Antarctica Dec 2010- PAII or LeBoreal or Fram or other?

[skjtrav]

Hi, this is my first post so I hope this works.

We had wanted to go on Lindblad/NGExplorer's Antarctic trip over the coming Chr/NYear holidays but it is sold out. In investigating we have now gotten excited about S. Georgia (e.g., king penguins) so want to go on the longer expeditions. We have a window of time between 12/15/10 and second week of Jan. Almost everything is booked up but we found a very few cabins on Silverseas PAII, Abercrombie & Kent-chartered LeBoreal, and Hurtingruten Fram. There is also a Clipper Adventure we need to look at. Does anyone have any recommendations between these? We are a couple in 50's with our 24-year old daughter. Our priority is the quality of the naturalists and amount of time that we get on the landings (I know the smaller ships get more time but nothing matched up for our time frame that we have found so far). Thank you for any help!!

[Mike2131]

Hi, this is my first post so I hope this works.

We had wanted to go on Lindblad/NGExplorer's Antarctic trip over the coming Chr/NYear holidays but it is sold out. In investigating we have now gotten excited about S. Georgia (e.g., king penguins) so want to go on the longer expeditions. We have a window of time between 12/15/10 and second week of Jan. Almost everything is booked up but we found a very few cabins on Silverseas PAII, Abercrombie & Kent-chartered LeBoreal, and Hurtingruten Fram. There is also a Clipper Adventure we need to look at. Does anyone have any recommendations between these? We are a couple in 50's with our 24-year old daughter. Our priority is the quality of the naturalists and amount of time that we get on the landings (I know the smaller ships get more time but nothing matched up for our time frame that we have found so far). Thank you for any help!!

We sailed on the PA II in June of this year in the Arctic and loved the experience and ship. My full review is up in the member reviews and I give the ship the highest marks. Based on our research I will give you 2 more recommendations although I don't know about the timing for your schedule - 1) The Hanseatic (Hapag-Lloyd) gets tremendous ratings and they make a 22 night sailing that takes in South Georgia. If you settle on a shorter expedition, Tauck Tours offers the same 14 night cruise on the L'Boreal as A&K but at a considerable savings.

 

Good luck.

[dileep]

A&K goes a great job and the staff they had on the Minerva in january was outstanding. South Georgia is a must. The prices that I saw on Le Boreal are high. We chose to book a room on one of the lower decks due to concerns about seasickness. We had a picture window compared to the portholes on the lowest deck.

 

I have read positive reviews about Silversea and PAII on this board. If you search, you will find them.

 

Hope you find something that you like.

[skjtrav]

We sailed on the PA II in June of this year in the Arctic and loved the experience and ship. My full review is up in the member reviews and I give the ship the highest marks. Based on our research I will give you 2 more recommendations although I don't know about the timing for your schedule - 1) The Hanseatic (Hapag-Lloyd) gets tremendous ratings and they make a 22 night sailing that takes in South Georgia. If you settle on a shorter expedition, Tauck Tours offers the same 14 night cruise on the L'Boreal as A&K but at a considerable savings.

 

Good luck.

On your suggestion, I looked up Hapag Lloyd Hanseatic and found a perfect itinerary over the exact dates I needed. Unfortunately, when I called about it I learned that that trip was being conducted only in German (which is probably why it didn't show up on the gazillion searches I have conducted). It runs the same S. Georgia itinerary along with its sister Bremen in January but the dates don't work. But it does look excellent. Thanks.

 

We are holding the last rooms on PAII and LeB -- only until tomorrow. Actually I would not mind being on a more rugged expedition ship (aka Polar Star or one of the Russian icebreakers) or the Clelia II but the dates don't work. The Fram appears to be less $$ so I have not yet written that off. But tomorrow is D day (as in "deposit due" day).

 

Mike, I was told by most lines that they won't be including S. Georgia in holiday cruises next year. Definitely the PAII will not.

 

Dileep, thanks for your comments. (You are my neighbor as I am actually on the Eastside of Seattle, betw Bellv and Issaq).

[i don't know the difference between "quick reply" and "post reply" so excuse my ignorance if I'm doing this wrong]

[Mike2131]

On your suggestion, I looked up Hapag Lloyd Hanseatic and found a perfect itinerary over the exact dates I needed. Unfortunately, when I called about it I learned that that trip was being conducted only in German (which is probably why it didn't show up on the gazillion searches I have conducted). It runs the same S. Georgia itinerary along with its sister Bremen in January but the dates don't work. But it does look excellent. Thanks.

 

We are holding the last rooms on PAII and LeB -- only until tomorrow. Actually I would not mind being on a more rugged expedition ship (aka Polar Star or one of the Russian icebreakers) or the Clelia II but the dates don't work. The Fram appears to be less $$ so I have not yet written that off. But tomorrow is D day (as in "deposit due" day).

 

Mike, I was told by most lines that they won't be including S. Georgia in holiday cruises next year. Definitely the PAII will not.

 

Dileep, thanks for your comments. (You are my neighbor as I am actually on the Eastside of Seattle, betw Bellv and Issaq).

[i don't know the difference between "quick reply" and "post reply" so excuse my ignorance if I'm doing this wrong]

They do run "International Cruises" that are bi-lingual (German and English), but it seems they did not have one to fit your dates. The Arctic cruise we took on the PA II in June was run that way because the passengers were split between German-speaking and English-speaking. The passenger list for whatever cruise you select will probably be a veritable United Nations. It makes for a wonderful experience because no matter where they are from, everyone is there for the scenery, the history, and wildlife. Very different from the normal cruise experience and it hooked us on expedition cruising.

 

Interesting news about South Georgia next season. It makes for a lot of sea days so perhaps that is why some lines are dropping it. Let us know what you decide. I hope you have a great expedition.

[dileep]

Most cruise lines offer a mix of options - shorter (~10 days) cruises to Antarctica only, and longer (~16 days) that do Falkland and South Georgia islands and Antarctica. We thought that South Georgia was very interesting and we are glad that we went for the 16 day expedition.

[dileep]

Here is what we saw

[skjtrav]

Thank you for the You tube link. That was breathtaking!

[dileep]

Thank you for the You tube link. That was breathtaking!

 

[beth555]

We actually are scheduled on the PAII over the Christmas break 2010. We were originally scheduled on the Clelia II over this period but then they changed their itinerary and were not going to St Georgia (which was a must for us). We heard good things about PAII so 3 of us are booked on that trip including my 16 year old son.

[Mike2131]

We actually are scheduled on the PAII over the Christmas break 2010. We were originally scheduled on the Clelia II over this period but then they changed their itinerary and were not going to St Georgia (which was a must for us). We heard good things about PAII so 3 of us are booked on that trip including my 16 year old son.

to travel over the holidays (Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Years), but it is a no-go with her. I hope you have a great time on the PA II. We certainly did.

[parischris]

Hi, this is my first post so I hope this works.

We had wanted to go on Lindblad/NGExplorer's Antarctic trip over the coming Chr/NYear holidays but it is sold out. In investigating we have now gotten excited about S. Georgia (e.g., king penguins) so want to go on the longer expeditions. We have a window of time between 12/15/10 and second week of Jan. Almost everything is booked up but we found a very few cabins on Silverseas PAII, Abercrombie & Kent-chartered LeBoreal, and Hurtingruten Fram. There is also a Clipper Adventure we need to look at. Does anyone have any recommendations between these? We are a couple in 50's with our 24-year old daughter. Our priority is the quality of the naturalists and amount of time that we get on the landings (I know the smaller ships get more time but nothing matched up for our time frame that we have found so far). Thank you for any help!!

 

Lindblad also has a 10 day itinerary starting on the 17th of December. I am travelling with them for a nearly 3 week itinerary in late October 2010 to South Georgia and the Falklands (excluding Antarctica). I have also been with the Minerva (now replaced by Le Boreal) and the Nordkapp (now replaced by the Fram) previously.

 

It all depends on what you want to do - Christmas is the busy period. You could also look at the Antarctic Dream, a Chilean owned boat, which I've seen in port in Ushuaia a few times. They are running to Antarctic, SG & the Falklands from 20 Dec to 7 Jan, which lines up with your dates. The Dream is nowhere near as luxurious as PAII, Le Boreal etc, but you don't spend a lot of time in your cabin on an expedition cruise, there is too much to do!

 

Cheers

 

Chris

[skjtrav]

Thanks, all. I still cannot decide. The rates we got we very $$$$$, as larger suites were the only cabins left that would work for us versus one person paying almost double rate for the second cabin, which is even more $$$$$>

 

The decision now comes down to the amount of time on landings and the quality of the naturalists. I suspect Lindblad NatGeo Explorer (sold out) has the best. I've searched the blogs and can't really determine which is best amongst the other 3 (e.g., comments about too many talks about geology vs animals). Opinions on that topic are welcome.

[dileep]

We booked in June and July last year for Jan 2010 when there were big discounts. I remember seeing discounts earlier this year, which may explain why everything is booked up. Last year, Minerva even elimintaed the singles surcharge!

[skjtrav]

Beth555, if we book PAII you will likely find us some of the time at a table playing board games we are bringing, like Apples to Apples or Quelf. You and your son may enjoy these silly but fun games.

[skjtrav]

Thank you, ParisChris. We started out wanting the NG Explorer but it was sold out. After exploring options we got really interested in S. Georgia. We can only block out the ~20 days during the holidays. Luckily there are S. Georgia trips this year, as several lines won't run them during holidays next year.

[skjtrav]

We booked in June and July last year for Jan 2010 when there were big discounts. I remember seeing discounts earlier this year, which may explain why everything is booked up. Last year, Minerva even elimintaed the singles surcharge!

 

 

You were lucky. Our daughter is an actor so we cannot plan ahead that far as we never know her schedule. The discounts now range 10-20%ish. The triple in a cabin discount for one company is 25% but surprisingly only 6%@ for the other, considering that the person has to sleep on a sofabed.

[dileep]

You were lucky. Our daughter is an actor so we cannot plan ahead that far as we never know her schedule. The discounts now range 10-20%ish. The triple in a cabin discount for one company is 25% but surprisingly only 6%@ for the other, considering that the person has to sleep on a sofabed.

 

 

We ended up with close to 40% off list if I remember right! Yes, we were lucky to have grabbed it when there were only 2 rooms left!

[beth555]

Beth555, if we book PAII you will likely find us some of the time at a table playing board games we are bringing, like Apples to Apples or Quelf. You and your son may enjoy these silly but fun games.

I hope we see you there. My son says he loves the game apples to apples. I have not heard of it. Good luck in making your decision. We have to make our final payment in the next few weeks.

[dileep]

I hope we see you there. My son says he loves the game apples to apples. I have not heard of it. Good luck in making your decision. We have to make our final payment in the next few weeks.

 

Beth:

Glad to see that your recovery is going well and you will be able to go on this fantastic expedition!

[skjtrav]

Beth555 -- What kind of accomodations did you get on PAII for your family of 3?

[beth555]

Beth555 -- What kind of accomodations did you get on PAII for your family of 3?

We have a view suite (313) for the 3 of us.

[beth555]

Beth:

Glad to see that your recovery is going well and you will be able to go on this fantastic expedition!

Thank you for all the fantasic pictures and information. It was really helpful. We look forward to our trip in December.

[skjtrav]

So -- after all of this we finally decided to go with the PAII Christmas sailing to Antarctica, Falkslands, S. Georgia.

 

We had much difficulty deciding between LeBoreal (mainly due to the quality of Abercrombie & Kent's naturalist programs) and PAII. After receiving all the information here (thank you!) and elsewhere, we came to the conclusion that either ship would be great.

 

In the end, a very nicely persistent travel agency gave us very significant discounts, arrival hotel (that was not incl in the PAII price but was for LeB), airport transfers, etc. for an offer that we could not refuse.

 

Again, thank you all for your inputs.

[skjtrav]

Beth, we first had a Silver Suite, which looks fabulous but was very $$. At the time we were holding it, it was the last cabin on the ship, though a couple more Silver's have opened up since. At the last minute, the travel agent found a Vista Suite on deck 4 that, combined with her discounts, saved us well over $20K! We were worried about the Vista Suite being too small for the 3 of us, but when I saw that you were taking a cabin the same size that helped us decide that it must be manageable. I hope their sofa bed is comfortable for this long of a cruise.