teamflames

Thanks for response, I have tried Safari and Chrome on iPad and only Safari on IPhone. I will try and download Firefox.

Hi, I am trying to use the HAL website (in Australia) but on both my iPhone and iPad I can’t get past the page where you select cabin type. Are others having this problem?

Thanks for the responses. While I understand the package is less in our case the cruise fare is more so the overall cost of the cruise when package is added is the same as that in the US but expected to pay gratuity on top. I guess we either sail and not pay them on principle we are paying more or choose another line.

Hi we have never sailed Princess. I know gratuities are included on Australian sailings but what about non Australian sailings. It is clear that if booked in the USA with plus or premium upgrade gratuities are included but it isn’t clear if this also applies if booked thru Princess Australia?

On 3/13/2024 at 8:46 AM, grandma*knows*best said:

We arrived a day early and Seabourn picked us up at EZE. The day before embarkation you will get your boarding passes with seat assignments at the hotel; Seabourn checks you in for the charter flight to Ushuaia. The day of embarkation, passengers are divided into 2 groups and take busses to the airport (AEP), for the charter flight to Ushuaia.  Seabourn then busses you to the ship. On the way back, you fly into EZE and then are on your own.

Thanks, did you stay 2 nights at the hotel provided by Seabourn?

Hi again

for those who have done the Antarctica packages recently, I have been told that a transfer from BA airport to hotel is included - how does this work with people flying from all over the world?

also for those that extended their stay in BA longer than the included one night hotel stay how did it work?

thanks

5 hours ago, Woodrowst said:

We were on the Venture in January.  We had seven days on the south side of the Drake passage.  Below is the number of landings/zodiac rides for each day:

 

Day 1: One zodiac ride.  It should be noted that under ordinary circumstances we might have been off the ship twice that day. But the ship spent time going further south than usual because we had the rare opportunity to see Emperor penguins.  
Day 2: One landing and one zodiac ride.

Day 3: One landing.

Day 4: Two landings.

Day 5: Two zodiac rides.

Day 6: One zodiac ride and the polar plunge.

Day 7:  Two landings.

Don’t judge by the number of landings vs zodiacs.  Some places were better seen by zodiac - especially those that had plentiful icebergs with lots of creatures on them.  Traveling on a zodiac among and between icebergs is an amazing visual and emotional experience.  

Thanks for amazing detail. Sounds like a great trip trying to book the exact same one for next year.

48 minutes ago, markandjie said:

Here you go: 

 

Wow that is so disappointing what happened to you re expeditions. As you say though the other ship didn’t so I guess no point crossing Seabourn off specifically.

also sounds like the service issues we experienced on the encore especially around bars and dining are still a thing

Thanks M

On 4/15/2023 at 3:34 AM, DTtravelers said:

This one has me chuckling.  Coming from a large family of engineer types, and knowing 25 or so, the second criteria would mean that Viking would sailing empty.  🙂  

 

I watched with interest what the Octanis and Polaris did in Antarctica this year, because we had friends who signed up for the Octanis after we showed them our pictures of the place.  After 9 Viking flight changes, they finally got a wonderful 12-1/2 hour layover in NY and coach class.  My friend is 6'5" tall.  Their poor TA was tearing her hair out. 

 

As for the itinerary, apparently, nobody told the folks at Viking about the Lemaire Channel, Deception Island, the Weddell Sea, or Elephant Island, all the places that were the high points of our visit.  But they did sit in four coves all day long.  I am assuming so that they could run the guests through the submersibles, but that is just my guess.  It's a far cry from what we were treated to on Seabourn.  We were so lucky: we wouldn't trade our cruise for anything.

Can I ask how many expeditions a day did you do on your SB Antarctica cruise? We are looking to book for January

2 hours ago, markandjie said:

 

This is the objective. Sometimes you even get multiple landings if things go your way. Or you can get unlucky, like we did in November with sea ice, and have multiple days with only a single activity. It is an expedition cruise, after all, and you just have to roll with it.

 

I posted a thorough thread on our experience in Antarctica, which you can find here. @highplanesdrifters *just* posted a great thread on his Antarctica trip on Silversea, which you can find on the Silversea board.

Thanks for your reply, great to hear Seabourn aim for similar amount of expeditions, we were looking at an Atlas cruise which has fewer passengers but then I have learned Seabourn has more zodiacs. I have read that they split into 6 groups which sounds like a lot and with the limited numbers allowed on shore was concerned there maybe only enough time for one expedition.

I will look up the silversea thread. How do I find yours?

2 hours ago, frantic36 said:

If you use the search function you can find a few recent reviews. But I thought from your recent comment on the other thread Seabourn v Viking you didn't like Seabourn? 

 

I will add, as with most cruises, it can vary depending on weather and the Avian flu issue down there isn't helping.

I didn’t say I didn’t like them - just that on our one particular cruise service was poor. As mentioned love the stateroom, caviar, the events, ship decor, art classes and more. Drinks service was worst ever encountered and service in general was poor.

i don’t believe in the notion that every cruise on a certain line is of a certain standard. Too many variables. Crew and officers change and can make a big difference.

seabourn is well priced and well experienced in Antarctica and so more than happy to consider them. Also this ship is smaller than their others so hoping service will be better. However it is bigger than many other options hence I want to ensure I am comparing  experiences correctly.

will search as you suggest - thanks

1 hour ago, stan01 said:

 

In what ways and when?  Seabourn definitely had some pains starting back up after COVID and lost some long time crew so a new generation is being trained and now most have multiple contracts under their belts.  If you prefer personal butler service you might find Regent or Silversea to be a better match.  In the dining rooms we find a waiter we like and then always sit in their section.  On our last cruise we felt the bartenders were short staffed and couldn't keep up with service between 6-7 PM.  I'm hoping we don't see that on our next cruise.  

We sailed on the Encore end of 2018.

check in was worse than any other cruise. Lunch order in the Colonnade was completely forgotten 2 days in a row. Several mornings had to wait 45 minutes to be asked for a coffee. Drink orders were always wrong, regularly forgotten. It was just bizarre. Last day sat by the pool for an entire day, not once asked for anything. Dirty plates sat there for 6 hours until officers cleaned them. That is just a small sample

We have only done one of each. Both gorgeous ships.

Seabourn cabins better.

both have laundries.

drinks included on Seabourn, Viking need to upgrade to be fully included.

Viking has walking deck, Seabourn doesn’t.

Viking included spa area superior to Seabourn.

Food subjective - both very good, I would say Seabourn though slightly better, room service amazing and caviar on demand

viking doesn’t include tips 

service - we had major problems on both cruises but Seabourn were just terrible - I was shocked how poor it was.

Viking includes basic shore excursions - we didn’t like this as too basic.

Viking felt more casual but fellow passengers less friendly. Seabourn tends to attract a fun mature crowd, Viking passengers felt conservative.

Dont believe the Seabourn is luxury and Viking is Azamara level hype - not true.

There was very little entertainment on Viking and zero nightlife on our cruise. Also Seabourn do some great “events”.

We have only done one of each. We were so disappointed in Seabourn service. Viking didn’t suit us as we don’t want included shore excursions and like a little more fun.

Hi we are looking at a couple of itineraries in Antarctica this coming January. Interested in reviews of those who have been onboard the new ships recently?

Especially interested to know how many expeditions per day you get to do if conditions permit?

it seems most companies aim for 2 (at least one landing and one zodiac trip) is this the same with Seabourn? Cant tell in the literature and the ships do hold more than the smaller expedition companies

thanks

1 hour ago, PerfectlyPerth said:

This forum has several regular posters who don't post on TA so there is still also good advice here. It's predominantly more folks who have done the big drive by scenic cruises on cruise ships, rather than the expedition ships. 
 

Do they say how much the added charge for heli's is ? I'm being nosey as I've often wondered. 3 out of 4 of my trips had heli's - included in price of trip. Many flights on each trip including landing on an iceberg on Xmas morning before breakfast, and landing up on top of a plateau on Peter First Is volcano. Also flying way inland to spend the entire day or night on emperor colonies. Big highlights personally. Oh and the Dry Valleys. 
 

I'm good in all seas so I'm not great with advice for seasickness. My friend who is a polar ship chef & studied food medical science experimented with passengers with things like potato chips or pretzels dipped in dark chocolate & left to set. Something about the salty sweet ingredients changing the blood pressure. And it ended up being the only thing folks could keep down. 
 

Either way - pack whatever remedy you already know works for you. And every ship has a Dr on board usually doling out fenergan or similar generic name. And the galley is generally happy to make bland smoothies or plain omelettes etc that people can keep down during the rough days. 

I haven’t had it clarified yet - but it looks like $700-800 which could add up a lot if they are required on multiple days. Also based on your feedback on Ross itineraries I wonder what you would do if you chose not to pay for the helicopter at each site, am moving away from that itinerary as just too costly and too unknown.

55 minutes ago, PerfectlyPerth said:

One thing to count/compare is the number of expedition team members per passenger & number of zodiacs - that will determine how many of the pax are rotating on landings and zodiac cruising. 
3 of my trips were under 90 pax and the Sea Adventurer was 116. So we all got off the ship without much delay and plenty of hours on shore and no rushing with zodiac cruising if we ended up surround by whales. 

For me the "luxury" was being outside on the deck seeing albatross, icebergs, whales, seals, penguins. Or being on landings or zodiac cruising (or helicopters). I had no need for a luxury cabin - I still paid the price of my first house ! But it was for the experience not a posh interior. (Google double cabin photos of the Khlebnikov and you will laugh - we had seatbelts on our very compact single beds 😆😆 and the poor sods in triple cabins had netting to lock them into the top bunks! It was spartan to say the least. But I felt like an adventurer lol). 
 

It's all very much a personal choice. Antarctica still gives its all to us - no matter how we get there. 
 

The other thing I thought of that I don't think any of us have raised with you yet. As you are slightly younger but very much fitter than me - you might be up for considering the Oceanwide Base Camp itineraries. They tend to do less exploration and daily moving from spot to spot, and have more focus on finding a good spot to do a lot more adventure activities including snowshoeing, climbing etc plus usual kayaking & camping. My pal has just booked one for his 60th. 
 

Funny you say that PP, those Basecamp itineraries were the ones I was studying today. Definitely seem to be a bit more focused on adventure - although the reviews are very hit and miss - those with negative views seem to have had poor expeditions staff/teams - sounds like there are some inexperienced hires being used (those trying to have their own cheap experiences).

we are not hung up on being on a luxury ship but it just seems crazy that there is so little price difference and often the luxury ones (like Atlas) are actually cheaper than Intrepid.

Awesome response PP.

ok will focus more on TA forum.

Not sure I am searching for rough seas, I can suffer seasickness but it is rather difficult to predict - sometimes fine in rough seas but bad in minor swells!

The scenic ship has helicopters but at added charge so could add up. 
Great feedback 

Thanks PP,

I do agree with your sentiment but at the moment when I look at pricing I can be on an all inclusive luxury boat with about 200 people on board or for the same price I can travel on Ocean Endeavour which seems to be a basic ship, same passengers, much less included and same itinerary. Do these ships really do excursions so much better?

Will keep searching - all good fun. 

Hi I have received quotes for Quark Ultramarine and Scenic eclipse. Both look high end and itineraries seem similar (at least in time). Scenic seems to include a little more in terms of drinks. Quark is slightly more expensive. Does anyone have any experience in both? Is there an advantage to Quark?

thanks

Hi we are in process of researching a potential Antarctic cruise at the end of the year. We are based in Australia. There are the various options of travelling from South America to the Peninsula and islands but we are also looking at a cruise from NZ that visits “east Antarctica” Mawsons etc

Just curious if anyone has done both and can tell us the pros and cons?

thanks

On 10/6/2022 at 8:36 AM, Lindae456 said:

We did antartica in March, had 9 landings in 5 1/2 days in Antartica, and 6 landings in South Georgia. We were so lucky that the weather was good and we had only 64 passengers. Getting in and out of zodiacs, the guides are very helpful. We did have a few people with mobility issues and only one day they advised them to not go ashore and they took them on a zodiac ride. They might not have hiked far on land but there was lots to see right at the shore. For me I would suggest going to shore it was beyond amazing walking around the penguins and seals.  And if budget and time allows South Georgia was awesome. 

Hi there, which company were you with?

Not sure what happened to my initial post but we have now received a full refund for our cancelled Encore sailing in April. The cruise was cancelled on March 10 and received payment today. No notifications just happened to check out statement


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Just checked and we have received our refund. No notification so you need to check your statement.
Our April cruise on the Encore was cancelled on March 10. Our statement said the payment was issued on May 21 and posted on 23rd but due to weekend only appears today. Good luck to others still waiting.


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3 hours ago, Rambo_Trout said:

 

We never had any notification, the money just appeared on our CC Statements.

Oh, good to know, I will pay more attention. Thanks for the update. What has happened to Seabourn communication throughout this pandemic? Been silent all the way along.