Antarctica and Polar Ice Cap cruises after Jan 2022?

[Ken the cruiser]

I was reading on the HAL CC forum starting at item #16 on the following thread (ignore the thread title) that only ships with at least an Ice Class 6 rating will be allowed to sail into latitudes plus 60 degrees after Jan 1, 2022. Simply put only ships with at least this rating will be allowed to sail to Antarctica, Greenland and the Polar Ice Cap.

 

Does anyone know if Princess has plans to have such a ship?

 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[Colo Cruiser]

No it is not planned for their next 2 new builds 2019 and 2020, and the next 2 after that will be LNG ships 2023 and 2025. 

I have never seen anything relating to this for Princess.  

[Ken the cruiser]

It looks like there will only be expedition ships going to these locations after Jan 2022. It will be interesting to see what fares they will be charging.

[caribill]

6 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I was reading on the HAL CC forum starting at item #16 on the following thread (ignore the thread title) that only ships with at least an Ice Class 6 rating will be allowed to sail into latitudes plus 60 degrees after Jan 1, 2022. Simply put only ships with at least this rating will be allowed to sail to Antarctica, Greenland and the Polar Ice Cap.

 

 

That world also include some Alaska ports (such as Nome) that other cruise lines go to

[Knickearth]

Ironically,. my hubby has always wanted to go to Antarctica.  We learned early on that the large cruise ships that advertise Antarctica actually just sail by - kind of like the glacier day in Alaska.

 

He is presently on a small private (less than 100 people) ship in antarctica and having the time of his life. 

 

Down side - very very expensive.  but definitely a trip of a lifetime.

[pompeii]

Interestingly, our next two cruises are Canada/Greenland (August 2019) and SA/Antarctica (Jan 2020.)  Purely coincidence, I've had these booked for a while and hadn't heard of this law or regulation until I read about it on the recent Greenland thread.  But now I'm even more glad to have these on the schedule.  I'd love to set foot on Antarctica, and I truly envy Knickearth's husband.  What an experience! But even a sail-by is a lot more than most people have the opportunity to do so I am not unhappy whatsoever.

[travellingnana]

So then no more northern Norway or Iceland cruises either?  

[pompeii]

Here is a post from another current thread on this topic.  It mentions that Iceland and Norway are excluded:

 

With the new Polar Code coming into force 1st Jan. 2022 - as the cruise ships drydock & get new 5 year certificates - they will no longer be allowed into sea areas of plus 60 degrees latitude.  This is happening now & as an example Zaandam is due for survey next year & is doing a Greenland before the drydocking.  After that with new certificates she will no longer be able to go to the Antarctic Peninsular or Greenland.

Exceptions are Iceland, Norwegian & White Sea coast due to Gulf Stream.

Northern summer of 2020 & maybe 2021 will be the last for all large cruise ships to visit Greenland.

 

[Gwendy]

In 2010 we were told, read it on internet, so must be true!  Large ships would no longer be able to sail to Antarctica.  Booked a cruise for Jan 2011, sail by but when you wake up and see a Minke whale under your balcony, icebergs floating past, penguins skipping through the water etc it was worth it.  Ships are still sailing there.  

Same with big ships and Venice, going to be stopped, booked cruise and went in 2014, same ships still going there.

[Ken the cruiser]

16 minutes ago, Gwendy said:

In 2010 we were told, read it on internet, so must be true!  Large ships would no longer be able to sail to Antarctica.  Booked a cruise for Jan 2011, sail by but when you wake up and see a Minke whale under your balcony, icebergs floating past, penguins skipping through the water etc it was worth it.  Ships are still sailing there.  

Same with big ships and Venice, going to be stopped, booked cruise and went in 2014, same ships still going there.

I guess time will tell. We took a HAL "sail by" Antarctica cruise in Jan 2018 and had a great time, saw a ton of animals and want to go back!

[caribill]

We enjoyed the Antarctica voyage on the Golden Princess a few years ago.

[SeaDog-46]

Ken see new building list with names dates, passenger numbers & tonnage at  -   

www.quirkycruise.com/25-next-generation-expedition-ships-for-2019-2020/

Better info than I was able to give you but does not give Polar Class.

 

Two other ships operating & assume will continue into 2022 are Silver Cloud & RCGS Resolute.

 

Gwendy - this time it will happen - Polar Code comes into full force on 1st Jan. 2022.  If you want to go see Antarctica or Greenland at a "LOW" price then next year is your last chance.  Previous warning about Antarctica may have been about fuel requirements & being media don't know much & the ships were able to comply.

Venice will happen when the Italians get their act together & I thought it was now limited to vessels under a certain tonnage.

[Ken the cruiser]

Thanks SeaDog!

[paradiselivin1]

Had no idea and am glad that we're doing SA with Antarctica in January 2020!  Thanks for the heads-up ~ haven't been to Greenland yet & loved Iceland.  Will have to look into that!

[Gwendy]

9 hours ago, SeaDog-46 said:

Ken see new building list with names dates, passenger numbers & tonnage at  -   

www.quirkycruise.com/25-next-generation-expedition-ships-for-2019-2020/

Better info than I was able to give you but does not give Polar Class.

 

Two other ships operating & assume will continue into 2022 are Silver Cloud & RCGS Resolute.

 

Gwendy - this time it will happen - Polar Code comes into full force on 1st Jan. 2022.  If you want to go see Antarctica or Greenland at a "LOW" price then next year is your last chance.  Previous warning about Antarctica may have been about fuel requirements & being media don't know much & the ships were able to comply.

Venice will happen when the Italians get their act together & I thought it was now limited to vessels under a certain tonnage.

Glad I crossed this off my bucket list.  It was the most amazing cruise even going across Drake passage on formal night with Captain asking all ladies to not wear heels.

[Ken the cruiser]

14 hours ago, SeaDog-46 said:

Ken see new building list with names dates, passenger numbers & tonnage at  -   

www.quirkycruise.com/25-next-generation-expedition-ships-for-2019-2020/

Better info than I was able to give you but does not give Polar Class.

 

Two other ships operating & assume will continue into 2022 are Silver Cloud & RCGS Resolute.

 

Gwendy - this time it will happen - Polar Code comes into full force on 1st Jan. 2022.  If you want to go see Antarctica or Greenland at a "LOW" price then next year is your last chance.  Previous warning about Antarctica may have been about fuel requirements & being media don't know much & the ships were able to comply.

Venice will happen when the Italians get their act together & I thought it was now limited to vessels under a certain tonnage.

SeaDog, I am searching the Internet and can't find any articles confirming that the larger "drive by" cruise line ships without the Category 6 Ice certification, such as those HAL, Princess, Celebrity and Azamara use, will be allowed to travel past the 60 degree parallel after Jan 1, 2022. Do you still have the link to the Zaandam article you referenced in your initial posting of this subject? I looked at the Quirky News articles and they only mention the new Category 6 expedition ships that are coming. I believe what you're saying. I'm just trying to find out more information regarding this ban on the larger cruise ships that will probably never get the certification.

Edited March 17, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[SeaDog-46]

Ken - I do npt have the article & all I can remember is that it was on a technical forum.

For more info google Polar Code & read the tech. articles.

Apart from the 2 larger ships above  & Hurtigruten - I do not know of any others that would be able to do the sail past type cruise that is currently done after 1 Jan 2022.  It is far too expensive to convert the current ships.

Westerdam is doing one in early 2021.

[Ken the cruiser]

15 minutes ago, SeaDog-46 said:

Ken - I do npt have the article & all I can remember is that it was on a technical forum.

For more info google Polar Code & read the tech. articles.

Apart from the 2 larger ships above  & Hurtigruten - I do not know of any others that would be able to do the sail past type cruise that is currently done after 1 Jan 2022.  It is far too expensive to convert the current ships.

Westerdam is doing one in early 2021.

I'll do just that. Thanks again for passing this info along.

[Knickearth]

On 3/16/2019 at 4:45 AM, pompeii said:

Interestingly, our next two cruises are Canada/Greenland (August 2019) and SA/Antarctica (Jan 2020.)  Purely coincidence, I've had these booked for a while and hadn't heard of this law or regulation until I read about it on the recent Greenland thread.  But now I'm even more glad to have these on the schedule.  I'd love to set foot on Antarctica, and I truly envy Knickearth's husband.  What an experience! But even a sail-by is a lot more than most people have the opportunity to do so I am not unhappy whatsoever.

Pompeii, just wanted to let you know my husband returned home and declared it extraordinary.  He would love to return there one day.  Altho the ship is small - there is trivia one time the ten days, no movies onboard, yes to lectures regarding animals and nature.  The food was pretty standard he said altho they did get prime rib.  Of course now I get to run thru thousands of pictures he returned home with.  lol

[cflutist]

We went last December for 15 nights on the Silver Cloud. Yes, it was a cruise of a lifetime and worth the $50k fare.

[cflutist]

Hiking on Antarctica 

[cflutist]

Cierva Cove 

[terry&mike]

We sailed to Antarctica (with the Faulkland Islands and South Georgia) in January 2018 on Ponant, as they have luxury expedition ships, and do landings via zodiak rafts. It truly was an amazing journey. Yes, it's expensive, but we both agreed it was worth every dollar.

[Ken the cruiser]

Well it appears Azamara didn’t get the word as they have booked an Antarctica cruise starting Feb 2, 2022 on their R class Pursuit ship.

 

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/int/voyage/qs21u001/21-night-fjords-antarctica-voyage

It will be interesting to see what Princess does. 

[azbirdmom]

Princess just released info that they are going to sail in the Antarctic region in the 2021 / 2022 season on the Sapphire Princess.  Has the code changed?

2021-2022SouthAmericaAntarctica.pdf