes all the difference.

[Finbar22]

We have just returned from a Weddell Sea 12 day expedition aboard the 48- passenger Aleksey Marishev. There were 2 or 3 landing per day and the experience was exceptional. I would recommend this ship to anyone interested in spending time on the Continent and the surrounding islands.

[2552phxcrzr]

Any chance of a review or pictures when you get settled back into your routine?

[Bruce4fun]

Anyone who reads our flight from Punta Arenas did take off(after fog delays of 2+ hours). We were on March 30 departure of Star Princess. Plane was pretty full.

The excursion to Antarctica was amazing!

Very windy and desolate but beautiful.