pepsi216

Thanks everyone! I agree with you that I highly doubt we'll find ourselves bored; we wouldn't be considering this trip if we didn't want the adventure of a lifetime! If home was where we wanted to be, we definitely wouldn't have ended up at Svalbard for our honeymoon. :) Adventuring is relatively new to DH so I understand his concern, but seeing as he spent every waking moment in Norway hanging over the rail looking for puffins, I think he'll be just fine. But he wanted me to ask just to be sure.

Thanks for reaffirming that booking right away is the way to go. When might you expect the itineraries for 2016/2017 to come out? Of course, we need to figure out where to go and who to sail with first! Our voyage in Norway was through Celebrity, so we don't have a discount with Hurtigruten (though we kept wondering about their ships that we saw in every port, and looking them up when we got home is how we discovered Antarctica!). Quark has an itinerary to cross the circle via the Falklands and South Georgia, but with prices starting at $18K/person (plus flights, hotels, and the camping and kayaking I think would be fun - gotta do it all!) it might be hard to come up with that amount. Maybe I should go ask my boss for a raise! :D http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/en/antarctic/expeditions/crossing-the-circle-falklands-and-south-georgia/itinerary

Speaking of costs, how does booking work for Antarctica? I imagine it's different than a "normal" cruise. Do you still make a deposit and pay the sum X days before sailing, or do you pay the whole thing up front?

And just because... DH was successful in getting his puffin picture:

Thanks!!

Hello everyone! My husband and I are planning to visit Antarctica in early 2017, and are starting to explore what itineraries are out there. I suppose this is a "milestone" trip of sorts - last big trip before we take the plunge and have kids! :D We crossed the Arctic Circle last year for our honeymoon and had a blast, so we were thinking it'd be awesome to cross the Antarctic Circle (or try, anyway). After reading about South Georgia and the Falklands though, we're quite torn now on what we want to do. I'd love to do both (no idea if we'll have the opportunity to come back), but the price may be prohibitive, not to mention taking that much vacation at once. Clearly I need to move to Australia!

Your posts have answered some of our questions, but we had a couple to ask and I'm sure we'll come up with more. First, DH is a little concerned about the length of the trip; not that he'll be bored per se, but having never been on a ship for that length of time, is there such a thing as "too long"? We did 12 days cruising on our honeymoon (broken up by small Norwegian ports every other day or so) and had a blast, but does there ever come a point where you lay down at night and say, "okay, I've had fun, but I wish I was home now"? Somehow I think the trip will pass in a blink of an eye, but it's a valid question to ask.

Second question is related to booking; in your experience when is the best time to book your Antarctic adventure? I imagine this varies a bit from cruiseline to cruiseline, but overall is there a better time? I'd initially read to book as soon as the voyage opens, but this morning I received a promotion from Hurtigruten offering a pretty nice discount on their cabins for Jan/Feb 2015, plus onboard credit and a free excursion to Tierra del Fuego. Sounds like a nice deal to me! Too bad I can't go this season. Is this pretty typical though, that a company will start offering perks later on to fill up cabins, or is this an unusual occurrence and we're better off booking way early? Picking my cabin is nice but not essential; I'd ride in steerage if it means I get to go! Bookings for 2017 won't open for a little bit, but I'd like to start thinking about it now so I can have my game plan in place when the time comes.

Thanks for your help!

Do make sure she brings some kind of sea sickness remedy; we were on the June 27 sailing of the Solstice and had rough seas leaving Seattle. Better to be prepared than to spend part of your vacation not feeling well!

Blankets were regularly handed out on board which was great. If you can't find where they're being handed out, just ask anyone on the pool deck and they'll happily get one for you.

Previous posters are right about viewing the Tracy Arm: the upper decks get crowded very early, and there was a lot of wind up there too (might have just been our sailing though). I recommend the Sky Lounge if she wants to stay inside (you do have to get here very early though because it gets crowded too). However, if you're willing to go outside, my husband accidentally stumbled upon one of the best places to view the Tracy Arm: on Deck 12, go all the way forward, through the gym, and there's an excellent balcony here with almost no one on it! No trying to take a picture through the hoards, just a quiet spot you can enjoy the glacier.

Alaska's a beautiful place, I hope they enjoy their trip!

Hi everyone!

We're headed to Alaska on the Solstice on Friday (woohoo!). We just got an email (along with two text messages, a phone call, and a voice mail, yeesh) from X saying that to reduce congestion at Pier 91, they've assigned boarding times based on what cabin your deck is on. My question is, how strict are they on this? We're sailing with my in-laws and planned to board together, but our boarding times are 2 hours apart. We'd made plans to board around noon, which happens to be our assigned embarkation time, but not theirs. My MIL is in a wheelchair and we'd like to help her get on board, but if we all show up at noon and they deny her boarding, it'll be a pretty stink-o start to her vacation.

Thanks!

I'm very interested in the Allen Marine tour, how did you book it? I took a look under the X shore excursions but didn't see it; is it something you book on board?

We had 6117 on the Constellation; it was a great cabin. Quiet, good location with respect to the elevators. The only drawback for some people is that there's a lifeboat directly below it, so you can't see all the way down to the water (doesn't impede your view looking out though, even while sitting). We didn't mind the lifeboat at all, it was neat to look at! I imagine 6118 is much the same.

Yep, I called celebrity about it a couple weeks ago...

one per voyage. Bummer,

Alas, I knew it was too good to be true. But I'll still take one free scoop of gelato over no free scoops of gelato! :D

According to Celebrity's website, if you're a Captain's Club member you get a free scoop of gelato from the Gelateria. Has anyone tried this? I assume it's one per voyage, but maybe someone knows otherwise? :D

We have the free Classic Package as part of the 123Go promo. I'd like to upgrade to the Premium package so I can visit the molecular bar, drink Pelegrino water, and enjoy some of the specialty coffees, but my husband is just fine with the classic package. Can just one of us upgrade, or are both people in a cabin required to upgrade?

Hi Andy,

Would it be possible to check on cabin 7163? From the diagrams it looks like it has a larger balcony, though our TA says every balcony in the cabin class is the same size. We're just curious since it'd be nice to get a slightly larger balcony for the same price!

Kelly