Antarctica - Emperor Penguins

[shmabbies]

This is something silly but I know some people missed this. At the front desk on the ship is a basket of rubber stamps with all kinds of Antarctica and Orlova logos, so be sure to locate it and stamp up some postcards, your guide books, note cards, whatever. We even stamped our passports with them! Postcards are not plentiful on the ship so buy your postcards in Ushuaia. Also, no one locks their cabins on the ship. I don't know if it was coincidental or not, but the one day we locked our cabin, our room was not serviced, so we didn't do that again! :D

[NewCruiseFan]

Shmabbies, what ship were you on that had the stamps/logos and didn't lock up?

 

Is that true of other cruise lines in Antarctica?

[shmabbies]

Quark Orlova. It was actually kindof neat. There was a real sense of "we're all in this together" on the ship. We did lock our door when we were sleeping!:D I'm guessing it's common on the other expedition type ships but obviously I don't know that for sure.

[2552phxcrzr]

For those interested, while researching our trip to Antarctica my DH came across a new offering by Quark - a shorter/less expensive expedition geared specifically for seeing the Emperors. We've decided against it ourselves - considering how finicky the weather can be down south, we felt we might be putting all our eggs in one basket. Would definitely do it if this were not our first (and probably only visit) to Antarctica. (By the way - only one suite and one corner suite was available when we called early this week, so the expedition is selling well.)

 

The trip is out of Ushuaia - to an Emperor Penguin breeding site on Snow Hill Island - only recently discovered. The expedition is being offered on the Kapitan Khlebnikov - they plan to spend several days there, using helicopters to ferry passengers inland and then about a mile walk to the actual site. Check out Quark's website for details.

[linda47]

Finally saw the move "The March of the Penguins". I thought it was amazing! Too bad I probably won't get to see the Emperors.

 

Somewhere, I read about climbing a ladder to get in and out of the zodiacs. For those who have gone before, what kind of ladder and how many steps? I don't do well on ladders to begin with, and I would imagine with the bulkiness of the outerwear, this would be even more difficult. I would surely hate for a ladder to keep me from going! :(

[kootz]

I am looking for a cruise ship that has internet access while on board. Can anyone help? We would love to take this type of cruise but need to check in with work at least every other day...

[wander]

I was just fine with Dramamine in the very, very rough Drake Passage. OTC medications were the most common on our cruise (Clipper Adventurer), although some used patches and some other presc. meds. The only folks who were sick on our 20 expedition trip were a few at the beginning who felt - "I don't need to take anything". Well, that changed fast. Unfortunately it was two days before we got to land, and most OTC meds for the full effect need to be taken before the "rockin and rollin" begins.

[freddie]

Kootz - You might want to check out the trips on the Hanseatic. It has an in-room email connection, although it does not allow one to access the internet, as far as I can determine. Here are a couple of websites with info about the ship:

 

http://cruises.about.com/od/cruiseshipprofiles/ss/hanseatic.htm

 

http://www.hlkf.de/redwork/do.php?layoutid=100&node=39718&language=2

 

Cheers, Fred