An…um… sensitive question about a bodily function

[Woodrowst]

We are booked on a February cruise to Antarctica on the Crystal Endeavor.   I have a sensitive question:  how long is the typical cruise ship excursion and are they long enough where I might have to pee?  If so, where/how do I go?  
 

David

[donaldsc]

If you are talking about being on land in Antarctica, there will be zodiacs shuttling back and forth from the beaches to the ship.  On my trips to Antarctica which were not on Crystal, there were no facilities on land so you will have to go back to the ship if necessary.  Have you considered using Depends or a similar product if you have to go a lot.

 

DON

[Woodrowst]

3 hours ago, donaldsc said:

If you are talking about being on land in Antarctica, there will be zodiacs shuttling back and forth from the beaches to the ship.  On my trips to Antarctica which were not on Crystal, there were no facilities on land so you will have to go back to the ship if necessary.  Have you considered using Depends or a similar product if you have to go a lot.

 

DON

Don-   Your comments are very helpful.   How long did you typically spend on land?

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, Woodrowst said:

Don-   Your comments are very helpful.   How long did you typically spend on land?

 

We were there for maybe 2 - 4 hours depending upon the stop.   Sometimes we did 2 landings on a day so these were the stops w the shorter time on each landing.  I stayed as long as they let me stay.  However you can always come back sooner as the zodiacs will shuttle back and forth although the main reason you are taking the trip is to be on so land so I can't imagine why you would want to cut your stay on land short.

 

DON

Edited September 29, 2021 by donaldsc

[Nitemare]

2-4 hours is the same for SilverSea.  We brought small bottles of water with us as the air is quite dry, but we made sure we "went before we left home"

[PaulMCO]

Since Crystal has almost 200 guests one 1/2 the guests would be on shore and the other half would be doing a zodiac cruise.  I would say at most 3 hours.  No facilities on land -- except at Port Lockroy and maybe in South Georgia in the museum/post office

[Catlover54]

On 9/29/2021 at 10:31 AM, Woodrowst said:

We are booked on a February cruise to Antarctica on the Crystal Endeavor.   I have a sensitive question:  how long is the typical cruise ship excursion and are they long enough where I might have to pee?  If so, where/how do I go?  
 

David

I had this problem with some Endeavor excursions in Iceland a couple months ago -- no facilities, not even a primitive portapotty, much less a bush, for 3.5 hours ( and no warnings this would be the case).   

The young healthy people running the zodiaks brushed it off with a twinkle in their eyes.

 

In a pinch, ( apart from no morning coffee, no hydrating, and no eating), remember you are lucky, because you are a man.

[Woodrowst]

15 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

I had this problem with some Endeavor excursions in Iceland a couple months ago -- no facilities, not even a primitive portapotty, much less a bush, for 3.5 hours ( and no warnings this would be the case).   

The young healthy people running the zodiaks brushed it off with a twinkle in their eyes.

 

In a pinch, ( apart from no morning coffee, no hydrating, and no eating), remember you are lucky, because you are a man.

🙂

[PerfectlyPerth]

On 10/19/2021 at 11:35 AM, Catlover54 said:

 

 

In a pinch, ( apart from no morning coffee, no hydrating, and no eating), remember you are lucky, because you are a man.

Bearing in mind of course that the IAATO rules regarding not peeing (or worse) on land are extremely clear. 
https://iaato.org/blog/dont-hug-the-penguins-and-other-rules-in-antarctica-3/

 

https://iaato.org/blog/dont-hug-the-penguins-and-other-rules-in-antarctica-3/

[pdmlynek]

On 10/26/2021 at 1:38 PM, PerfectlyPerth said:

Bearing in mind of course that the IAATO rules regarding not peeing (or worse) on land are extremely clear. 
https://iaato.org/blog/dont-hug-the-penguins-and-other-rules-in-antarctica-3/

 

https://iaato.org/blog/dont-hug-the-penguins-and-other-rules-in-antarctica-3/

 

Treating Antarctica as some sterile environment is weird. After all, penguin and other birds are able to bring microbes from other parts of the world to Antarctica just fine. So can ocean currents or dust particles. Antarctica is not isolatable from the rest of the world -- the ozone hole demonstrates that.

 

However, if we do presume that Antarctica is isolatable, then a ban on pooping makes sense. Fecal matter contains microbes. I presume that there is a reason why a human feces is harmful to Antarctica, yet millions of penguin pooping is somehow OK.

 

On the other hand, what is the issue with urine? Urine is sterile. Is the ban on urination just a measure to telegraph that defecating is banned? Or is there more to it that I am not seeing?

[kaisatsu]

18 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

Or is there more to it that I am not seeing?

Popular landing sites can easily see hundreds of visitors per day. There is no fauna to cover up human waste, and yellow snow is going to stand out among the pink penguin poop. You are expected to stick to shared paths at many sites to minimize the visitor impact, so you’d basically be urinating right alongside a route that many people will be using right after you. Everyone wants to enjoy the most unspoiled environment they can, so pissing on the path won’t go over so well. Especially since most landings are just a few hours, and the staff will take you back to the ship if nature calls.

[pdmlynek]

27 minutes ago, kaisatsu said:

Popular landing sites can easily see hundreds of visitors per day. There is no fauna to cover up human waste, and yellow snow is going to stand out among the pink penguin poop. You are expected to stick to shared paths at many sites to minimize the visitor impact, so you’d basically be urinating right alongside a route that many people will be using right after you. Everyone wants to enjoy the most unspoiled environment they can, so pissing on the path won’t go over so well. Especially since most landings are just a few hours, and the staff will take you back to the ship if nature calls.

Thank you! Your explanation makes sense.  I appreciate it.

 

I had no idea that the visitors are concentrated in just a few spots. I just thought that the ships navigators take the ship along the favorite islands, and given the weather and time, will land at any suitable landing spot.  I did not realize that there were land routes that are used over and over.

 

So is there some sort of a list of approved or prefered landing sites, or do captains land where ever they want?  I'd like to see which landing sites are more popular and which are less popular. 

 

 

[kaisatsu]

6 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

So is there some sort of a list of approved or prefered landing sites, or do captains land where ever they want?  I'd like to see which landing sites are more popular and which are less popular. 

All of the landing sites are regulated by IAATO with visitor guidelines specific to each one. In some places the guidelines specify areas where visitors can explore. In others there are particular routes that should be used to minimize erosion. If there is still significant snow at a landing site, visitors are usually asked to stay on the paths created by previous visitors or on routes tramped out ahead of time by the expedition staff. This further minimizes visitor impact on the ecosystem, and in places with penguin colonies, it avoids the creation of isolated boot holes that can trap a penguin that stumbles into one.

 

The actual sites visited are controlled by a scheduling system to avoid two ships ending up at the same landing site at the same time. Each company lists their preferred ranking of locations and the central system allocates them appropriately. This includes backup sites in case conditions don’t allow access to the original site. However, in some situations I think ships may radio one another to trade sites when it makes sense.

 

You can find a list of site usage here. It’s for the 2018-19 season, but it’s probably more representative than more recent numbers given the industry impacts of COVID.

[PerfectlyPerth]

On 2/24/2023 at 1:24 PM, pdmlynek said:

 

Treating Antarctica as some sterile environment is weird. After all, penguin and other birds are able to bring microbes from other parts of the world to Antarctica just fine. So can ocean currents or dust particles. Antarctica is not isolatable from the rest of the world -- the ozone hole demonstrates that.

 

However, if we do presume that Antarctica is isolatable, then a ban on pooping makes sense. Fecal matter contains microbes. I presume that there is a reason why a human feces is harmful to Antarctica, yet millions of penguin pooping is somehow OK.

 

On the other hand, what is the issue with urine? Urine is sterile. Is the ban on urination just a measure to telegraph that defecating is banned? Or is there more to it that I am not seeing?

Did you bother to read the IAATO links before commenting? Your attitude would suggest this is not the ideal travel location for you. 
We don't set the rules & guidelines but as visitors we certainly respect and comply with them. It is expected by every operator and its passengers & crew. 
Researching a travel destination is one thing, but rubbishing the guidelines for that destination is just disrespectful.

We are all travellers. The majority of us fully respect the environment of the destinations we visit.

 

Just as demanding posters here have access to years of sea conditions and produce them at your whim - as you have on a previous post - is bordering on ridiculous. Do you ask the same of people on an African safari - how many days did it rain in the past decade? Did the lions still appear on cue in the rain ? 
There is a real danger in over researching down to the enth degree for a trip of this nature. As we (and every member of every expedition team) all like to say "throw expectations out the window and go with the flow". 
If someone did provide you with the past stats on sea conditions in the Drake - what would you then do when your specific ship encounters a storm, or a rogue wave which of course are completely unpredictable? 
Traversing the Drake Passage and Southern Ocean multiple times does not make me nor anyone else a professional meteorologist ! It simply makes us people who enjoy the big seas. In my case the bigger the better. 🌊🌊