bilbobill

I would bring a jacket that is reasonably warm. It was about 50F today but the wind made it feel colder. We had 2 hours on the bus tour getting on and off and that would have been tough without a jacket. Of course some people opted to stay on the bus and it was plenty warm. Perhaps bring a long sleeve shirt and a lighter jacket that folds up in a backpack

Cruise Day! The big day is finally here. Our bus to the airport was 5am for a 7am flight. We came down to breakfast about 4:30am and were surprised to see how many people were there – hungry group! There was a hot and cold buffet which was good and had plenty of choices. Waiters were also pouring coffee and it was pretty quick. Took us only about 20 minutes to eat and we went to the bus. There were 2 flights – one at 7am and one at 8am. The buses for the 7am fight left at 4:45, 5 and 5:15 as far as I am aware – perhaps there was another one but not sure. These were assigned at check-in yesterday. I did hear one person say they were able to change their bus to a later time. I would suggest trying that as the airport is really small and with a charter flight there is no reason to be there early, they are not going to leave until all the buses have arrived and everyone is on. The bus ride to the airport was only 15 minutes – we went to the smaller airport Jorge Newbery. There was a Seabourn rep on the bus and she explained the process and answered any questions. Security was quick and just like the standard process in the US -laptops out, no large liquids or water bottles etc… For security you do need to show your passport and boarding pass so have those ready before you enter. Even though it is a charter flight with only Seabourn passengers, the flight operates like a normal flight – it has a flight number and gate information on the boards in the airport. Check your gate number on the display after security, small airport so easy to find. We left the hotel at 5:00am and were at the gate by 5:40 so plenty of time. There were several restaurants by the gates serving coffee and food so you could skip the whole breakfast at the hotel if you wanted to sleep in a little longer. Coffee at the airport was better. Boarding the plane –everyone boarded in one group. I would say at least half of the crowd had carry-ons so overheads did get used but not full. Nobody was checking carry on sizes or weighing bags. Boarding was by bus which drove out to a plane on the tarmac. We decided to enjoy our coffee and get on the last bus which worked out well for us. Everything else on the flight worked like a normal flight. Most rows only had two people but I would say 20% had the row full. It was an Airbus A320-200 with a 3-3 configuration. Plane seemed in good shape and flight attendants were very friendly. A cold breakfast was served which was typical airline food although the yoghurt was gourmet and exceptionally good. Flight time to Ushuaia was 3:15 - airport was nicer than I expected and bags were coming out of the carousel by the time we got out of the plane. You have to collect your bags yourself and we were then asked to put the carryon bags through a scanner but not the checked bags. It was pretty quick though and after exiting the baggage area Seabourn reps were waiting to take our bags from us and put them on a bus for the ship. One other item to note, we were told the flight back goes directly to EZE so people can catch their international flights back home. By the time we got on the buses at the airport it was 10:50 and we were told the ship would not be ready to board until 12:45 so were going on a scenic bus tour. Not exactly what everyone wanted after getting up so early and a 3+ hour plane flight but it wasn’t bad and they let us out several times to take pictures and walk around. When we arrived at the ship precisely at 12:45 the bus drove straight down the pier and pulled up right next to the ship! Two Seabourn reps came on the bus and went aisle by aisle asking for our passport and cabin number. They had portable printers and printed out a new boarding pass. Forget the boarding times you were assigned a few weeks ago, those were not followed. Once we had that we exited the bus and walked a few steps to board the ship. Not sure why the paper boarding pass on the bus – most of us had already printed our documents or had electronic boarding pass but that is what we did. I will post more about what happened when we got on the ship tomorrow - we are still enjoying our first evening plus the captain said we should secure things in the cabin as we expect a mild Drake shake - nothing major though.

Agree with @markandjie , ask for the bill in pesos. Some restaurants or tours will also ask you and they always use an exchange rate less favorable than a credit card. And hopefully you are earning some miles on top of that! I know some people recommend bringing US $100 bills and exchanging for pesos to pay the bill but that is a lot of cash to carry around so I didn’t do that.

We had late checkout at 4pm at the Park Hyatt so we went on a bike tour in the morning and then checked out of the Hyatt and into the Alvear around 4pm. We saw a Seabourn rep in the lobby and she instructed us to check in at the front desk and then she would escort us to the Seabourn check in area. Check in at the front desk was quick and easy – they just needed a credit card for incidentals. Because we were leaving so early in the morning, they recommended paying our bill tonight before we went to bed if we had any charges – if no charges then they said we did not need to check out. We decided to put any hotel meals or drinks on our credit card so we would not need to check out. The Seabourn check-in was just down the hall right next to a ballroom where breakfast would be served the following morning. Honestly the check in was a little underwhelming – we were excited and the reps looked bored. The check in only took about 5 minutes and was focused on giving us some luggage tags and our boarding pass and spending a lot of time telling us what we couldn’t have in our check-in bags. They informed us that there were 2 flights – one at 7am and one at 8am. We were on the first flight and our bus was leaving at 5am. I have attached a copy of the details they provided but essentially it was leave your check-in bags outside your room by 10pm, breakfast starts at 4am in the ballroom and be at the bus by 5am. Not much else to it so we had dinner and are planning to go to sleep early tonight. So really not too much to the whole pre cruise night check in – just be at the hotel before they close at 7pm to get your details! What not to pack in your check in Hope that is helpful to future cruisers. Will let you know tomorrow how it goes!

Pre Cruise Day! Wow it is hard to believe it has been almost a year since we booked our trip to Antarctica and our first ever Seabourn Cruise. We have really enjoyed our 2 days in Bunos Aires staying at the Park Hyatt but are ready to get going. I am glad we came early to BA as we have really enjoyed the people, food and sights and it also takes some of the stress away worrying about lost luggage or delayed flights. The Park Hyatt was very nice but the Alvear Palace really has all the elegance you can imagine of BA in it’s prime – and our room was a super nice small suite. The Lobby The Bar Our Room

Great question because that is the first thing I realized that I forgot - an Argentinean plug adapter! My wife and I travel with a lot of electronics and although the hotel room has some US and European outlets, the ones by the bed are local. I would recommend bringing one - here is a pic

Arrival in Buenos Aires! So happy to be here after a long day of travel. We arrived in BA around 10:30am in the morning (Thursday). There was quite a long line at immigration and it took us 1 hour and 20 minutes to clear. I think we were a bit unlucky on the timing of flights coming in as the lines were much shorter as we cleared. The process is pretty simple – no forms to fill out, just show your passport, know the flight number you came in on and know what hotel you are staying in. The customs officer was quite friendly and spent a lot of time telling us about the city and teasing us as to why we would want to go to Antarctica when BA has so much to offer – maybe that is why the line took so long 😊 We hired a driver through the hotel and he was waiting for us right outside of customs by McDonalds. There area was pretty clear and many other drivers were waiting for their customers but it wasn’t too congested and I think it is pretty easy to find your ride. The driver was expensive though and I had to keep communicating the delay in immigration. I think next time I will just catch a taxi for about 25% of the cost. The drive in to the Park Hyatt is about 50km and took around 45 minutes. The Alvear Palace is just a few blocks down where we will stay pre cruise after our 2 nights at the Park Hyatt. I will add some comments in a few days after our stays but of course there are lots of reviews on Trip Advisor if you are interested. Two comments for now – the Park Hyatt was extremely busy and we couldn’t get our room until 3pm so be prepared. They do offer spa access and you can have lunch while you wait or just walk around the neighborhood but of course we were really tired after the journey so wanted to get in the room asap. Second tip if you are staying at the Hyatt, use your points! Hotel was charging cash rates of over $1000 per night during our stay but we were able to use 25k points per night which was a big savings. We transferred points from Chase to Hyatt and then selected reward nights. The weather is great this time of year – highs in the mid 80’s and a low of around 70. It does require different packing from the cold of Antarctica so don’t forget to pack some warm weather “gear”. We tried to pack all the things we would need for BA in our carry on so we could leave the larger bag for the cruise and not have to open it – this seemed to work pretty well. There are plenty of restaurants around both hotels and the concierge gave us some great recommendations – we went a little early and had no problem getting in without reservations. Food has been really good here and reasonable priced – wine $4 per glass and food in line or less than US pricing. More to come when we check in to the pre-cruise hotel and will let you know how that goes. Thanks also to those who have been adding to these posts and giving their experience and advice – super helpful!

The whole currency thing is a moving target and things could change any day but here is my experience today. There appear to be 3 main rates - the official rate, the foreign credit card rate ie tourist rate and the US$ cash rate. These 3 rates are much closer together than just a few weeks ago. I used my Chase Visa twice today and got a rate of approximately 1000 to 1. The concierge told me I could get a slightly better cash exchange rate with US$ 100 bills. I brought some so I may try this but not sure it is worth the effort- prices are good here with the new rates and I really only need pesos for tips.

We are having some internet issues at the Park Hyatt here in BA so will post more info soon. In terms of safety we feel pretty good here so far however we have had many more people coming up to us asking for money than last time I was in BA. So I agree it is good advice to keep valuables back in the hotel when possible

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 4th. 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 7th. 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!

Thanks @markandjie, I really appreciated your report from the Venture - it was extremely helpful in getting ready for the trip!

Happy New Year! After getting so many great travel tips from this site, I hope to share some useful information on this bucket list trip to Antarctica. Since Seabourn’s expedition ships are relatively new with limited reviews posted I found it a little difficult to get all the information I wanted when I planned this trip back in Jan of 2023 so feel free to ask any questions along the way and I will try to address them as we travel. While we wait to start our travel journey, first some background: Why Antarctica? – Speaking with friends and fellow travelers it is always mentioned as one of their favorite trips. After reading an article about Seabourn and Viking both launching two new luxury expedition ships we decided to make the trip and began our research. Why Seabourn? – There are a lot of quality ships cruising in this area so I won’t try to debate whether we made the best choice but it came down to Seabourn and Viking having the newest ships built for luxury expeditions and some really competitive pricing back in January. Choosing between the two was difficult as the Viking ship looked really good but the tiebreaker came down to Seabourn being about 2k per person cheaper at that time and we wanted a real balcony. Viking has the virtual balcony in their standard cabins where the window comes down – I tried that on a Celebrity cruise earlier this year and didn’t like it. Having said that, I have seen some really tremendous reviews about the Viking expedition ships so maybe next time. Booking – We chose to use an online travel agent for our booking as they give us generous cabin credits. A little more hassle as things like upgrades and changes have to go through the TA but the $1500 cabin credit was worth it for us. I also noticed a week after I booked that Seabourn had added a $600 cabin credit to their promotion so TA was able to call and get that as well – not sure what I am going to do with a $2100 cabin credit in Antarctica as my wife won’t do the submarine but perhaps some good wine ahead! About 6 weeks before the cruise we received an offer to upgrade from a V2 Veranda to a Penthouse suite for $1099 per person so we took that – seemed like a great deal given the original price difference between those two options – we will see. Travel – We are flying from Austin to Miami and then to Buenos Aires on AA – economy 😞 I may have waited too late to get any good business class tickets as the fares were really high and flights all look very full. I just couldn’t stomach the extra 10k to book business for the two of us but in hindsight I should have focused on this a little more in the planning stage as I’m sure I will be regretting it about halfway through the flight. We are arriving in BA two days early so as to enjoy the city and prevent any panic in case of flight delays and to enjoy the city. More to come as we begin our trip!

I have both TA credit and Seabourn credit for a cruise starting Jan 7. The credit from my TA showed up in the Source App for me about a week ago. A little strange but it shows up in the Plan section under My itinerary. First day of the cruise there are 6 separate entries for Gift - $250 shipboard credit. May depend on how the TA handles it but that is how mine is reflected. I also have a $600 Seabourn credit coming but I can't find that yet anywhere. Perhaps will show up once I am onboard.

@shark b8 Wow sorry to hear that. I was really enjoying your posts so thanks for the great info. Fingers crossed that I see this post alive again with your rapid recovery! You have inspired me though, I will be on the Seabourn Pursuit next week for a 12 night Antarctica cruise and am planning on starting a "Live" post as well....

Wow so much great information here from all of you - thanks for posting. Can anyone comment on whether you recommend bringing trekking poles. My wife and I are 60 and in good physical shape but wondering if it is slippery or if these may be helpful vs the effort of packing and bringing them in our luggage.