Cruises to Antarctica

[Atleastonce]

We are looking into cruises to Antarctica. Celebrity X do a cruise that doesn't actually have any shore tours or stops in Antarctica and if I am going to do this I want to say I have been and stood on the continent. Scenic do an amazing cruise and the "yacht" has two helicopters and a submarine but the $40K for two people needs a little more consideration. I am trying to justify it with this being an all in price and absolute luxury but was wondering if anyone has done a cruise to Antarctica or more specific the scenic cruise. We are not interested in a "working" ship and want to do a cruise with at least some everyday luxuries.

 

[love_the_life]

Lines like X that go that way only do a 'sail by' and it is up to the weather how close they get. For an Antarctic experience it would not be my choice. Like you I like a bit of luxury and the ones we have looked at (but something always seem to come up) are Silversea (drron and mrs.dr.ron are the experts here and I'm sure they will be able to give you good info) and Ponant. I know that Linblad use National Geo ships which are supposed to be good as well. I looked at ones out of Australia at one stage but they are much more expensive, even taking into account you don't need to fly to South America and have many sea days just to get down there. One of the things I didn't like about Orion (and I think a couple of others was that the deposit was 25% which means a lot of money is being tied up for a long time)

 

[zig]

I did Antarctica last year on Silversea Silver Explorer and would certainly recommend it. Small ship and it wasn't full, so there were less than a 100 guests onboard. Expedition team, captain and staff were wonderful.
Friends are booked on Scenic Eclipse, but I agree that the prices are a bit eye watering.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

We are looking into cruises to Antarctica................ but was wondering if anyone has done a cruise to Antarctica or more specific the scenic cruise.....

Well the Scenic Eclipse is still being built and doesn't start cruising till September 2018 ! so no-one can help you with what it is like yet. We are booked to sail on it in September 2019 on the Reykajvik to Quebec cruise. We have sailed 13 times on Silverseas with 7 of those cruises on the Silver Explorer, and another 5 cruises on the Silver Explorer booked. We love expedition cruising and on Silverseas it is the best of both IMO - a good sized ship ( 120 passengers) great crew, and visiting exotic places in some luxury . We were fortunate that we did go and see the Australian part of Antarctica on the Orion (before they went broke and were sold ) but no one is sailing that route anymore. ( we were the last people to step inside Mawsons Hut ! ) So if you want to sail in some sort of luxury to Antarctica then your choices are limited. Silverseas are turning the Cloud into an expedition ship this year, with an ice strengthened hull so Silverseas will have two ships "doing" Antarctica but I would still choose the Explorer over the Cloud. And most Antarctic cruises go out of Ushuaia these days. If you have any specific questions we might be able to answer

 

[love_the_life]

I did Antarctica last year on Silversea Silver Explorer and would certainly recommend it. Small ship and it wasn't full, so there were less than a 100 guests onboard. Expedition team, captain and staff were wonderful.
Friends are booked on Scenic Eclipse, but I agree that the prices are a bit eye watering.

We did Silversea to the Arctic and agree it was a very well run product.

...We were fortunate that we did go and see the Australian part of Antarctica on the Orion (before they went broke and were sold ) but no one is sailing that route anymore.

It is Chimu Adventures that offer Antarctica from Australia now - base price around $24,000pp and the ship certainly is not a Silversea standard one

 

[drron]

A major part of the beauty of an Antarctic cruise is actually setting foot on the continent.The experiences are amazing.
However only 100 people at a time are allowed on land.so the best experiences are on a ship of 100 pax or less-but probably not too much less.
this will answer a few questions-
https://iaato.org/home

 

[Atleastonce]

A major part of the beauty of an Antarctic cruise is actually setting foot on the continent.The experiences are amazing.
However only 100 people at a time are allowed on land.so the best experiences are on a ship of 100 pax or less-but probably not too much less.
this will answer a few questions-
https://iaato.org/home

That's an amazing web site Dr Ron. I will certainly have a look through. We will be going to the Brisbane travel expo this weekend and will see if there is any material available.

 

[VPS]

https://www.hurtigruten.com/destinations/antarctica/ A friend did this one and loved it - it's on my bucket list

 

[coyote25]

Don't know if this is the company for you but I went to Antarctica to I went with G Adventure
https://nathanburgessinsights.com/tag/antarctica/

Loved every moment, great excursions, experts running information sessions plus I opted to sleep one night on the continent which was amazing.

 

[ExpeditionCruiser]

There are a few Earlybird offers and bonuses around at the moment with savings of between 10 & 20% for the 18/19 season, generally all of it out of Ushuaia. Not a lot of choice out of AU/NZ obviously, with a much longer crossing to the continent it turns into a considerably longer trip and hence a lot more $$. Spirit of Enderby operates out of Bluff (Invercargill) & Christchurch in NZ, a really expeditionary experience but certainly not luxury.

 

[bsb]

We did G Adventures 14 days. Exceptional if you want knowledge and a great experience at a reasonable price. We paid about $9k pp. once you're there, everyone get on and off the ice using the same equipment, so your squillion dollar boats and your less expensive ones deliver that experience in the same fashion.

G attracts a broad group of travellers, mainly Australians, Canadians and Western Europeans from young to young at heart who all like adventure. The comfort level on the boat was surprisingly good. There are cheaper options on converted Russian freighters with containers as rooms

all leave from Ushuaia

anyway you you do it, you'll love it

 

[bPeteb]

Here's my TR from our recent trip to the Ross Sea.

We calculated that if we'd had to pay for a three week voyage in similar luxury (balcony, five star restaurants, 2-1 crew/passenger ratio) we might have been approaching six figures. Luckily for us all we paid for was our food and beverage

We passed Spirit of Enderby when they were anchored off Inexpressible Island. Compared to our 43,000 tonnes it was so, so tiny and one of our expedition team described it as rolling like a tupperware bowl when the seas were rough.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-photos/coming-soon-forum-near-you-79698.html

The peninsula plus Sth G and maybe the Falklands are a must visit for us now.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Well the Scenic Eclipse is still being built and doesn't start cruising till September 2018 ! so no-one can help you with what it is like yet. We are booked to sail on it in September 2019 on the Reykajvik to Quebec cruise. We have sailed 13 times on Silverseas with 7 of those cruises on the Silver Explorer, and another 5 cruises on the Silver Explorer booked. We love expedition cruising and on Silverseas it is the best of both IMO - a good sized ship ( 120 passengers) great crew, and visiting exotic places in some luxury . We were fortunate that we did go and see the Australian part of Antarctica on the Orion (before they went broke and were sold ) but no one is sailing that route anymore. ( we were the last people to step inside Mawsons Hut ! ) So if you want to sail in some sort of luxury to Antarctica then your choices are limited. Silverseas are turning the Cloud into an expedition ship this year, with an ice strengthened hull so Silverseas will have two ships "doing" Antarctica but I would still choose the Explorer over the Cloud. And most Antarctic cruises go out of Ushuaia these days. If you have any specific questions we might be able to answer

why would you choose the explorer over the cloud? The explorer seems to be doing the longer trips to the Antarctica and the Cloud more around 10 days. The shorter option is more attractive for two reasons a) we are paying for 4 people and it adds up b). Not having been on a cruise before I thought short might be better - I have visions of us all having major sea sickness..... However would be interested in your preferences.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

why would you choose the explorer over the cloud? The explorer seems to be doing the longer trips to the Antarctica and the Cloud more around 10 days........

The Explorer is a smaller ship, 100 passengers only in Antarctica, the Cloud has 200 on those cruises. The Explorer can get ALL passengers off the ship and into the zodiacs at the same time and onto the ice but because of the IAATO restrictions ( only 100 people are allow onto the ice at any one time from any ship ) the Cloud have to do half the passengers and then at a later time the other half. Because the Cloud is doing shorter cruises than the Explorer obviously with twice the number of passengers you wont see as much as those passengers on an Explorer cruise. You will only be going to Antarctica once so you might as well "do it " and see as much as you can. I don't know for how long the Explorer will be doing Antarctica - they seem to be pushing the Cloud for both pole cruising - doing what the Explorer usually does, but they are coming up with some great new routes for the Explorer and we are booked on 4 of those new cruises in 2018 As to which is the better ship, they have both been refurbed recently, the cabins will be the same. Food and service will be the same. Expedition staff ditto. We have been in some rough seas on the Explorer but neither of us get seasick, but it seems to us that it handles rough seas well as we havent noticed many people seasick. They do have a doctor and nurse on board.
Hope this helps

 

[Flying mermaid]

The Explorer is a smaller ship, 100 passengers only in Antarctica, the Cloud has 200 on those cruises. The Explorer can get ALL passengers off the ship and into the zodiacs at the same time and onto the ice but because of the IAATO restrictions ( only 100 people are allow onto the ice at any one time from any ship ) the Cloud have to do half the passengers and then at a later time the other half. Because the Cloud is doing shorter cruises than the Explorer obviously with twice the number of passengers you wont see as much as those passengers on an Explorer cruise. You will only be going to Antarctica once so you might as well "do it " and see as much as you can. I don't know for how long the Explorer will be doing Antarctica - they seem to be pushing the Cloud for both pole cruising - doing what the Explorer usually does, but they are coming up with some great new routes for the Explorer and we are booked on 4 of those new cruises in 2018 As to which is the better ship, they have both been refurbed recently, the cabins will be the same. Food and service will be the same. Expedition staff ditto. We have been in some rough seas on the Explorer but neither of us get seasick, but it seems to us that it handles rough seas well as we havent noticed many people seasick. They do have a doctor and nurse on board.
Hope this helps

That’s terrific - thank you!

 

[drron]

The Cloud has probably been upgraded to a more luxury standard than the Explorer.But we love the Explorer.
On our last cruise we were in a force 12 gale-probably only 2-3 pax missed a meal due to sea sickness.
On the Orion in a similar situation we had to be strapped into bed-not on the Explorer-and only 3 people made it to breakfast.to us it just seems more stable.It did experience a cancelled Antarctic cruise when a freak wave broke at the Bridge shattering the windows and a few cut by flying glass.other ships in a similar situation have been totally stopped including most recently the Orion-now the National Geographic Orion.
As mrsdrron says we also enjoy the smaller ship.It is an advantage on Expedition ships.

Also we are always wary of booking on a new ship or one that has had a major refurb.Silverseas is no different in this.
Silver Cloud Maiden Voyage Canceled Due to Mechanical Problems

And from post 22 in this thread after the Explorer's major dry dock this year-
Refurbishment of Explorer - Page 2

 

[Flying mermaid]

I think if I passed all that info onto the gang they will be choosing Machu Picchu.....I will need to be circumspect, although not deceitful of course. It does sound like the Explorer is nicer and more stable, but I am not sure I can talk Mr FM into more than 10 days as a first cruise -only the lure of the incredible scenery is making him conquer a hatred of ships.

The Explorer does do some shorter trips, but unfortunately the timings are bad for Ms FM who is a teacher and restricted to school holidays. Hopefully by 2019 any teething problems with Cloud will have been sorted out, anyway once Ms FM and husband have decided whether they want to do Antarctica or Machu Picchu, I will try and talk them into a longer trip. Thanks for the input.

Ps just been reading the threads you gave and to be honest it ha almost put me off altogether! I thought Silverseas was a really good company, but lots of negativity there! Even implications the company is in trouble!

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

............
Ps just been reading the threads you gave and to be honest it ha almost put me off altogether! I thought Silverseas was a really good company, but lots of negativity there! Even implications the company is in trouble!

We have been on CC for several years, and the same few people post negative things all the time - one guy has only cruised once on Silverseas over 10 years ago but still posts only negative things - you have to see past those posts !

 

[Flying mermaid]

We have been on CC for several years, and the same few people post negative things all the time - one guy has only cruised once on Silverseas over 10 years ago but still posts only negative things - you have to see past those posts !

It is the problem with social media.... fortunately your experiences are more credible to me. It is the problem with cruises generally though - if things do go wrong you are trapped. Better than a plane though.

 

[drron]

It really is just to warn about ships after a major dry dock or when new.
Here is a much more typical thread since Explorer's dry dock on it's way to Ushuaia.
Live - SIlver Explorer October 25 2017, Guayaquil to Valparaiso