"Must Do" Antarctica Excursions ?

[Gitmo]

Looking for input on "Must Do" Antarctica excursions.   We will be on the 16 day "Antarctica and Cape Horn" trip and sailing on the Sapphire Princess.  Any input would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance and happy sailing!

[dog]

Check terms when booking excursions some were non refundable re: flight to Antarctica. 

[Gitmo]

49 minutes ago, dog said:

Check terms when booking excursions some were non refundable re: flight to Antarctica. 

Dog, do you have more information about the flight to Antarctica?  Did you do it?  If not, do you know if it was through Princess?  Thanks !

[Greg4502]

Most likely you will just be cruising by. If there is an excursion offered to go ashore, the cost is up there.

Two years ago I went around the horn on the Emerald. One of the passengers that I talked to a lot, took the excursion to

Antarctica. He said excursion of a life time. The cost was in the $3000.00 range. It is a go, no go trip. If the weather is bad, no go. His trip was perfect. He said the day before the flight over, everything you would be taking is decontaminated. He said it is a long day, leave early, gone long all day. Once on land, they give you an emergency food package. You are told not to snack on it. The weather can change so quick, you may get stuck, until they can get you out. The are shelters. But, overall, he said if was amazing. When he described his day, when he got back, I wish I would have taken the excursion.

[donaldsc]

My 

5 minutes ago, Greg4502 said:

Most likely you will just be cruising by. If there is an excursion offered to go ashore, the cost is up there.

Two years ago I went around the horn on the Emerald. One of the passengers that I talked to a lot, took the excursion to

Antarctica. He said excursion of a life time. The cost was in the $3000.00 range. It is a go, no go trip. If the weather is bad, no go. His trip was perfect. He said the day before the flight over, everything you would be taking is decontaminated. He said it is a long day, leave early, gone long all day. Once on land, they give you an emergency food package. You are told not to snack on it. The weather can change so quick, you may get stuck, until they can get you out. The are shelters. But, overall, he said if was amazing. When he described his day, when he got back, I wish I would have taken the excursion.

 

Couple of comments on the 1 day $3000 flight to Antarctica:

1) I would assume that this trip is cancelled fairly  often because of weather.

2) For maybe $10,000 you can take a real trip to Antarctica with a fair number of landings in different places.  This is a much better deal in my opinion.  How many hours are you actually on continent with this $3000 trip and how many different places do ypu visit.

 

DON

[Bookish Angel]

Very good point, donaldsc.  
 

We made 4 spectacular Zodiac landings during our time in Antarctica. Though the trip for 2 was pricey, we felt that the odds of making at least one of four landings were much better than that of a frequently canceled flight.

 

We considered an expedition ship with excellent lecturers with other knowledge-seekers/adventurers and actual landings “must-dos.”

 

Edited June 20, 2020 by Bookish Angel

[Nitemare]

Agree with the others.  If you are on a big ship (over 200 passengers) you will get views of Antarctica, but you won't be getting off.  And it is questionable what ships will even be allowed in those latitudes going forward with the new Polar Code.

On the smaller, expedition ships, you get off every day wherever the Captain can find clear waters and landing spots.  No picking and choosing except for maybe adding on things like Kayaking if you want.

[SarniaLo]

19 hours ago, Nitemare said:

Agree with the others.  If you are on a big ship (over 200 passengers) you will get views of Antarctica, but you won't be getting off.  And it is questionable what ships will even be allowed in those latitudes going forward with the new Polar Code.

 

Not strictly true. It is possible to land from ships up to 500 passengers, but the landings spots allowed for ships carrying between 200 and 500 passengers are limited. And because of logistics (always less than 100 people ashore at the same time), time ashore from those ships is limited and usually they can only do one landing per day (weather permitting). For instance the two newest Hurtigruten ships (MS Roald Amudsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen), both hybrid ships, will be allowed in Antarctica under the new Polar Code, and carry up to 500 passengers, and passengers can land.
But agree with you that, for me, as far as a ship in Antarctica is concerned, the smaller the better 😉 .

[Nitemare]

Good point.  I had that 200 number drilled into me.  Hope to not make this error again

[donaldsc]

On 6/23/2020 at 1:20 AM, SarniaLo said:

Not strictly true. It is possible to land from ships up to 500 passengers, but the landings spots allowed for ships carrying between 200 and 500 passengers are limited. And because of logistics (always less than 100 people ashore at the same time), time ashore from those ships is limited and usually they can only do one landing per day (weather permitting). For instance the two newest Hurtigruten ships (MS Roald Amudsen and MS Fridtjof Nansen), both hybrid ships, will be allowed in Antarctica under the new Polar Code, and carry up to 500 passengers, and passengers can land.
But agree with you that, for me, as far as a ship in Antarctica is concerned, the smaller the better 😉 .

 

We did Antarctica on the Nordkapp.  They kept the number of passengers under 200 so we landed in 2 groups and I felt that we had enough time at each place.  We did 2 landings per day and because we lucked pout w the weather we did 10 landings .  The one thing that I felt that we missed was that we did not have the opportunities to do extended zodiac rides that we might have gotten on a smaller expedition ship.  

 

DON