Seabourn air charter for the Antarctica Cruises?

[cruisr]

For those that have done these charters this past winter how bad were they?  Friends of mine had a charter last year for Greenland and they said it was awful.

 

What charter company did they use this past season.  I know it could change of course.  What type of equipment was it? Was there a business class section?  How were seat assignments handled?

What time did it leave Buenos Aires and what time did it return?   

 

Thanks

[Khareef]

16 hours ago, cruisr said:

For those that have done these charters this past winter how bad were they?  Friends of mine had a charter last year for Greenland and they said it was awful.

 

What charter company did they use this past season.  I know it could change of course.  What type of equipment was it? Was there a business class section?  How were seat assignments handled?

What time did it leave Buenos Aires and what time did it return?   

 

Thanks

I think it was JetSmart Argentina, the flight left pretty early in the morning. Just a poorly maintained fairly dirty low cost charter, of course there is no business class and seats are arranged randomly. The food (sandwich) was pretty bad so I didn't actually eat any of it (but the snacks were ok). The one good thing is that the seat in the middle was left empty so it didn't feel too cramped. It is a 3 hours flight I think so not a big deal.   It is what it is, you just need to get to Ushuaia, the real thing starts from there.

 

I mean most domestic flights in the USA and Europe are pretty mediocre as well. To be honest I took some 10 hours + international flights that were a disgrace (Iberia being the worst airline company ever) so I can handle almost anything for just 3 hours. Especially with nobody in the middle.

 

The real thing to worry about is the drake passage 🙂 

 

Have fun and be patient at the Buenos Aires airport, you might have to wait a bit before being picked up.

 

 

[jjs217]

We did the charter last December on a Venture Antarctica cruise.  Oh my goodness - we had to get up at 3:15AM (and that was having clothes layed out and everything ready to go.)  The plane was in pretty bad shape and they served the strangest meal.  It was a sandwich, but it was a strange sandwich.  We didn't get offered snacks or any extra beverage during the flight.  I went to the restroom in the back and the flight attendants were packing their roll-aboards with all the bags of chips and left over cans of soda.  I would have been willing to pay a little extra for the cruise (it's crazy expensive anyway) for a nicer charter with a better meal.

[DTtravelers]

22 hours ago, cruisr said:

For those that have done these charters this past winter how bad were they?  Friends of mine had a charter last year for Greenland and they said it was awful.

 

What charter company did they use this past season.  I know it could change of course.  What type of equipment was it? Was there a business class section?  How were seat assignments handled?

What time did it leave Buenos Aires and what time did it return?   

 

Thanks

Hi Cruisr:

 

Note that you do not have to put up with these charters: there are multiple daily commercial flights with Premium Economy that will let you select your seats for reasonable fares and that fly reasonable times during the day.  Up to you, but there are other choices.  Stay a night in a hotel and enjoy Ushuaia.  It will cost you more, but your stress level might be way lower.

 

Dave

 

[cruisr]

43 minutes ago, DTtravelers said:

Hi Cruisr:

 

Note that you do not have to put up with these charters: there are multiple daily commercial flights with Premium Economy that will let you select your seats for reasonable fares and that fly reasonable times during the day.  Up to you, but there are other choices.  Stay a night in a hotel and enjoy Ushuaia.  It will cost you more, but your stress level might be way lower.

 

Dave

 

Already checked that and wanted to do that but Seabourn said I had to go on the charter.  i explained I do not want a refund of the hotel night in BA nor do I want a refund for the charter (both of which are included in the price.  They also said the same thing for another cruise I was considering which involved a charter.  Been to Antarctica twice and enjoyed it.  Silversea will let me do my own thing re Ushuaia so will probably book with them.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

[DTtravelers]

Seriously??  That would be a showstopper for me.  It is absolutely none of Seabourn's (or any other cruise line's) business how you get to/from their ships.  My brother is booked for Jan.  I'll let him know the bad news.

 

I am guessing your other charter might have been Reykjavik to Kangerlaussaq.  No way I would book that one either.

 

Others may be more adventuresome, but I want my adventures ON the ship.

 

[cruisr]

The other was Cape Verde to Malaga on the Venture.  Told could you could come only do the charter from Lisbon and the pre night n Lisbon

[cruiseej]

8 hours ago, cruisr said:

Silversea will let me do my own thing re Ushuaia so will probably book with them.

 

We traveled Silversea to Antarctica this past winter. Two notes…

 

1) Silversea no longer cruises out of Ushuaia; their flights and ships go into and out of Puerto Williams, Chile. It's only 20 minutes down the channel, but there's not much of a town there compared to Ushuaia. It makes for a seamless transfer onto the ship and back. There's no overnight involved: plane to minibus to ship and reverse. Very quick and smooth. The flights from Santiago are early afternoon, and returning from Puerto Williams after breakfast on the ship in the morning — no travel in the wee hours of the morning. But if you want to go to Ushuaia first, I'm not sure there's an easy way to get to Puerto Williams; I think you need to fly back to Punta Arenas and on from there, going through customs between Argentina and Chile. 

 

2) Silversea really elevates their charter flights compared to Seabourn. The Antarctic Airways regional jets are 2-across seating, so there's no middle seat. The planes are in pristine shape. You fly from a private terminal at the Santiago airport. The alcohol flows, and they make a decent effort on the food (although it wasn't great).

[cruisr]

Thanks @cruiseej That is really good information.  

[WNcruiser]

On 7/8/2023 at 2:51 PM, cruisr said:

Already checked that and wanted to do that but Seabourn said I had to go on the charter.  i explained I do not want a refund of the hotel night in BA nor do I want a refund for the charter (both of which are included in the price.  They also said the same thing for another cruise I was considering which involved a charter.  Been to Antarctica twice and enjoyed it.  Silversea will let me do my own thing re Ushuaia so will probably book with them.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

Both of Sulverseas Antarctica ships (Wind and cloud) were built in the 90’s. No comparison to the Venture.

 

Jetsmart is a fairly new airline that has all new A320 planes, most less than 5 years. Im surprised to hear people say they aren’t maintained well. 

[cruiseej]

6 hours ago, WNcruiser said:

Both of Sulverseas Antarctica ships (Wind and cloud) were built in the 90’s. No comparison to the Venture.

 

But they've now added the Endeavour, a 2 year-old purpose-built expedition ship.

[Khareef]

17 hours ago, WNcruiser said:

Both of Sulverseas Antarctica ships (Wind and cloud) were built in the 90’s. No comparison to the Venture.

 

Jetsmart is a fairly new airline that has all new A320 planes, most less than 5 years. Im surprised to hear people say they aren’t maintained well. 

 

They might be fairly new A320 but they must have bought the bare minimum models...plane was frankly embarrassing and so dirty and poorly kept that I do wonder what sense of decency does the company have. Not to mention the attitude from the flight assistants....now I happen to speak Spanish  and some comments they made about the American passengers were nothing to be proud of...

 

 

[WNcruiser]

2 hours ago, Khareef said:

 

They might be fairly new A320 but they must have bought the bare minimum models...plane was frankly embarrassing and so dirty and poorly kept that I do wonder what sense of decency does the company have. Not to mention the attitude from the flight assistants....now I happen to speak Spanish  and some comments they made about the American passengers were nothing to be proud of...

 

 

That’s very disappointing to hear. Hopefully Seabourn has received this feedback from many of their customers and can find a more suitable charter company.