Scott1sh

thanks so much!

Hi folks, does anybody know who currently has command of QV and how long he / she is on board for?

Many thanks as ever,

Scott1sh

I will let you know about sea days after our Oct 2018 Antarctica cruise out of Montevideo. We will have 3 or 4 just getting to S. Georgia Island. It was important to have this on our itinerary and worth the extra sea days to enjoy this area vs the usual.

 

 

 

We did this trip last year (out of Montevideo as well - easy for us as we live here!). I didn’t get bored on sea days as there is plenty to do: not least the compulsory safety and environmental briefings that you must attend before you can set foot on Antarctic land. We truly loved this trip of a lifetime, so much so that we are considering doing it again in 2019.

If you have any questions about either Ponant or Montevideo, just let me know.

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We have cruised with Ponant in Antarctica and with Seabourn in the Med. I loved both but do think that Seabourn probably has the edge for a standard Med cruise. The cabins are certainly more spacious and you have a larger choice of venues within the ship. For balance, however, I would choose Ponant over Seabourn for an expedition cruise any day!

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We have booked this trip, but in the opposite direction, for March 2019. This was based on a two week trip to Antarctica with Ponant last year, which we loved. We’ve sailed Silversea, Seabourn, Crystal, etc before, but Ponant felt like the right fit for us. In terms of language, I’d say 50% of the passengers were French, but Ponant did a good job of ensuring there were no language barriers for English-speaking guests.

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The Cloud left Ushuaia around 5pm on Saturday 2 December. We were returning from Antarctica onboard Ponant's Le Lyrial and sailed past one another.

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The Cloud left Ushuaia on Saturday evening around 5pm local time: here's a picture taken from Ponant's Le Lyrial - we were returning from an unforgettable trip of a lifetime in Antarctica.

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I think a taxi will be the only way to get to Casapueblo from PdE.

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Great to see the Ponant team here on CC. Thanks for the comprehensive reply!

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We are travelling to the Antarctic later this year on Le Lyrial. Do you by any chance remember how much the internet package cost?

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We are on the Lyrial - leaving from Montevideo.

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Hi gnld, I asked the agent and he said that the passenger mix tends to be 50:50, and lectures are available in both French and English. Reading some online reviews I also found out that zodiac excursions are also split by language, so hopefully it won't be a problem.

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I had exactly the same quandary but ended up opting for Ponant, mainly down to price. Have booked for November 2017 so interested to hear opinions from others. I can't find much here on CC forums, but there is quite a bit of info on TripAdvisor....

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Hi Chris:)

 

in Business Class too....omg...the pictures of the seats? I can sleep overnight:)

If you're like me you won't get any sleep the night before joining the ship as you'll be too excited about the cruise.

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[emoji12]

Mainly hard to disembark because I knew the ship was leaving for two sea days which are my favourite.

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Update: had a wonderful day on the Spirit in Montevideo yesterday.

We arrived just before midday and was told we could stay onboard until 9pm.

We enjoyed lunch in the restaurant (good, not excellent), drinks and a snooze by the pool, a cup of afternoon tea in La Terrazza followed by a farewell drink in the bar before leaving around 7pm.

We also spent some time with cruise consultant as I wanted to find out more about Silver Cloud's conversion and ice rating. Antarctica is on my bucket list and if I had put down a deposit yesterday, I would have received the 5% onboard discount. Sadly we are not quite ready to put our money where our mouth is, and weren't able to leave a floating deposit.

All in all it was a great day, and of course the hardest part was disembarking!

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Update: I received an email from Silversea in London confirming my visit to the Silver Wind in Montevideo on 21 February, confirming cost for lunch is $60pp.

I wrote back querying the ship as I thought it was Silver Spirit due to dock on that day, and indeed it is.

A new invitation was issued accordingly and I am looking forward to my visit.

I know I'm a stickler, but it was disappointing that both invitations and emails had quite obvious spelling mistakes and/or typos, especially given that I am communicating with the London office. [emoji849][emoji849][emoji849]

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Update: I got a very quick reply from Guest Relations UK asking me to complete an excel spreadsheet which they attached to their email. I suspect that the spreadsheet is for internal use only but, hey ho, I will fill it out as requested.

As for costs, they have advised that it will be £60pp for lunch and £100pp for dinner. I must admit I'm a little surprised to see they are quoting costs in GBP and not in USD as per everything else on board. However, given the post-Brexit cable rate, I don't stand to lose too much whether I am charged £60 or $60!

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Thanks les37b!

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Thanks 57 varieties, I will give that a try. Were you able to enjoy the whole ship for the time you were onboard or were simply escorted to the restaurant and back off the ship again?

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I am a Venetian Society and am hoping to visit the Silver Spirit when she docks in Montevideo in February, ideally for lunch.

I got in touch with Silversea via their website last week but am yet to receive a response of any kind.

For those of you have previously enjoyed this Venetian Society perk, can you let me know how you went about it? Were you able to stay for lunch? Did SS charge you for the privilege?

Many thanks as ever in anticipation of your help,

Scott1sh (now living in Uruguay!)

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Just wondering if any of the lucky people on board could tell me who is the captain for WC2017 on Queen Victoria.

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We stayed in 802 on the Odyssey a couple of years ago, and it suited us just fine. The layout may have been a little different to other cabins, but nothing too drastic. As you enter the suite the bathroom is immediately on your right. The closet is slightly further on, on the left. All perfectly appointed. We were not directly under the bridge overhang, and I didn't have an impression that it blocked daylight or caused any other issues: of course you were very visible to the crew of you were on your balcony during sail away but I'm sure thy had more pressing issues to deal with than worry about who is or isn't on their balcony!

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Looks lovely, thanks for the quick reply!

How much does a day pass cost?