Pole-to-Pole Cruise

[snorkling lady]

Hello -

 

I will be taking the pole-to-pole cruise on the MS Fram with Norwegian Coastal Voyages. Has anyone taken any voyages on the MS Fram - comments would be welcome.

 

Thanks and cheers,

Snorkling Lady

[Shorex]

Haven't been on the Fram, but it is reviewed on this site. Just click on "Reviews" in the orange bar at the top of the page, then select Fram in the drop down box. Looks very intriguing.

[snorkling lady]

Thank you, Shorex. I found the review and it was very helpful. This should be the trip of a lifetime!

 

Cheers---

 

Snorkling Lady

[Host Walt]

Here's a direct link to the Review of NCV's FRAM.

[cruiserbryce]

I cant help with any reviews or recomendations but if you get a chance when you get back I would love to see pics...this sounds like and incredible voyage

[jp2001]

This seems the best itinerary ever!!!!

Please post your review when you will be back.

JP

[snorkling lady]

Hello!

 

I am back from an extrodinary expedition adventure. Seventeen countries and forty-seven ports in a little over two months. I saw so much and did so much. Quite a few of the shore excursions (some of us booked our own) were to World heritage Sites. By far, the one that left an everlasting impression on me was the city of Chan Chan in Peru. The opposite of Machu Pichu in that it was built in the arid desert on the coast of Peru. It has to be seen to be believed. And Torres De Paine in Patogonia was another outstanding excursion. Excursions gave pretty much a well-rounded variety of museums, culture, spectacular natural beauty, and animal life (penguins). Antartica was spectacular but also was one of the most inhospitable and dangerous places I have visited. However, expedition leaders are very well-trained at keeping people safe. You can't take a bad picture in Antartica! The combination of penguins, snow, icebergs, ocean, and mountains make for unbelievable shots.

 

However, as you are now aware, there are problems with the Fram. On our voyage we had the power shut down twice due to a generator that stopped working. Fortunately, we were not in waters with a lot of ice.

 

Minor inconveniences included the TV's not working a great deal of the time (did not bother me, but it did others) and the internet was not the best of systems.

 

Am I glad I did the expedition? You betcha!

 

Happy new year to all,

 

Snorkling Lady

Aranui - August 2006

Fram - Spetmeber 2007

[Annieeee]

Hi Snorkling Lady,

 

It sounds like you had a fabulous adventure. Please, please post some pictures. I would really enjoy looking at them. And if you could, please write a review, I am sure that a lot of us would be glad you did.

 

Annieeee

[Annieeee]

Snorkling Lady,

 

I would love to see your review on the your Aranui experience. Would you kindly share your experience with us?

 

Annieeee

[jmore66213]

Hi Snorkling Lady, I am glad you had a wonderful trip. I wish I had the time available to do the pole to pole!! I am due to go on the Fram the middle of February. I would love a review of your time on the ship. While in the antarctic, what was the weather like and what was the dress code for dinners. I am assuming it will be casual at dinners but would like to make sure! With the problems she just experience, I am also keeping my fingers crossed that our cruise will go on as scheduled!

[Tarheelbelle]

snorkling lady,

Your cruise sounds awesome! How far south did you cruise?

However, it sounds like Hurtigruten has some definite kinks to work out on this ship. I am glad I am not booked with them, but would consider it in the future when I read some positive reviews minus the engine/electrical/IT problems!

[JLC@SD]

Hello -

 

I will be taking the pole-to-pole cruise on the MS Fram with Norwegian Coastal Voyages. Has anyone taken any voyages on the MS Fram - comments would be welcome.

 

Thanks and cheers,

Snorkling Lady

 

It sounds like a great cruise..........and a great adventure.....I am sure you will have an experience of a lifetime.....:)

[snorkling lady]

Hello -

 

Yes, there are definite problems with the Fram. I did not go into detail in my first post, as one of my fellow passengers, Roger Richman, has documented everything in full and sent it to the editor of CruiseCritic. She has forwarded it on to Hurtigruten for a response.

 

The biggest concern was the failure of the generators twice, that left us dead in the water. I was surprised that the Fram had set to sea so soon after our experience. As we all know, the generators failed again, with the result of the Fram brushing up against an iceberg. Some of the other problems that passengers experienced was the odor of sewage, ship's water supply not being great in quality, and I, personally, could not get the AC/heating control to work with the result that my room was quite cold. I did complain to the front desk, but nothing seemed to change.

 

AS this was a new ship, I did expect some bugs, and as it was also an expedition ship, I did not expect 5-star amenties. However, the generators have been, and are a problem. If i were you, I would probably question Hurtigruten in depth about the state of the generators before you sail.

 

Antartica was fabulous! And the expedition crew were top notch. While there were and are problems with the Fram, I really did enjoy quite a few of the excursions and the scenery is breathtaking. Also the Filipino crew are charming and really helped make the voyage for me a very charming one.

 

Oh, I don't know how your booking experience went, but mine was the experience from hell. I had quite a conversation with one of the Hurtigruten executives who was on board and he assured me that the head office knew about the difficulties and were working to resolve them. So - hopefully your experience was a better one.

 

If i can think of anything else, i will post---

 

Cheers,

Snorkling lady

 

PS: Oh, one of the things that Mr. Richman pointed out was that there was nowhere where one could refill waterbottles with purified water. One had to buy that from the ship. I have sailed only on one other ship, the Aranui 3, and they supplied drinking water free of charge. Hopefully Hurtegruten will rectify this situation.

[snorkling lady]

Hi -

 

Oops. I forgot to answer your questions. Yes, dress is definetly casual. You will see everything from jeans on upward. I think that the only time I saw more then casual dress was at the captain's dinner. But even then, no tuxes or long dresses.

 

You will be in Antartica at the height of summer. but it will still be cold. I found that I was comfortable layering. I wore thermal underwear, teeshirt, snow pants that were lined and waterproof halfway up the legs, polar fleece, and then a jacket that Hurtigruten provided. Also you will need VERY warm gloves, a warm hat and muffler. Hurtigruten provides boots for the Antartic landings, but it would be nice to have a pair of boot liners to go inside them. My boots did not come with the liners and i wish that I had had them. If you layer, you can always take something off if you get too warm.

 

One thing that is nice is that Hurtigruten allows you to bring your own liquor aboard. Of course you can't bring it to the bar or the restaurant (they will charge you a corkage fee tho if you want to). I am not sure where your trip orginates, but if it is in Chile, you are very lucky! Chilean wine is wonderful and not very expensive. I got Concho y Torres in a 1 1/2 liter box (cabernet or merlot) for the big sum of $3.00. And it was not bad---Concho y Torres also makes many other levels of quality of wine for not very much.

 

I truly hope that Hurtigruten gets it's act together by the time you sail. Antartica is spectacular and the penguins are marvelous. Be sure to let us know how your voyage goes.

 

Cheers,

Snorkling Lady

[snorkling lady]

Hi Annieeee -

 

I loved the Aranui 3! The chief engineer gave a very nice tour and spent an hour or so explaining everything. Before the Aranui 3 sailed with passengers, he had the ship our on the ocean for six weeks to learn all the nuts and bolts, plus to take care of any problems. So - when she sailed with passengers, everything worked!

 

This is expedition ship (the Aranui 3 is a local freighter) type of thing - no casinos, etc. And all the shore excursions are included in the price. And gosh, we did some wonderful ones. The Marquessa Islands are very primitive and beautiful in their own way. With the Aranui, you get to see practically all the islands.

 

Also, because the Aranui is French owned, you get wine with lunch and dinner. yea! Yes, the meals tend to be heavy on fish - the crew fishes off the back of the ship - but the fish is always very fresh and usually served with a sauce. And good baguettes, and the Aranui has an excellent pastry chef. In fact, both chefs were trained in France.

 

The Aranui did a first time trip to the Austral Islands the first part of 2007 and if i hadn't booked the pole-to-pole, I would have taken that. As you can see, I loved the Aranui and would have no hesitation about taking another trip on her again. If you have the opportunity, do the Aranui 3. You won't be sorry - it is one of the trips of a lifetime!

 

Cheers,

Snorkling lady