Considering Antarctica & Cape Horn on Sapphire Princess in Dec '22, Oceanview or Balcony?

[Allograft]

As above, we're thinking about going in the middle of the southern hemisphere's summer, but I still expect that it may be quite chilly at times.

a) Thoughts about if the balcony rooms are cold at night?

b) Do the balcony decks freeze making them effectively unusable for recreating?

c) Are people inside most of the time at the cafeteria taking in the view from the windows and sipping warm beverages?

d) other helpful thoughts, tips, tricks, lessons?

 

 

[skrink]

I was there in January on a small expedition ship.  

 

Be sure you understand that this is a drive-by cruise and you will NOT make landings on the continent.  Very strict regulations govern the types of ships that can allow passengers to set foot on land.  Only small ships built (or retrofitted) to meet the Polar Code, and which strictly follow IAATO regulations, can do this. 

 

A) Your room’s thermostat keeps the cabin temperature regulated.  More importantly, find out if the Sapphire has room darkening drapes since there’s longer daylight the further south you go.  I would think they do, since the Regal has them.

 

B) Decks don’t freeze, but they might get wet while crossing the Drake.  There may be times when they close the lower, forward outside decks due to sea spray.  We had the Drake Lake (instead of the Drake Shake) going to/from Ushuaia and at times the spray at the front of the ship was like going through a car wash.  Water washed over the ship as high as the 8th deck.  They asked us to stay off our balconies at those times, but as soon as we got out of the Drake it was smoother and we were out on our balconies watching penguins and icebergs.

 

C) People on my cruise were all over the ship, i.e. on their balconies, out on decks, in the auditorium attending lectures, and in eating areas.  I saw very few sipping warm beverages.  The ship offered hot cocoa after excursions, but very few people took advantage of it.  When wildlife and fantastic scenery were around, most were out on decks.  Seeing it was what we came for.

 

D) Come prepared with seasickness remedies.  If you’re not familiar with the what it’s like crossing the Drake Passage, do some research on it.  Even the crew got sick our first night in the Drake, despite having the Drake Lake.  (Our crew had been crossing the Drake regularly for a couple of months at that point.).  One member of the expedition team said that when it’s the Drake Shake, the only way to describe it is like being in a washing machine.  Watch for albatross in the Beagle Channel.  Binoculars might be handy.  

 

When I was there in January, it was warmer there than it was here in the midwest.  Temps were in the 30s (Fahrenheit) at our southernmost point (Lemaire Channel) and 40s (northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula).  I took a winter coat and it was perfect.  

 

The weather changes very quickly and the captain will have to navigate accordingly, so flexibility is key.  Just because they tell you where they’re headed doesn’t mean you’ll get there if conditions change.  This includes tidal and wind issues (which can cause icebergs to block your path) and channels unexpectedly becoming ice-choked.  You may never see these things, but the captain will be continuously monitoring conditions and navigating to avoid potential hazards.

 

Skrink

 

[Nitemare]

On our Antarctica cruise, that did have landings, it was chilly enough on our balcony that we would wear fleeces or winter coats out there.  But the deck never got icy.

 

For dinner there was an excellent outdoor option which had overhead heaters and blankets for your laps, and most folks wore winter coats or parkas, depending on personal tolerance.

[Allograft]

Thanks @skrinkand @Nitemare

[kaisatsu]

Around the peninsula I’ve had ice and snow build up on deck when there’s snowfall. The crew just hosed the decks down (and left behind the tiny snowman we built).

 

Farther south in the Ross Sea we did have the decks ice up and have to be closed. But that was on a small

ship (so sea spray reached much higher) and it was around -20°C. It’s very uncommon for summer temps up around the peninsula to be that low for any length of time.

 

I think having a balcony could be nice, but I don’t mind bundling up to stay out on deck, so I’d probably choose to be out on a public deck where I could see more of the surroundings and switch views as needed.

 

(Disclaimer: None of my trips have been drive-bys, but my last one involved only 45 minutes ashore in Antarctica, followed by 25 days without setting foot off the ship. I feel I’ve done a fair amount of “scenic cruising!” 😂)

Edited August 2, 2022 by kaisatsu

[rkacruiser]

On 8/2/2022 at 4:35 PM, kaisatsu said:

Around the peninsula I’ve had ice and snow build up on deck when there’s snowfall.

 

Experienced that and it is fun to watch the Indonesian and Filipino crew members' reaction to seeing their first snow.  

 

As to where to book, I recommend an outside as low of a deck as possible and as close to mid-ship as possible.  

[Heartfelttraveler]

On 8/2/2022 at 4:35 PM, kaisatsu said:

(Disclaimer: None of my trips have been drive-bys, but my last one involved only 45 minutes ashore in Antarctica, followed by 25 days without setting foot off the ship. I feel I’ve done a fair amount of “scenic cruising!” 😂)

What happened that you only had one landing (and no ports) on a 25 day Antarctica trip?

[Rothko1]

On 8/1/2022 at 9:30 AM, skrink said:

D) Come prepared with seasickness remedies.  If you’re not familiar with the what it’s like crossing the Drake Passage, do some research on it.  Even the crew got sick our first night in the Drake, despite having the Drake Lake.  (Our crew had been crossing the Drake regularly for a couple of months at that point.).  One member of the expedition team said that when it’s the Drake Shake, the only way to describe it is like being in a washing machine.  

 

 

 

I've heard about how rough the Passage can be.  I'm scheduled on a cruise in February where we are going to fly over to King George Island instead and embark there, rather than make the Passage.

 

How are the waters actually down in Antarctica?  Can they still be rough or are they fairly calm?

[skrink]

>How are the waters actually down in Antarctica?  Can they still be rough or are they fairly calm?

 

Sounds like a wonderful trip.  The water around Antarctica is fairly calm but the weather is changeable - which means that flexibility is key.  I found the Drake to be a blast and would do it again in a heartbeat, rough seas and all.  Whatever the seas are like when you go, it will be worth it!

[donaldsc]

10 hours ago, skrink said:

>How are the waters actually down in Antarctica?  Can they still be rough or are they fairly calm?

 

Sounds like a wonderful trip.  The water around Antarctica is fairly calm but the weather is changeable - which means that flexibility is key.  I found the Drake to be a blast and would do it again in a heartbeat, rough seas and all.  Whatever the seas are like when you go, it will be worth it!

 

We had force 10 winds when we came back from Antarctica.  It was great.

 

I also did a trip to S. Georgia.  When we left Ushuaia several of the ships that were going to go to Antarctica did not leave port because of the winds.    We were heading in a different direction to the Falklands and then to S Georgia so we avoided the weather but our captain said that the Antarctica bound ships might be stuck in port for several days.  On our last day in S. Georgia we had 70 mph winds.  We were supposed to do a zodiac trip that day.  Needless to say the zodiac trip was cancelled.

 

DON

[PerfectlyPerth]

On 8/25/2022 at 7:15 AM, Heartfelttraveler said:

What happened that you only had one landing (and no ports) on a 25 day Antarctica trip?

Covid happened. She was on one of the last small expedition vessels as lockdowns etc started affecting every country. 

Edited August 26, 2022 by PerfectlyPerth

[kaisatsu]

On 8/24/2022 at 11:15 PM, Heartfelttraveler said:

What happened that you only had one landing (and no ports) on a 25 day Antarctica trip?

It was actually weather and ice more than COVID. We were just in front of a particularly large storm, so the sea conditions made it too difficult to land in several places.

 

Once that weather system had passed, we had a four-day stretch to sail from the Ross Sea to the peninsula, but the storm had moved a patch of ice into the path of the ship. Since we were well south of the Antarctic Circle, we had no satellite internet and couldn’t get updated reports. After two days we had gone back 50 nautical miles!

 

So we were behind schedule and due in port on a certain day. We cut our peninsula visit down to one day, but then the winds were against us, and they had to cut out that one day and head straight to port. We weren’t even sure we would make it on time.

 

We did make it, but due to the start of the pandemic Ushuaia wouldn’t let us disembark (despite having not been in contact with humans for 30 days). So we tacked on another 10 days sailing to Montevideo while a bunch of governments decided what to do with us.

 

Before the pandemic, we had managed a 15-minute helicopter landing in the Dry Valleys, and a 30-minute visit to Cape Evans to visit Scott’s Hut (since we were traveling with the administration of the Scott Polar Research Center and Scott’s granddaughter). That was the entirety of the Antarctic landings we managed, and after Cape Evans we never set foot off the ship (no small boat cruising or heli flights) for the 25 days it took us to get to Ushuaia and then on to Montevideo.

 

Not the trip we were expecting, but the one we got! (If it hadn’t been so incredibly expensive, I would have no regrets!)

[pdmlynek]

On 8/2/2022 at 4:35 PM, kaisatsu said:

(Disclaimer: None of my trips have been drive-bys, but my last one involved only 45 minutes ashore in Antarctica, followed by 25 days without setting foot off the ship....

Wait.  This suggests that you were in Antarctica in an expedition clas ship for about a month, yet you were off the ship only once?  Am I reading that correctly?  If so, is that pretty normal?

[pdmlynek]

On 8/27/2022 at 6:20 AM, kaisatsu said:

It was actually weather and ice more than COVID. We were just in front of a particularly large storm, so the sea conditions made it too difficult to land in several places.

 

Once that weather system had passed, we had a four-day stretch to sail from the Ross Sea to the peninsula, but the storm had moved a patch of ice into the path of the ship. Since we were well south of the Antarctic Circle, we had no satellite internet and couldn’t get updated reports. After two days we had gone back 50 nautical miles!

 

So we were behind schedule and due in port on a certain day. We cut our peninsula visit down to one day, but then the winds were against us, and they had to cut out that one day and head straight to port. We weren’t even sure we would make it on time.

 

We did make it, but due to the start of the pandemic Ushuaia wouldn’t let us disembark (despite having not been in contact with humans for 30 days). So we tacked on another 10 days sailing to Montevideo while a bunch of governments decided what to do with us.

 

Before the pandemic, we had managed a 15-minute helicopter landing in the Dry Valleys, and a 30-minute visit to Cape Evans to visit Scott’s Hut (since we were traveling with the administration of the Scott Polar Research Center and Scott’s granddaughter). That was the entirety of the Antarctic landings we managed, and after Cape Evans we never set foot off the ship (no small boat cruising or heli flights) for the 25 days it took us to get to Ushuaia and then on to Montevideo.

 

Not the trip we were expecting, but the one we got! (If it hadn’t been so incredibly expensive, I would have no regrets!)

Thank you for the very nice report!

[kaisatsu]

On 2/16/2023 at 3:29 PM, pdmlynek said:

Wait.  This suggests that you were in Antarctica in an expedition clas ship for about a month, yet you were off the ship only once?  Am I reading that correctly?  If so, is that pretty normal?

No, not normal at all! 😂 See my post above for the general explanation. The original trip was scheduled to be 30 days, and it ended up being 40 with the COVID closures.

 

We actually managed two landings in Antarctica proper (plus one on Campbell Island), but after that weather, sea ice, and COVID kept us on the ship for the next 25 days straight.

 

My previous trips were more normal expedition trips with 1-2 landings per day around the peninsula.

Edited February 19, 2023 by kaisatsu

[pdmlynek]

2 hours ago, kaisatsu said:

No, not normal at all! 😂 See my post above for the general explanation. The original trip was scheduled to be 30 days, and it ended up being 40 with the COVID closures.

Oops, sorry that I missed the post above.  😞