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1 hour ago, pontac said:

 

Any time. Your cabin may be ready earlier, but Viking promise 3pm. You can use public areas until your cabin is ready.

 

There is a buffet lunch served from 12-3pm (with complimentary drinks)  for early arrivals and late departers.

 

You can leave your cases on board and go sightseeing off boat, just check with reception for the time you should be back.

Thank you. That’s very helpful. Just being able to leave the bags with them will make it easier that day since check out from our AirBNB is 10a. Don’t need to necessarily have access to the cabin as we do plan to continue to explore Vienna that day.

Trying to organize our time on the day that we embark Kadlin.  Any thoughts on when we can  board the vessel?

@Australia08 ... Thank you for your report; looking forward to future posts as you have time.  I write a blog and often have to finish it up after we return home (case in point our 4.5-month trip to Australia that just ended on 1 May).  Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

On 4/29/2024 at 9:34 AM, Australia08 said:

After our coffee break, we still had time to take a quick look inside St. Stephen’s before our time to meet the guide again to head back to the Viking Kadlin.

@Australia08 I assume it is possible to stay in town instead of returning to the Kadlin with the guide (we did this several times when we did the Christmas Markets.

We did the Ushuaia to New Zealand via the Ross Sea 30-day with Oceanwide on Ortelius a few years ago and had a wonderful experience.  The cabins had just been redone on the top levels ... basic but comfortable.  The food was good.  No crew issues.  Everyone was friendly.  We had some pax who did not understand the nature of expedition cruising in the polar regions and they caused some issues. It's not an itinerary I would recommend to anyone who is a first time cruiser to Antarctica, but we'd been down there before and loved this itinerary, which included helicopters at no extra expense.

We are booked to go with them again for the Remote Weddell Sea itinerary next year.

We've done expeditions with both Quark and Oceanwide and have been pleased with both, so our decisions on which to go with are itinerary-driven.

25 minutes ago, saz25 said:

I was loooking at the Silverseas cruise (Endevour ?) that starts and ends in King George island. I assume you have to take a flight to get there. True?

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.

On 3/4/2024 at 5:10 AM, saz25 said:

Hi

We are thinking of booking an Antarctica cruise for 2025 or 2026.

 

At this point I think we’d like to avoid sailing through the Drake Passage and to find a cruise line that starts and ends in/Antarctica. 
 

For example I see that the Silverseas Endeavor starts/ends in King George island.

 

Does anyone else know of others that do that? We’ve cruised south answer twice, so we feel there’s no need to repeat that.

 

Suggestions?

thanks in advance.

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.

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.

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.

11 hours ago, gdlamberth said:

I gather then that you docked in Cairns?   How damaged was the town and it's environs?  Tours/Excursions go off as scheduled? or which were cancelled?

Thanks for interrupting your vacation to report in!

Greg

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.

19 hours ago, roberts2005 said:

Are there any art classes on the Regatta, or do they only do them on the larger ships?

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.

On 12/27/2023 at 11:20 AM, aussietwo said:

G’Day Erin & Mui

So pleased you are visiting Aussie.  I read that you are staying on land for a few months.  If Canberra is on your itinerary please email me as we would love to catch up.    Cheers Ros & John🙂🙂  rosmerleg at hotmail dot com

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.

On 12/22/2023 at 6:32 PM, At7Seas said:

Hello everybody, I just started a live report on Cruise Critic about my own world cruise: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2980359-live-from-costa-deliziosa-world-cruise-2024/.

Book marked to follow along.  Have a terrific time.

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.

On 12/18/2023 at 9:59 PM, Penspack said:

I have started a blog for our 2023-24 World Cruise on the Viking Sky which embarks on Dec 20, 2023 from Ft Lauderdale and is scheduled to disembark May 6, 2024 in London. You can find the blog at:

https://drsla-wc.blogspot.com/

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.

15 hours ago, bethtex said:

Thanks - appreciate all the information and insight.

Good idea to go at a different time of year.

 

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.)

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.

23 hours ago, MillyDM said:

thank you @kaisatsu - that's a good perspective on the zodiac excursions. It sounds like a windproof face mask may be useful in this case. 
I remember in Iceland, we went for a zodiac excursion (it was August but still cold), and they gave us a thermal suit, and even wearing that by the end of the tour, we were very cold.
we're taking hand warmers with us to add a bit of heat in such conditions.
Thanks for the laundry suggestion, I was planning on using it onboard, glad to hear they have a quick turnaround! thanks again for your pearls of wisdom! 😉

 

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.

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.

12 minutes ago, maggie.1008 said:

Can you still book cruise only with no Simply More? 

Unfortunately, no.

Me too.  Looking for blog links to be posted here.

13 hours ago, PhD-iva said:

Am booked on a cruise with 3 days “cruising the Antartica peninsula.” Am worried that I’ll be cold while o/s on deck. Should I bring my LLBean down coat that kept me warm all winter hiking across campus in Connecticut? I left it at home while on my Alaska cruise and missed some good stuff when I went back to my stateroom to warm up.

Thx!

 

We have been to the Antarctic several times ... two expeditions on small vessels and one cruise on Oceania Insignia. What we have found that really helps is layers ... we have merino wool long johns and fleece leggings and tops.  Over these, we wear waterproof pants that help us stay dry, but also have the benefit of protecting us from the wind.  Similarly, our top outer layer is both windproof and waterproof and has a hood to pull up if necessary.  We double up on socks, and take stick on toe warmers to put between the socks ... one set lasts about 8 hours.  Gloves and a wool beanie.

I can't stress strongly enough windproof (and waterproof ... we had both snow and rain on Insignia).

Just for fun, I have attached photos of us taken by a fellow passenger on Insignia this year in the Antarctic.  The three of us were the only ones on the outer decks ... it was wet and windy ... everyone else was indoors.  Crazy, were we?  Perhaps.  But the best place to be when in Antarctica is on the outer decks (or your veranda although that limits you to your side of the ship).  You never know what might pop up right next to the ship at any given time (like whales bubble net feeding in our case).

Also, bear in mind that the interior of the ship will tend to be cool too because doors keep opening and closing.  I'm not sure what your itinerary is, but if you are going around the tip of South America, the temps will start cooling once you reach the Chilean Fjords and remain cool for a couple of days after you make it around the tip, or if you continue onto the Falklands.

Have a wonderful time.

23 hours ago, dandbuk said:

 

If anyone is traveling to Ushuaia and wants his WhatsApp details just let us know, we want this guy to get the business and reputation that his skills deserve. We will always see meeting him as a very fortunate accident, he had no real idea of cruise critic etc, but we told him how accurate and honest reviews can be on here.

 

His name is Mario Miraglia. and of Italian descent but lived in Ushuaia for over 30 years.
 

 

Could you send me the info for Mario ... my email is eerkun (it's a yahoo address).  We've spent quite a bit of time in Ushuaia pre-expeditions and agree that there is plenty to see and do in the area when you have the time to do so.

On 10/14/2023 at 8:50 AM, rhsjr said:

In January we will be on a Princess cruise and part of that is sailing past Antarctica for 4 days.  What will we see? Do I need to take my 'heavy' 600mm lens? Suggestions please.

A wide angle for scenery, which is spectacular, and the 600mm for wildlife since you will be viewing them from a distance.  That said, be prepared with a wide angle (I used my iPhone) for whales as they can sometimes get too close for a long lens ... as happened several times with bubble-feeding humpbacks right next to our ship in February.

@zoncom Free luggage — assuming you are asking about the 50 pound x 2 bags per person — is picked up from your home and delivered to your cabin on the ship.  Once these bags leave your house you do not see them again until you embark the ship.  Similarly, on the way back, the delivery is from ship to home.  This is for all world cruisers on for the 180 or longer voyage.  The luggage does not travel with you.  You call to schedule pick-up with the luggage comapany … ours was picked up approximately 2 weeks prior to embarkation and held for delivery on embarkation day.  You should receive info (through your travel agent if you used one) with phone number to call to schedule the pick up.

If you’re asking about the airport/hotel transfer for you and any bags you travel with to the embarkation port, I have a partial answer as we did not take the included air and traveled to the port city well in advance of embarkation and did not have transfer from the airport.  I would imagine that if you are using the included air, the transfer would be for bags and passengers.

On both ATWs, there were transfer services for bags and passengers from the included hotel to the ship on embarkation day.