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From the Arctic to Antarctica in five months


rsail203
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Last August, prior to our Millenium Alaska cruise, we flew from Fairbanks to above the Arctic Circle. It was a beautiful day and the temperature was an unbelievable 62 degrees. Five months later, in January, we took a cruise from Buenos Aires to Antarctica on the Eclipse. We were lucky there too. We had beautiful sunshiny weather there and it was warmer there than it was in the US during the polar vortex. I don't think many people can say that they've been to the Arctic and Antarctica in that short a time frame and were also lucky enough to have beautiful weather in both places. I guess Global Warming had a lot to do with that. We've only cruised for the last 15 years, but we've seen some great places. We started late in life, but it's never too late.

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It was great. The wildlife and scenery were fantastic. We stopped at several other South American countries and had some great excursions. The ship is really nice. The service was really good and the ship was in fine shape. 

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9 hours ago, rsail203 said:

Last August, prior to our Millenium Alaska cruise, we flew from Fairbanks to above the Arctic Circle. It was a beautiful day and the temperature was an unbelievable 62 degrees. Five months later, in January, we took a cruise from Buenos Aires to Antarctica on the Eclipse. We were lucky there too. We had beautiful sunshiny weather there and it was warmer there than it was in the US during the polar vortex. I don't think many people can say that they've been to the Arctic and Antarctica in that short a time frame and were also lucky enough to have beautiful weather in both places. I guess Global Warming had a lot to do with that. We've only cruised for the last 15 years, but we've seen some great places. We started late in life, but it's never too late.

 

I have gone from Iceland and a little above the arctic circle to Antarctica in less than a year.  My father went from Svalbard to Antarctica in a couple months.   It is unique and something special.  Antarctica is an amazing place.  We went on a baby emperor penguin safari on the Kapitan Khlebnikov and were lucky enough to see the baby emperor penguin chicks.  They are incredibly cute. You want to stuff them in your bag and take them home.

 

An even bigger challenge would be the North Pole to Antarctic Circle in a year.  There are no tours to the South Pole,  but you can take the 40 years of victory, a nuclear powered Russian ice breaker, to the North Pole.  Only a handful of expeditions cross the Antarctic circle.  Most just do the peninsula.   Lots of times crossing the Antarctic circle involves a semi circumnavigation of Antarctica increasing the difficulty.

 

We will do the final “drive by” Antarctic cruise on Jan 31, 2021 with my kids who are 4 and 8.  Antarctica is such a unique and amazing place.  I really would love to take them on an expedition so they can set foot on Antarctica, but they are really just too young at this age to handle the rigors of expedition sailings and I am pretty ambitious with traveling with my kids.

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Thinking of going south... Did the cruise actually take you to the Antarctic Circle? A fair amount of the Antarctic Peninsular isn't within the Antarctic Circle.

It must have been an amazing cruise! What was the highlight?

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Dear Rsail203,

 

I would also like to hear of your experiences to Antarctica. To celebrate my DH 50th birthday, we sailed on RC from Vancouver to Seward and then the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks. I booked for DH and DS to also fly from Fairbanks across the Arctic Circle (I don't do small planes). Their experience was similar to yours in that it was tee-shirt temperatures when they got there.

 

I am now planning DH's 60th birthday and his retirement and hoping to combine sailing through the Panama Canal, down the South American coast to Antarctica then to Buenos Aires. Celebrity Eclipse is on the list of possible ships, however I am concerned that we wouldn't be able to access/land on the Antarctic continent. Would love to hear how close you got and your experience of sailing through Cape Horn.

 

Dear Rimmit, sounds like an amazing journey but I am not quite that adventurous but I am torn between booking a true expedition cruise versus a 'holiday' cruise. The closest I have been to wild penguins is on Boulder's Beach in South Africa where it is a little warmer. As regards being ambitious with your children, go for it. We used to book our holidays around my son's geography/history lessons, so when he was studying ancient Egypt, we went to Great Pyramid of Giza and was able to visit inside it.

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1 hour ago, Yorkshire-Pudding said:

Dear Rsail203,

 

I would also like to hear of your experiences to Antarctica. To celebrate my DH 50th birthday, we sailed on RC from Vancouver to Seward and then the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks. I booked for DH and DS to also fly from Fairbanks across the Arctic Circle (I don't do small planes). Their experience was similar to yours in that it was tee-shirt temperatures when they got there.

 

I am now planning DH's 60th birthday and his retirement and hoping to combine sailing through the Panama Canal, down the South American coast to Antarctica then to Buenos Aires. Celebrity Eclipse is on the list of possible ships, however I am concerned that we wouldn't be able to access/land on the Antarctic continent. Would love to hear how close you got and your experience of sailing through Cape Horn.

 

Dear Rimmit, sounds like an amazing journey but I am not quite that adventurous but I am torn between booking a true expedition cruise versus a 'holiday' cruise. The closest I have been to wild penguins is on Boulder's Beach in South Africa where it is a little warmer. As regards being ambitious with your children, go for it. We used to book our holidays around my son's geography/history lessons, so when he was studying ancient Egypt, we went to Great Pyramid of Giza and was able to visit inside it.

 

No large cruise ships ever port in Antarctica.  There is a size limitation on what can be allowed to land, as there really aren’t ports so everyone has to take a zodiac to shore, or in some cases helicoptered to the site.  There is just no way you can chopper or zodiac thousands of people to the Antarctic continent.  There are size limitations in place to protect th environnement as to how large a ship can be and land passengers on the continent.  The Antarctic cruises are drive bys unfortunately.  If you really want to set foot on Antarctica you really have to take an expedition.  They are pricier but the experience is amazing.  Worth every dollar.

 

We have tried to line up vacations around what they are doing in school but that has been proven to be difficult.

 

Did you go to Barrow, AK when you went up north?  That is a unique place if I ever saw one.  Kind of a dump in all honesty,  but I wouldn’t be doing much upkeep given the temps there.  It was just above freezing when we went and all the locals  were out in short sleeves and shorts lol.

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22 hours ago, rsail203 said:

Last August, prior to our Millenium Alaska cruise, we flew from Fairbanks to above the Arctic Circle. It was a beautiful day and the temperature was an unbelievable 62 degrees. Five months later, in January, we took a cruise from Buenos Aires to Antarctica on the Eclipse. We were lucky there too. We had beautiful sunshiny weather there and it was warmer there than it was in the US during the polar vortex. I don't think many people can say that they've been to the Arctic and Antarctica in that short a time frame and were also lucky enough to have beautiful weather in both places. I guess Global Warming had a lot to do with that. We've only cruised for the last 15 years, but we've seen some great places. We started late in life, but it's never too late.

I too am coming close to both the Arctic & Antarctica.  Last year sailed up in Norway and above Iceland, just finished an Alaska cruise and will be taking Celebrity Eclipse to Antarctica waters this January.  For me it is the last of the pristine destinations on our planet.  

 

I agree it is never too late to become an explorer :)

 

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4 hours ago, Yorkshire-Pudding said:

Dear Rsail203,

 

I would also like to hear of your experiences to Antarctica. To celebrate my DH 50th birthday, we sailed on RC from Vancouver to Seward and then the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks. I booked for DH and DS to also fly from Fairbanks across the Arctic Circle (I don't do small planes). Their experience was similar to yours in that it was tee-shirt temperatures when they got there.

 

I am now planning DH's 60th birthday and his retirement and hoping to combine sailing through the Panama Canal, down the South American coast to Antarctica then to Buenos Aires. Celebrity Eclipse is on the list of possible ships, however I am concerned that we wouldn't be able to access/land on the Antarctic continent. Would love to hear how close you got and your experience of sailing through Cape Horn.

 

Dear Rimmit, sounds like an amazing journey but I am not quite that adventurous but I am torn between booking a true expedition cruise versus a 'holiday' cruise. The closest I have been to wild penguins is on Boulder's Beach in South Africa where it is a little warmer. As regards being ambitious with your children, go for it. We used to book our holidays around my son's geography/history lessons, so when he was studying ancient Egypt, we went to Great Pyramid of Giza and was able to visit inside it.

We always tied our trips around school history or science lessons.  It was a wonderful way to enjoy family time.

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On 9/27/2019 at 4:02 PM, BigRedFan said:

We always tied our trips around school history or science lessons.  It was a wonderful way to enjoy family time.

 

Absolutely agree with you, brings learning alive and becomes a wonderful shared memory for the whole family. I did not have the opportunity to travel as a child so it is just as much a treat for me as my son. My DS is now grown up 19 year old and 6 feet 5 inches (and still growing) but talks fondly about the various places we have travelled around the world. Even when plans did not work out as planned, we all laugh years later about the shared experience.

 

We haven't been to Norway (the sailings were too early in the school year) but we did complete a trip to Ireland/Iceland on Silly in 2018. Although the ship did cross the Arctic Circle, it is not the same as doing so on land. My DH and I tend to celebrate major birthdays with once in a lifetime/bucket list holidays, so in addition to Antarctica for his 60th, I am pondering a sailing to Greenland for my 60th in 2025. The problem is there are just so many places to visit.

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On 9/27/2019 at 1:20 PM, rimmit said:

 

No large cruise ships ever port in Antarctica.  There is a size limitation on what can be allowed to land, as there really aren’t ports so everyone has to take a zodiac to shore, or in some cases helicoptered to the site.  There is just no way you can chopper or zodiac thousands of people to the Antarctic continent.  There are size limitations in place to protect th environnement as to how large a ship can be and land passengers on the continent.  The Antarctic cruises are drive bys unfortunately.  If you really want to set foot on Antarctica you really have to take an expedition.  They are pricier but the experience is amazing.  Worth every dollar.

 

We have tried to line up vacations around what they are doing in school but that has been proven to be difficult.

 

Did you go to Barrow, AK when you went up north?  That is a unique place if I ever saw one.  Kind of a dump in all honesty,  but I wouldn’t be doing much upkeep given the temps there.  It was just above freezing when we went and all the locals  were out in short sleeves and shorts lol.

 

Thanks, that was the impression I was getting when researching possible options, hence the comment of holiday cruise against an expedition cruise, they really not the same thing.

 

We did Alaska in July 2013 so I cannot remember if we went to Barrow. My DH and DS said that they did travel along the Ice Road Truckers route as the Arctic Circle trip used both a small aircraft and road vehicle. They did bring back some wild strawberries for me to sample. Very small but unbelievable flavour.

 

As for the temperatures, it was far from freezing that year. During the 7 day sailing and 7 days on land in Alaska, the temperatures were high teens to low 20s degrees Celsius. We took cold weather gear to wear but the temperatures were so high, we donated a lot of clothing to goodwill rather than transport them back to the UK.

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19 minutes ago, Yorkshire-Pudding said:

 

Thanks, that was the impression I was getting when researching possible options, hence the comment of holiday cruise against an expedition cruise, they really not the same thing.

 

We did Alaska in July 2013 so I cannot remember if we went to Barrow. My DH and DS said that they did travel along the Ice Road Truckers route as the Arctic Circle trip used both a small aircraft and road vehicle. They did bring back some wild strawberries for me to sample. Very small but unbelievable flavour.

 

As for the temperatures, it was far from freezing that year. During the 7 day sailing and 7 days on land in Alaska, the temperatures were high teens to low 20s degrees Celsius. We took cold weather gear to wear but the temperatures were so high, we donated a lot of clothing to goodwill rather than transport them back to the UK.

 

You would remember if you went to Barrow.  It is the Northern most point of the US.  The absolute tip of Alaska only accessible by plane.  Their sports teams have to travel by plane to play other high schools.  There is a major difference between the weather of an Alaskan cruise/cruise tour which is pretty temperate and the weather far above the arctic circle.  

 

They really aren’t the same thing.  The first thing they tell you when you board an expedition ship is “This is not a cruise!” And the second is “Everything is subject to change!”  Expeditions have no set schedule.  They land based on weather conditions.  They give you a REALLY vague outline of what MIGHT happen.  And NEVER follow it.  When we spent a week at South Georgia Island,  we missed about 35% of the scheduled landings which is par for the course.   Just got to roll with our and it’s what you sign up for.  Even when you land, the landing can be cancelled on a moments notice as weather changes on a dime down there.  Sunny one second, 50mph winds, blizzard conditions and no visibility the next.  It’s crazy how fast it happens.

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46 minutes ago, Yorkshire-Pudding said:

 

Absolutely agree with you, brings learning alive and becomes a wonderful shared memory for the whole family. I did not have the opportunity to travel as a child so it is just as much a treat for me as my son. My DS is now grown up 19 year old and 6 feet 5 inches (and still growing) but talks fondly about the various places we have travelled around the world. Even when plans did not work out as planned, we all laugh years later about the shared experience.

 

We haven't been to Norway (the sailings were too early in the school year) but we did complete a trip to Ireland/Iceland on Silly in 2018. Although the ship did cross the Arctic Circle, it is not the same as doing so on land. My DH and I tend to celebrate major birthdays with once in a lifetime/bucket list holidays, so in addition to Antarctica for his 60th, I am pondering a sailing to Greenland for my 60th in 2025. The problem is there are just so many places to visit.

 

Norway is gorgeous.  Kinda like the Alaskan fjords.  Very similar landscapes.  Definitely would recommend.

 

My parents drug me kicking and screaming across the world, and it wasn’t till I had kids of my own that I appreciated the experiences that I had and how all the travel Impacted my views of the world.  Now i am dragging my kids with us as we travel and can only hope when they have kids they can have some appreciation as well.

 

I have not been to Greenland, but more large cruise operators are going.  Not sure if that will last but a year though as the Polar code excludes Greenland and it is in full effect 2022.  We will go on the Repo on the Brilliance of the seas leaving Sept 2nd 2020.  Has two stops and a cruising day in prince christen sound.  

 

The summit is doing TAs that stop in Greenland and Iceland next aug 2020.  We considered those,  but the brilliance has 2 stops in Norwegian Fjords as well which we liked.

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5 hours ago, Yorkshire-Pudding said:

 

Absolutely agree with you, brings learning alive and becomes a wonderful shared memory for the whole family. I did not have the opportunity to travel as a child so it is just as much a treat for me as my son. My DS is now grown up 19 year old and 6 feet 5 inches (and still growing) but talks fondly about the various places we have travelled around the world. Even when plans did not work out as planned, we all laugh years later about the shared experience.

 

We haven't been to Norway (the sailings were too early in the school year) but we did complete a trip to Ireland/Iceland on Silly in 2018. Although the ship did cross the Arctic Circle, it is not the same as doing so on land. My DH and I tend to celebrate major birthdays with once in a lifetime/bucket list holidays, so in addition to Antarctica for his 60th, I am pondering a sailing to Greenland for my 60th in 2025. The problem is there are just so many places to visit.

My Norway, Iceland, Scotland, England cruise on the NCL Jade did sail above the Arctic Circle.  It was unusually warm and we sailed from Norway in heavy fog.  The captain said that he had never encountered that before.

 

Norway was spectacularly beautiful as was Iceland.  I am now so looking forward the the Celebrity Eclipse sailing to Antarctica in January! :)

IMG_2154.JPG

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1 minute ago, BigRedFan said:

My Norway, Iceland, Scotland, England cruise on the NCL Jade did sale above the Arctic Circle.  It was unusually warm and we sailed from Norway in heavy fog.  The captain said that he had never encountered that before.

 

Norway was spectacularly beautiful as was Iceland.  I am now so looking forward the the Celebrity Eclipse sailing to Antarctica in January! 🙂

 

 

I think you have probably seen more of Scotland than I have as British native. Also more of Europe. Our travel plans are to do the long distance destinations first and work inwards across Europe as get to our mid 60s.

 

Thanks for sharing your schedule. We did the same Iceland route but in the opposite anti-clockwise direction. The sail both in and out of Akureyri was breath taking. I wished we had an overnight there as there was lots to see. Although we enjoyed Reykjavik, because of the increased tourist numbers, it was enjoyable but a bit rushed. That said, we did a private  4x4 tour onto the Langjokull Glacier which was one of the scariest things I have ever done but not my DH and DS who spent most of the time enjoying my terror.

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4 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

You would remember if you went to Barrow.  It is the Northern most point of the US.  The absolute tip of Alaska only accessible by plane.  Their sports teams have to travel by plane to play other high schools.  There is a major difference between the weather of an Alaskan cruise/cruise tour which is pretty temperate and the weather far above the arctic circle.  

 

They really aren’t the same thing.  The first thing they tell you when you board an expedition ship is “This is not a cruise!” And the second is “Everything is subject to change!”  Expeditions have no set schedule.  They land based on weather conditions.  They give you a REALLY vague outline of what MIGHT happen.  And NEVER follow it.  When we spent a week at South Georgia Island,  we missed about 35% of the scheduled landings which is par for the course.   Just got to roll with our and it’s what you sign up for.  Even when you land, the landing can be cancelled on a moments notice as weather changes on a dime down there.  Sunny one second, 50mph winds, blizzard conditions and no visibility the next.  It’s crazy how fast it happens.

 

They (DH & DS) definitely did not travel that far north. What a journey that must have been. Sounds truly a holiday of a lifetime.

 

Thanks for the tips regarding expedition ships and the difference with the holiday ships. My husband would be ok with the expedition, me, not sure but I would do it for him. I am a lady that likes her creature comforts and the facilities of larger ships. 

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5 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

We were very near the Antarctic Circle in December and North of the Arctic Circle in Iceland in June and we lived to photograph it and tell about here :

 

 

 

IMG_8974%201_zpsxzp4fe7i.jpg

 

Penguins , Puffins , and fjords oh my !

 

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Iceland , Norway , Baltic and Scotland :

 

 

 

 

 

Nice pics!

 

I created a coffee table book of our pics of our expedition.  Antarctica pics start about 10 pages in.   The aerial shots are via the helicopters that are on the ship.  You just scroll through the book by swiping your finger.

 

https://www.blurb.com/bookshare/app/index.html?bookId=647707

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2 hours ago, Yorkshire-Pudding said:

Thanks for the tips regarding expedition ships and the difference with the holiday ships. My husband would be ok with the expedition, me, not sure but I would do it for him. I am a lady that likes her creature comforts and the facilities of larger ships. 

 

DW likes creature comforts as well.  She does not come with me on the expeditions.

 

Thats what X and the other mainstream cruise lines are for.  I was able to convince her to go on the Jan 31, 2021 Antarctic drive by, along with our 4 and 8 year old.  There are more and more  luxury expedition operators these days though.

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We also like the creature comforts , maybe that comes with aging and bad knees . It was nice to have a quick access to food and a bathroom just a few feet from the balcony .

 

 

 

 

We also really enjoyed a week in Patagonia before the cruise and the cruise thru Glacier alley .

 

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The penguins in the Falklands were fantastic

 

 

 

IMG_5301_zpsf18lh0yy.jpg

 

 

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On 9/26/2019 at 12:54 PM, rsail203 said:

Last August, prior to our Millenium Alaska cruise, we flew from Fairbanks to above the Arctic Circle. It was a beautiful day and the temperature was an unbelievable 62 degrees. Five months later, in January, we took a cruise from Buenos Aires to Antarctica on the Eclipse. We were lucky there too. We had beautiful sunshiny weather there and it was warmer there than it was in the US during the polar vortex. I don't think many people can say that they've been to the Arctic and Antarctica in that short a time frame and were also lucky enough to have beautiful weather in both places. I guess Global Warming had a lot to do with that. We've only cruised for the last 15 years, but we've seen some great places. We started late in life, but it's never too late.

 

Curious as to where you went above the Circle?  When we did our Alaska cruise back in '06, we did the same thing only from Anchorage (connection in Fairbanks) to Barrow, where we spent the day doing a most fascinating tour. Gave up our day in Anchorage but felt it was well worth it (well, maybe not so much the getting up at 3:00 a.m. part!)  It remains one of the most interesting places we've ever been to. Crossed the Circle again a second time this past March on the Viking Sky Northern Lights cruise. 

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6 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

 

Curious as to where you went above the Circle?  When we did our Alaska cruise back in '06, we did the same thing only from Anchorage (connection in Fairbanks) to Barrow, where we spent the day doing a most fascinating tour. Gave up our day in Anchorage but felt it was well worth it (well, maybe not so much the getting up at 3:00 a.m. part!)  It remains one of the most interesting places we've ever been to. Crossed the Circle again a second time this past March on the Viking Sky Northern Lights cruise. 

 

Barrow is fascinating.  I can’t imagine living there.  The cold and inaccessibility to everything would get old after a while I would think.

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14 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

DW likes creature comforts as well.  She does not come with me on the expeditions.

 

Thats what X and the other mainstream cruise lines are for.  I was able to convince her to go on the Jan 31, 2021 Antarctic drive by, along with our 4 and 8 year old.  There are more and more  luxury expedition operators these days though.

 

A lady after my own heart. Actually you raise an important point, maybe my DH and DS should do an expedition. I can't imagine my DS saying no to a free holiday! Your children will be a little older by 2021 so will no doubt enjoy it even more.

 

You right about the more luxurious operators. We have never sailed anything smaller than 2,500+ passengers, so its going to need a mindset adjustment (or rather I will) for a smaller ship.

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