travelafrica

Anyone know if there is last minute Antarctica trips with great discounts? I would really like to experience it, but way over my budget! What would be the cheapest trip to Antarctica one can do?

tcook052

"Last minute discounts" and "Antarctica" aren't words normally associated with each other as there is huge demand for a very small supply as IIRC under 50K travellers visit annually. You have to plan well in advance to step on the continent and pay handsomely for the privilege.

BTW the topic comes up on occasion in the FT Antarctica forum, most recently in this thread.

pseudoswede

My parents snagged one...about 10 years ago booked around Thanksgiving leaving in mid-December. $50pp/night. 23 day cruise from Cape Town to somewhere in South America on Princess.

tcook052

http://www.flyertalk.com/the-gate/bl...but-hurry.html

ranles

Beware that some cruises will include Brazil...the Visa for which is not a last minute get, usually

Doc Savage

You can go down to Ushuaia and hang out for a while, and reportedly occasional relative bargains pop up. Likely useful only if you have a LOT of time off.

Baldpacker

I've been looking into the pricing for quite some time and it always seems best way in advance. I think it's difficult to find many last minute deals but I'm sure they do come up from time to time.

Quark and GAP seem to offer the cheapest trips from what I've found (sometimes <$5k). Some other companies don't start until $10k+

JDiver

Cruise ships are now prohibited from visiting Antarctica (as of August, 2011; thank goodness - it's dangerous, and it's not a great experience anyway).

The myth one can go to Ushuaia and snag a trip to Antarctica has been around for decades. But, though there may be a ship with a berth or two, you will still usually need to deal with their agent - and they are definitely not to be found in Ushuaia (but, hope beats eternally; see my post below for a slight possibility) . Yes, a very few have, but I'll bet you there are dozens who wasted a lot of money and time waiting for their ship to come in to Ushuaia. (I met a couple of them - at the Argentine information and coordination building at the dock. I like Ushuaia for its wilderness and scenery - but not enough to stay for weeks.)

I'd also recommend caution - think of the Akademik Shokalskiy just last month - got stuck in the ice as winds piled it up to a thickness of over three meters / ten feet very quickly, and though an ice-hardened vessel it became immobilised and had to await help. No worries, help is on the way!

Ruh, oh. The French L'Astrolabe was not able to do anything, but - the Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis and Chinese icebreaker Xuě Lóng are coming to the rescue. The Xuě Lóng evacuates the Shokalskiy passengers by helicopter to the Aurora Australis, but... becomes stuck in the ice as well.

The United Sates Coast Guard heavy icebreaker Polar Star (WAGB-10) is diverted and detailed to help out. Fortunately, the wind shifts again and the I]Xuě Lóng[/I] and the Akademik Shokalskiy are freed, ultimately everything goes back to normal with a lot of delays...


And then there was the Canadian cruise ship MS Explorer, which stuck submerged ice and sank within 20 hours. Thank goodness there happened to be ships nearby who were able to rescue everyone, but it went down very guickly in calm weather - and thirty foot waves are not uncommon in the Southern Ocean between Antarctica and South America, so choose wisely and carefully.


We very much enjoyed out 21 day tour on the Akademic Ioffe - ice-strengthened hull, Antarctic-skilled Russian crew. This is not like a Galápagos or Caribbean cruise.

Moving to the Antarctica Forum... /Moderator

mahasamatman

Some ships have been banned due to the type of fuel they use, but there are still dozens of cruise ships visiting Antarctica each year. They tend to be smaller, which is good because each ship is only allowed to offload 100 people at a time, but they're definitely still there.

kevinsac

Sorry ... that's not a trip to Antarctica. That's a ship that passes Antarctic and if the weather is nice, you can see the continent in the distance.

We went on Quark about 10+ years ago. I would recommend them without hesitation. In fact we were on the Orlova that has been adrift in the Atlantic for 14 months and now (according to some sources) might be infested with rats and near to beaching in the UK.

We flew to Ushuaia early (to ensure against delays) and spent 3 nights there before our sailing. We spoke to several people who were hoping to grab last minute berths; one carefree couple had been there for 2 weeks, but were in no hurry to leave...they were just bumming until they found a vacancy. As luck would happen, the day before our sailing, one couple did not arrive in Ushuaia on their scheduled flight and their vacancy was announced in town. I do not know who got that cabin.

The seas were rough. We tied ourselves into bed crossing the Drake Passage. We crawled on our hands and knees to the bathroom to puke. Luckily, the crossing is only about 24 hours. Once on the continent, it was smooth.

JDiver

As kevinsac implied, a large cruise ship is merely an expensive drive-by; also IMO not without risks, given though you may have a knowledgeable pilot or captain along for the ride the ship will not be ice rated nor will the ship's officers and crew be Antarctic savvy.

OK, here's the scoop for those who have the freedom of time, money, etc. And a good place to get some souvenir maps, charts and even a "Fin del mundo" or "Antártida Argentina" stamp for your passport - look UP at the wikipost:

The building is directly at the entrance to the port (which is behind security fencing) and is open slightly extended hours on days ships are in, including weekends, and normal work hours weekdays otherwise - and not at all during the winter off season, April - October. It looks a little like a prefabricated real estate office, but they are not selling real estate here. This year's (2013-14) cruise season is 17 Sep 2013 - 9 Apr 2014.


Link to Antarctic Unit list of current cruise companies to Antarctica (IMO, some of these are drive-bys in large ships and not what I'd recommend)

Link to current ALL (including Antarctic) cruise schedules ex-Ushuaia

Port of Ushuaia list of arriving and departing tourism ships (all destinations)

Note: Personally, I only recommend ships operated by members of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators, as they have agreed to uphold the 1994 Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty "Guidance for Visitors to the Antarctic", to help protect this very unique yet very vulnerable destination most of us will only visit once in a lifetime. IAATO is well worth a web visit, as they offer a variety of resources to travellers considering / visiting the Antarctic continent.

igneous

great info, kind of want to go this more than my upcoming trip to Aus, but I think it's going to cost a lot more to do it correctly

hchalekian

pseudoswede said it right; the drake passage is not for the faint of heart (or stomach); somehow we endured it, but a lot who didn't never left the ship to go ashore because they were so sick. TAKE DRAMAMINE or at least ginger...

btwayland

this actually sounds like a cool trip, but everything i've seen has been for 9+ days. is that the transit time that takes so long, or are you really there on the continent itself for 5-6 days?

i'd love to do a trip like this, but not for more than a few days, and certainly not for $5k for just for the portion from south america to antarctica and back -- not including airfare to get there from the u.s. and lodging in ushuaia on the front and back of the trip.

is there anything that is just a few days on land (not interested in only a cruise by) for a reasonable price, or am i missing it on the websites?

JDiver

Yes, it takes that long. Unfortunately, the Drake Passage commonly experiences severe winds and high sea states - 50 kt winds is not high, 30 ft waves hardly unknown. The Drake is essentially a funnel for the circumpolar winds, and it rarely calms down - the companies that do these trips allow plenty of time for the passage, and even in good weather that can be an issue because the Ushuaia pilots will set a time for boarding and travel up into the Beagle Channel. The distance is 1,200 km / 745 mi, at say, 5 - 7 knots due to weather? (Remember, Ushuaia is the closest place to the tip of the Antarctic peninsula.)


(Link to source, more information.)

We once had an amazing trip - travelling on the Akademik Ioffe with only one of two engines operating because of the calm weather, we were still early enough to enjoy a picnic on the fantail just off Cape Horn (the island, which is also a national park), and hours and hours early.


We enjoyed 21 days on our trip, and thought it well worth it. Antarctica is a fabulous place, and it will change most people's perspectives; IMO it's not a "drive-by" destination (but may not be a destination for everyone, either).