Necessary Footwear and clothing on Antartica Expedition Cruise

[Priya2]

We have a cruise booked for March with Hurtigruten. On their website there they say passengers should bring waterproof boots, but then go on to say rubber boots will be provided. I don’t want to buy expensive items that I might not need (my winter walks at home with my dog are in wellies). I’d love to hear the experiences and opinions from those who have done an expedition cruise on what they bought/took and what they found they actually needed.

[kaisatsu]

Which ship are you on? I’ve traveled on Fram, and the boots were provided, but I don’t know about the big 500-passenger ships. If your documentation says they’re provided, I would expect it to be correct.

 

You will need waterproof pants. The typical choice is a rain pant that you can layer over your wool base and any insulating layers you might want. This is important as the landing boats can be splashy and in some cases (less common with Hurtigruten’s polarsirkel boats) you need to step out into water.

 

If Hurtigruten is providing a parka, it’s typically just waterproof and uninsulated, so you’d need insulating layers underneath.

 

Hat, scarf or neck gaiter, gloves, sunglasses. Don’t underestimate the wind (especially when the ship is under way), but the temperatures around the peninsula are usually at or just below freezing.