Please help - formal nights on L'Austral to Antarctica?

[lairrah]

I am pretty late in the game here seeing as I leave on Wednesday, but I only booked this trip last week so I'm trying to get everything together. Trying to find out about the two "formal nights" on the L'Austral going to Antarctica. I guess we all have our own definitions, but can anyone who has done this trip on L'Austral or Le Boreal give me any insight about the evening attire on these ships during the Antarctic expedition? Thanks!

[Ritzy]

I was on the December 21st L'Austral sailing to Antarctica. The attire on formal nights really spanned a broad range-from yoga pants to cocktail dresses and a few gowns for women and from hiking pants to suits and a (very few) tuxes for men. I would say the majority of people were at the level of suit/dress pants and jacket for men, cocktail dress/blouse and skirt or dress pants for women.

 

Have fun!

[Turtles06]

Seriously, formal nights on an expedition to Antarctica?

 

(I'd be wearing muck boots and polartec.:))

 

Anyway, have a fantastic trip!!

[Mike2131]

I was on the December 21st L'Austral sailing to Antarctica. The attire on formal nights really spanned a broad range-from yoga pants to cocktail dresses and a few gowns for women and from hiking pants to suits and a (very few) tuxes for men. I would say the majority of people were at the level of suit/dress pants and jacket for men, cocktail dress/blouse and skirt or dress pants for women.

 

Have fun!

Hi,

 

I was on the December 10th cruise and wrote a review that is now up. I would urge you to write one as well - if you want to.

 

There are very few member reviews of the L'Austral or LeBoreal, so whatever your experiences were, I think it would be valuable to share them.

 

Just a thought.

[PerfectlyPerth]

Seriously, formal nights on an expedition to Antarctica?

 

(I'd be wearing muck boots and polartec.:))

 

Anyway, have a fantastic trip!!

 

LOL me too !!!

 

We had "formal" champagne nights on the first and final nights for the captains speech etc and the seasoned travellers were mostly in their normal ship casual gear. Some played dress up and wore ties or bow ties with T Shirts. Only the newbies actually wore dressy clothes and looked really out of place.

 

No room in my luggage for posh clothes !:p

[penguin1974]

Mike, I read your review and thanks!

 

To Mike and all others that have taken this ship to Antarctica...

I am considering a trip to Antarctic myself. I keep looking at this ship due to the affordability of the balcony options, as compared to other ships.

 

A lot of people say for Antarctica, "you get what you pay for". The comments seem to be that we would get a lot less time ashore on this larger ship.

 

Could you comment a bit about your zodiac trips ashore? Did you feel satisfied? Do you wish you had more time or was it ok?

[PerfectlyPerth]

Your zodiac trips ashore are 100% reliant on the weather and sea conditions so you have to be flexible and be satisfied with what you get !!

 

I have been on landings that lasted 2 hours and landings that lasted 9 hours. I have had some that didnt even start till after dinner and not back to the ship til 3am. Others where you are out of bed at 5am and onshore before breakfast.

 

Where you will find restrictions are on the ships with more than 100 passengers as the groups have to be split to comply with IAATO regulations. So naturally a ship with less than 100 people can all be onshore at the same time (in the majority of locations - I have been to some where only 40 can be onshore) and therefore longer (again dependant on the weather).

[penguin1974]

Thanks PerfectlyPerth!

 

I live in Perth for about 3 months. It was lovely.

 

Yes, on the subject of the Zodiac landings.... that was my main question with L'Austral. The ship holds 260 people. Since I know they will need to split landings, I was curious to others that went.... how long each day did you actually get ashore?

[PerfectlyPerth]

Thanks PerfectlyPerth!

 

I live in Perth for about 3 months. It was lovely.

 

Yes, on the subject of the Zodiac landings.... that was my main question with L'Austral. The ship holds 260 people. Since I know they will need to split landings, I was curious to others that went.... how long each day did you actually get ashore?

 

The problem is no one can really give you an exact answer !

 

The first group could get to shore - spend an hour there, the weather changes and its everyone straight back on board with no further trips for the other groups.

 

Or you could get the perfect day and everyone gets plenty of hours.

 

Its also down to how many hours/days your company has booked for its slots in that region. They book the slots 12 months in advance. So for example one ship may have only booked a half day - the morning - at Deception Bay. If they sail up and the weather is poor - they can stick around waiting for a change but only for the morning - then they have to move on.

 

Whereas other ships/companies book multiple slots over multiple days to allow more flexibility. And these are the trips that cost a lot more and are generally more than 20 days long as they have the ability to put flexibility into their schedules.

[Mike2131]

Mike, I read your review and thanks!

 

To Mike and all others that have taken this ship to Antarctica...

I am considering a trip to Antarctic myself. I keep looking at this ship due to the affordability of the balcony options, as compared to other ships.

 

A lot of people say for Antarctica, "you get what you pay for". The comments seem to be that we would get a lot less time ashore on this larger ship.

 

Could you comment a bit about your zodiac trips ashore? Did you feel satisfied? Do you wish you had more time or was it ok?

As stated, weather and sea conditions are the most important factors in determining when, where, and for how long the landings will take place. We were at dinner one evening (about 9:00 PM) when the expedition leader came on and announced we would make a landing (3rd of the day) at Neko Harbor. The first 2 groups (about 50 in each) were to leave at 9:45 PM and 10:00 PM. The second 2 (same size) were to leave at 10:30 and 10:45.

 

There is a limit of 100 persons on shore at a time so the passenger count is restricted. If there have to be 3 separate landing waves accommodated everyone loses time ashore. The total of 200 passengers was split into 4 groups Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. Red and Green would be in a wave (staggered by perhaps 15 minutes to keep from overwhelming the stern departure area) and Blue and Yellow (both made up of Tauck passengers) would be in another wave. The waves rotated going first or second so everyone had plenty of opportunity to be first ashore.

 

I hope that helps. We had plenty of time ashore.

[anickat]

We are going on l'Austral next December. Was it easy to get on the zodiac ?

[Mike2131]

We are going on l'Austral next December. Was it easy to get on the zodiac ?

Assuming you have no real mobility issues, it is very easy - right off the marina on the stern. There will be more than enough crew members to assist you.