what ships do excursions in Antarctica?

[crazy4cruisn]

What major ship lines (not expedition style) do shore excursions in Antarctica? What are typical charges? I have heard that Marco Polo does these tours but that neither HAL or Princess do them.

[Druke I]

Aside from Marco Polo, I believe that Nordnorge, from Bergen Lines, may also "zodiac" into Antarctica.

[greatam]

IF you want to do excursions in Antartica, you must go with an expedition type company. There are about 30 different ships which are registered to do excursions. None are large ships and none are major cruise lines.

 

There are rules about how many people can be on the continent at one time. I believe it is 100 people exploring at one time. Even the Marco Polo cannot allow everyone to leave the ship at the same time. Only 100 people, then you go back to the ship and another 100 people actually get to touch the continent.

 

Princess, HAL, etc. do "drive by's". They do not and cannot disembark passengers.

[TedC]

Radisson Seven Seas Cruises charters a ship for a couple of Antarctica cruises each year. This year and in 2006 they use Explorer II for cruises in mid and late Jan.

 

In the past RSSC used Hanseatic and may use it again in 2007. One of the best known operators is Lindblad, which uses Endeavour, a ship which only carries 110 pax - an advantage. In Antarctica, the fewer passengers the better because of the restrictions cited in an earlier post.

 

These trips are more expensive than regular cruises per day because you lose the "economy of scale" of larger vessels.

[greatam]

These trips are more expensive than regular cruises per day because you lose the "economy of scale" of larger vessels.

 

That's an understatement. Average price pp, shared room, standard Puenta Arenas to the Peninsula cruise with maybe South Georgia, the Falklands averages $400.00pp per day, without any extras. You start adding in the ships that actually have excursions on the zodiacs, you are looking at $500.00pp per day. And the icebreakers, with the zodiacs and helicopters easily run $600.00pp per day. These prices are for shared cabins, some with or without private baths. The cabins are very small unless you truly upgrade. Plan on a bare minimum of $10,000 not counting air for 2.

 

We spent well over $30,000 in 2003 and we did NOT have upgraded cabins. 30 days, Semi circumnavigation of Antartica on the Kapitan Khlibenov (sp? too lazy to look up the proper spelling.) Oh, the memories and pictures we took. But it was a tremendous amount of money for a vacation. If we had not sold a rental property we had, we sure wouldn't have spent that much.

 

You also will need airfare to Puenta Arenas, which will probably be in the neighborhood of $1200.00+++.

 

It is NOT like a cruise-lots of discounting, lots of different prices. There are very limited companies who truly provide an Antartica experience. Tours are generally sold out a year in advance. Enjoy if you go!!!

[calexand]

All right I know it is expensive, but was the trip worthwhile and worth the expense? We are booked on the Corinthian 11 for Jan/Feb 2007 and would appreciate your feed back. There are a limited amount of reviews etc on the Antarctica experience.

 

Carol

[petlover]

I know a couple who went there (booked a Radisson Cruise) and raved about it! I guess it really is a GREAT experience and their ship was very nice as well. They certainly made it sound like it was worth the $$.

[greatam]

All right I know it is expensive, but was the trip worthwhile and worth the expense? We are booked on the Corinthian 11 for Jan/Feb 2007 and would appreciate your feed back. There are a limited amount of reviews etc on the Antarctica experience.

 

Carol

 

Yes, it was worth the expense. Not sure I would do it again. The icebreaker makes it feel like you are inside a washing machine at times. But oh, what we saw!!!!!

 

What is your itinerary? The Corinthian II looks like a VERY nice ship. Much more cruise ship like than the icebreaker we went on.

 

Don't do an expedition which includes the Falklands. All the normal cruise lines have Falklands included. No sense paying for something you can get MUCH cheaper. (AS you can tell, I am a tightwad)

 

The Drake Passage crossing can be VERY rough. If you are prone to seasickness, make sure you are prepared.

 

We loved the thermal hot springs. Really neat to be sitting in hot springs surrounded by nothing but miles of ice.

 

The Lemaire channel is another must see and most expeditions go there. Heck, I think even the cruise ships cruise the channel

 

We went VERY far south. I asbolutely had to see the Ross Ice Shelf and McMurdo Station. Let me know your itinerary and I will tell you what we saw that is on your itinerary.

[calexand]

Yes, from what I've seen the ship will be quite comfortable. The prices were not that much different from the other tour operators out there, and it appears that the accommodation is superior.

The itinerary calls for 5 days in the Antarctic Peninsula with possible stops at Petermann Island, Paradise bay, Deception Island and voyages through Lemaire, Neumayer, Errata and other channels. Every Itinerary I've looked at was similiar in that all possible stops were based on the weather. Hopefully the time we have chosen to go is good weather wise and we will have a great voyage.

 

Carol

[petlover]

I just read this which may be of interest to anyone searching for a trip to Antarctica.

 

http://www.rssc.com/specials/detail.jsp?offerId=698419

[greatam]

Yes, from what I've seen the ship will be quite comfortable. The prices were not that much different from the other tour operators out there, and it appears that the accommodation is superior.

The itinerary calls for 5 days in the Antarctic Peninsula with possible stops at Petermann Island, Paradise bay, Deception Island and voyages through Lemaire, Neumayer, Errata and other channels. Every Itinerary I've looked at was similiar in that all possible stops were based on the weather. Hopefully the time we have chosen to go is good weather wise and we will have a great voyage.

 

Carol

 

Carol,

 

I just checked out further what you booked. That is a heck of a deal. Air, hotel, and cruise to Antarctica. And thank goodness it doesn't go to the Falklands.

 

The one thing that you really need to check is-if the ship is full (stated capacity-114) will they let everyone off on the zodiacs or is it like the Marco Polo where one group goes, comes back and the next group goes. You really want to spend as much time on the zodiac trips as possible.

 

Like you stated, exotic trips to far off places are often VERY weather dependent. There was a day or two when we thought we may not make it as far south as we were supposed to. And I really wished we could have seen the Emperor penguins, but we were on the wrong side of the continent. And going to McMurdo and seeing the giant Ross Ice Shelf was the only thing I really wanted to see. We have friends who worked at McMurdo 3 years in a row. I had heard their stories and really wanted to see where they were and to see the Dry Valley's.

 

You trip sounds fantastic. Enjoy!!!!

 

Gina

[NewCruiseFan]

I just did Explorer II with Abercrombie and Kent. all excursions are included in the prices of the trip. We did Falklands, S. Georgia (5 landings) and Antarctica (6 landings). The cost per day was $468, it included all alcohol, expeditions, an expedition parka, backpack, carry on bag, and exceptional staff.

 

It was a 16 night cruise and was "expedition." But, the ship was elegant and wonderful. 195 passengers, 174 crew.

 

I'm in the process of writing the review now but it'll take some time.

 

My cruise was actually a little more expensive since it included Christmas and New Years.

 

The restriction of 100 people on shore is for the protection of the environment and the passengers. If you're on a ship with 114 passengers you'd have the passengers split up, I assume, in order to have no more than 100 people on shore at a time.

 

have an awesome good time!

[Xingu]

I just did Explorer II with Abercrombie and Kent. all excursions are included in the prices of the trip. We did Falklands, S. Georgia (5 landings) and Antarctica (6 landings). The cost per day was $468, it included all alcohol, expeditions, an expedition parka, backpack, carry on bag, and exceptional staff.

 

It was a 16 night cruise and was "expedition." But, the ship was elegant and wonderful. 195 passengers, 174 crew.

 

This sounds great. Did you book directly with A&K? What kind of cabin did you get? The prices I'm seeing on the A&K website seem quite higher.

[NewCruiseFan]

My travel companion and I booked directly through A&K last February, there was a $500 discount per person for early booking. I understand the fare has increased by roughly $1,000 for the next season.

 

As it was explained to me the fuel costs are increasing dramatically and affecting every aspect from foods purchased to actual fuel in the tank.

 

I got the impression that the other tour group on board, Noble Caledonian, may have been paying less than A&K from they way they talked. Their site is noble-caledonian.co.uk, the same trip for the room I had is roughly the same price as through A&K but the early booking discount is approximately $800 pp rather than the $500 I paid.

 

You could also check out the different tour agencies listed on the Explorer site explorer2cruises.com.

 

have fun!

[NewCruiseFan]

oh, oops. our cabin. we were in the SA category which is the cheapest one. it's on the B deck at the bottom, two port holes instead of one large window. that said, all the cabins were pretty small but well appointed.

 

there were a few cabins on the top deck that were super small, I believe those are for single bookings.

[NewCruiseFan]

PetLover, the RSSC trips you posted are on the same ship I was on! The Explorer II is a lovely ship, mid-size not as small as some of the Russian ice breakers but not nearly so large as the Marco Polo or Rotterdam which also do Antarctica.

 

The crew is fantastic and Captain Moulds is a very funny guy.

[Lisette]

I am really glad Newcruisefan that you enjoyed Abercrobie and Kents antarctic cruise. My husband and I just booked on the Explorer 11 for the December 9th-22nd 2006. We have looked at all of the different ships doing the Antarctic trips and decided we wanted to experience it in a bit of comfort. The ship looks really comfortable and I have heard that Abercrombie and Kent are top notch as far as their vacations go. I am so looking forward to your review of your trip. We are booked in a Deluxe cabin.

This is a 20th wedding anniversary gift to ourselves LOL.