Antarctic cruise - what if the weather is bad?

[longterm]

I'd love to do a cruise to the Antarctic, but have wondered what would happen if the ship is unable to approach Antarctica because of weather.

I used to listen to a podcaster who flew down to Cape Horn for a cruise to Antarctica (this was probably more than 10 years ago), put on layers of heavy clothing, got on a bus to go to the embarkation point for his exhibition--but the weather was bad and they were turned away. He didn't get to go to Antarctica, even after traveling all the way from California.

Does this happen often, and if so, does Viking offer any sort of remediation? It would be a huge disappointment to go all the way there and not get to see Antarctica.

A bigger challenge for me will be talking my wife into making this particular cruise, but one can always hope. 

[Jim Avery]

1 hour ago, longterm said:

I'd love to do a cruise to the Antarctic, but have wondered what would happen if the ship is unable to approach Antarctica because of weather.

I used to listen to a podcaster who flew down to Cape Horn for a cruise to Antarctica (this was probably more than 10 years ago), put on layers of heavy clothing, got on a bus to go to the embarkation point for his exhibition--but the weather was bad and they were turned away. He didn't get to go to Antarctica, even after traveling all the way from California.

Does this happen often, and if so, does Viking offer any sort of remediation? It would be a huge disappointment to go all the way there and not get to see Antarctica.

A bigger challenge for me will be talking my wife into making this particular cruise, but one can always hope. 

Those are some of the roughest seas in the world.  It is inevitable to have some weather issues.  Sometimes (if you have taken whatever motion sickness remedy) it's amazing to sit warm and cozy with your favorite beverage and watch the awesome power of the sea.  But then you also want to get places.  Just know this will be very different.  I worked at sea in the Arctic but the other end has to be just as much fun....😎

[CurlerRob]

4 hours ago, longterm said:

I'd love to do a cruise to the Antarctic, but have wondered what would happen if the ship is unable to approach Antarctica because of weather.

If you take a look at the globe, you will easily see why the weather and the seas in the Southern Ocean are so violent - there is absolutely nothing that gets in the way of the prevailing westerlies.

 

We were on a  2013 HAL trip scheduled to round Cape Horn. We missed Punta Arenas, Ushuaia and Cape Horn - weather buoys off the cape were recording 75+ knots and 45 foot seas. We were forced to stay totally inside the inner channels - still incredibly scenic, but no Horn 🤬.

 

I recall the First Officer, in a Q and A, responding to a passenger that "the ship would have been fine - you guys, not so much" had we ventured out into the open sea. My view is that he was being charitable - the wind strength was verging on hurricane strength, and they have been known to swallow larger ships than the one we were on.

 

Others have posted that the chance of actually getting into the Falklands is only 50%. Conversely, you can find accounts of SA / Antarctic cruises where the weather was totally benign.

 

For a full Antarctic cruise, I think you'd have to be very unlucky to lose it all (they seem to be 10 - 15 days), but I also think there's a high risk of rerouting,  interruptions or very heavy weather.

 

It turned out that HAL provided a substantial FCC, which was a complete surprise to us. I had no expectation of any compensation at all - we were very aware of the extreme conditions and possible missed ports before we signed up for the trip.

 

If that's a major concern, I would raise the question with Viking before I booked.

 

We'd love to try again - waiting for a Viking WC that goes south of both capes -  the Holy Grail for small boat sailors!  🍺🥌

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by CurlerRob
Typo

[CDNPolar]

We are sailing to Antarctica this December, but NOT with Viking.  We booked before the fares were out fo the Viking ships.

 

You must ask Viking this, but I will tell you that we are sailing with an Expedition line that has been sailing this for decades and they don't promise that you will land, and it is clear that there is no compensation if you cannot.  We accept this as the luck of the draw and if the weather sucks, it sucks, and we spent a lot of money to view but not walk on the continent.

 

With our cruise there are excursions such as kayaking, snowshoeing, and others that are a "lottery".  You cannot book them in advance, you can only book on the ship and they take all interested applications and then randomly select who gets to do what.  There is no recourse if you don't get the excursion you want either.

 

Definitely check with Viking on this.  To the other poster that received FCC, this is amazing, but we have basically been told that we won't see that if we don't get to land.

 

Now, we have 5 full days on the coast of the continent and although you are guaranteed one landing a day IF the weather cooperates, you are not guaranteed a landing every day if the weather does not. 

 

This again is NOT Viking that we are sailing - just our knowledge and experience to now.  

[Heidi13]

On 6/19/2022 at 8:26 AM, longterm said:

I'd love to do a cruise to the Antarctic, but have wondered what would happen if the ship is unable to approach Antarctica because of weather.

I used to listen to a podcaster who flew down to Cape Horn for a cruise to Antarctica (this was probably more than 10 years ago), put on layers of heavy clothing, got on a bus to go to the embarkation point for his exhibition--but the weather was bad and they were turned away. He didn't get to go to Antarctica, even after traveling all the way from California.

Does this happen often, and if so, does Viking offer any sort of remediation? It would be a huge disappointment to go all the way there and not get to see Antarctica.

A bigger challenge for me will be talking my wife into making this particular cruise, but one can always hope. 

 

I'll suggest that you are already well ahead of many of your fellow potential passengers by being aware of the challenges and risks of cruising to remote locations. Many pax are risk adverse and expect the ship to dock in accordance with the itinerary. The Caribbean and Meddy are great itineraries for the risk adverse.

 

However, many of us want to go further afield and it is great that Viking now have the expedition options, but these remote cruises have significant weather risks, as Cape Horn and the Drake Passage are some of the nastiest waters in the World.

 

Weather forecasting and meteorological routing services are vastly superior to what they were 20 - 30 yrs ago, so the Masters have the information to provide the easiest passage, when it is safe to cross. You could experience a storm that it is prudent for the Master to remain in sheltered waters, but during a 10-12 day cruise you should definitely make it across Drake Passage.

 

Whether you actually get ashore is dependent on the weather. Unfortunately, this one of the risks of cruising to the non-traditional regions of the World. We are also interested in one of these cruise, but accept the weather risks that after paying for the cruise, we may never actually step ashore.

 

Personally, if we want to cruise to these regions, we must accept the associated risks and I do not see why Viking, or any other cruise line, should be expected to compensate us, if the weather impacts the itinerary. 

 

As with all weather issues, it is impossible to predict the potential for issues, especially in these wide-open waters. Good luck convincing DW.

[Jim Avery]

Right-o Andy.  When I ran my rust bucket freighter into the Bering Sea we used to get very low low pressure systems it seemed every three days.  Fun.  We always said if these lows were in the Caribbean they would have names.  😱  But there was this magic one day between systems with rather beautiful weather.  Anyone going to the frozen, violent seas in the high latitudes do need to be properly informed.  But the problem is if Viking really portrays the seas and climate as is, warts and all, they probably would have a dent in sales.  Just as Alaska cruise brochures show beautiful well dressed people leaning on a sunny rail with a martini, the computer generated pictures of a calm, sunny Antarctica are just as misleading.  But then, some of my most vivid memories of time at sea are stormy passages.  I guess we might be strange Andy.🍺

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

Right-o Andy.  When I ran my rust bucket freighter into the Bering Sea we used to get very low low pressure systems it seemed every three days.  Fun.  We always said if these lows were in the Caribbean they would have names.  😱  But there was this magic one day between systems with rather beautiful weather.  Anyone going to the frozen, violent seas in the high latitudes do need to be properly informed.  But the problem is if Viking really portrays the seas and climate as is, warts and all, they probably would have a dent in sales.  Just as Alaska cruise brochures show beautiful well dressed people leaning on a sunny rail with a martini, the computer generated pictures of a calm, sunny Antarctica are just as misleading.  But then, some of my most vivid memories of time at sea are stormy passages.  I guess we might be strange Andy.🍺

 

So true Jim.

 

These are Expedition ships for a reason, and I agree that it is well past time for Viking to call a spade a spade and market them appropriately, identifying the risks and clearly stating the obvious, with respect to the itinerary.

 

Similar to the winter cruises along the Norwegian Coast, these have definite weather risks and I believe Viking should be marketing them accordingly. The average Viking pax is well travelled, so deserve to know the entire picture before signing up.

 

Still remember one night in particular. We rode out a 120 Kt + storm on the Queen Charlotte Islands, only sailing when it eased off to 90 kts. Heck of a trip across Hecate Strait, especially rolling in the shallow areas. Ship handled it reasonably well, pax - not so much.

[donaldsc]

I recently did a South Georgia cruise.  The weather in parts of the Southern Ocean was awful.  Because we were heading to South Georgia instead of Antarctica the captain was able to avoid the most severe weather and we were not impacted.  However the captain also said that ships heading to Antarctica were impacted and some of them were not leaving Ushuaia until things quieted down.  That the breaks down there and you can expect any compensation if that happens.  

 

If you can't handle these issues you should not be doing expedition cruising.

 

DON

[OnTheJourney]

On 6/19/2022 at 3:43 PM, CurlerRob said:

the chance of actually getting into the Falklands is only 50%.

Exactly. When we were down there, we had an absolutely beautiful (and even rather warm) day at Port Stanley; however, one of the shopkeepers I spoke with said that had we been scheduled to arrive there the day before, the conditions were so bad that we wouldn't have been able to come into port. 

On 6/19/2022 at 1:02 PM, Jim Avery said:

Those are some of the roughest seas in the world.

Yep...luck of the draw. You can get "drake shake" or "drake lake" and everything in between. We were, once again, amazingly fortunate to have smooth sailing going both ways. Seriously, it felt like sailing in the Caribbean. 

 

On 6/20/2022 at 11:45 PM, Heidi13 said:

Good luck convincing DW.

lol. It took me YEARS (more like a few decades)  just to convince myself to actually go. Every time I'd seriously look at itineraries, I got cold feet thinking about how bad it could get. Figured it's either go or not go. I'd love to go back, but how lucky could I be the 2nd time around?!

 

On 6/19/2022 at 11:26 AM, longterm said:

I'd love to do a cruise to the Antarctic

My advice...go....lfe is short. It's a pretty amazing place down there. Seeing the Cape Horn Monument alone was an awesome experience. Then, of course, there are the penguins! Loved all the iceberg shapes too. Along with Barrow, AL, it remains among the most unique places we've ever been to. 

Edited June 23, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[Allograft]

On 6/19/2022 at 10:02 AM, Jim Avery said:

It is inevitable to have some weather issues.  Sometimes (if you have taken whatever motion sickness remedy) it's amazing to sit warm and cozy with your favorite beverage and watch the awesome power of the sea.

On the recreational cruises, is sitting in the cafeteria, savoring the scenery, and enjoying a warm beverage the main thing? What kind of other activities are there?

[LindaS272]

9 hours ago, Allograft said:

On the recreational cruises, is sitting in the cafeteria, savoring the scenery, and enjoying a warm beverage the main thing? What kind of other activities are there?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2869818-sea-day-entertainment-on-trans-atlantic-cruises/#comment-63667642

 

[Allograft]

5 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2869818-sea-day-entertainment-on-trans-atlantic-cruises/#comment-63667642

 

Sweet. Thanks for much. I’d upvote you on Reddit

[Clay Clayton]

On 6/19/2022 at 3:43 PM, CurlerRob said:

 

 

We'd love to try again - waiting for a Viking WC that goes south of both capes -  the Holy Grail for small boat sailors!  🍺🥌

 

Same here! Hoping for 24/25🤞