Antarctic "sail by" cruises (not expeditions)

The Celebrity cruise does include the Falklands but 2,850 passengers dumped on Stanley? Good for businesses in Stanley, but the town they would see would be far from the Stanley we have visited on a ship carrying far fewer than 10% of the Celebrity Eclipse!

You should see Jan. 25, 2020. HAL, Princess and Azamara will be in Stanley on the same day. On the chance that we might actually follow through on this deposit and take the HAL cruise, I’ve already booked with Estancia for Volunteer Point.

You should see Jan. 25, 2020. HAL, Princess and Azamara will be in Stanley on the same day. On the chance that we might actually follow through on this deposit and take the HAL cruise, I’ve already booked with Estancia for Volunteer Point.

IMO the HAL Cruise is far better than the Celebrity Cruise. Great decision to book now, lots of passengers will be disappointed if they leave booking that trip too late. Enjoy the experience of getting there and back as well as seeing so many penguins when you arrive there

You should see Jan. 25, 2020. HAL, Princess and Azamara will be in Stanley on the same day. On the chance that we might actually follow through on this deposit and take the HAL cruise, I’ve already booked with Estancia for Volunteer Point.

You will be very glad you did. Just an awesome experience.

I also noticed that Celebrity plans for Antarctica the day after Cape Horn while HAL has a day at sea and allows for 60 hours from Ushuaia to Antarctica. I assume they’re playing it safe and allowing for some wiggle room. Sounds good to me.

You will be very glad you did. Just an awesome experience.

I just re-read your blog entry about tendering at Stanley. Yipes! Can I start waiting on line now?

I just re-read your blog entry about tendering at Stanley. Yipes! Can I start waiting on line now?

You will be so glad if you get in line early. It was so sad talking to folks that got late tenders and weren’t able to make their excursions. Getting to the Falklands and not able to see the Kings would be so sad.

You should see Jan. 25, 2020. HAL, Princess and Azamara will be in Stanley on the same day.

The islanders need, and deserve, the support of as many visitors as possible. But not all on the same day!

It's a pity that cruise companies don't talk to each other a little more and avoid swamping ports with large numbers of visitors who then don't see the 'real' destination.

You will be so glad if you get in line early. It was so sad talking to folks that got late tenders and weren’t able to make their excursions. Getting to the Falklands and not able to see the Kings would be so sad.

Volunteer Point needs a minimum of 6 to 7 hours in port. Bluff Cove Lagoon, while having many fewer kings, is much closer to Stanley and so much more doable if time ashore might be tight.

Volunteer Point needs a minimum of 6 to 7 hours in port. Bluff Cove Lagoon, while having many fewer kings, is much closer to Stanley and so much more doable if time ashore might be tight.

That HAL ship is in port from 8 am to 5 pm, so it should be fine if we get in line early the day before for tendering tickets. At least I hope so.

You're absolutely right about those conflicting port days. It's a bit crazy. Only a very small percentage will get out to Volunteer Point. I mean, here's a place in the middle of nowhere, and it's going to be bombarded by cruise passengers in one day.

OP here...

We just wanted to let you all know that we are actively reading all of your helpful posts, and usually following up to get more info about whatever was mentioned.

Does anyone happen to have a suggestion about the *shortest* cruise that actually sails down to/along Antarctica?

Preferably with the Falklands, but not required.

"Major iceberg sighting possibility" definitely a plus :)

We are still considering expedition vs. sail-by (with significant pros/cons of each, for us).

MIL is about to turn 98, and although she's still constantly in search of more and better bridge players (!), she IS, after all... almost 98...

Nope, please don't suggest that we "wait"... if anyone is going to make it well into the 100's, she's near the top of such a list. And I sure hope DH has some of those great genes.

Thanks for ALL comments, links, suggestions. It's been extremely helpful.

We've made a nice dent in the "really want to see" list, and this is right up there now.

GC

That HAL ship is in port from 8 am to 5 pm, so it should be fine if we get in line early the day before for tendering tickets. At least I hope so.

On all of the HAL cruises we have been on, tender tickets for non-ship excursions have been issued on the day and not the day before. And those tenders left after the ship's excursion tenders. Have these arrangements changed?

And a further warning of time available on shore: on one Indonesian cruise tendering at one port was delayed by 90 minutes (and the Captain made it clear he wasn't happy with the negative feedback he was getting!).

OP here...

 

We just wanted to let you all know that we are actively reading all of your helpful posts, and usually following up to get more info about whatever was mentioned.

 

Does anyone happen to have a suggestion about the *shortest* cruise that actually sails down to/along Antarctica?

Preferably with the Falklands, but not required.

"Major iceberg sighting possibility" definitely a plus :)

We are still considering expedition vs. sail-by (with significant pros/cons of each, for us).

 

MIL is about to turn 98, and although she's still constantly in search of more and better bridge players (!), she IS, after all... almost 98...

Nope, please don't suggest that we "wait"... if anyone is going to make it well into the 100's, she's near the top of such a list. And I sure hope DH has some of those great genes.

 

Thanks for ALL comments, links, suggestions. It's been extremely helpful.

We've made a nice dent in the "really want to see" list, and this is right up there now.

GC

On Hurtigruten Fram's explorer cruises, you have to complete a Medical Certificate, approved by your doctor, on your fitness to travel.

OP here...

 

We just wanted to let you all know that we are actively reading all of your helpful posts, and usually following up to get more info about whatever was mentioned.

 

Does anyone happen to have a suggestion about the *shortest* cruise that actually sails down to/along Antarctica?

Preferably with the Falklands, but not required.

"Major iceberg sighting possibility" definitely a plus :)

We are still considering expedition vs. sail-by (with significant pros/cons of each, for us).

 

MIL is about to turn 98, and although she's still constantly in search of more and better bridge players (!), she IS, after all... almost 98...

Nope, please don't suggest that we "wait"... if anyone is going to make it well into the 100's, she's near the top of such a list. And I sure hope DH has some of those great genes.

 

Thanks for ALL comments, links, suggestions. It's been extremely helpful.

We've made a nice dent in the "really want to see" list, and this is right up there now.

 

GC

On Hurtigruten Fram's explorer cruises, you have to complete a Medical Certificate, approved by your doctor, on your fitness to travel.

Ooops - sorry... that wasn't clear at all!

MIL isn't going anywhere!

[she finally needed a walker about a year ago (not bad by the late 90's), but she only uses it around her Assisted Living Facility and some local excursions.]

We don't want to be gone "too long", and especially to a place where we can't easily "come home early, just in case".

However, we aren't limiting the length of our travels (excepting Antarctica, *if* possible), or we'd still be waiting to start some of the longer trips.

Until about 3 years ago, she was driving all of her friends to *their* medical appointments. Remarkable.

If she weren't, uh, "difficult" :mad: , we'd have invited her to join us on a few shorter trips not too long ago., but nothing where medical care wasn't reasonably available, although she still only has well controlled high blood pressure and, just recently, bad knees. And a killer sharp mind...

But no... not to Antarctica, not for her, not now.

GC

On Hurtigruten Fram's explorer cruises, you have to complete a Medical Certificate, approved by your doctor, on your fitness to travel.

As do all companies for their expedition trips, yet not everyone realises the need or understands why. Hospital facilities for serious accidents and emergencies are not a 10 minute ambulance ride away. On our first Antarctic trip we sailed for 18+ hours to get a passenger to Frei Base for her to be flown out for treatment.

So you are looking for the shortest possible trip to Antarctica and would like to include the Falklands. This is so you will not be too long away from your MIL. The shortest trips will likely involve flying over the Drake Passage. This shortens your time a bit but these often get delayed or outright cancelled (for which you can often only get your money back via your own insurance) so they may not be your best choice.

If you are mainly interested in ice you could just go to Antarctica which is what we did. We saw lots of wildlife and incredible scenery and icebergs but not the quantities of wildlife you see in the Falklands and South Georgia.

A good place to ask this is the Antarctic Adventures forum here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowForum-g1-i12337-Antarctic_Adventures.html

Antarctica with Holland America (Valparaiso to Buenos Aires) was amazing! 4 days around the various islands of Antarctica and the mainland...photos here so you see the various days' sights...

 

Very nice pics. Couldn’t believe just 4 days. You took a lot of nice pictures.

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We did our "drive-by" on the Celebrity Infinity and loved it. Undoubtedly not the same experience as an expedition itinerary, but we chose it partly due to never having been anywhere in South America before. Both Puerto Madryn and Montevideo were great ports.