If money were no object which expi company is the best?

[Moeve]

Which ship and which company is considered the best?

[Mike2131]

Which ship and which company is considered the best?

We have only taken one expedition cruise - 7-night Arctic RT from Svalbard 6/22/10 on the Prince Albert II and loved everything about it. We would definitely recommend the cruise and the ship.

 

If you are looking at pure ratings (and we have done a lot of research), the highest rated expedition ship by Berlitz is the Hanseatic (Hapag-Lloyd). We are looking at that ship for the Antarctic.

[dileep]

Look at the itinerary, ship type and the cruise provider. We went on Swan Hellenic Minerva which was staffed by Abercrombie and Kent. The service and lectures were great. A&K will be doing the new Le Boreal which looks very nice. We wanted an itinerary that included South Georgia. Ours cruise was 16 days with one day in the Falklands, 3 in South Georgia, and 3 in Antarctica. Some trips are longer and have 5 days in Antarctica.

 

We wanted an slightly bigger ship with stabilizers and have to settle for 200 passengers with 2 groups of 100 taking turns going ashore. A ship with less than 100 passengers allows everyone to go ashore at the same time.

 

We have heard good things about Silverseas PAII and the National Geographic tours.

 

Hope this helps.

[PerfectlyPerth]

In a few weeks I am doing what I consider to be the ultimate in "money no object" trip (ok it was an object but the bank said yes and I will spend 10 years paying it off!!!) on what I have always believed to be my dream ship with my dream company (especially since I started going to their slide nights 20 years ago when I first started dreaming of this trip).

 

So my trip is on the Kapitan Khlebnikov and my expedition company is Peregrine. And my trip is:

THE WEDDELL SEA & SOUTH GEORGIA

Day 1 : Overnight in a hotel in Ushuaia, Argentina

Day 2 : Embarkation Day

Days 3-4 : At Sea

Day 5 : Elephant Island

Day 6 : Brown Bluff

Day 7 : Paulet Island

Days 8-11 : The Weddell Sea

Days 12-17 : Princess Martha Coast and the Anniversary Celebration

Days 18-20 : The Weddell Sea

Days 21-22 : South Sandwich Islands

Day 23 : At Sea

Day 24 : Drygalski Fjord and Cooper Bay, South Georgia

Day 25 : Gold Harbour and St. Andrews Bay, South Georgia

Day 26 : Grytviken and Fortuna Bay, South Georgia

Days 27-28 : At Sea

Day 29 : Stanley, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

Day 30 : Santiago, Chile

for the 95th anniversary of the sinking of the Endurance.

 

AND I JUST CANNOT WAIT!!!! Am counting down the days now and looking at the pile of very interesting clothing etc that will be squeezed into the suitcase. :D:D

[Lirio]

PerfectlyPerth,

 

This is my dream as well, but I will not able to do so, as the Kapitan Khlebnikov is fully booked until her last cruise in 2012 when I will be 50 and would do this trip.

 

In mean time I went to Antarctica and South Georgia last March 2010 with Prince Albert II. She is a perfect ship with great staff and crew. But I consider 17 days for the cruise to be a bit short. I would like to have a 20-22 days. I posted a complete review under the review section of CC.

 

Next July (2011) I will do the Artic with Lindblad because PAII was fully booked when we tried to make the reservation last June (2010).

[Lirio]

My "Antarctic Fellows" do you have any information about spotting bears in July at Spitzbergen? I saw in some other boards here in CC that it is very difficult and sometimes frustating.

[diebroke]

My "Antarctic Fellows" do you have any information about spotting bears in July at Spitzbergen? I saw in some other boards here in CC that it is very difficult and sometimes frustating.

 

I cruised Antarctica with Lindblad on the Endeavour and attempted to circumnavigate Svalbard on the Polar Star - an ice breaker but the ice was to thick to make it all the way around.

 

Both trips were outstanding. In Antarctica we saw Emperor Penguins, a rarity. In the Arctic, we did not see any bears in 7 days of cruising. I don't know the statistics on bear sightings on Spitzbergen cruises but I don't think you can expect to see them.

[Mike2131]

My "Antarctic Fellows" do you have any information about spotting bears in July at Spitzbergen? I saw in some other boards here in CC that it is very difficult and sometimes frustating.

We saw 10-11 bears including 7-8 (including a mother and small cub) in Sallyhamna feasting on a whale carcass. The place was well known since the dead whale had drifted into the fjord about 10 months before and drew bears on a regular basis. We also encountered 3 bears on pack ice and watched them from the ship for some time. One came right up to the ship (a sub-adult the staff thought perhaps had never seen a ship before).

 

I posted a full review and the Expedition Journals on the Silversea site make very interesting reading.

[PerfectlyPerth]

PerfectlyPerth,

 

This is my dream as well, but I will not able to do so, as the Kapitan Khlebnikov is fully booked until her last cruise in 2012 when I will be 50 and would do this trip.

 

In mean time I went to Antarctica and South Georgia last March 2010 with Prince Albert II. She is a perfect ship with great staff and crew. But I consider 17 days for the cruise to be a bit short. I would like to have a 20-22 days. I posted a complete review under the review section of CC.

 

Next July (2011) I will do the Artic with Lindblad because PAII was fully booked when we tried to make the reservation last June (2010).

 

Hi Lirio. Have you checked with Peregrine/Quark recently ? The "pay by" date has just passed for most of the Nov/Dec/Jan cruises on KK and quite often they end up with spare beds or cabins when people dont make that final payt by the due date. I know the big Dec 2010 one is sold out with an existing waiting list (I have been on it all year!) but I am sure I saw available beds for the Nov 2010 one still existing.

 

I must go and read your review from your last trip :)

[PENGUIN67]

We took this ship on its inaugural cruise to Antarctica in Dec 2004, cruising from Buenos Aires to Ushuia. Mostly European guests. Very classy, lots of wet landings.