packing question

[pinguino]

im going on a 12day trip to the antarctic peninsula next month. they sent a packing list... but realistically how many things like pairs of socks do i actually need to get? i know there's laundry on the ship, but is it insanely expensive?

[NCCruzQueen]

i know there's laundry on the ship, but is it insanely expensive?

 

Hi pinguino, As I am cruising to Antarctica in January 2012, I can't help you with the packing question. In regards to the laundry expense, that may better be answered on the cruise line section of CC.

[MJC]

Keep in mind that dry=warm, so you will want dry socks for each landing. The zodiac rides can be very chilly. If the sun comes out and you are walking or climbing, you might sweat. Back at the ship you may want to change wet items for dry(socks, long underwear, whatever) for the next excursion.

 

We took polypropylene long johns which dry really fast -- recommended by a mountain-climbing friend. We wore sock liners (easy to wash in the sink after wearing) with wool socks (worn twice then sent out to the laundry).

 

A lot depends on how active you will be ashore. We were in our early 40s when we went so if there was a hike we did it. Many people were content to hang out at the landing site.

[tupper10]

We went last year and you need two pairs of socks/liners, glove liners (not gloves if they are waterproof), and two pairs of long underwear. The other layers you can change if you wish but since you usually go on two landings per day if you get wet on landing one you want dry socks etc on landing two.

Your waterproof pants must really be waterproof - 1 Pair- we bought cheap pants and hosed them off as other poster indicated - it was not a problem and I wore mine over my old ski bibs with long underwear underneath - my husband wore long underwear and fleece pants and then the waterproof pants. You should also bring a neck gaiter not a scarf and a warm hat. We brought clips to hold our hat and gloves to our jackets so we wouldn't lose them. On our trip we were actually hot and we took off layers - our ship gave us a back pack (the PAII) which we used on every landing. Sunglasses are a must and suntan lotion as well. I hope this helps. Have fun.

[kiwihands]

The packing lists are normally good to follow. Remember that most often you will be wearing two pairs of socks to keep warm and to make walking more comfortable in the rubber boots. There is also a wait to get the laundry back etc. You may get unexpectly wet and have to change everything

[Lirio]

PAII self laudry was for free. I followed the list I got from them and was enough. Whenever I go to a remote area, I prefer to pack more than less, limited for the weight convinience (I always consider that I should be able to carry all my gear by myself).

[dileep]

we took 2 pairs of everything (socks, pants, fleece tops) except rain pants and gloves but we had 2 types of gloves. Our laundry was free on Swan Hellenic.

[pinguino]

thanks for the feedback. our group is a bunch of hyper 30yr olds so i guess extra liners and such are necessary. some of the snowboarders in the group seemed to think it was excessive. i think our laundry is fairly expensive so i was trying to avoid it. My mountaineering friend lent me about half the stuff on the list; she gave me a couple of poofy jackets. do i need to bring them, or is the parka something it'd want to wear like out on the deck of the ship?

[tupper10]

Most of us just wore the parka the ship gave us - just bring a fleece - no extra jacket is required.