Antartica January 2025

[MarciAnn]

We are booked on the Venture for an Antarctic cruise in January 2025.  Do I need to make dinner reservations and book shore excursions (which I guess is just kayaking since I have no interest in the submarine) ahead of time?  As of now the site says dining reservations are not yet available and it shows no shore excursions except in Ushuaia.  When do these appear on the site?  Thanks in advance.

[Woodrowst]

45 minutes ago, MarciAnn said:

We are booked on the Venture for an Antarctic cruise in January 2025.  Do I need to make dinner reservations and book shore excursions (which I guess is just kayaking since I have no interest in the submarine) ahead of time?  As of now the site says dining reservations are not yet available and it shows no shore excursions except in Ushuaia.  When do these appear on the site?  Thanks in advance.

If you are interested in the kayaking I would book it in advance.  I waited until I boarded the Venture and was lucky to get one of the last remaining slots.  I thoroughly enjoyed the kayaking and felt it was worth every penny.

[MarciAnn]

Do you know how far out from the cruise date it appears on the website?  How many times did you do it?  Is it worth it to do more than one and if so do you recall where you did it?

[jjs217]

I would book more than once, as conditions have to be perfect to go out.  The expedition team is very cautious.  I have been to Antarctica twice with Seabourn and both times, kayak tours were cancelled due to wind or sea conditions.

 

The only place you will have a shore excursion to book is in Stanley, or if you are doing any stops in Argentina.  The zodiac excursions are included.

[grandma*knows*best]

 No need to book kayaking twice.  If your trip is cancelled, they will try and accommodate you.

 

i was recently on the Pursuit and there was no need to prebook dining. There are also no shore expeditions to book.  This is an expedition cruise.

Edited March 22 by grandma*knows*best

[sfvoyage]

49 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

The only place you will have a shore excursion to book is in Stanley, or if you are doing any stops in Argentina.  The zodiac excursions are included.

 

Did you mean that, on the Venture or Pursuit, even though all zodiac excursions are included everywhere (including Stanley/Falklands), there are other land-based excursions which are available and not included?

Edited March 22 by sfvoyage

[MarciAnn]

Yes. Kayaking and the submarine are excursions that cost extra.  Just wondering how far out they appear on the website for booking.

[Cvvilla77]

I am booked for Dec. 2025 and was able to book kayaking already.

[grandma*knows*best]

20 hours ago, sfvoyage said:

 

Did you mean that, on the Venture or Pursuit, even though all zodiac excursions are included everywhere (including Stanley/Falklands), there are other land-based excursions which are available and not included?

No.  Not on the cruise I took, but it did not visit Stanley/Falklands.

[jjs217]

21 hours ago, sfvoyage said:

 

Did you mean that, on the Venture or Pursuit, even though all zodiac excursions are included everywhere (including Stanley/Falklands), there are other land-based excursions which are available and not included?

Both times we were in Stanley, the shore excursions were not included.  You go in by tender, not zodiac.  Other stops in the Falklands, if you have them, are by zodiac and are included.  As to whether or not to book more than one kayak trip, I still say, "Yes".  People who are booked on a certain day, get priority - those who have been cancelled from a previous day are "worked" in if there is room.  I guess it depends on how full the ship is because when we were on the Venture, some people never got to go out on a kayak, as they were fully booked each day.

[sfvoyage]

1 hour ago, jjs217 said:

Both times we were in Stanley, the shore excursions were not included.  You go in by tender, not zodiac.  Other stops in the Falklands, if you have them, are by zodiac and are included.

 

That is what I had thought.

 

On some other cruise lines, expedition voyages also include shore excursions that are land-based, i.e. not by zodiac.  (An example includes an Iceland circumnavigation voyage that I did on Silversea.)

[Club Eleven]

I guess I have a twist on "booking the kayak excursion more than once"...

 

I definitely want to do this. Did anyone find it so cool that they would recommend doing it twice?

[jjs217]

16 hours ago, Club Eleven said:

I guess I have a twist on "booking the kayak excursion more than once"...

 

I definitely want to do this. Did anyone find it so cool that they would recommend doing it twice?

If you really enjoy kayaking and the exercise, then "yes".  You may go out one time and not see a whole lot of wildlife.  The next time could be that close encounter with a whale.  You pays your money, you take your chances.  If it is something you have never done and just want to try it, perhaps once would be enough.