Best Line for Adventurous Science Nerds?

[acing_spades1]

Looking into an Antarctica cruise for my partner and I and we're not typical demographic so it's been a bit difficult to parse out the options. Late 20s / early 30s, relatively fit but not competitive athletes, penchant for adventures, and big fans of lifelong learning (especially science for me). She loves a good spa day but otherwise not very set on typical luxury experiences. Pretty frugal in everyday life as we value experiences over materials. Not having to dress up for dinner is a bonus. Tl;Dr at the bottom.

 

My current thoughts are:

 

Viking

• Has the most comprehensive science center. Laboratory on ship with an entire Citizens Science Program. 
• Partnership with Cambridge University, Cornell University, and NOAA. Very new to the region.
• Clearly a lot of thought put into the lecture hall design with the 270deg windows.
• More traditional cruise ship with great spa. She likes massages but I do have a soft spot for a Nordic hot/cold pool setup.
• Zodiacs, kayaking and hiking included. Submarines for a fee.
• Possibility for free or reduced airfare depending on sales and sail date.

 

Lindblad / National Geographic

• Has a "science center" but puzzlingly not a laboratory. However, is the only line advertising a remotely operated vehicle, underwater video camera, hydrophone, aerial camera, and video microscope.
• Partnership with National Geographic (but is Nat Geo a real science partnership or really just Photography+). Long history in the region.
• Zodiacs, kayaking, hiking, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing are included.
• Small, X-Bow construction, Polar Class 5.

 

Hurtigruten

• The larger ships have a very comprehensive science center with laboratory. Promises of actual science work.
• No formal science partnerships. Long history in the region. 
• For such a large capacity ship the amenities seem a little low but cost is substantially cheaper.
• Website leaves a lot to be desired -- zodiacs, kayaking, hiking, snowshoeing, and camping are all offered but hard to tell what's included.

 

Swan Hellenic

• "Expedition Center" laboratory (with no microscopes?) and Citizen Science Programme but quite vague about what that entails.
• No formal science partnerships. Long history in the region.
• More traditional, upscale looking cruise ship (like Viking) but for a low fare.
• Zodiacs, kayaking, hiking, and snowshoeing in the brochure but unclear what's included vs extra. 
• Small, Polar Class 5

 

Quark

• No science center. 
• No science partnership.
• Zodiacs and hiking included. Kayaking, paddleboarding, and camping available for an extra fee.
• Small, cheapest but lots of possible add-ons 

 

Hurtigruten and Swan Hellenic are substantially cheaper, Viking is the mid ground, and Nat Geo is a fair deal more. While this is a bucket list trip and I don't want to be cheap, I am value oriented. Viking pulls at my nerd heartstrings with the science focus (those partnerships!) and seems like it's a good mix of luxury and expedition but it's a bigger boat and I am concerned about how that affects excursions. For roughly $2k more than a single person fare on Viking, though, we could cover the both of us on Hurtigruten which coincidentally has the second-best lab. Nat Geo and Swan Hellenic being small Polar Class 5 vessels logically to me seem like an availability for less competition for excursions, getting closer to land, etc but that may be unfounded. In terms of excursions, Nat Geo and Hurtigruten have the best swath but I'm assuming those are dependent on early season travel when there's more snow (which I'm not opposed to unless there's major benefits to going high season). Plus, knowing full well that all excursions may or may not actually happen, that seems a silly thing to make the deciding factor.

 

Tl;Dr Thoughts and advice? Go full tilt and spend big bucks on Lindblad / Nat Geo? Sacrifice the science for the small boat, upscale affordability of Swan Hellenic? Big boat, upscale, intellectualism price tag of Viking? By far biggest boat, big science lab but no partnerships, less upscale but cheap Hurtigruten? 

Edited August 18, 2023 by acing_spades1

[Woodrowst]

You kind of lost me at “no microscopes”.  Why would you need/want a microscope on an Antarctica cruise?  What are the bucket list things you want to do on the cruise?  Most people.focus on experiencing the landscape/wildlife/environment but it seems you are looking for something different?

[acing_spades1]

9 minutes ago, Woodrowst said:

You kind of lost me at “no microscopes”.  Why would you need/want a microscope on an Antarctica cruise?  What are the bucket list things you want to do on the cruise?  Most people.focus on experiencing the landscape/wildlife/environment but it seems you are looking for something different?

Just nerd stuff in general. Not having microscopes isn't a deal breaker or anything, nothing really is when we're talking "Antarctica cruise" sphere, but it would be really cool to be able to look at the special Antarctic stuff close up like that. Since everyone does lectures the laboratories are a cool way to dive in deeper and an easy way to differentiate between lines. There will be much enjoyment of the environment and wildlife as well but again that's a given for any line. 

[donaldsc]

This is sort of an answer.  We did a cruise in AK on a ship that advertised that they had a science program.  It was all sort of Mickey Mouse science.- sort of fun but totally meaningless.

 

DON

[kaisatsu]

Out of my three trips (GAdventures, Hurtigruten, and Oceanwide) the only one that had any hard science was the Oceanwide trip, and that was only because I happened to be on a sailing that included an organized event for the Scott Polar Research Institute, so some of the actual polar researchers and prominent figures were on board and gave their own lectures about their activities and soon-to-be-published research. Next season they are doing a chartered expedition, but I don’t recall the dates. Since Julian has retired, I’m not sure he will have any new research to share, but this is the only publicly-accessible expedition I know of that features actual polar scientists on board. At the research station visits I’ve been on, they didn’t get into much detail on the science itself, but sometimes you get lucky and an expedition ship will provide transport for someone to or from a research base. I’ve been lucky enough to share a dinner table with someone on their way back from their time working on base.

 

The Citizen Science program is very limited by the work that laymen can actually do, so a lot of it is pretty basic. One of the biggest benefits the program brings to science is actually the photography. All those visitors with high-end cameras and wildlife photography skills provide valuable data about things like whale migration, because they can identify individuals through the photographs. It has been so successful that I think they’ve extended this beyond whales to some other species that can be similarly ID-ed.

One caveat about Hurtigruten and its promotional science center: they’re only on the larger ships, and unless something has changed in recent years, the expedition staff have to lecture from company slides. That means that even if you’re with someone who has studied a particular wildlife field, they’re largely limited to lecturing the basics, because they have to stick to the company materials. In contrast, some of my G Expedition staffers over the years have had PhDs in geology or marine life, and since they made their own material, they could give some pretty in-depth information. Of course, on the flipside, the staff that were less academic weren’t always making the best lectures in the industry.

 

For a typical expedition, the scientific slant is mostly dependent on the individual expedition staff who end up on your trip. Rotations change, and a lot of them move between companies even within a season, since they work on shorter contracts. If that’s your number one driver, I’d look for a dedicated sailing with a specific scientific focus and agenda.

 

The other thing I would strongly recommend is choosing a ship with under 150 passengers. Landing limits prohibit more than 100 people from going ashore anywhere in Antarctic or South Georgia, so you will usually get far more out of a trip with fewer passengers. Having traveled on both, I definitely felt the difference on the Hurtigruten Fram, where we spent a lot more time waiting to go ashore. And a ship with more than 250 is limited to what places it can even visit. In a place that is so dependent on weather and ice conditions, the more flexibility the better. That said, the ice rating doesn’t really make a difference in that area. A higher ice class won’t get you into more places, because the zodiacs still need to be blue to get through to take you ashore. True icebreakers can go more interesting places, but that really only matters in certain less-visited areas like the Weddell Sea.

[Woodrowst]

19 hours ago, acing_spades1 said:

Just nerd stuff in general. Not having microscopes isn't a deal breaker or anything, nothing really is when we're talking "Antarctica cruise" sphere, but it would be really cool to be able to look at the special Antarctic stuff close up like that. Since everyone does lectures the laboratories are a cool way to dive in deeper and an easy way to differentiate between lines. There will be much enjoyment of the environment and wildlife as well but again that's a given for any line. 

I truly do not mean to give you a hard time but I am trying to understand what it is you want to do.  Taking any samples back to the ship from an Antarctica landing  - including, but not limited to soil, ice, feathers, and penguin poop - is banned.  So how would you be able look at stuff on your voyage close up under a microscope?

[PerfectlyPerth]

On 8/19/2023 at 3:36 AM, acing_spades1 said:

Swan Hellenic

• "Expedition Center" laboratory (with no microscopes?) and Citizen Science Programme but quite vague about what that entails.
• No formal science partnerships. Long history in the region.
• More traditional, upscale looking cruise ship (like Viking) but for a low fare.
• Zodiacs, kayaking, hiking, and snowshoeing in the brochure but unclear what's included vs extra. 
• Small, Polar Class 5

Not sure where you got the they have a long history in the region. They are one of the newest operators and caused a lot of anger with intended passengers with cancellations with zero communication. 
 

Lindblad and Quark are the longest established operators with over 3 decades in the region. (3 of my 4 trips were with Quark, 4th was with Oceanwide - lecture program on all was excellent as they were all lengthy voyages so we had time to enjoy the lectures). 
 

Even for nerds I would think the best thing about being in the South is actually being there. Physically seeing and experiencing it all. Outside! Not holing up in a lab in the bowels of the ship looking in a microscope. Can do that anytime via a University or museum or similar. 

[PerfectlyPerth]

I didn't see Aurora Expeditions on your list. Long time respected operator also with citizen scientist programs on board. 
https://www.auroraexpeditions.com.au/aurora-expedition-citizen-science-program/

[kaisatsu]

This is the upcoming Scott Polar Research Institute voyage:

https://www.swoop-antarctica.com/cruises/circle/spri

 

Also, a clarification from my earlier post:  I think all of my voyages had some information on the Citizen Science programs, whether the companies used it as a selling point or not.

[jane_t]

A bit late, but if you do not need fancy,  I can recommend the Ocean Endeavour from Intrepid.

We sailed with them last December and had a blast,  there were options to do Citizen science on every zodiac cruise and we were able to view any waterbears etc collected in water samples on our return.

 

https://www.intrepidtravel.com/uk/antarctica

 

The expedition team were also able to talk at high levels about most subjects with specialists in many areas.  We even had a team onboard with specialist equipment (robot) which was deployed to look for the colossal squid when we were out and about.

The Endeavour is not a fancy ship,  but the food was excellent and the expeditions could not be faulted.

 

if interested check you can check out my photo book here:

https://www.rjt.org.uk/home/archives/13527/antarctica-argentina-travel-book/

 

[bella c]

My daughter is chief science officer on Hurtagruten.  It is a no nonsense ship.  Lots of science related information and talks.  She is on the Admundson which is one of their newer ships, completely electric powered.  They are very strict about bringing any florigen matter onto the land and are a committed company .  She has worked at Palmer Station (the US Station) for 2 years so is very well versed on any topics there.  There are not shows, no casinos and no dress up nights.  I would definitely check them out. 

[PerfectlyPerth]

@acing_spades1 how are you going with your decision making ? 
I was just reading an article about citizen scientist travels to Antarctica and it mentioned the MV Fiidhjof Nansen as having a good program on board and one entire deck reserved for research projects. 
Hopefully it's ok to post a link to the article for you. 
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/should-you-visit-antarctica-is-polar-tourism-doing-more-harm-than-good/B4O7FDRHZRAYVEXWXRVTLAVDAA/