AryMay Posted September 26, 2018 #1 Share Posted September 26, 2018 We are booked on the Zaandam for a 22 day cruise to South America & Antarctica for January 2019. We were just on the Zaandam for a 23 day Panama Canal cruise and I know the laundry & internet packages both worked well for that cruise. What I would like to know is how well do those services work in Antarctica? Will laundry service still be available or are there environmental reasons it may not be? What about internet? Decent? Nonexistent? I'm just curious what others have experienced...it may help me decide whether to purchase the laundry & internet packages for the duration of the cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WisRiver Posted September 26, 2018 #2 Share Posted September 26, 2018 We have taken two cruises to the Antarctic, "a HAL drive-by and an expedition cruise on Hurtigruten's Fram" I never noticed any limitation on laundry. I think they recycle laundry water. We sent out laundry on the Fram. Internet was another question. Both companies used satellite internet based on a stationary satellite parked over the Equator. The shipboard dish is aimed almost parallel to the earth. Internet speeds were slow (think old dial up modem speed) and bandwidth limited on both ships. On the Fram there was no passenger usage of internet from 8 AM to 6 PM to allow the ship staff access to the satellite. The internet was useful for reading e-mails. No streaming videos, no uploading photos to Facebook or transfer of large files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmasteach Posted September 26, 2018 #3 Share Posted September 26, 2018 Took this last year, internet slow but worked. Also we splurged and bought the laundry package, it was worth every penny. Clothes out in AM back after dinner. We send things out everyday. Since weather was from 96 in Buenos Aires, and 26 in Antarctic, this saved on how much clothes we needed to pack! Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crystalspin Posted September 26, 2018 #4 Share Posted September 26, 2018 What WisRiver said about satellite internet. Additionally, we were not able to get a strong enough connection ASHORE in Ushuia to check internet! (at a pub-restaurant). This is not a cruise to take if you NEED internet access. You will be sad. Especially if you pay to have it the whole trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkacruiser Posted September 26, 2018 #5 Share Posted September 26, 2018 No information from me about internet service; did not use it. The ship's laundry service was "as usual" with very prompt turnaround. They were even able to launder some clothes that were very muddy perfectly well as a result of my Falkland Islands shore excursion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakkojakko Posted September 27, 2018 #6 Share Posted September 27, 2018 Did Antarctica on Rotterdam in 2008 and had no problem with internet other than the (then) usual slow speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dobro Posted September 27, 2018 #7 Share Posted September 27, 2018 I was on the Zaandam in Antarctica last winter. The good news is that internet service was about the same in Antarctica as it was elsewhere, and we were as far north as Rio on the east coast and San Antonio on the west. The bad news is that internet service on the Zaandam was the worst I have encountered on any HAL ship, encompassing more than 300 onboard days. Let me be clear that I understand completely the limitations of ship internet, and I use a lot of workarounds (loading pages to read offline, composing offline and pasting into e-mail, logging on at low-traffic times, trying different locations and so on). So I am not complaining about general slowness; it has been that way on every ship. The Zaandam was far worse than the norm. Maybe they've done something to straighten it out since then, but it was a pain throughout the trip. Laundry service was uniformly excellent, both in Antarctica and other places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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