Ocean Atlantic Cabin Question

[GPS]

We are trying to decide between cabin 701 which is the only stateroom on deck 7 of this ship vs one of the similar cabins on deck 8 for an Antarctica cruise.  The expedition company has told me there is no difference in size, but they seem to think cabin 701 will have more deck access due to its location, but has a partially obstructed window view with a gangway outside.  I'm wondering if anyone has actually sailed on Ocean Atlantic in the 701 or 800 cabins and can advise which would be more preferable for privacy and access to outside decks.  Thanks.

[kinipela35]

On 2/15/2020 at 5:13 PM, GPS said:

We are trying to decide between cabin 701 which is the only stateroom on deck 7 of this ship vs one of the similar cabins on deck 8 for an Antarctica cruise.  The expedition company has told me there is no difference in size, but they seem to think cabin 701 will have more deck access due to its location, but has a partially obstructed window view with a gangway outside.  I'm wondering if anyone has actually sailed on Ocean Atlantic in the 701 or 800 cabins and can advise which would be more preferable for privacy and access to outside decks.  Thanks.

 

Just got off this ship 2 weeks ago. Deck 7 would offer zero privacy, as it's the equivalent of a promenade deck on bigger ships, with people walking by your window all the time, when the decks are open. That being said, I doubt anyone would be focused on looking in your window as there are much more interesting things to look at out in the water 🙂 If it was me, I'd go with the 800s, much better views and more privacy. The ship is small so access to outer decks is quick and easy from just about anywhere. Enjoy your trip! Ours was incredible. 

 

 

[GPS]

On 3/16/2020 at 9:16 PM, kinipela35 said:

 

Just got off this ship 2 weeks ago. Deck 7 would offer zero privacy, as it's the equivalent of a promenade deck on bigger ships, with people walking by your window all the time, when the decks are open. That being said, I doubt anyone would be focused on looking in your window as there are much more interesting things to look at out in the water 🙂 If it was me, I'd go with the 800s, much better views and more privacy. The ship is small so access to outer decks is quick and easy from just about anywhere. Enjoy your trip! Ours was incredible. 

 

 

Thank you so much. This is the most helpful information I've seen so far about the cabins. Not many have been on this one and posted!

[kinipela35]

2 hours ago, GPS said:

Thank you so much. This is the most helpful information I've seen so far about the cabins. Not many have been on this one and posted!

 

Yes, I struggled immensely to find any reviews or information about this ship from people who've been on it, prior to our trip. Thus, I kept an open mind and just went with it. Trip turned out to be absolutely amazing and I would love to go back some day. The ship itself is more than adequate for a trip of this kind. Not luxury by any means but definitely comfortable. It also has a lot of outer deck space for its size (most in class I think I read somewhere), especially the top deck. It never felt crowded, which was a huge plus. I'm happy to answer any questions if you or anyone else has any about the ship or trip in general. 

Edited March 22, 2020 by kinipela35

[kaisatsu]

On 3/17/2020 at 2:16 AM, kinipela35 said:

 

Just got off this ship 2 weeks ago. Deck 7 would offer zero privacy, as it's the equivalent of a promenade deck on bigger ships, with people walking by your window all the time, when the decks are open. That being said, I doubt anyone would be focused on looking in your window as there are much more interesting things to look at out in the water 🙂 If it was me, I'd go with the 800s, much better views and more privacy. The ship is small so access to outer decks is quick and easy from just about anywhere. Enjoy your trip! Ours was incredible.

Having just been on a trip with several sea days during long crossings, I can confirm that some people will glance in the windows when they're out walking laps to get exercise. The birders will always be preoccupied, but when there are no whales to be seen, the endless waves only occupy your attention for so long! 😉

[aimee0715]

On 3/21/2020 at 9:45 PM, kinipela35 said:

 

Yes, I struggled immensely to find any reviews or information about this ship from people who've been on it, prior to our trip. Thus, I kept an open mind and just went with it. Trip turned out to be absolutely amazing and I would love to go back some day. The ship itself is more than adequate for a trip of this kind. Not luxury by any means but definitely comfortable. It also has a lot of outer deck space for its size (most in class I think I read somewhere), especially the top deck. It never felt crowded, which was a huge plus. I'm happy to answer any questions if you or anyone else has any about the ship or trip in general. 

Hello, I am just beginning my research into an expedition cruise to Antarctica.  We would like to go during the solar eclipse next year.  I started looking into this yesterday in anticipation of our December 2020 South American solar eclipse being cancelled.  Ocean Atlantic is one of the more affordable options.  I would love to know how many landings per day you were able to do and also, would love to know about the food on board.  My husband and I are both vegetarians.  I am a little concerned that there won't be many food options for us on these tiny ships.  I understand if you are not vegetarian, you may not have noticed if this was an issue.  Many thanks for any guidance!  I was looking at Hurtigruten but I see they only have one landing per day due to the large number of passengers.  

[kaisatsu]

17 hours ago, aimee0715 said:

My husband and I are both vegetarians.  I am a little concerned that there won't be many food options for us on these tiny ships.  I understand if you are not vegetarian, you may not have noticed if this was an issue.

While it's true that you probably won't have multiple choices for vegetarian options, every meal will probably have at least one. I can't speak specifically to the Ocean Atlantic, but vegetarians are pretty common in Antarctica, given the environmental awareness of the clientele. And not only do the ships expect to have vegetarian passengers, a very large percentage of expedition staff are vegetarians.

[kinipela35]

On 7/23/2020 at 11:06 AM, aimee0715 said:

Hello, I am just beginning my research into an expedition cruise to Antarctica.  We would like to go during the solar eclipse next year.  I started looking into this yesterday in anticipation of our December 2020 South American solar eclipse being cancelled.  Ocean Atlantic is one of the more affordable options.  I would love to know how many landings per day you were able to do and also, would love to know about the food on board.  My husband and I are both vegetarians.  I am a little concerned that there won't be many food options for us on these tiny ships.  I understand if you are not vegetarian, you may not have noticed if this was an issue.  Many thanks for any guidance!  I was looking at Hurtigruten but I see they only have one landing per day due to the large number of passengers.  

 

Passengers were split into 4 groups. We did 2 zodiac cruises and 2 shore landings per day. I thought the organization of it all worked really well for switching between groups and getting everybody on land and in the boats pretty effortlessly. It usually worked out to about 45 mins to an hour in the zodiacs per ride and 1-1.5 hours on land each time. They would adjust the timings as needed, depending if there was more to see in the water vs on land at any given stop. We were extremely fortunate with the weather and didn't miss anything. In fact, it was sunny and warm for all but 1 landing. 

 

The food was pretty good for a non-luxury ship. I actually thought the variety was quite good for a small ship. Breakfast and lunch were buffet style, with dinner being a more traditional restaurant, set menu, style. I think we had a fair number of vegetarians in our group and I didn't hear any complaints. The dining room has 2 buffet counters, 1 was pretty much all veggies, fruits, desserts, etc. The other had the main foods, with several options (meat and veggie) at every meal. Omelet station available at breakfast every day. The dinner menu typically had 4 choices for each category (starter, main, dessert). Some nights had 1 veggie main option. Other nights there were 2. We found ourselves ordering the veggie option a couple times as it sounded better than the others, and was!

 

I will say our passenger demographic was over 50% Aussie, as the chartering company was based in Australia, so I'm not sure if the food was more catered for that or not, but overall, I thought it was very good. 

 

You will have an amazing time no matter what, as the destination is just magical. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

[aimee0715]

20 hours ago, kinipela35 said:

 

Passengers were split into 4 groups. We did 2 zodiac cruises and 2 shore landings per day. I thought the organization of it all worked really well for switching between groups and getting everybody on land and in the boats pretty effortlessly. It usually worked out to about 45 mins to an hour in the zodiacs per ride and 1-1.5 hours on land each time. They would adjust the timings as needed, depending if there was more to see in the water vs on land at any given stop. We were extremely fortunate with the weather and didn't miss anything. In fact, it was sunny and warm for all but 1 landing. 

 

The food was pretty good for a non-luxury ship. I actually thought the variety was quite good for a small ship. Breakfast and lunch were buffet style, with dinner being a more traditional restaurant, set menu, style. I think we had a fair number of vegetarians in our group and I didn't hear any complaints. The dining room has 2 buffet counters, 1 was pretty much all veggies, fruits, desserts, etc. The other had the main foods, with several options (meat and veggie) at every meal. Omelet station available at breakfast every day. The dinner menu typically had 4 choices for each category (starter, main, dessert). Some nights had 1 veggie main option. Other nights there were 2. We found ourselves ordering the veggie option a couple times as it sounded better than the others, and was!

 

I will say our passenger demographic was over 50% Aussie, as the chartering company was based in Australia, so I'm not sure if the food was more catered for that or not, but overall, I thought it was very good. 

 

You will have an amazing time no matter what, as the destination is just magical. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Thank you!  The travel company that I'm trying to book through is also based in Australia.  

[GPS]

For those of you who sailed, who was the operator for your expedition?  The solar eclipse itinerary for next year is run by Albatross, so experiences onboard may differ even if we go on the same ship. @aimee0715 we are booked on the sailing you are interested in.  We decided on a 800 deck cabin due to the responses here and help from Albatross.

[GPS]

For those of you who sailed, who was the operator for your expedition?  The solar eclipse itinerary for next year is run by Albatross, so experiences onboard may differ even if we go on the same ship. @aimee0715 we are booked on the sailing you are interested in.  We decided on a 800 deck cabin due to the responses here and help from Albatross.

[aimee0715]

On 8/2/2020 at 1:50 PM, GPS said:

For those of you who sailed, who was the operator for your expedition?  The solar eclipse itinerary for next year is run by Albatross, so experiences onboard may differ even if we go on the same ship. @aimee0715 we are booked on the sailing you are interested in.  We decided on a 800 deck cabin due to the responses here and help from Albatross.

We are in Category B as well.  I'm not sure what cabin number though.  I hope we are on deck 8 but there is one Category B on deck 7 by itself.  I read about some people getting stuck on the ship due to Covid and that made me decide to splurge on a larger cabin, just in case 😀

 

[GPS]

That's great to know someone else on our sailing!  You could probably ask Albatross. They helped me pick my cabin which is right next to the door to the outside deck. I chose not to take the 700 cabin due to privacy concerns with people walking by the window.  I found the B category to be the best value. They seem larger than the A and C, just on the top of the ship rather than lower down.

[aimee0715]

11 hours ago, GPS said:

That's great to know someone else on our sailing!  You could probably ask Albatross. They helped me pick my cabin which is right next to the door to the outside deck. I chose not to take the 700 cabin due to privacy concerns with people walking by the window.  I found the B category to be the best value. They seem larger than the A and C, just on the top of the ship rather than lower down.

Did you book directly with Albatros or with an agent?  

[donaldsc]

I can

On 2/15/2020 at 4:13 PM, GPS said:

We are trying to decide between cabin 701 which is the only stateroom on deck 7 of this ship vs one of the similar cabins on deck 8 for an Antarctica cruise.  The expedition company has told me there is no difference in size, but they seem to think cabin 701 will have more deck access due to its location, but has a partially obstructed window view with a gangway outside.  I'm wondering if anyone has actually sailed on Ocean Atlantic in the 701 or 800 cabins and can advise which would be more preferable for privacy and access to outside decks.  Thanks.

 

I can't comment on privacy as I have not sailed on her but I can comment on deck access.  She is only 140 m long so if you are in the worse cabin on the ship deck access wise, you will only be 70 m from a door to the outside.  I did sail on a similar ship to South Georgia and it took me maybe 2 - 3 minutes to get from my cabin to the outside.

 

Hope that this helps.

 

DON

[GPS]

On 8/4/2020 at 10:49 AM, aimee0715 said:

Did you book directly with Albatros or with an agent?  

 

I booked with a Canadian agent, Tour radar as I was able to pay the deposit in my own currency, but they no longer sell this voyage on their site.  I did get linked up right away with Albatross for questions, etc, after I booked with Tour radar.  Who did you go through?

[aimee0715]

21 minutes ago, GPS said:

 

I booked with a Canadian agent, Tour radar as I was able to pay the deposit in my own currency, but they no longer sell this voyage on their site.  I did get linked up right away with Albatross for questions, etc, after I booked with Tour radar.  Who did you go through?

We booked with Eclipse Travel out of Sydney, Australia.  That is the only site that I found this particular cruise on. I subsequently found it on another site but that company was also in Australia.  I'm going to have to figure out how to do a bank draft to them before final payment because they charge 3% fee if you use a Visa or Mastercard.  3% on a trip of this cost really adds up. 

 

 I just watched a video that someone shared in another post on this board.  The man who made the video was on a different ship but the same itinerary.  It was just amazing. 

[GPS]

3 minutes ago, aimee0715 said:

We booked with Eclipse Travel out of Sydney, Australia.  That is the only site that I found this particular cruise on. I subsequently found it on another site but that company was also in Australia.  I'm going to have to figure out how to do a bank draft to them before final payment because they charge 3% fee if you use a Visa or Mastercard.  3% on a trip of this cost really adds up. 

 

 I just watched a video that someone shared in another post on this board.  The man who made the video was on a different ship but the same itinerary.  It was just amazing. 

I think there are only a few cabins left, just a premium suite and couple C's, that's why other sites are no longer selling them. When I was looking, you could buy from a few agencies or direct.  You are lucky to get a B so late in the game (this was selling fast a year ago!), so hold onto it!

 

[aimee0715]

On 8/5/2020 at 3:11 PM, GPS said:

I think there are only a few cabins left, just a premium suite and couple C's, that's why other sites are no longer selling them. When I was looking, you could buy from a few agencies or direct.  You are lucky to get a B so late in the game (this was selling fast a year ago!), so hold onto it!

 

I have just received confirmation that our cabin is number 802.

[donaldsc]

This is a late response but it might help.  I know that we are not allowed to mention travel agencies so the moderator might have to remove this post.  However, I worked w a wonderful Antarctica based travel agency in England although they do have an American phone number.  They set me up with a wonderful cruise that did just the Falklands and South Georgia Island. They were very responsive and very helpful.  Use Google to try to find them.  Sorry that I can not be more specific.  You do have to do a lot of communications with your TA on an Antarctica cruise.

 

DON