Does Celebrity still do Antarctica trips?

[zitsky]

I can't seem to find Antarctica on their web page but I find a few threads here that mention it. Did they take it off the schedule or am I just not looking in the right place?

 

For those who did the Antarctica cruise, do you just cruise by? It's my understanding that only small ships of a few hundred people get to go on the ice.

[cruisestitch]

Usually only one or two per season. Yes, you will not cruise by, not getting off the ship to touch the continent.

[zitsky]

Usually only one or two per season. Yes, you will not cruise by, not getting off the ship to touch the continent.

 

 

Sorry, I'm confused. You say, you will NOT cruise by, you will NOT get off the ship. I think you mean, "you will cruise by and not get off the ship".

 

Thank you.

[cruisestitch]

Sorry I have corrected it. Look at Eclipse, January 20, 2019.

[zitsky]

Sorry I have corrected it. Look at Eclipse, January 20, 2019.

 

I will, thanks!

[Hlitner]

If you want to actually get off a ship and experience Antarctica, you must book one of the smaller ship lines such as Hurtigruten or the National Geographic Explorer, With lines like HAL and Celebrity you only get to "see" Antarctica from the deck of a ship.

 

Hank

[zitsky]

If you want to actually get off a ship and experience Antarctica, you must book one of the smaller ship lines such as Hurtigruten or the National Geographic Explorer, With lines like HAL and Celebrity you only get to "see" Antarctica from the deck of a ship.

 

Hank

 

Got it, thanks. I found the cruise by date thanks to cruisestitch.

[ECCruise]

If you want to actually get off a ship and experience Antarctica, you must book one of the smaller ship lines such as Hurtigruten or the National Geographic Explorer, With lines like HAL and Celebrity you only get to "see" Antarctica from the deck of a ship.

 

Hank

 

Totally agree. And if you compare the nose bleed prices that =X= is charging for any cruise featuring "Antarctica" you may find that the difference is not as substantial as you may think. And the experience is as different as night and day. Check Hurtigruten Midnatsol for some (almost) reasonably priced trips. You may have to forego a balcony for an OV stateroom but we used our balcony a whopping once in a 13 day excursion. Too cold and too much to see by visiting all the decks port and starboard to worry about a balcony. And, on an excursion ship you are making landings 1-2 times a day, not sitting on a balcony.

[Jade13]

Look at Abercrombie and Kent. Best experience ever. They bring on the naturalists.

 

 

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[malg1]

Is there space aboard any ship for an overweight 71 year old male going ONE WAY?:D

[ghstudio]

The falklands are part of Celebrity’s antarctic “sail by”cruises. Keep in mind that only about 50% of cruise ships scheduled for the falklands can actually anchor there due to weather...so no guarantees even if it’s listed as a port on your cruise.

 

 

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[gerelmx]

Cape Horn, Schollart Channel, Paradise Bay, Gerlache Straight & Elephant Island

 

In this ports Eclipse will be docked and Celebrity Shore Excursions Brochure does not display anything to do,

maybe is to early, but if I go to this cruise want to know about shore excursions booked with Celebrity.

[gerelmx]

The falklands are part of Celebrity’s antarctic “sail by”cruises. Keep in mind that only about 50% of cruise ships scheduled for the falklands can actually anchor there due to weather...so no guarantees even if it’s listed as a port on your cruise.

 

 

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Celebrity brochures says Docked

[ghstudio]

Celebrity brochures says Docked

 

 

 

It doesn’t matter....the waters around the falklands can be very difficult. Docked or anchored, you have a 50:50 chance of getting off your cruise in the falklands.....

 

 

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[ghstudio]

Cape Horn, Schollart Channel, Paradise Bay, Gerlache Straight & Elephant Island

 

In this ports Eclipse will be docked and Celebrity Shore Excursions Brochure does not display anything to do,

maybe is to early, but if I go to this cruise want to know about shore excursions booked with Celebrity.

 

 

 

The ship is not docked at any of these sailing areas.....there are no docks to dock at. The brochure and/or web site(s) are wrong.

 

 

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[jelayne]

Cape Horn, Schollart Channel, Paradise Bay, Gerlache Straight & Elephant Island

 

In this ports Eclipse will be docked and Celebrity Shore Excursions Brochure does not display anything to do,

maybe is to early, but if I go to this cruise want to know about shore excursions booked with Celebrity.

 

Did the Antartica cruise this year and I can tell you these not stops, you sail by/through. We had amazing weather calm sea & sunny for our entire 14 days so we made every port, including the Falklands.

[hathaway42]

Taking the celebrity cruise in February 2018 as I realize it is only a sail by , I've heard it is great.

 

 

 

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[zitsky]

Taking the celebrity cruise in February 2018 as I realize it is only a sail by , I've heard it is great.

 

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Where did you hear it was great? Thanks.

[ghstudio]

It is a great cruise. There are several ports where you can visit penguins, etc. there is little to do in the antarctic...you can hike for views or see the same penguins up close, again. You get a great view from the ship which stops a turns 360 degrees so everyone can easily see everything. If you want to commune with animals go to the Galapagos....where you absolutely want to go ashore.

 

 

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[shipshape sam]

On our 2 South American trips, we are 50/50 with Falklands. Did around the horn cruise and saw Falklands and I think we tendered. On Antarctica trip, we missed Falklands due to high winds/rough waves, missed Elephant Island due to heavy fog / snow (it snowed on us while sailing - thought that was interesting to see) and we even diverted away from Antarctica for Ushuaia. Then Captain made decision to try again to reach Antarctica and we had a National Geographic day in Antarctica on our second attempt to get there. The Antarctica cruise in 2010, we were sailing Infinity.

 

On Infinity we sailed into a bay and at some point reached the end of it and kinda just sat there for around an hour. We could see some small buildings but we did not tender or touch terra firm. Have had friends take a small ship out of Ushuaia and they loved it. Next trip, we will look at that itinerary, but I could live with another Infinity cruise too.

 

Knowing the risks/rewards, I still would take an Antarctica cruise. I want to go back and hope to take another one in next 10 years or so. Have to many other places right now on agenda and 4 young granddaughters are a priority. They like to go see the Mouse. :)

Edited October 8, 2017 by shipshape sam

[MVPinBoynton]

We are doing an SA/Antarctica cruise with HAL in January. We had looked at doing it on the 14 day Infinity itinerary; but the HAL 23 day itinerary spends 3 full days in Antarctica vs just 2 on the Infinity. The pricing was basically the same with 9 extra days too. We had friends that did the same cruise earlier this year that raved about it. In fact, most reviews I read from people who visit Antarctica on either a cruise by or landing visit think it is the favorite or most special cruise they have taken. Go look at YouTube to see videos from other people experiences. The scenery is amazing.

[Constance331]

Hello, Sam. I recall very fondly you and your wife, Martha - April 2006, Infinity through Panama Canal.:) We both had aft cabins on Deck 7. I was cruising solo in 7206 and, if I remember correctly, you & Martha hosted a balcony CC gathering in 7203 during Canal Day?

 

Eleven years and I still remember that wonderful sailing, and what a fun CC crowd we had.

 

Best, Roxanne

Edited October 8, 2017 by Constance331

[MVPinBoynton]

It was too late to correct an error on my last post. The HAL cruise is 22 days, not 23 as I put in the post.

[shipshape sam]

Hello, Sam. I recall very fondly you and your wife, Martha - April 2006, Infinity through Panama Canal.:) We both had aft cabins on Deck 7. I was cruising solo in 7206 and, if I remember correctly, you & Martha hosted a balcony CC gathering in 7203 during Canal Day?

 

Eleven years and I still remember that wonderful sailing, and what a fun CC crowd we had.

 

Best, Roxanne

 

Hi Roxanne!

 

It was a great cruise and group. We were in 7208, I think. It was a handicap cabin. We did host a CC gathering and the 2 cabins below us on deck 6 hosted some events too, but not on day through canal.

 

We sailed again in 2009 through the Panama Canal on Infinity in cabin 7206. I want to do it again and see the new canal. Not sure if cruise ships actually go through the new canal though.

 

Hope you have been able to cruise a lot!

 

We have slowed down due to now having 4 granddaughters. We take trips with them now. We are heading to our beach house next week to spend time with 2 of them, so that is our current focus. We do have a Southern Caribbean cruise set for this coming January.

[Maligator]

Were I to book Antarctica, Celebrity would be pretty low on the list. It has already been mentioned that the "stop" is a sail-by of the islands closest to the Cape.

 

For the experience of actually experiencing Antarctica, I'd look at the Nat Geo cruises. Not only do you take Zodiacs to shore, but they bring along Nat Geo naturalists and photographers as guides. That really excites the photographer in me.

 

To go in luxury, yet still get off the ship and romp around, I'd look at Le Ponant. Someone here on the Celebrity board did their itinerary and it looked amazing. They do a polar plunge south of the Arctic Circle, too. :D