Antarctic Express: Crossing the Circle, 2015

We're currently on our way back to California after our 12 January journey on Quark's Antarctic Express: Crossing the Circle. I plan to post a review on this thread as soon as I have some spare time. In the meat time, there are some notes on our trip on my below blog.

Bob

Thanks for posting this. Your packing list comments are very helpful.

You may also want to post here: http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowForum-g1-i12337-Antarctic_Adventures.html

Thanks for posting this. Your packing list comments are very helpful.

 

As we travel back to California, we just learned that one of our bags apparently did not leave Santiago. Fingers are crossed that we ultimately see the bag. The packing list should be helpful if the bag is truly lost.

This trip will result in one interesting travel insurance claim, trip interruption that required new airline tickets, canceled flight tickets, canceled hotel reservation fees and, possibly, now a luggage loss (not to mention that this lost bag was a new bag that we needed to buy in Punta Arenas due to airline damage).

This has been quite an adventure for us.

Wow! Can't wait to read your review. My husband and I enjoyed your blog as we are planning a trip on the Sea Adventurer south of the circle next February. Did you get to the Falls with your delays?!

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Wow! Can't wait to read your review. My husband and I enjoyed your blog as we are planning a trip on the Sea Adventurer south of the circle next February. Did you get to the Falls with your delays?!

 

 

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The Falls were a casualty of the added two night delay. We had planned for three nights at the falls and saw this shrink to one full day (or possibly a partial day depending on flight changes). Rather than try to change the additional flights involving the falls and hotel reservations for a short falls visit, we decided to integrate the falls into another 2016 South America visit. The lesson to learn is book at least one additional night in Punta Arenas if you are flying there post-Antarctica cruise. While the extra nights on the Sea Adventurer were fine, I would venture a guess that the majority of travelers experienced problems with either their return flights or extensions. While Quark generously provided guest access to satellite phones and satellite Internet, the nature of these services is spotty connections and very very slow communications. This added to the some guest frustration. I really thought that Quark did its best to assist in an unavoidable situation.

We had our air travel arranged via Quark and did find that this travel office continuously monitored the Antarctica flight issues. The Quark travel folks automatically rebooked our flights back to the US as soon as they knew planes could land on King George Island. Those that booked their own air travel or used travel agents had to use the available communication services to try to coordinate itinerary changes. Our use of Quark Travel was really unusual for us. We generally arrange our own air travel but found the Quark air travel prices to be competitive for this trip.

Bob

Excellent information! Thank you.

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....I plan to post a review on this thread as soon as I have some spare time....

 

Bob

Here are my notes from our recent journey. Enjoy.

In January 2015, we traveled below the Antarctic Circle on Quark Expeditions’ Sea Adventurer. This trip bypassed Drake Passage and, instead, we traveled on a DAP chartered jet from Punta Arenas to King George Island (KGI). KGI served as our embarkation and disembarkation point for the Sea Adventurer. This journey choice eliminated four days of at-sea transit via Ushuaia but also raised some unanticipated challenges that you’ll read about further down this review.

Overall Summary: This was a terrific travel experience. Quark Expeditions staff were extremely attentive, whether in Punta Arenas or on-board the Sea Adventurer. The expedition staff served as excellent guides and lecturers. The expedition physician was extremely friendly and approachable. During our zodiac trips, we saw many Adélie, Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins. A Macaroni penguin was also spotted by binocular. Whales (Humpback and Minke) and seals (Crabeater, Fur and Weddell) were seen as well as a variety of flying birds (many Cormorants, Petrels and Skuas). The icebergs, sea ice and fast ice and fantastic mountains and rock formations only added to the rewarding sights on the trip. We were lucky that some of our days were rewarded with crystal clear blue skies. Some photos from our trip have been posted at the below blog link.

Itinerary Review: We arrived a day early in Punta Arenas and this extra day ended up being useful. My duffel bag arrived off the Punta Arenas LAN Airlines flight with no zipper tabs remaining on the main compartment zipper. How the duffel contents remained in the bag was a mystery. During our walking tour of the port city on day two, we purchased a replacement bag at the North Face store in Punta Arenas.

On our third day in Punta Arenas, we attended two meetings hosted by Quark, held at the Dreams Hotel. During our first meeting, we weighed our carry-on (10lbs max) and check-in luggage (33lbs max) and received our jackets and snow boots. Luggage weights were recorded and, if necessary, guests were asked to adjust their luggage to meet the weight restrictions. Excess baggage could be left at the Dreams Hotel for pick-up on the return from Antarctica. While this was the only luggage weight check, we were told that a safe landing on the short runway at King George Island required our attention to luggage weight.

Each Quark traveler received a warm two-piece yellow expedition jacket and was loaned calf-high waterproof boots. The large supply of jackets and shoes permitted everyone to find their best-fit size.

The late afternoon second meeting provided an opportunity for Quark staff to brief everyone on the rules governing Antarctic travel and information on topics, such as morning flight departure times, how to load and unload a zodiac, proper clothing for expedition outings, post-zodiac boot cleaning procedures and daily activities on an expedition trip. We also learned guest assignments for the two planes that would take us to King George Island. A Quark hosted dinner at the Dreams Hotel followed the introduction.

These two meetings also provided a great opportunity to meet and mingle with our fellow passengers. Most of the people we met on this trip had traveled extensively. It was terrific to share ship meals and travel experiences with our new acquaintances.

The next day at 7am, we loaded onto a bus from the hotel to the airport. After a two-hour flight, we landed on the KGI gravel airstrip. Once on the tarmac, waterproof pants and snow boots were donned and walking shoes placed in a personal carry-on bag. Disembarking the plane, we walked about a mile from the airstrip to the shore, where we experienced our first of many zodiac rides. The arrival of the second plane was delayed a few hours due to KGI weather conditions – a portentous sign that many of us missed.

Once on board, each day we heard a wake-up announcement around 7am. Brief schedule updates were included in the announcements as well as the time for breakfast. Generally, two zodiac activities were scheduled each day, separated by lunch. The 100 passengers were aligned into six zodiac groups. The groups rotated as to order of zodiac disembarkation. When returning to the Sea Adventurer, passengers could load into any available zodiac, regardless of group assignment. The duration of a zodiac landing was about two to three hours. Lectures were offered periodically during the day and evening. Despite our interest in the lecture topic and speaker interest, we often found the main lounge too dark and warm – which did nothing to prevent drowsiness.

During our trip, we learned that a formal itinerary is really not possible when visiting the Antarctic region. Constant changing weather and sea conditions, sometimes within hours, and a concern for safety make specific zodiac trip decisions only possible within a two to eight hour advance window. At one point in the trip, a violent storm forced the ship to find sheltered areas that would be safe for the ship and passengers and also permit zodiac landings. There is a reason that the expedition leader prefaces each daily agenda with: “We HOPE to land on…”

A medical emergency can also affect the itinerary. After we crossed the Antarctic Circle, a ship staff member was diagnosed with appendicitis and had to be evacuated to Punta Arenas. The Sea Adventurer immediately changed course and headed back to King George Island, the only airstrip with frequent plane landings. We were reminded that Antarctica is a remote location and medical care options are very limited. As a result of this emergency, we never returned to the peninsula and, instead, made our remaining stops within the South Shetland Islands.

Where did our zodiacs visit? The list includes:

• Lemaire Channel

• Yalour Islands

• Fish Islands

• Mutton Cove

• Detaille Island

• Great Wall China Research Station

• Petermann Island

• Robert Point, on Robert Island

• Telefon Bay at Deception Island

• Whalers Bay at Deception Island

• Fort Point, Greenwich Island

Map provided by Ian Quek

The scenery from the Sea Adventurer as we sailed through Antarctica was beautiful – even during the less clear sky days. I recommend that travelers to this region take as many opportunities to enjoy outer deck viewing as possible. Only a repeat Antarctica visit would likely reveal similar sights.

Disembarkation Process: The weather also played a role in determining the end date of our expedition to the bottom of the world. On the scheduled date for ship disembarkation at King George Island, low clouds and fog reduced visibility. This prevented the DAP charter planes from making a KGI landing. Winds at no more than 10 knots did not improve the visibility and we remained on board two nights past our scheduled disembarkation date. This certainly was a strong final reminder that an Antarctic itinerary can be very fluid.

The unplanned delay played havoc with the post-cruise travel plans of many passengers, including ourselves. We ended up cancelling our post-Antarctica extension to Iguazu Falls and returned back to California.

We did appreciate the cabin stewards as they prepared our former guest cabins for new passengers (e.g., replacing towels and bed sheets and cleaning rooms), only to find us reoccupying the cabins for two additional nights. With the forecast of an opening in the weather, we were woken up on the third day, at 3am, to prepare for a 6am flight to Punta Arenas. Why the three-hour notice? Well, it takes time to unload about 120-130 luggage pieces by rubber raft and transport them from shore to a plane via snow cat, passengers must be unloaded from the ship in groups of ten to the shore via rubber zodiacs and then there was the mile walk to the plane.

Quark Expeditions’ support during the trip and handling the weather delay was outstanding. As the departure delays settled in, Quark provided guests with limited but free access to satellite phones and/or Internet to deal with travel changes, not to mention free wine at one dinner and martinis during an evening social. While we waited over the two days, wildlife, history and geology lectures and movies were available in the main lounge. We also understood that the delayed incoming Sea Adventurer guests were likely frustrated as their “trip of a lifetime” was being spent at a Punta Arenas hotel, waiting for the flying conditions to improve.

When we finally arrived in Punta Arenas at 8am, Quark staff quickly arranged a transfer to the Dreams Hotel for those without an immediate flight connection. Quark provided us with a hotel room, without additional charge, to use until our 11:50pm flight to Santiago.

Kudos: Throughout the trip, we found Solan Jenson, our Quark expedition leader, and his expedition staff terrific in their daily zodiac guiding, knowledge of regional geology and wildlife, “can do” youthful energy, concern for our safety and empathy for personal travel plan interruption. Solan's calm morning wake up calls and humor were welcomed.

Marcelo Vanecek, Quark’s local coordinator in Punta Arenas, also provided great on-the-ground trip support. He was available with a ready answer or quickly found the answer. When the guests of two large cruise ships (Princess and Celebrity) had reserved all the large passenger buses in Punta Arenas on the day of our early morning return, Marcelo quickly flagged down private tourist transport mini-van drivers to bring Quark guests from the airport to the Dreams Hotel.

Seasickness: Overall, the open seas and passages were not very rough. Transiting the Bransfield Strait could have exposed us to some rockiness, but I believe we experienced a relatively easy passage. There was one day in which we moved through a storm with wind gusts in the 50-70 mph range that caused the ship to lean a bit and move through white-capped waves. As needed, some passengers wore patches and/or sea bands, consumed meclizine and/or ginger or consulted the ship physician for medical assistance. I noticed that sea conditions quickly changed and the need for seasickness controls could diminish within a couple of hours.

Dining: The restaurant dining on the ship was similar to large group dining in a hotel – which is an accomplishment given the environment. Fresh fruit and vegetables were available for each meal. A continental breakfast was offered to early risers. Breakfast and lunch were buffet oriented with hot and cold items Dinner menus provided a choice of soups, salads, main courses and desserts. Vegetarian items were available. Two barbecues were hosted during our trip. While the weather prevented outside dining, everyone seemed to enjoy the burgers, sausages, chicken and BBQ related side dishes. The coffee, teas and cookies in the main lounge were available around the clock. No one ever needed to go hungry.

Technology: We signed up for the Quark at-sea email service ($30). This was very convenient and reliable for external email communications (limited to about 400kb per message). Those that attempted to use the satellite telephone service or wireless Internet often found the services frustrating, as they were too slow. This slowness resulted in web timeouts and inability to receive a dial-tone on the satellite telephone.

Air Travel: We used Quark Travel to make our air flight arrangements. This became very convenient as Quark Travel was aware of our disembarkation difficulty and was making alternative flight arrangements without much intervention on our part. Many others, particularly those who had personally arranged their flights, needed communication services to make their travel changes – which were challenging on a ship in Antarctica.

Punta Areas Hotel: The Dreams Hotel had very uneven temperature settings throughout the building. Room temperatures for many guests were too warm and there was no air conditioning in the rooms. Electric fans were provided to some guests. Higher floor located public areas, such as the Sky Bar and room hallways were also oppressively warm at times.

LAN Airlines: Particularly during the air travel back to the US, we heard many instances of lost, misdirected or delayed luggage involving LAN Airlines. In fact, I am still waiting for a bag (the new duffel purchased in Punta Arenas) to either be delivered or declared lost. This missing bag was last seen and tagged at the LAN counter in Punta Arenas en route to SFO and there has been no further tracking information available. In attempting to track the location of the bag, I learned that LAN customer service staff in Punta Arenas and Santiago had not responded to any American Airlines baggage query after the reported incident. This disinterest in baggage handling by LAN Airlines remains a concern as we’d like to return to South America and LAN seems to be the primary carrier in this region.

Water On-Board: Cabin tap water was drinkable, though we noticed the cabin sink hot water had a light brown tint (we thought this might be rust). As an alternative, there were filtered drinking water dispensers in the main lounge for guest use.

Where did our zodiacs visit? The list includes:

 

• Lemaire Channel

• Yalour Islands

• Fish Islands

• Mutton Cove

• Detaille Island

• Great Wall China Research Station

• Petermann Island

• Robert Point, on Robert Island

• Telefon Bay at Deception Island

• Whalers Bay at Deception Island

• Fort Point, Greenwich Island

Thanks for your very full account, but it has raised a few concerns for me...

- 'many Cormorants, Petrels and Skuas' but no mention of albatrosses. Did you not see any? They are beautiful and we have watched them soar for literally hours across Drake. Possibly a consequence of flying rather than sailing?

- 'we were told that a safe landing on the short runway at King George Island required our attention to luggage weight'. This sounds a little odd and I would be concerned if the safety of the flight was so dependent on variations in the weight of luggage which is already quite limited. Whilst the weight of the aircraft and all that it carries is clearly safety critical, I would imagine that there would be much more significant differences in the weights of the passengers and the contents of their pockets (I carry quite a lot of heavy camera equipment in my jacket-of-many-pockets) compared with their luggage! Did they weigh passengers? We once took a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon and every passenger on every flight was weighed and allocated a seat to 'balance' the helicopter.

- 'we remained on board two nights past our scheduled disembarkation date'. During your wait at King George Island did you have only the lectures you mentioned, or were you able to make landings at other locations as well? We had a medivac on our first Antarctic trip and, on the day we arrived at King George Island and the patient was transferred to their flight, we were able to enjoy a look round Frei and Bellingshausen bases. Luckily for those of us not returning home early, it all happened early enough in the trip for us to get back down to the peninsula but we were told that if we had had to wait with the patient (they usually have to remain on their ship until the flight out arrives, but we had the ship's agent aboard and he was able to wait with her ashore to free us up for departure) we would be have been able to make landings in the area.

- I'm jealous that you made it to Detaille Island! We were seriously disappointed to have got to within a kilometre but the sea was too rough and the wind was too strong to make a safe landing. Even more disappointed was one of Fram's expedition team who had spent the previous season conserving Detaille, was looking forward to seeing how his work had stood up to the elements, but could only stand on deck with us and view from a distance before we sailed on further south.

Each of our trips to date has been across Drake Lake rather than Drake Shake, and each crossing has been around 36 hours rather than 48 so, all in all, I think I prefer to risk a Shake and enjoy the sights of three sea days, rather than accept the uncertainties of flying and their seriously disruptive consequences.

...no mention of albatrosses. Did you not see any?...

 

---Did they weigh passengers?...

 

... were you able to make landings at other locations (KGI) as well?

While I didn't keep a list of birds we saw, my wife and I couldn't recall seeing any albatrosses. Perhaps you are correct that they are seen more over Drake Passage.

Passengers completed a Quark medical form that included a weight inquiry. However, I believe Quark used an average/median weight per passenger in their calculations, rather than individual weight.

While waiting at King George Island for disembarkation, there was one zodiac cruise offered. Additional zodiac activities were not offered likely due to the uncertainty of the timing of the KGI flights and logistics. Each day we waited, there was a morning, afternoon and evening update on the air situation. We had to be prepared to depart, should the update bring news of the planes departing Punta Arenas for KGI. It would be challenging to support zodiac touring/landings and also be prepared for departures if visibility improved.

Thanks for the review! Out of curiosity, was it only a question of time-management that prompted you to choose this particular trip, or were you scared of crossing the Drake?

And knowing what you know now about the challenges of this type of cruise (particularly the need to be flexible on your return dates, or at least to allow for some wiggle room at the end of the cruise), would you do it again and/or would you advise someone else to take the plane rather than a ship over the Drake?

...was it only a question of time-management that prompted you to choose this particular trip, or were you scared of crossing the Drake?

 

...would you do it again and/or would you advise someone else to take the plane rather than a ship over the Drake?

I believe that when one approaches a trip to Antarctica, there are a number of factors that need to be balanced. This would include, but not necessarily limited to, available time for the trip, 'target' destinations, wildlife interest, experience and reputation of the expedition company, accommodations, format (cruise by vs zodiac landings), cost, itinerary risk and educational component. This particular trip met our requirements as we tried to balance these factors. Certainly 18+ hours crossing the Drake and 18+ hours returning over the Drake imposes a time demand - which, for some, would be balanced by additional wildlife sightings while on the Drake. On the other hand, the possibility of dealing with a rough Drake crossing could very well negate any wildlife sighting benefit. All Antarctica travelers balance these trip factors in their own way.

We continue to recommend travelers consider the "Fly the Drake" route. That said, consideration should be given for itinerary problems - regardless of approach for this trip. Our trip had one post-Antarctica day in Punta Arenas. While this schedule often works, it turned out not quite enough for us. I suppose extremely bad weather or equipment issues could also delay a Ushuaia based itinerary over the Drake. It's all part of the Antarctic adventure.