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Antarctica on the Explorer Dec 18th, 2015


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My review here and I'm happy to answer questions...

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1751022

 

But turtles' blog is the definitive word IMO. I just can't find the link.

 

You are too kind! I see you've since posted the link; thank you. (We've just returned from a TA and I am still catching up!)

 

OP: you are in for an amazing trip; I'm happy to answer any questions as well.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...

Hi all, I'm booked on this expedition too. I'm wondering if there are any others travelling from outside the US and what their flight and transfer arrangements are - the information provided by Lindblad is US-centric and not too helpful.

 

I'm making my own arrangements as I'll only be getting in at 2045H instead of in the morning (so my Day One is going to be a "Night One" and I'll not be able to join the scheduled day tour of Buenos Aires). I'm also starting to do research into transportation options for night time transfer from the airport to the hotel.

 

Anyone stayed at the Sofitel before? I found out that we'll not be staying at the Brick Hotel for this expedition.

 

Appreciate any input, thanks in advance!

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eetraveller--

I'm sure you have your reasons for getting in late but if you can change your plans to get in earlier I would really recommend it. The charter down to Ushuaia leaves relatively early in the morning and if you missed it, I'm not sure what you'd do.

 

Our arrival wound up not matching the group shuttle. We used a remise, specifically these guys:

http://www.tiendaleon.com/home/

They were great.

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Thanks Shawnino and Hi Random00/Joan

 

I'll be coming by Singapore-London-Madrid-Buenos Aires. Unfortunately all arrivals on British Airways/Iberia into Buenos Aires are 2045H so I'll have to make do. I'm hoping coming in at night would mean less traffic(?) and I'll just check in for a good shower and nap before joining the rest for the morning charter. If there isn't anyone to brief me when I get in, then I'd hope to at least have an information pack in my room so I'd know when we're all leaving the hotel...!

 

I'll check the remise option; I've read that's the cost-effective way to get in.

 

Cheers!

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Go with Lindblad! We've been there twice - once as an excursion during an Oceania cruise around SA - the second following a cruise on Explorer down the East coast of SA. We did not go there in conjunction with our Antarctic trips.

 

With Lindblad It was a 2 night extension at the hotel with a falls view - a great guide with a number of walks and the boat ride under the falls - also crossed the line into Brazil for a nature walk. Definitely worth the money and time.

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Thanks Shawnino and Hi Random00/Joan

 

I'll be coming by Singapore-London-Madrid-Buenos Aires. Unfortunately all arrivals on British Airways/Iberia into Buenos Aires are 2045H so I'll have to make do. I'm hoping coming in at night would mean less traffic(?) and I'll just check in for a good shower and nap before joining the rest for the morning charter. If there isn't anyone to brief me when I get in, then I'd hope to at least have an information pack in my room so I'd know when we're all leaving the hotel...!

 

I'll check the remise option; I've read that's the cost-effective way to get in.

 

Cheers!

 

I'm a bit of a Nervous Nelly and I'll say that up front. Now that I've said that...

 

Given your routing, I'd want to get in 24 hours earlier. If you hit any significant delay at all, you might be out of luck.

 

Something else to keep in mind is that if it wound up being touch-and-go to make the Charter flight in the morning because your inbound flight is late, it's worth confirming with Lindblad from which aeroport they're heading down to Ushuaia.

 

The Charter seems to depart BA not from the international aeroport but from the smaller, 12-gate municipal aeroport. So you're either looking at an aeroport switch (a good 50 minutes, likely more), or, since the tour spends a few hours in Ushuaia before boarding the ship, if you were super short on time you'd need to bounce down to Ushuaia from the international aeroport on your own.

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Thanks hrprof, I had read that the Sheraton rooms would have a falls view and the Lindblad guide would have additional access that I suppose anyone wandering around on their own or even signed up with other guides would not. Of course, there's a premium attached to all this and glad to hear from you that it was worth the money. I wonder how large a group this would be from my Dec 18 "batch" of travellers!

 

 

Go with Lindblad! We've been there twice - once as an excursion during an Oceania cruise around SA - the second following a cruise on Explorer down the East coast of SA. We did not go there in conjunction with our Antarctic trips.

 

With Lindblad It was a 2 night extension at the hotel with a falls view - a great guide with a number of walks and the boat ride under the falls - also crossed the line into Brazil for a nature walk. Definitely worth the money and time.

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Hi Shawnino, you're right - my assumption is that things would go relatively smoothly flight-wise and that the overnight buffer (2045-0600) would be sufficient to iron out any minor kinks in air/land transportation. I have yet to book my flight so who knows... maybe I'll end up on a route that has fewer connections (but more cramped legs) and getting in a bit earlier, or if the flights on Dec 18 are full, then I'll have to get in Dec 17. :)

 

Thanks for the additional info about the BA aeroports, something to think about if the connections somehow don't work out!

 

 

 

I'm a bit of a Nervous Nelly and I'll say that up front. Now that I've said that...

 

Given your routing, I'd want to get in 24 hours earlier. If you hit any significant delay at all, you might be out of luck.

 

Something else to keep in mind is that if it wound up being touch-and-go to make the Charter flight in the morning because your inbound flight is late, it's worth confirming with Lindblad from which aeroport they're heading down to Ushuaia.

 

The Charter seems to depart BA not from the international aeroport but from the smaller, 12-gate municipal aeroport. So you're either looking at an aeroport switch (a good 50 minutes, likely more), or, since the tour spends a few hours in Ushuaia before boarding the ship, if you were super short on time you'd need to bounce down to Ushuaia from the international aeroport on your own.

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Hi drewdie, can't wait to *get* on my trip! We'll have to compare how many similar sights the Dec and Feb travellers would see this time around but based on the detailed Turtles06 trip diary from a couple years back, it would appear we're going to have a fairly good time!

 

I am booked on the Feb.7,2016 trip. Can't wait to hear about your trip!
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Hi all, I'm booked on this expedition too. I'm wondering if there are any others travelling from outside the US and what their flight and transfer arrangements are - the information provided by Lindblad is US-centric and not too helpful.

 

I'm making my own arrangements as I'll only be getting in at 2045H instead of in the morning (so my Day One is going to be a "Night One" and I'll not be able to join the scheduled day tour of Buenos Aires). I'm also starting to do research into transportation options for night time transfer from the airport to the hotel.

 

 

It sounds from your post and some comments above that you are thinking about flying from halfway around the globe, apparently with several connecting flights or at least layovers, but not planning to arrive in BA until the evening before the charter leaves for Ushuaia? If that's correct, wow, that would be way outside my comfort zone; many possibilities for delay. Since you haven't booked your flights yet, why not plan to arrive 24 hours earlier? (Or a couple of days early, and enjoy BA?)

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Hi drewdie, can't wait to *get* on my trip! We'll have to compare how many similar sights the Dec and Feb travellers would see this time around but based on the detailed Turtles06 trip diary from a couple years back, it would appear we're going to have a fairly good time!

 

You sure are, and it's very nice to know that people are still reading my trip report. :)

 

I was just telling my spouse the other day how much I'd love to go back early in the season (we were there in late Jan.) to see the differences. Off to buy lottery tickets.... :)

 

Have a fantastic time!!

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Hi Turtles06 (and Shawnino)

 

Thanks for your kind concern and words of caution :) I've looked through the bunch of airline websites again since then and may have found an alternative flight - so I'd at least arrive during the day and may even be able to take the same transfer as the one Lindblad has arranged for the US travellers on the recommended flight from Miami. It means I'll have a mini sightseeing tour of London en route to Buenos Aires :cool: Off to plan for *that* tour now... Thanks again!

 

 

 

It sounds from your post and some comments above that you are thinking about flying from halfway around the globe, apparently with several connecting flights or at least layovers, but not planning to arrive in BA until the evening before the charter leaves for Ushuaia? If that's correct, wow, that would be way outside my comfort zone; many possibilities for delay. Since you haven't booked your flights yet, why not plan to arrive 24 hours earlier? (Or a couple of days early, and enjoy BA?)
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  • 2 months later...
You sure are, and it's very nice to know that people are still reading my trip report. :)

 

I was just telling my spouse the other day how much I'd love to go back early in the season (we were there in late Jan.) to see the differences. Off to buy lottery tickets.... :)

 

Have a fantastic time!!

Hi Everyone

My partner and I live in central British Columbia where we have cold snowy winters. No snow yet but this morning was down to zero centigrade (freezing) so we decided to dig our boots and base layers out of our duffle bag and go for a walk to check out the boots and thermal layers. Boots were heavy but comfortable. But we both came back sweaty ... guess it wasn't quite cold enough for the merino wool base layer... lol

 

Starting to do a lot more reading about the upcoming trip and getting very excited.

 

Turtle 06 I wonder if you could give us some insight into the types of hikes offered on your trip. We have read that there is a possibility of hiking to scenic lookouts and heard that one was 1000 ft elevation. How did you find the hikes? Also, we are very interested in kayaking, were there frequent opportunities and what was your experience?

 

Joan

Edited by Random00
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Hi Everyone

My partner and I live in central British Columbia where we have cold snowy winters. No snow yet but this morning was down to zero centigrade (freezing) so we decided to dig our boots and base layers out of our duffle bag and go for a walk to check out the boots and thermal layers. Boots were heavy but comfortable. But we both came back sweaty ... guess it wasn't quite cold enough for the merino wool base layer... lol

 

Starting to do a lot more reading about the upcoming trip and getting very excited.

 

Turtle 06 I wonder if you could give us some insight into the types of hikes offered on your trip. We have read that there is a possibility of hiking to scenic lookouts and heard that one was 1000 ft elevation. How did you find the hikes? Also, we are very interested in kayaking, were there frequent opportunities and what was your experience?

 

Joan

 

Hi Joan,

 

There were definitely opportunities to do some hikes on several of the landings. We did not opt for those, preferring to spend time among the penguins. But I think the views on some of them must have been fabulous. If you go to my post about the Neko Harbor landing, at the link below, and scroll down, you'll see a photo I took of the hikers there; they were pretty far up!

 

https://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/day-seven-part-one-gentoos-minkes-and-more-oh-my/

 

There were at least two kayaking opportunities, if I recall correctly. I took advantage of one of them, and had a rather hilarious experience (hilarious now, a bit scary at the time thanks to my kayaking partner), as I recount in my post at the following link. Having the opportunity to kayak in the Antarctic waters was truly remarkable, and I highly recommend it. (But pay attention to the pre-kayak instructions! :) )

 

https://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/2013/08/17/day-six-part-two-penguins-a-paddle-and-a-plunge/

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Joan

 

My travelmate of 60 years is also Joan!

 

We had our only Antarctic kayaking experience on our second visit shortly after Lindblad devised that unique boarding arrangement by putting 2 zodiacs together. Our kayak was launched some distance from the ship but close to spectacular Antarctic scenery - it was a quiet blue and white dream.

 

One experience on an uphill hike was not so dreamlike - we were really tired as we reached the summit ( I think this may have been on S Georgia) so we decided to slide down. We sat down on a steep decline and pushed off. The unexpected acceleration was unexpected and a bit scary as we came closer to the water's edge. Needless to say, we survived!

 

We envy your Antarctic experience.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hi Joan,

 

There were definitely opportunities to do some hikes on several of the landings. We did not opt for those, preferring to spend time among the penguins. But I think the views on some of them must have been fabulous. If you go to my post about the Neko Harbor landing, at the link below, and scroll down, you'll see a photo I took of the hikers there; they were pretty far up!

 

https://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/day-seven-part-one-gentoos-minkes-and-more-oh-my/

 

There were at least two kayaking opportunities, if I recall correctly. I took advantage of one of them, and had a rather hilarious experience (hilarious now, a bit scary at the time thanks to my kayaking partner), as I recount in my post at the following link. Having the opportunity to kayak in the Antarctic waters was truly remarkable, and I highly recommend it. (But pay attention to the pre-kayak instructions! :) )

 

https://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/2013/08/17/day-six-part-two-penguins-a-paddle-and-a-plunge/

 

Thanks Turtle06

I have read your blog from end to end a couple of times. Very informative. Thanks for your comments; my partner and I have kayaked frequently both on the ocean and on lakes so I don't think we should have the same steering problems you had, however we have never been in a double kayak either, so one of us will have to be "the Skipper" and the other one "Gilligan". We will see how that goes.

 

We really want to experience the kayaking and so I think we will take every opportunity to kayak even though it may mean missing a hike; however we are really torn. Hopefully there will be multiple opportunities for both.

 

Two months today before our trip begins.

Joan

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