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2552phxcrzr

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    Colorado, USA
  • Interests
    Travel
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Polar Regions
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    http://2totravel.blogspot.com/

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3,000+ Club (3/15)

  1. True … if you do the cruise-fly. We’ve been to the Antarctic twice on expedition vessels and would take the cruise across the Drake both ways rather than risk losing time waiting for the vessel to come and get us because the flight(s) got canceled.
  2. Friends of ours booked a fly-cruise on the Aurora and are down in the Antarctic now. Their flight out had to be canceled and the ship had to come to Punta Arenas to pick them up. So not only did they end up not avoiding the Drake, they lost a couple of days waiting for the ship to come and get them. Those flights are very weather-dependent.
  3. Have not seen any other company doing that particular itinerary. We booked with Oceanwide to do it. Like you, have been on Ortelius before … 30 days from Argentina to New Zealand by way of the Peninsula and Ross Sea. Looking forward to exploring a different area this time and happy to be returning to South Georgia.
  4. We were on Oceania Insignia for 200+ days last year for the world cruise + a Caribbean cruise at the front end. The world cruise alone was 198 days. We were at sea for about 80 of those days … and the balance was ports of call. We hit 40-45 countries … several countries had more than 1 stop — for example Brazil and Japan each had about 10 stops, Mexico and Chile had 6-7 stops — and 20 or so were overnight stays. If you go to the website of the companies offering world cruises, you can do the math on countries and compare them.
  5. Saw no damage in Cairns as I wandered around. I didn’t leave the city, so no first hand knowledge of the environs. That said, due to damage to the range, the Kuranda Rail is not operating until February I believe. O operated the Kuranda tours by bus. The reef boats were all taken into open waters to ride out the storm, so they seemed to be OK. Certainly, the Reef Fleet Terminal was filled with boats when we were there, and I know the O tour out to the Marine World Pontoon operated as expected.
  6. No art classes on Regatta … at least not on this cruise. Can’t speak to the other itineraries. Other than that, the cruise is progressing nicely. Cooktown, which was to have been after Cairns has been canceled and replaced with a day at sea. No surprise … the entire Far North Queensland suffered considerably from Cyclone Jasper earlier this month and the Government has declared it a natural disaster area; clean-up is in progress at present. So, three sea days (on day 2 now) to reach Darwin on the 31st. Our temps in the ports have been generally very hot … with high humidity. Condensation on the ceiling in the Terrace Café during the day has been an ongoing problem … they have rugs all around the buffet area to keep people from slipping. I imagine this is not a problem in more moderate climates. (We had similar problems on Insignia during the world cruise, so this is not a Regatta-specific problem.) Have noticed that some parts of the ship are warmer than others, though I have not been anywhere where it felt uncomfortable. Have overheard people complaining to the front desk staff about A/C in the cabins being insufficient/not working. We are in a deck 4 cabin and have no complaints. We do keep the drapes closed when the sun is on the port side of the ship. Someone mentioned in another thread that there was a refrigerated container on deck 11. We saw it being taken off in Sydney. So whatever the reason was for having it onboard, it no longer applies.
  7. Will drop you a note … we will be going to Canberra for a few days after we return to Sydney on the Indian Pacific in March.
  8. Book marked to follow along. Have a terrific time.
  9. Life is good on Regatta. We left out of Sydney on the 21st … had a slightly rocky (10 ft swells) day at sea on the way to Brisbane … hot and humid day in Brisbane (12 mile shuttle ride from the Cruise Terminal into the city, so no cruise up the river this time) … a lovely day in Mooloolaba (ended with a big rainstorm … rough seas made for interesting tendering, which I later heard had been canceled and some were unable to get off the ship) … the Holiday spirit is well and alive on the ship … at sea today heading to Townsville with Santa on board handing gifts out to the few kids on the ship.
  10. I will be reading along, but won’t be able to comment since I have problems doing that in Blogger on my iPad for whatever reason that I have not been able to resolve. As we are also traveling at the moment, it’s the only device I have with me. Just wanted to say thanks and let you know that there will be at least one person reading along. Having published blogs for our world cruises I know how much work goes into it, and I wanted to acknowledge your efforts.
  11. Determine what is important to you to see when you go in order to pick the right time of the year. For example, if you want to see fluffy chicks, you can’t go too late in the season. On the other hand, whales seem to be more populous later in the season. These are just some examples. When we did our first expedition in 2017, I remember finding a calendar for wildlife in the Antarctic somewhere on the web that helped us determine that early January should be our target. (I’m traveling for the next while, otherwise I’d find the calendar on my laptop and attach it.)
  12. Check out Quark and Oceanwide. We did first with Quark … including South Georgia and Falklands. Second trip was Ushuaia to New Zealand … by way of the Ross Sea … an amazing 30-day experience with helicopters (on Ortelius). We are booked with Oceanwide again for 2025 … this time to the Wendell Sea. We were delighted with our experiences each time. Most recently we dipped into the Antarctic Peninsula on an Oceania world cruise … not the same as an expedition, and in our case, I nice to have on the itinerary because of our previous expedition experiences. We did not find that being return visitors to Antarctica dimmed our pleasure at all. Admittedly, we were more relaxed on the peninsula part of the second cruise since we’d been there before. But that didn’t stop us from enjoying every outing be it on a zodiac or on a landing.
  13. I find toe warmers to help greatly on a zodiac ride as your feet are on a cold surface for the duration. They are thin and placed between two layers of socks or on the sole of the sock if you wear a single layer. Very thin. I use them more than I do the hand warmers.
  14. As of December 1 (today) transfers must be done within 14 days. I have seen an email from O about the change. (Not mine to share, so I won’t do that.). Anyone who tends to book direct with O and transfer bookings, should contact O to confirm this so that they are not surprised later. Whether the new rule is the same regardless of country of residency is something else one should check on.
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