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"Special" clothes to pack for Antarctica


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Just to add a few -- we ended up buying our boots as we have used them twice. They also make good horse (in our case mule) mucking boots.

 

Regarding bean bags... If you have a large telephoto lens (a must for the polar bears) -- a must have is a mono pod for stabilizing on board the ship when outside. The ship will get close but not that close.

Edited by PaulMCO
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A question on the SilverSeas Backpack since my wife wants to take trekking poles - does anyone have a closeup picture of the backpack? Does it have a way to strap the poles on (like my backpack) for when we ride in the zodiacs? Or, what do you do with your poles on the zodiac?

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I'd love to hear a description of the process in regards to your penguin poop smeared boots and rain pants when you get back to the ship on the zodiac! Hopefully it is not that the crew breaks out a ships fire hose and turns it on you to hose you down.:D

 

After getting washed off, what do you do with your boots? Are there lockers or do you bring them back to your cabin? I have a picture in my mind of 100 identical looking boots all lined up and no one knowing which are theirs after the first zodiac trip. ;)

 

Thanks in advance, an Antarctic future first timer here.

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A question on the SilverSeas Backpack since my wife wants to take trekking poles - does anyone have a closeup picture of the backpack? Does it have a way to strap the poles on (like my backpack) for when we ride in the zodiacs? Or, what do you do with your poles on the zodiac?

 

I'm looking at three Silversea backpacks and all three are built different. Only one has a spot for a tripod or trecking poles. Just bring your own backpack and you will be happy. We leave the new backpacks in the room when we leave (we already have more than we could ever use)

 

It seems that everybody just piles their trecking poles and walking canes in the middle of the zodiac. Don't give it too much importance, you will figure it all out on your first landing.

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I'd love to hear a description of the process in regards to your penguin poop smeared boots and rain pants when you get back to the ship on the zodiac! Hopefully it is not that the crew breaks out a ships fire hose and turns it on you to hose you down.:D

 

After getting washed off, what do you do with your boots? Are there lockers or do you bring them back to your cabin? I have a picture in my mind of 100 identical looking boots all lined up and no one knowing which are theirs after the first zodiac trip. ;)

 

Thanks in advance, an Antarctic future first timer here.

 

Boots -- on first sea day-- the crew will put a tag number on each boot for you with a little cubby hole assigned in the prep/changing room. They will also make you bring these and your pants and jacket where they will vacuum the clothes and wash the boots. Key is to get anything that will contaminate the antarctic ecosystem.

 

On leaving the boat you will likely walk through a tray of disinfectant. On return - I think same. There are water spigots in the room where everyone will remove and clean their cloths. Remove boots clean poop and put back into the cubby.

 

A good idea is to bring a pair of slippers this way you can make your way back without being in bare feet. MHO

 

Sorry about the arctic Polar Bear comment as the previous poster brought up the arctic... But it also applies to photographing whales and other wildlife you will see on the bergs (crab eater seals)

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An unpleasant reality is that some folks browse the tagged boot rack seeking a better boot.

Quite an issue when you are scheduled for shore and your cubby is empty .

I asked a crew member to please find me another pair.. asap….and it was so...

It seems they usually have some extras that don't go out in the bin for general distribution… :-)

Next time I bring nice boots I will paint the soles with fluoro paint

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An unpleasant reality is that some folks browse the tagged boot rack seeking a better boot.

Quite an issue when you are scheduled for shore and your cubby is empty .

I asked a crew member to please find me another pair.. asap….and it was so...

It seems they usually have some extras that don't go out in the bin for general distribution… :-)

Next time I bring nice boots I will paint the soles with fluoro paint

 

Since we bought our boots, l am wondering if we should mark ours someway. Sad that people actually steal from fellow passengers?

Can we take them back to the cabin with us?

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Boots -- on first sea day-- the crew will put a tag number on each boot for you with a little cubby hole assigned in the prep/changing room......

 

Ahhhh, this helps a lot. So we do not have to bring them back to the room which is great because we had a bit of worry about the smell. I fully appreciate and agree with not contaminating any of the antarctic island ecosystem.

 

 

The slippers idea is brilliant!

 

 

We were brainstorming a way to mark our boots (that we bought). It helps if the crew tags the boots. I think I'll still try to make some very distinctive marking on them in light of the next comments.

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Since we bought our boots, l am wondering if we should mark ours someway. Sad that people actually steal from fellow passengers?

Can we take them back to the cabin with us?

 

Some folks do wash them and take them back.

Folks seeking to upgrade are probably assuming all the boots are on loan from silversea and although it is quite poor form, they probably don't see the behaviour as stealing .. :-)

Our one Antarctic trip was many years back and there was a broad range of boot quality in the bin.. first in best dressed.. :-)

 

Another thing not mentioned is the challenge of rugging up in the cabin and dissolving from heat exhaustion waiting downstairs at disembarkation.

Leave everything undone and also practice quickly zipping up and donning the life vest just as the tender arrives..

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Thanks to websailor, cfflutist, takingflight and others on this Antarctica thread for asking very helpful questions about the Silversea Antarctica experience.

 

And special kudos go to Rojaan19, PaulMCO, tgh, spinnaker2 and carefreecruise who have provided very helpful answers and addtional Anarctica/expedition cruising answers that will assist us when we board the Cloud in February. We plan on taking hand/feet warmers as Candy/spinnaker2 suggests, and also bringing two pairs of "mudroom" slippers as PaulMCO recommends too.

 

And for those who want to view a super vid on the Silversea home page about expedition cruising in general, pls see this marvelous SteveMcCurry

vid (first vid at link). Right below the McCurry video is

 

 

Silversea Chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio and Conrad Combrink, Vice President of Expedition Planning & Strategic development, discussing the origin of expedition cruising on SS.

 

 

https://www.steveandsilversea.com/

Edited by WesW
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There is a mud room with individual slots for each suite for storing the boots. It has an area with hoses and scrub brushes to get penguin poop or whatever else you might have stepped in off. At the beginning of the cruise they put a tag with your suite number on each boot.

 

As far as backpacks and poles, the most recent version does not have a way to attach the poles. Everyone just carried theirs. I bring the backpacks home and donate to the caring center at our church. They are always needing them.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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There is a mud room with individual slots for each suite for storing the boots. It has an area with hoses and scrub brushes to get penguin poop or whatever else you might have stepped in off. At the beginning of the cruise they put a tag with your suite number on each boot.

 

As far as backpacks and poles, the most recent version does not have a way to attach the poles. Everyone just carried theirs. I bring the backpacks home and donate to the caring center at our church. They are always needing them.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Thank you for the useful info. I debated about taking trekking poles on our Longyearbyen/Spitsbergen cruise, left them home, but then wished that I had them with me when we hiked on the permafrost (I was at the very back of the line). So I am definitely taking them with me to Antarctica. Just ordered some new Leki ones that collapse down to 15" (current ones are 24").

 

When ordering the Parka, should I order the next size up? Do the sizes take layering into account?

Will we need a balaclava?

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Parkas are yours to keep. In my opinion the do run small and I order a size up. However they have plenty in stock on board and will do an exchange for you if they do not fit.

 

 

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I love the "NEW" parkas on SS. They are a blue down coat, under a red waterproof coat. If you order the wrong size your butler will change it no problems. It is yours to keep. We have been on several of the cold climate cruises and when we have got off we have donated the parkas to the Salvation Army/Lifeline shop in the area. As we live in the tropics we dont really need the coats, but I did keep the blue inner jacket from our last cold cruise and it will come in handy next month when we venture south to Kangaroo Island !

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Thanks for the confirmation. Now how do *I* tell *her* I was right this time? ;)

 

We'll have parkas on when we go to the airport already, will have to figure out how to maneuver two each of them into the suitcase!

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  • 1 month later...

Shopping done! Mostly.

 

Ordered our parkas yesterday. Also I rented boots (wife bought -- she needs new winter boots), we both rented poles and I rented pants (she found a great markdown at the Eastern Mountain OOB sale). We used the vendor linked to by SS (Ship to Shore Traveler). They had a drop down to pick your boat . . . and Cloud wasn't listed, so we had to chose "Other". Sent them an e-mail with our order number so hopefully everything shows up for us.

 

Now to find a camera!

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  • 10 months later...
I love the "NEW" parkas on SS. They are a blue down coat, under a red waterproof coat. If you order the wrong size your butler will change it no problems. It is yours to keep. We have been on several of the cold climate cruises and when we have got off we have donated the parkas to the Salvation Army/Lifeline shop in the area. As we live in the tropics we dont really need the coats, but I did keep the blue inner jacket from our last cold cruise and it will come in handy next month when we venture south to Kangaroo Island !

 

Well, sub-tropics perhaps, as is Brisbane, but thanks for the excellent information about the SS parka, which seems to be high-quality. It does seem that little else is needed, perhaps gloves and waterproof trousers.

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Don't know if anyone has suggested a bag that is waterproof for camera and camera gear. Get one that is completely sealable just in case you drop it in the water.

Also carabiner clips are good to attach stuff to the backpack.

BTW the backpack is NOT waterproof.

Some extra ziplock bags are a must.

And Vicks vapor rub under your nose will help to block the smell of guano.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

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Good point about the porous backpack, Spins. We found that out the hard way - not in Antarctica, but in the Darién Jungle. Deluge fried both cameras.

 

In Antarctica, I found that we were so bundled up with waterproof layers, that we could just slip our cameras under our layers. We brought ziplocks but didn't bother most of the time.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

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