B1NKY

On 1/22/2024 at 9:23 PM, WNcruiser said:

1200 on Marina vs. 264 on the Seabourn expedition ships. It’s a big difference sailing by and using zodiacs to actually step on the continent. Seabourn ships literally sail straight into ice and “dock”, letting passengers walk right off the ship onto land. 
 

All cruises leave from Ushuaia so you take their included charter from Buenos Aires. The price was actually less than a PH on Marina. 
 

I am currently on SB Pursuit - 21 day Antarctica (6), South Georgia (3) and Falkland Isl (3).  Our first SB experience and this is expedition not regular SB.  We do love O.  We have been to Antarctica before on a very scenic cruise through.

So far we finished Antarctica and are on our way to SG...we did not get this ice dock experience mentioned above.   Our "6" in Antarctica was technically 5 days of landings/zodiac rides and the 6th was really at sea with a stop at sea near a Shackleton historic monument to see with commentary and binoculars.   We had 1 landing on Antarctica mainland.  The other 4 were islands. We did not go as far south as the Antarctic Circle.  So far, caviar has been missing from all events/dining but we plan to have it sent to our room later today to fix that.  Even with these small disappointments, I would recommend SB for Antarctica. 

Both scenic viewing and landings have their merit.  Antarctica is AMAZING and you should see it one way or another.  We are here again because we wanted "feet down" on Antarctica.  You get more close animal experience with SB.  This alone makes it better for me than scenic cruising only.  All experiences- zodiac cruising or landings/ hikes are 1-1.5 hours each.  If you are not able to "hike", you can at least go to shore for a bit.  They will be return you earlier if you want. 

For other destinations...I  think I  would prefer O. O has better food, no formal night on any of their ships, decent amount of overnight stays. 

Of course cost comparison could flip that.

We will be on the Pursuit.  So my question is:  If I book a submarine excursion, does it replace one of my zodiac excursions?  Similar question, if I book a kayak excursion, does it replace a regular zodiac excursion?  I think that if I have to choose between submarine and zodiac, zodiac wins.:)

55 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

I wasn't sure in advance, so I had one pair of both lined and unlined! I found that with a base layer underneath and waterproof pants on the outside, the unlined ones were perfect; the lined ones with the base layer were actually a little too warm on active excursions! I used the lined ones a few times on zodiac-only outings, knowing I'd be sitting still in the zodiac for about 90 minutes. If you were going to get one, I'd get the unlined. 

 

(I did not do kayaking, as I was more interested in getting ashore and doing photography.)

Sorry to bother you more.....packing is my kryptonite.   We actually have similar pants of both lined and unlined "travel pants".  I think Costco Couture. 😉 If you already own both, would you still pack one lined pair for the Zodiac? 

On 1/18/2024 at 2:43 PM, cruiseej said:

 

I think even the smaller ships generally aim for two landings/zodiac cruises per day. I've read of occasions where there is a third activity added in the early evening (it's still light out) when an opportunity presented itself, but I think that's rare. (All the cruise companies reserve the various landing spots via a central database, so there aren';t two ships at the same spot at the same time, and they basically have morning and afternoon time slots.) I don't think you're missing opportunities to see what's available on a ship in the 200-250 passenger range like Seabourn and Silversea sail there. 

 

 

Just bear in mind that timing for flights in/out of Ushuaia can vary from one cruise to another depending on weather conditions or flights running behind, so although this is a possibility, just understand that you may or may not have time to wander off on your own in Ushuaia.

 

 

Long underwear/base layer is definitely not enough, because the waterproof pants are light and their job is to keep you dry, not warm. I'd suggest a pair of hiking/trail pants. I had two pairs of these Eddie Bauer First Ascent pants and found them perfect — warm enough but not too warm, easy to maneuver in, fast drying if you sweat on a hike.

And they were ideal for wearing around the ship during the day as well. 

 

 

When I look these up, they have are both lined and unlined pants.  Which ones did you use?  Did you do any kayaking?  Were these pants warm enough for that activity?  (obviously also using the thermal layer below and the water proof pants on top)  Thanks

Does anyone know how many hours before flight you can check into Delta at EZE to fly to the USA?  We would have lounge access.  We are a bit afraid of the traffic, lines, and have many hours to kill between our hotel checkout and our flight. For instance, if we arrive 5 hours before our flight, would we be able to check through security to get to the lounge?  Thanks

23 hours ago, markandjie said:

 

The closet door does not like to stay open and it's a bit of a pain. Having a door stop is a nice convenience specifically for that door.

Thank you.  We will definitely pack one.

On 1/3/2024 at 10:53 AM, bilbobill said:

TRAVEL DAY

We are ready to begin our journey! It’s been a little hectic trying to narrow down and navigate all the advice on what to bring for our trip but I think we are ready.  Will let you know at the end what we missed and what wasn’t really needed but for now its in the suitcases and we are committed.

 

This is my first trip on Seabourn so really excited to see what it brings.  Pre cruise info is a little inconsistent and lacking but the key things to know are communicated. I did call twice and the rep was super friendly and knowledgeable so I feel like I got most of what I needed.  I like details in advance so I will try to cover the process as it occurs in this thread so others like me will have more info for their future cruises.  What happens at the pre-night hotel, what is included there, what time do we leave in the morning are all a bit of a mystery right now but I’m sure it will all be addressed when we arrive,

 

In terms of packing I have seen a lot of discussion on other posts about the baggage restrictions for the charter flight so will address this too once I go through the process.  I did receive the attached guidance from Seabourn so we will follow this as I am a “rule follower” but I did see others comment that it wasn’t strictly enforced. 

 

 

 

We decided on one full size bag plus one carry on size each for a total of 4 bags and then normal size backpacks as our carry on.  I won’t go through everything we packed inside but based on advice we received on this site, we did include Scopolamine patches for seasickness, binoculars, trekking poles, door stops 😊, computer and lots of layers! I feel like I overpacked but we will see....

 

The general itinerary is leaving Austin January 3 to arrive in Buenos Aires the morning of Jan 4^th.  Two nights in the Park Hyatt which apparently is sometimes a Seabourn pre cruise hotel so I will try and cover our stay there.  Then to the  Alvear Palace Hotel on Jan 6 for our pre-cruise night before our charter flight to Ushuaia on Jan 7^th.  Cruise is from Jan 7-19 at which point we return to BA and then fly home that evening.  Again no communication from Seabourn on the flight details or timing from Ushuaia to BA but the Seabourn phone rep said we would be at EZE no later than 5:30pm for our return flights.

 

So that is it for now, will spare you details of the Austin airport and domestic flight to Miami as I’m sure you know how that works.  Will catch up again in Buenos Aires!

Can you tell me why you packed door stops?  That's a new one for me. 

This was such an informative board.  Thank you!

I do have a question about on-board credit. This is our first Seabourn cruise.  We have booked pretty much all excursions and paid for them.  Do you  know if there will be opportunity to apply our on-board credit to excursions we already  booked?