Antarctic on Fram

[Sea2011]

We are planning to take the 19 nights cruise in Dec 2013. I saw online that they have inside cabins available on Deck 6 (front) vs Outside Cabins on Deck 3 (mid ship). The price difference is about 2000 euros for 2 persons.

I am wondering if, apart from getting a port hole (I am not sure if we get window or porthole), whether the cabins are bigger for the outside cabins. The size they have quoted for Inside is 6 to 10 sq m and for Outside its 8 to 13 sq m, so its hard to tell if you will get similar size cabins. (Is there any where I can check the actual size of cabins based on the cabin number?)

Does anyone has any advice? I am comparing cabins 640/651 vs 301/306/317/319. (I prefer lower cabin, mid ship for stability, though I am not sure if it makes a lot of difference and whether its worth the extra euros).

The only sailing available is 1 Dec 2013 - is this a good month? I saw some threads that say Jan is better. Just not sure what to expect.

[SarniaLo]

I was aboard MS Fram in Antarctica in Feb 2009 and again in Spitzbergen in September 2011. I would say that the outside cabins on deck 3 are about the same size as the inside cabins on deck 6. The cabins you are mentionning on deck 6 (640, 651) are at the back of the ship, not the front, be careful when reading the deck plans.

The first time we had an outside cabin on deck 6 ("U" category) and the second time an outside cabin on deck 3 ("N" category). The first one was slightly bigger but the N cabins are big enough for our liking, especially since we don't spend that much time in the cabin anyway (most of the time we were either on the deck, or in the lounges, or ashore).

We are also planning on booking the same Antarctic trip as you (Dec 1st 2013). We thought about booking an inside cabin and save some money, but we still feel that it is nice to be able to see outside when you wake up, or at night, and this particular trip has a lot of sea days so maybe we will be inside our cabin a bit much. So we are going for a "N" cabin on deck 3 again.

 

Season wise, "Just don't know what to expect" is about right! ;) I don't think there is really "a better month" for Antarctica. You can get about any weather from day to day, and a lot of changes from year to year. Our first trip was in early February, and I have read that it was not a good month and that all the wildlife was gone at this period. Obviously no one told the thousands of penguins and hundreds of seals that we saw that they were not supposed to be there, and we had an absolutely gorgeous journey. December 1st seems to me a good compromise for this particular trip. It is soon enough in the season so that we can hope to see some king penguins in South Georgia, soon enough so that the snow has not melted in the North of the Peninsula, but late enough for some ice to melt to allow a decent progression in Antarctica. This is in theory, because as I said no year is like the other, so yes, "just don't know what to expect". I've been waiting for months for the 2013 itineraries and I'm quite happy with this particular trip.

 

Maybe we'll meet on board! ;)

[diane.in.ny]

just took a peak at the deck plan

 

You write deck 6 inside cabins are at the front?? To me they look like they are at the stern. The Deck 3 cabins are more towards the front. Are we looking at the same thing?

 

Also, when I researched the sailing and got prices in $$, there were lots of cabin options.

 

https://consumerbooking.hurtigruten.com/en/Main-Menu-V3/New-booking/Cabins/

 

Then I ended up on another site that listed pricing in pounds and there were only two options. Even weirder is that both site had the same URL????? At least I can't see any difference ...........

 

https://consumerbooking.hurtigruten.com/en/Main-Menu-V3/New-booking/Cabins/

 

Anyway, if you can reserve using $$, seems there are more options.

[Sea2011]

Oops, I got mixed up with the front and back of the ship! Thanks for pointing that out and thanks for your responses.

I think the $$ site is actually the US country selection on the home page and the pounds is the UK selection. I have noticed before that there are some variations even in the brochures and excursion descriptions (for the Norway cruise that we booked in March at least).

In this case, I found that the inside cabins on the Deck 6 had the same selections on both sites but some differences in the Deck 3 cabins.

Will continue to search. Very excited, even though its more than a year away. Had always wanted to go Antartica ever since I saw a brochure more than 10 years ago.

[SarniaLo]

I did a pre-booking for this trip directly from Hurtigruten last thursday and there still were plenty of N cabins on deck 3 available. Don't know about the inside cabins though.

Be careful since this year the early booking rates are capacity controlled (until now, you could get the reduced rate until a certain date, and now the reduction you get depends on the number of cabins still available).

[Sea2011]

Yes I know I need to decide quickly. I was also wondering if we have to take their chartered flights and if there is a reduction in fare if you book your own flights to ushaia. We will fly international into Sao Paulo so it would be an extra stop in BA to Ushaia.

[digitl]

We are planning to take the 19 nights cruise in Dec 2013. I saw online that they have inside cabins available on Deck 6 (front) vs Outside Cabins on Deck 3 (mid ship). The price difference is about 2000 euros for 2 persons.

I am wondering if, apart from getting a port hole (I am not sure if we get window or porthole), whether the cabins are bigger for the outside cabins. The size they have quoted for Inside is 6 to 10 sq m and for Outside its 8 to 13 sq m, so its hard to tell if you will get similar size cabins. (Is there any where I can check the actual size of cabins based on the cabin number?)

Does anyone has any advice? I am comparing cabins 640/651 vs 301/306/317/319. (I prefer lower cabin, mid ship for stability, though I am not sure if it makes a lot of difference and whether its worth the extra euros).

The only sailing available is 1 Dec 2013 - is this a good month? I saw some threads that say Jan is better. Just not sure what to expect.

We were on the Fram earlier this year and, although Drake Passage was flat calm, we encountered some pretty heavy seas in Antarctic Sound and elsewhere. I don't think I would want to be in an inside cabin at the stern and high up in those conditions. Each one of those, never mind the combination, is to be avoided in heavy seas! Low down on deck three would be far preferable. Pay to sway is not an option we would take...

 

That said, I suggest you avoid 301 and 306 on deck three and consider just 317 and 319 as 301 and 306 are well towards the bow where you will, again, feel exaggerated movement in heavy seas, and are close to the anchor which is pretty noisy when lowered and raised. If your group is on one of the last groups ashore (they take it in turns to go first, second, third etc), and you want to grab a few more minutes in bed, you'll certainly be woken by the chain! As for window or port hole, N cabins have portholes.

 

I think you'll find that the date matters little. We were there in February and the wildlife we saw was stunning and certainly not in short supply.

 

And yes, Hurtigruten have introduced 'fluid pricing' and they really are taking the fluid with the base price unavailable within 2.5 hours of the brochure being released. If you want the best price you have to get in early. No pressure then...

[SarniaLo]

And yes, Hurtigruten have introduced 'fluid pricing' and they really are taking the fluid with the base price unavailable within 2.5 hours of the brochure being released. If you want the best price you have to get in early. No pressure then...

And the brochure has not yet been released in France, for some reason that I don't really understand (French people are too troublesome on board? :p ). I'm looking at the French website everyday and 2013/2014 trips are still not advertised. Thank god I spend so much time on cruise forums :D , when I heard the brochure was released elsewhere I called Hurtigruten and I was able to book (hopefully it's really done) but as you said the base price was already long gone.

I'm not too happy about Hurtigruten's new commercial policy (for Norway as well)...

[digitl]

And they have cancelled the February 2014 Polar Circle expedition cruise despite already having accepted bookings for it...

[SarniaLo]

And they have cancelled the February 2014 Polar Circle expedition cruise despite already having accepted bookings for it...

Where did you get that information? And why would they cancel it? :confused:

 

This being said, if this is real, then people who have already booked can expect a good compensatory gesture, if Hurtigruten is still as serious with that as they used to be. I had two Hurtigruten expedition cruises cancelled (yes, I'm lucky! :p First one was an Antarctic expedition in nov. 2010 which was supposed to be on the MS Nordnorge, which was then pulled out from Antarctica to go back to the Coastal Express service in Norway, the second was an Spitsbergen trip in August 2011 on board the MS Polar Star, which was pulled out of service altogether - long and sad story). Both time we received very interesting deals in return from Hurtigruten.

[digitl]

Where did you get that information?

From Hurtigruten

 

And why would they cancel it? :confused:

They've booked the ship out to a group.

 

This being said, if this is real, then people who have already booked can expect a good compensatory gesture, if Hurtigruten is still as serious with that as they used to be.

 

[snip]

 

Both time we received very interesting deals in return from Hurtigruten.

Care to expand on that? On our last cruise we were told by two passengers that they had been offered 50% discount when their cruise was cancelled in similar circumstances.

[SarniaLo]

They've booked the ship out to a group.

OK. So it's not really cancelled, it's more like it's sold out! :p (no consolation to those who have already booked, I know. It's bad that this happens only a few days after the program has been released).

 

Care to expand on that? On our last cruise we were told by two passengers that they had been offered 50% discount when their cruise was cancelled in similar circumstances.

The first time we ended up on the MS Fram for a trip that was about 30% more expensive and with a cabin upgrade for the same price we were supposed to pay initially (I supposed it amounts to about 40-45% discount, at that time I was just so relieved that we would be able to go anyway that I didn't really discussed the details, and in the end we were very happy with our trip).

 

The second time, it was clearer (for me). Since the cancellation was due to them, they had to pay us the cancellation fee that we would have had to pay them if the cancellation was our decision. Since it was more than 45 days before departure, the cancellation fee was 10% (it is possible that this is specific to French tourism laws). On top of that, they offered a 40% discount on a similar trip aboard MS Fram the same year or the year after that. We went to Spitsbergen in September 2011 for about half price.

[digitl]

OK. So it's not really cancelled, it's more like it's sold out! :p (no consolation to those who have already booked, I know. It's bad that this happens only a few days after the program has been released).

No, as far as those who had already booked, their trip was cancelled.

 

50% discount on any future booking would seem to be a minimum as long as they don't cancel that trip too! They seem to be developing a habit of selling and then cancelling on a whim (or on sighting additional profit?).

[Sea2011]

Do they cancel often? That would be very upsetting. Is it common with other cruise lines like silver sea and nat geo?

[diane.in.ny]

The second time, it was clearer (for me). Since the cancellation was due to them, they had to pay us the cancellation fee that we would have had to pay them if the cancellation was our decision. Since it was more than 45 days before departure, the cancellation fee was 10% (it is possible that this is specific to French tourism laws). On top of that, they offered a 40% discount on a similar trip aboard MS Fram the same year or the year after that. We went to Spitsbergen in September 2011 for about half price.

 

You were lucky in that you got cancellation info more than 45 days out. We got ours at JFK when the ticket agent told us our res had been cancelled. I called Hurtigruten at 8:30 p.m. east coast time even though I guessed their office would be closed. Nope it was open ... we weren't the only ones being bumped.

 

They had cancelled our flight res to "get our attention" (what? they couldn't call our TA?). The ship was overbooked and we were put on the next sailing.

 

We were NOT happy campers.

 

(Here's my blog post for anyone interested

http://www.travelsnippetsandmore.com/2008/04/pre-trip-experience-from-hell.html )

 

Now, in spite of all that, I've been looking at their Spitsbergen cruises. To the best of my knowledge, they are the only line that does not use zodiacs for landings.

 

However, after reading that they are still pulling this same type of stuff (I have a very non-ladylike word I'd really like to use) I am having second and third thoughts.

[SarniaLo]

Do they cancel often? That would be very upsetting.

In both my cases it was a problem of ship availability (the MS Nordnorge was redirected to Norway because there was a need of a ship for their Coastal Express voyage, which had priority; and the MS Polar Star, which didn't belong to Hurtigruten but was only chartered by them for the summer, was not in a position to be sailing). I actually can't really complain because, when then initial disapointment wore off, I ended up doing a longer and/or cheaper cruise than my initial plans in both cases. The MS Fram is dedicated to these expedition cruises so there is no reason for that kind of problem to happen. It's the first time that I've seen a cancellation such as mentioned by digitl, I don't know it that happens often?

Digitl mentioned two other passengers whose cruise had been cancelled, in which circumstances?

[digitl]

Digitl mentioned two other passengers whose cruise had been cancelled, in which circumstances?

The same as the latest: Hurtigruten accepted a booking for the whole ship after selling spaces on a cruise from the brochure. Not a good way to do business but, I suppose, marginally better than the stunt they pulled on diane.in.ny

[digitl]

(Here's my blog post for anyone interested

http://www.travelsnippetsandmore.com/2008/04/pre-trip-experience-from-hell.html )

Not a happy read. Out of interest, what did they offer you by way of compensation?

[SarniaLo]

You were lucky in that you got cancellation info more than 45 days out. We got ours at JFK when the ticket agent told us our res had been cancelled. I called Hurtigruten at 8:30 p.m. east coast time even though I guessed their office would be closed. Nope it was open ... we weren't the only ones being bumped.

 

They had cancelled our flight res to "get our attention" (what? they couldn't call our TA?). The ship was overbooked and we were put on the next sailing.

I remember your story now. I think I would have had the need for the same kind of unlady-like expressions, had the same thing happened to me. This is not a way to treat people.

 

This Antarctic trip should be my 7th with Hurtigruten, and so far all of them have been memorable (and for good reasons) so I really hope it will stay this way.

[diane.in.ny]

Not a happy read. Out of interest, what did they offer you by way of compensation?

 

Hurtigruten refunded the cost of the cruise. This they told me that night when I was on the phone with them but I was so upset by what was happening, that I didn't grasp it until the end of the call when I had the person I was speaking with repeat it to make sure I understood correctly what was happening.

 

They arranged for our overnight at a JFK hotel -- which they assured us would be prepaid by them. It wasn't. We had to pay the next day, although in the end we did get reimbursed.

 

Paid reservations were waiting for us at the Delta counter that next day for our flight home. Then we were totally stressed out for days as we didn't know if Hurtigruten could arrange our new flights to South America several days pre-cruise for the extra time we wanted in Buenos Aires. In the meantime, our wonderful BA agent made all the switches, putting all res on hold until we got the new flight info from Hurtigruten.

 

Not the start I wanted to this wonderful trip.

[Skipskatta]

In both my cases it was a problem of ship availability (the MS Nordnorge was redirected to Norway because there was a need of a ship for their Coastal Express voyage, which had priority; and the MS Polar Star, which didn't belong to Hurtigruten but was only chartered by them for the summer, was not in a position to be sailing).

 

The Polar Star was in ship yard to be repaired when the owner of the vessel went bankrupt. As you say, Hurtigruten was chartering this ship for the 2011 season on Spitsbergen and was hit hard because it was too late to get an another ship to replace it.

[digitl]

Hurtigruten refunded the cost of the cruise. This they told me that night when I was on the phone with them but I was so upset by what was happening, that I didn't grasp it until the end of the call when I had the person I was speaking with repeat it to make sure I understood correctly what was happening.

 

They arranged for our overnight at a JFK hotel -- which they assured us would be prepaid by them. It wasn't. We had to pay the next day, although in the end we did get reimbursed.

 

Paid reservations were waiting for us at the Delta counter that next day for our flight home. Then we were totally stressed out for days as we didn't know if Hurtigruten could arrange our new flights to South America several days pre-cruise for the extra time we wanted in Buenos Aires. In the meantime, our wonderful BA agent made all the switches, putting all res on hold until we got the new flight info from Hurtigruten.

 

Not the start I wanted to this wonderful trip.

I get the impression from this that Hurtigruten didn't exactly cover themselves in glory in putting things right? They refunded the cruise, but did you have to pay for the replacement? To leave you to pay for flights home after saying they would be pre-paid is pretty much inexcusable.

[diane.in.ny]

I get the impression from this that Hurtigruten didn't exactly cover themselves in glory in putting things right? They refunded the cruise, but did you have to pay for the replacement? To leave you to pay for flights home after saying they would be pre-paid is pretty much inexcusable.

 

The overnight hotel at JFK was supposed to be prepaid. The flights home were.

 

No, we did not have to pay for the replacement. The trip cost us nothing in $$ but TONS in stress and aggravation. Informing us last minute like that, as far as I'm concerned, was inexcusable.

 

And just moving us to the next cruise? Like we don't have a life and we would be available? As it was, we are retired and it wasn't a problem. But suppose we had commitments two weeks later?

 

On our flight home from Santiago we spoke with two gentlemen who had been on our cruise. They were from London and had arrived in Buenos Aires to find out they had been bumped. H "found" a cabin for them and they sailed (probably put two expedition leaders together).

 

I know cruise ships overbook all the time. My TA tells me tales but it is typically months or weeks in advance. She gets a call with an offer to a client, she calls the client and they either accept it or they don't. If they don't, they sail and the cruise line makes the offer to the next person on the list.

 

Picture us at JFK, sitting on the floor with our luggage and cruise papers around us, trying to figure out who to call (our TA was having surgery that day!!!), making calls, trying to absorb information, learning we were going home ... not a pretty picture.

[digitl]

Overbooking just isn't acceptable. Bumping someone in the way they bumped you is inexcusable. Not Hurtigruten's finest hour, and they appear not to have learned the lesson.