FlyerTalk Forums - Cruising Antarctica

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https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b533cd1fba.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadgerProf (Post 31802530)

We visited Antarctica in January of this year on the National Geographic Explorer. The Lindblad/NatGeo strategic alliance is a perfect match for our interests. If you want a ship with less than 150 passengers, interesting talks/discussions with naturalists, scientists, NatGeo photographers, etc. instead of a night club, casino, or show room, you might want to look into this option. They do a great job getting you off the ship multiple times almost every day. In Antarctica for us that meant walks, hikes, Zodiac (rubber boat) cruises, kayaking, etc. We are fortunate that we have been able to travel to all seven continents and over 100 countries. For us, our Antarctica trip was the best trip ever—hands down. Whales? Yep! Penguins? Double yep!! Incredible ice flow, icebergs, burgy bits, growlers? Triple yep!!! Calving glaciers from up close? Absolutely! The professional staff of naturalists, scientists, and photographers are all wonderful. The ship’s crew is amazing. We have done five expeditions with Lindblad/NatGeo in the last three years and all five were amazing. If you want a big ship, want to see things from a distance, and prefer seat reservations for meals over open seating, look somewhere else.

+1. We went with Lindblad in Dec 2017 and it was exactly like this. We are not Eco-groupies but Peter Hillary was on board and was a great guy with interesting talks. Antarctica is so good, we are going back in December on Silverseas with friends. We signed up for it when we were doing Silversea arctic KEF to TRO. Our last day in Antarctica, almost everyone was back on board, but there was an hour left of the shore time. My wife and I made snow seats and watched a glacier calving for an hour while the penguins ran around us. This was the day after we watched roughly 100 humpbacks feeding in teams for a couple of hours. If you are worried about evac, read the FT travel/trip insurance posts. And/or get one of these. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trav...ch-others.html

I'm hopeful for the new (not yet launched) Seabourn Venture and/or its sister ship in the next few years. We don't have the time to do Antarctica yet - but I know my husband would prefer some luxury with our "expedition".

We have been looking at Lindblad/Nat Geo for the Galapagos....

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...678706055b.jpg
Not every landing involves a zodiac. Depending on the ship, you may "dock" in to fast ice, and they merely drop the gangway and you walk off like on a dock.

Quote:

Originally Posted by boerne (Post 31815162)

Is this what you mean when you say "I 35 south bound, finally stopped?"

Yes, or something like that.

There is also the slight chance of hitting an iceberg!

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/anta...t-iceberg.html

It was definitely was a trip of a lifetime (one crossing of the southern ocean was enough). I would recommend going in a small boat, 100-200 passengers, so you can get onto the land.
The land excursions were the best part.

I'm just about ready to finally book on the Nat Geo Explorer. I am trying to figure out a few things and maybe some folks here have thoughts:

1) A few TAs I called only sell at advertised price so I don't see a particular reason to book with them. Amex offered $300 after sailing which is less than I've gotten on a 14 night Celebrity cruise. Did you book direct or through a TA?

2) Are they truly all inclusive? Lindblad (Expeditions dot com) talks about "free bar tab and crew gratuities" that isnt' mentioned on the NatGeo page (Source)

3) Is booking with Lindblad & and National Geographic the same? Is booking with Amex going to make a difference (I do get 2x points and the aforementioned $300)