Marina Svetaeva - m/v Ortelius

Hello everyone,

We are looking into a month-long semi circumnavigation cruise through the Ross Sea and are wondering if you have heard / been on m/v Marina Svetaeva, renamed recently Ortelius? It seems that she was used by the Russian Academy of science, before she was acquired and renamed by Oceanwide Expeditions.

Any input will be appreciated!

Thanks!

.... since this is an older post. Wondering if you went on the cruise? And if so, what your experience was. We're looking to do the Ross Sea cruise in 2015.

.... since this is an older post. Wondering if you went on the cruise? And if so, what your experience was. We're looking to do the Ross Sea cruise in 2015.

Hello,

We did end up going. This past february. And I cannot recommend it enough. This trip was amazing, the people on board (other passengers, expedition team and the staff) were just wonderful, the boat was cosy (it becomes your home after one month, and it is hard to leave!) and the food was delicious.

The scenery was breathtaking. We saw so much wildlife. It was just incredible, and almost six months after, there is still not a single day, I don't think about it, dream about it, look at pictures or wish I could go back.

So, go for it. It will be a trip of a lifetime (although, you will definitely want to go back!). You won't regret. It will be worth every penny.

If you have more specific questions, don't hesitate.

Hello,

 

We did end up going. This past february. And I cannot recommend it enough. This trip was amazing, the people on board (other passengers, expedition team and the staff) were just wonderful, the boat was cosy (it becomes your home after one month, and it is hard to leave!) and the food was delicious.

 

The scenery was breathtaking. We saw so much wildlife. It was just incredible, and almost six months after, there is still not a single day, I don't think about it, dream about it, look at pictures or wish I could go back.

 

So, go for it. It will be a trip of a lifetime (although, you will definitely want to go back!). You won't regret. It will be worth every penny.

 

If you have more specific questions, don't hesitate.

Delighted to hear that it was a great trip ... as I would expect any trip to Antarctica to be. We did the Falklands, S Georgia Island, Peninsula trip in 2007 with Quark's Prof Molchanov, so I totally appreciate what you're saying about not a day going by that you don't think about the trip. We still fondly reminisce about ours all these years later. This voyage will complete that experience, and may or may not finally put an end to the "ice virus" we have been infected with since then :D

I do have a few questions about your specific booking, which might be more personal in nature. I didn't see an email address in your profile, however, so if you could send me a note at eerkun@yahoo.com, I'll take the discussion offline. If you'd rather not, I'll ask them on this board, just let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Serendipity! We've been searching for the right expedition company for our next trip to Antarctica -- this after first doing the "sail by" some years ago on Crystal where we both said we've got to do this again with landings. And we did -- on the Marco Polo in 2007. But we have "Antarctica fever" and just have to do one more trip. This time I'll take more and better pictures.

I'd never heard of Oceanwide until this thread and it looks like a great fit. We'll be booking for early 2015. So thank you to Citystar for starting the thread and to h2so4 for the bump.

Shorex - if you want to keep looking try sarching for Hapag Lloyd with ships Bremen and Hanseatic. We are doing our Antarctic expedition with them in January on Bremen and getting quite excited. German company so unaffected by any Argentina/UK/Falkland problems. Can also be booked through Noble Caledonia.

Thanks for the tip. I'll check them out. Please do give this board some feedback on your experience. Have a wonderful time!

We'll be on this ship in March 2015. We're really looking forward to the landings and (hopefully) the trip inside the Circle.

http://walkingadventures.com/adventures/explore-antarctica-2015/#itinerary

Delighted to hear that it was a great trip ... as I would expect any trip to Antarctica to be. We did the Falklands, S Georgia Island, Peninsula trip in 2007 with Quark's Prof Molchanov, so I totally appreciate what you're saying about not a day going by that you don't think about the trip. We still fondly reminisce about ours all these years later. This voyage will complete that experience, and may or may not finally put an end to the "ice virus" we have been infected with since then :D

 

I do have a few questions about your specific booking, which might be more personal in nature. I didn't see an email address in your profile, however, so if you could send me a note at eerkun@yahoo.com, I'll take the discussion offline. If you'd rather not, I'll ask them on this board, just let me know.

 

Thanks in advance.

Have you booked your trip yet, h2so4? My husband and I recently booked the Ross Sea trip on the Ortelius leaving Jan 9, 2015. Is that the trip you are looking at? We'd love to meet a few of our fellow voyagers ahead of time on the Cruise Critic forum, and perhaps start an official Roll Call. We have done that on our various other cruises, and it has proved to be a great tool. You can contact us offline at bloombrg@gmail.com if you like.

Hello,

 

We did end up going. This past february. And I cannot recommend it enough. This trip was amazing, the people on board (other passengers, expedition team and the staff) were just wonderful, the boat was cosy (it becomes your home after one month, and it is hard to leave!) and the food was delicious.

 

The scenery was breathtaking. We saw so much wildlife. It was just incredible, and almost six months after, there is still not a single day, I don't think about it, dream about it, look at pictures or wish I could go back.

 

So, go for it. It will be a trip of a lifetime (although, you will definitely want to go back!). You won't regret. It will be worth every penny.

 

If you have more specific questions, don't hesitate.

Citystar, we have booked this trip for Jan 2015. Do you have any recommendations for flights into Ushuaia (we'll stop first in BA for a couple of days) and out of Auckland? We'll be coming from East Coast of US. Did you book flights as an open jaw or was it cheaper to just book two separate one-ways?