Raeofsunshinenz

Yes I was waiting to see if we either do that, eat at different times, or send her off to eat on her own if she wants to go to the burger place! I dunno... i guess we figure it out when we are there. I'm sure it will work out. Can you get a shake any time, or only if you choose that place to eat at and then have one with your meal? (and yes hopefully no injuries or sickness...)

thank you. that information is all so helpful. And yes I knew it was 500, and chose Hurtigruten as happy with 1 landing a day and being on a ballot for paid activities. I weighed up costs, package deals, and so on with this information and decided as weather means there are no guarantees with any company, then this was a good middle ground. I have no desire to eat at the burger place - i'm looking forward to some nice meals. But our 15 year old is likely to be keen, so just checking how it works! I'm yet to find determine exactly what sea sick pills i can get here, but the one I often see mentioned on Antartica travel pages is not available here, so good to know what's on the ship. we'll bring something ourselves too, but good to have options. I'm pretty excited about it all, and am definitely a go-with-the-flow type of person, but this trip is definitely a bit outside my normal travel comfort zone. It's kind of more my dream than my husband and daughter, so kinda want to be able to reassure them of what i'm getting them into!

thanks for the detailed review. I really enjoyed reading it, as our trip is scheduled for almost exactly a year after yours - same ship. We leave NZ on the 31st of Dec this year (and I think the boat sets off on the 2nd of Jan). Nothing you have said surprises me, so I feel my thorough research has set me on the right track. I even had a feeling that transfer was going to be pretty early... but good to know an estimated possible time! We are staying at the Hilton Buenos Aires, which is the hotel Hurtigruten organised, but I see our info does mention a group bus transfer, so I guess they use more than 1 hotel. I have a few questions building up and so might bombard you with a few - i hope that's ok! Sorry if I missed this info, but how many were on your cruise - the full 500, or a few less? And I know you say they didn't do the polar plunge, but do you know if it's a jump into the water with Hurtigruten, or a run from shore? The info I keep finding, seems to show a shore run. I think if i do it, it would have to be a jump that I can't turn back from! The burger place you mentioned - are they the one that do milk shakes also? This doesn't cost extra right? Were the hot tubs in use much, or do they close these down in rough weather. And I've heard the ship can provide good sea sickness meds - do these cost? thanks in advance!

thank you so much for that informative and helpful reply. My ultimate dream would be to be on the Jan 10th (2024) sailing for the 10 night trip. There's lots to work through before then, including having my husband more on board with the idea, but those in depth answers really help clarify some things. Really appreciated.

thanks yes and that is what i gather would happen on a 200 person (or less) ship. And I've already trawled through the options and picked out what ships I'd sail on if that were an option... but dreams are free. And 3 people travelling to Antartica on one budget is sadly not free! So looking at whether i'd be happy on a bigger ship.

After researching Antartica expedition cruises thoroughly over the last year or so, I am starting to swing back towards doing a highlights trip on the Fridtjof Nansen. As much as I'd love to do a 200 person ship, because I'd be travelling with my husband who would happily be more ship based and not be too fussed with amount of time on land, plus our daughter (who'll be about 15 by the time we go) which means we'll be budgeting for 3 people which can bump up costs... I think this ship would be a great compromise on what will suit everyone. And with package deals inc flights from New Zealand, internal flights, hotels all sorted... it would give me a bit of piece of mind of everything being covered and fitting together. So a couple of things I wish to clarify to see if my research and trawling of message boards is correct: Weather permitting, would we expect to have say 2 landing stops a day so with 1 group on land each time, 1 group cruising on boats... then we might get to go on either land or the boats most days once? Or realistically (even if weather is amazing), should we expect to only to touch land once or twice over the 5 (ish) days we are not sailing the Drake? I know on the smaller ships we'd be either cruising or on land twice a day if the weather permits, so just wondering how it compares. I gather they don't do a polar plunge as such? Or is there a run-from-land 'plunge' usually organised? I gather camping is a ballot, so very small chance of getting lucky? 30?? out of 500??? I gather food is covered, plus drinks during meals. Are there snacks, and if we needed to eat, could we get something any time - or we'd need to take a decent amount of snacks just in case? (and yes this is medically related - not just that we are hungry people!) And in case anyone knows covid current rules - my worst fear is getting half way across the world and failing a covid test just as boarding... so as much as I'd love to go Jan 2024 (i think i saw something about discounts for 15yrs and under so this would be our last chance), does anyone have a crystal ball on this??? but no seriously - what are current rules around testing, masks etc (realistically in practice, rather than just what i read on their site) Any other thoughts appreciated too. thanks in advance.