Voyage to Antartica and beyond on Voyager Jan 29 - Feb 17, 2023

[mrlevin]

8 minutes ago, HotRoot said:

A question - If you do a drive by Antartica, do you count that as having been to the Continent?  Does that let you say you have been to all 7 continents.  Or, do you actually have to set foot on the continent?

No; no; and yes.

[DeepFreeze63]

I agree. I don't even count being inside of airports as "places that I have been".

[1982CruzStart]

1 hour ago, HotRoot said:

A question - If you do a drive by Antartica, do you count that as having been to the Continent?  Does that let you say you have been to all 7 continents.  Or, do you actually have to set foot on the continent?

I consider having been there though technically if you don't land maybe you can't say that. I am just happy to have gone and seen as much as we saw. 

[slidebite]

2 hours ago, HotRoot said:

A question - If you do a drive by Antartica, do you count that as having been to the Continent?  Does that let you say you have been to all 7 continents.  Or, do you actually have to set foot on the continent?

Absolutely not to take away from the OP and this fantastic cruise, I'd say you need to set foot to say you've been there.

 

Similar reason why flying over the north pole doesn't let you say you made it to the north pole or if you flew over Everest doesn't let you say you've been on Mt. Everest.

 

Still, just anchored off Antarctica is pretty darn cool in its own rights!

[forgap]

I plan to post my blog on our recent Antarctica cruise on Voyager when it is finished.  In the meantime, I wanted to post my thoughts about the Voyager and daily life on this cruise.  I also posted this on FaceBook.  
 

We last sailed on Voyager in 2018 and I was impressed with how good it looks after five years.  Even the “loaded diaper” carpet design is well maintained and not showing its age.  Our cabin was also in good shape.   
 

Food was very good in Compas Rose, and less good in La Veranda.  There are always dishes that bomb but those were the outliers.  We did not get the Sunday  brunch extravaganza which was a minor disappointment and our last formal night was scheduled after a full day of excursions rather than on Valentines day the night before.  

 

My only real complaint was the entertainment.  With all the talent that exists in the world, I just don’t see the allure of jugglers and ventriloquists and second tier vocalists.  We have had some fantastic entertainers on previous cruises, but Las Vegas lounge acts are just not my cup of tea.  

 

We also have a continual complaint of contending with amplified music during cocktail hour which makes conversation very difficult.  Even the piano in the Observation lounge was very loud.  The duo in the Voyager lounge was very talented but it is a small room and the amps were cranked up. 

 

The staff was lovely and really made our voyage very enjoyable.  I think that Davor runs a tight ship and everyone seemed relaxed and happy and very excited to be on this epic voyage to Antarctica!
 

[1982CruzStart]

The rumor that i fell overboard is greatly exaggerated.  My apologies to everyone following our adventure that seemed to end abruptly. 

 

There was a nasty cold going around Voyager and after 3 years of great care and not catching a cold or anything else, the cold struck with a vengeance.  Put me essentially in bed for 4 days and back to wearing a mask full-time any time I was out of the suite for a minimum amount of time. 

I have nothing to share with you for the 3 ports in the Chilean Fjords. I understand the one to San Raphael glacier was spectacular but i just couldn't face the rain and more importantly being around other passengers in case i would share my unwanted visitor.  I wish who ever shared it with me, hadn't. 

 

After a disappointing and frustrating disembarkation process we were off on our post cruise 3 day tour in and around Santiago.  it was an enjoyable 3 days and handled well by the contractor. We went from freezing our butts to being overwhelmed by the heat. I don't like heat at the best of times and when I go from cold to cool weather it is particularly hard on me so we did not venture out much outside the organized tour. We found a fantastic place to eat on our final night and for lunch the next day.  We decided to just have a snack in the hotel on the 2nd night and it was a disaster, totally unexpected at a Ritz Carlton. 

 

I will post a couple of pictures from our time in and around Santiago separately. Also will give a short recap of this trip. 

 

[1982CruzStart]

The presidential palace and a lovely church.

 

Organ in the church.

A small portion of the gorgeous ceiling.

[1982CruzStart]

Didn't take any pictures of our trip to Santa Rita winery. It was a very good day. Wine with lunch , a tour of the facility and then a wine tasting of 3 wines. The pours were closer to a glass of wine that was offered at lunch the next day. 

Some pictures from our trip up into the mountains. A small portion of the fun  road we took.

This is the premier ski resort in Chile.  There was a large group of people paddleboarding on the lake.  Can't even imagine risking a dip into that water.

 

The salad then the salmon or beef options. 

 

we hiked down to water side and this is a look back up. 

Edited February 23, 2023 by 1982CruzStart

[1982CruzStart]

Wow what a difference it makes to post pictures from my phone at home compared to on the ship. About 1 second per picture. 

 

Except for our spectacular 3 days in Antartica, this will probably go down as our least favorite cruise.  Those 3 days made everything else worthwhile but if they hadn't been included we would have walked away from this cruise wondering if we would do another.

 

The onbgoing hassles with Regent Air started the bad vibes of this cruise.  The horrendous embarkation and ridiculous disembarkation process were not a great start to the trip nor a great ending. My DH said now he knows why they won't let us do the cruise review once we get off cuz they would get a blast for the way they handle disembarking. We know they have no control over what the port authorities do but they have total control of what happens onboard and how well or badly it is handled. We were about 1.5 hours late getting off which then put our arrival at the hotel delayed by an equal amount.  We arrived to find our luggage baking in the sun outside. All had been marked with our assigned room but rather than getting them out of the sun and into our rooms, they left them there for us to claim and wondering how much heat damage might have been done to the contents. 

 

We found the food on the daily dinner specials to be unappealing to us for the most part and then struggled to eat from the always available as it became repetitive. Our bad experience in Sette Mari put us off it as we just didn't see enough other options worth trying to risk another visit. This is the exact opposite of our last cruise where we probably ate there more than anywhere else.  Except Sette Mari my food was very good for the most part and can't really complain about the quality or temperature, it was really just not as good as we remembered.  We special ordered the Lobster tempura one night and though it was very tasty, the batter was thicker and not as well cooked as i like. We didn't attempt any other special orders.  

 

Essentially sticking to the suite for a few days, we had room service and it was very slow during the day and for dinner. We ordered dinner from the Compass Rose menu and both times we did so we ordered early to get in line knowing that they don't start service until Compass Rose actually opens.  One night we were close to an hour and a half from the 6:30 opening and the next night it was about 2 hours.  Breakfast was right on time and exactly as ordered each day we did it. 

The staff were fantastic as usual. They dealt with extreme weather, rough seas and grumpy passengers, all with their usual cheerful dispositions.  They truly are the highlight of Regent. Voyager is well perserved and looking in pretty good shape but i have to say i prefer the F1 or F2 on Explorer to the regular verandah on Voyager. The one exception is that it is nice to have a full-size sofa on Voyager but having only 1 sink in the bathroom is a definite negative. 

 

So very happy with the free laundry which we took full advantage and will impact my future packing. 

 

Overall not very impressed with the entertainment and hence didn't really attend during the 2nd half. Of course not feeling great and wanting to stay away from others impacted that decision as well.

 

We have a transAtlantic on Grandeur next year, the first time we have booked a cruise for the ship and the itinerary, not just the itinerary.  We purchased the FCC as we only do 1 cruise per year and the 2025 itineraries for the time of year we mostly travel aren't out. We knows if we will end up booking something or canceling. 

[What A Market]

Thanks for the awesome and detailed postings from your cruise. I know it takes a lot of effort.

 

Doing our first Regent cruise on the Voyager this coming August. Reykjavik to London for 14 days. Immediately prior we are doing a Celebrity cruise on the Apex. Amsterdam to Amsterdam. Can’t wait!

[1982CruzStart]

17 hours ago, What A Market said:

Thanks for the awesome and detailed postings from your cruise. I know it takes a lot of effort.

 

Doing our first Regent cruise on the Voyager this coming August. Reykjavik to London for 14 days. Immediately prior we are doing a Celebrity cruise on the Apex. Amsterdam to Amsterdam. Can’t wait!

Have 2 great cruises. 

[1982CruzStart]

Thankyou to all people who followed our adventure. Appreciate all the responses. 

[UUNetBill]

On 2/13/2023 at 10:07 AM, slidebite said:

Absolutely not to take away from the OP and this fantastic cruise, I'd say you need to set foot to say you've been there.

 

Similar reason why flying over the north pole doesn't let you say you made it to the north pole or if you flew over Everest doesn't let you say you've been on Mt. Everest.

 

Still, just anchored off Antarctica is pretty darn cool in its own rights!

I'd say you can legitimately say you've been 'to' Antarctica, but you haven't been 'on' Antarctica.  I'd asked the same question myself, and came to the conclusion that as much as I'd like to walk through the penguin poop personally, I'd prefer to be right offshore on a Regent vessel than crammed on an expedition ship.  Yeah, I know that some of them are pretty nice, but dollar for dollar I'm happier being on a somewhat larger ship.  But maybe that's just me...

[Pcardad]

9 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

I'd say you can legitimately say you've been 'to' Antarctica, but you haven't been 'on' Antarctica.  I'd asked the same question myself, and came to the conclusion that as much as I'd like to walk through the penguin poop personally, I'd prefer to be right offshore on a Regent vessel than crammed on an expedition ship.  Yeah, I know that some of them are pretty nice, but dollar for dollar I'm happier being on a somewhat larger ship.  But maybe that's just me...

The Silver Seas expedition ship we were on had more "space" than Regent due to the extremely low passenger capacity (about 207 I think). It goes down as the single most incredible destination we have ever been to in over 150 countries visited.

[forgap]

4 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

I'd say you can legitimately say you've been 'to' Antarctica, but you haven't been 'on' Antarctica.  I'd asked the same question myself, and came to the conclusion that as much as I'd like to walk through the penguin poop personally, I'd prefer to be right offshore on a Regent vessel than crammed on an expedition ship.  Yeah, I know that some of them are pretty nice, but dollar for dollar I'm happier being on a somewhat larger ship.  But maybe that's just me...

We did both.  The landings were spectacular and worth the effort.  We sailed Ponant in 2016 and then Voyager for a drive by on 2023.  Each cruise had its advantages.  We were much more up close and personal to whales, penguins, and elephant seals on the Ponant expedition cruise.  We also slid down a snowy mountain after a hike to the top and managed to see a leucastic penguin.  On the other hand, the scientific team on Voyager made the trip.   If you are not in physical shape to make landings, then the drive by’s are a great alternative.  
 

some pics from the Ponant trip:

 

To celebrate our first landing

 

Elephant seal

 

 

Penguin version of Abbey Road

Edited February 1 by forgap

[briar14]

4 hours ago, Pcardad said:

The Silver Seas expedition ship we were on had more "space" than Regent due to the extremely low passenger capacity (about 207 I think). It goes down as the single most incredible destination we have ever been to in over 150 countries visited.

I totally agree. Silver Sea expedition was incredible. We’ve traveled a lot and lived in Asia. The January 2020 South Georgia Island and Antarctica cruise is my favorite of all our travel experiences. We had those memories to live on during Covid.

[Brownie54]

We just returned Wednesday from the Silversea Cloud expedition trip to South Georgia Island and Antarctica. We love Regent, but this expedition trip was fantastic! It totally exceeded our expectations.

[papaflamingo]

17 hours ago, forgap said:

We sailed Ponant in 2016

I have seen a number of shows on Ponant and have seen the ships (beautiful design).  But it seems they were really geared to Europeans more than English speaking Americans.  Also the cabins seem very small.  

Anyway how did you like Ponant?  Looks to me like a great cruise line for the Antarctic.   

[forgap]

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

I have seen a number of shows on Ponant and have seen the ships (beautiful design).  But it seems they were really geared to Europeans more than English speaking Americans.  Also the cabins seem very small.  

Anyway how did you like Ponant?  Looks to me like a great cruise line for the Antarctic.   

We liked Ponant very much.  I really like modern design but the cabins are rather small with some major design flaws.  That being said, the expedition team and captain spoke excellent english.  My husband is French so the language issue was not a problem for us.  When the Filipino crew discovered my husband was a French Professor, they always appeared, little notebooks in hand, to learn more French. The passenger mix was very international with a large Japanese contingent, a sizable Chinese Canadian contingent, some French, some Americans, some Australians.  One expedition team member was bilingual in Japanese and English (grew up in NJ).  All announcements were in French, English, and Japanese. It was a very memorable cruse with iconic moments I will never forget.  

[papaflamingo]

On 2/2/2024 at 9:42 AM, forgap said:

We liked Ponant very much.  I really like modern design but the cabins are rather small with some major design flaws.  That being said, the expedition team and captain spoke excellent english.  My husband is French so the language issue was not a problem for us.  When the Filipino crew discovered my husband was a French Professor, they always appeared, little notebooks in hand, to learn more French. The passenger mix was very international with a large Japanese contingent, a sizable Chinese Canadian contingent, some French, some Americans, some Australians.  One expedition team member was bilingual in Japanese and English (grew up in NJ).  All announcements were in French, English, and Japanese. It was a very memorable cruse with iconic moments I will never forget.  

Thanks....  appreciate the info. 😎