Frenchberet

We sailed to Antarctica on Viking Octantis in Feb 2023. Polaris was docked in Ushuaia when we arrived. We only saw one small research vessel the entire 7 days in Antarctica. No other ships. Not a traffic jam by any means!

Thank you!

Could you post the name of the tour operator you’ve used in Italy? We’re cruising in February and I’m starting to research. Thanks!

On our Viking expedition cruise to Antarctica they held a "blue nose" ceremony to celebrate crossing the Antarctic Circle. There are a series of plunge pools on Octantis that are varying degrees of cold (caldarium, tepidarium, and frigidarium). Passengers wishing to participate jumped into each of the pools in succession and were rewarded with a dab of blue frosting on their nose and a shot of Aquivat. The ship's doctor was standing by with a defibrillator... I've seen videos of other cruise lines where people actually jump off the ship but Viking didn't do that. Viking provides pants, boots, a jacket and liner. You get to keep the jacket and liner (very nice!). The pants really are waterproof.

Before you sail, be sure to complete the dietary preference sheet mentioned above on My Viking. When you board, stop by Guest Services and double check that they have your form on file. I have a food allergy and a form is delivered to my cabin every day so I can select my dinner. When you check in at the Main Dining Room they have your form at the desk. I don’t understand how you talked to the executive chef at the WC and/or Restaurant and he/she failed to mention this. It’s common practice on all (7) Viking ocean ships we sailed. I’ve found that Viking takes this issue very seriously and go out of their way to accommodate their guests.

In my experience with a later flight, Viking offered an included excursion before we were transported to the airport. We flew home from Buenos Aires in February. Our flight was at 10 pm. On departure day, we had breakfast and a few hours on our own. After lunch Viking took us on an excursion for several hours. We returned to the hotel to collect our luggage then Viking took us to the airport. Worked out very well.

We sailed on Octantis too. Beautiful ship! Our February 2023 cruise was after yours (your post says December 2022-January 2023) so I think the captain was probably correct. Our weather was good (sunny, 30 degrees F). I wore gloves and a stocking cap on the zodiacs but didn’t need any special warm weather clothing. Great trip!

I think you should have either brought the matter to the attention of the loud talkers, or to management when it occurred. No point in re-hashing it now.

We did Viking’s Antarctic Expedition cruise on Octantis in February 2023 and sailed below the Antarctic Circle (we have the certificates to prove it!). Luckily, we also had good weather and made 4 landings in Antarctica. A wonderful “hard to top” cruise.

I think Viking always tries to do the right thing. On March 16, 2020, we were approaching Australia on Viking Orion when the country closed its borders. Australia allowed the ship to land in Melbourne but all passengers had to disembark and go directly to the airport. We did not have Viking Air but the captain announced that he would ensure everyone got back home. Viking guaranteed us seats in the main cabin even though we hadn't booked with them. We had reservations in Delta Comfort+ so I spent a few hours on the phone trying to change our flights (from Sydney to Melbourne, flying home a week early). I was eventually able to make the reservations but it was very nice to have a Viking "safety net". Viking gave us a generous credit for the portion of the cruise we missed.

We just returned from our Iceland & Norway’s Arctic Explorer on Saturn. The Dancing Under the Stars party was one of the great unexpected surprises on this cruise! The crew/entertainers started the party then the guests joined it. We enjoyed the great music from the Viking band, so fun! We haven’t been on the Sea in a few years but the entertainment on Viking overall is very nice. We very much enjoy the violin, cello, piano, and guitar performances in the Atrium and Explorer’s Lounge.

Sounds like you are enjoying your cruise! Thank you for sharing this info. We did the Bridge tour on our last cruise based on a discussion here on Cruise Critic. We’ll definitely check out the Galley and/or Laundry tours next time!

We stayed at the Hilton Buenos Aires pre-cruise in February.

We love Viking and have done four ocean cruises - Into the Midnight Sun, In Search of the Northern Lights, New Zealand & Australia, and Iceland & Norway Arctic Explorer. Norway is beautiful and we’ve enjoyed experiencing it in both the summer and winter months. Our most memorable trip so far was a Viking expedition cruise to Antarctica. It was a wonderful, life-changing adventure from start to finish.

“Price Above Expectation” - food truck in Reykjavik

Pizza Restaurant in Reykjavik

Hi westcoast, looks like you’ve made your decision but I just wanted to let you know that we did the tour you mentioned with Nice Travel yesterday. We had a great time and would be happy to do another excursion with them. We visited Pingvellir National Park, Geyser Center, Gulfoss Waterfall, Kerid Crater, and the Blue Lagoon. It was a long but very interesting and enjoyable day. Our guide was a geologist so that was an added plus. We travelled in a shuttle bus that held 19 people. We don’t think we would have been able to see all these things in one day on our own. Highly recommend Nice Travel.

Yes, Viking provides walking sticks on shore excursions.

It is 2 days to sail from Ushuaia to Antarctica. The wording is weird. Embarkation day is a sailing day. On the return, scenic sailing is a second sea day.

We booked Into the Northwest Passage which sails to Greenland and Canada. It’s on Viking Octantis so we’re hoping an expedition ship has a better chance of completing this icy itinerary!

This sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is. When excursions open you are able to express an interest in zodiac landings, special ops boats, kayaking, and subs. You don’t actually book anything prior to embarkation. Once on board you receive a schedule of your activities. In addition, there are waiting lists for everything. We booked a DN3 Nordic Balcony stateroom and we were able to do all the activities we wanted to do.

I don’t have the statistics but I think you’d need to a lot of research across many cruise lines to answer your question. We did the Antarctic Explorer cruise with Viking (Octantis) in February 2023. We had a wonderful time on the trip and would rate it as excellent. We had great weather (clear, sunny skies and 30 degrees Fahrenheit), which enabled us to do four landings in Antarctica. We saw penguins, seals, whales, and many types of birds. It was an amazing experience. In our opinion, the issue with an expedition to Antarctica is that there are no medical facilities available for serious illnesses or accidents. Your trip is dependent on everyone else staying healthy. We were required to complete a medical statement signed by a doctor. There were others on board that (in our opinion) did not appear to be “fit to travel”. Fortunately, there weren’t any problems but it was a definite concern. Also, since this destination is rather weather dependent, (in our opinion) your odds of being able to complete the trip are about the same for any cruise line you’d select.

Just use the app. We made all the additional reservations we wanted on embarkation day.

Clay & Mike, great report! Thanks for taking us all along on your trip! Great info & lovely photos.

We were in a DV stateroom on a 14 night cruise. We booked 1 Manfredi’s and 1 Chef’s Table in advance. Once onboard we booked 1 additional Manfredi’s and 2 more Chef’s Table, no problem. We could have made more reservations but we wanted to keep the specialty restaurants special!